ROBERT E. LEE & MARY CUSTIS LEE
A WONDERFUL SURVING ORIGINAL PAIRING OF SIGNED AND FURTHER INSCRIBED CDV PHOTOGRAPHS
LEE, ROBERT E. (1807-1870). Confederate General in the American Civil War; one of the most celebrated generals in American history. Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (1807–1873) Wife of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee and the last private owner of Arlington Estate [now Arlington National Cemetery] in Virginia; she was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis who was the grandson of Martha Washington, wife of George Washington; Mary married Robert E. Lee in 1831 at her parents’ home, Arlington House.
JUST A SUPERB PAIR OF SIGNED CARTE-DE-VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS, EACH SIGNED BY THE SITTER AND FURTHER INSCRIBED BY MRS LEE.
Each: a bust-length depiction of the sitter. His is signed “R E Lee” in ink along the lower right-hand corner of image. Mrs. Lee has signed in ink below her image on the photographer’s mount. The verso of R.E. Lee’s bears the imprint of “C.R. Rees & Co. / Richmond, Va. / 1868”, below which is a handwritten inscription: “Mrs. Terrell / with the kind regards of / Mary Custis Lee”. On the reverse of Mrs. Lee’s CVD is a further presentation inscription in her hand stating: “My Dear Mrs. Terrell / Must excuse this very / indifferent likeness taken / the 2d.. year of the war / but as may not get a / better I send it now / though I do not think / it will remind you / much of your friend / M C Lee”.
“Mrs. Terrell” is probably Rachel Cameron Hamilton Terrill (Terrell) of Bath Co., Virginia, born in 1810 to parents James Hamilton (1765-1849) and Rachel Vance (1766-1840). She first married Andrew M. Scott (1802-1839) and had three daughters including Anna “Annie” Smith Scott Wills, who owned the CDV’s of the Lee’s we offer above. In 1860, Rachel then married William H. Terrill (1804-1881), who was a prominent attorney in Bath Co. She died on February 1, 1877 and is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Covington, VA.
THIS PAIR ARE REMARKABLE SURVIVORS! The R.E. Lee is in very good visual condition with some light toning and spotting; Mrs. Lee’s example [remember this was an image taken in 1863, when Southern materials for such things were in very short supply] shows moderate toning and spotting, discoloration and ‘enhancement’ by the photographer’s studio to her face. Overall fine condition.
Provenance: The Hammond, Revercomb, and Deyerle families, of Covington, Virginia.
$8,500.00
