GEORGE BANCROFT - PHOTOGRAPH MOUNT SIGNED CIRCA 1885 - HFSID 285257

GEORGE BANCROFT
A photograph from the Brady Gallery in New York, signed by the United States Secretary of the Navy on a 10x13 mount
Photograph Mount Signed: "George Bancroft". Sepia, 10¼x13 overall, image 5½x7, 2 surfaces. Embossed stamp reads: "Brady Photographic Gallery 643 Broadway, New York. Ink note on verso: "Celebrated historian, Sect. of Navy, Minister to Great Britain. (1885)". Historian George Bancroft (1800-1891) is best known for his ten-volume History of the United States (1834-1873). Bancroft wrote well, and was accurate with his facts, but had a partisan viewpoint. (He was a Jacksonian Democrat, although one opposed to slavery). As President James K. Polk's first Secretary of the Navy (1845-1846), Bancroft established the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, finding the funds for the institution in his budget before Congress had authorized its creation. As Acting Secretary of War (1846), he issued orders to General Zachary Taylor to advance into territory disputed with Mexico, a move which triggered the Mexican War.He later served as the U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1846-1849), Prussia (1867-1871) and Germany (1871-1874). The image is of a younger Bancroft. Photographs of Bancroft taken personally by famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady (1823-1896) reside in the collection of the Library of Congress and elsewhere. Soiled and stained. Photographer's embossing stamp at left of signature. Pencil notation (unknown had) on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.