The first narrative biography of the Civil War's pioneering visual historian, Mathew Brady, known as the “father of American photography.” Mathew Brady's attention to detail, flair for composition, and technical mastery helped establish the photograph as a thing of value. In the 1840s and '50s, “Brady of Broadway” photographed such dignitaries as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Dolley Madison, Horace Greeley, the Prince of Wales, and Jenny Lind. But it was during the Civil War that Brady's photography became an epochal part of American history. The Civil War was the first war in history to leave a detailed photographic record, and Brady knew better than anyone the dual power of the camera to record and excite, to stop a moment in time and preserve it. More than ten thousand war images are attributed to the Brady studio. But as Wilson shows, while Brady himself accompanied the Union army to the first major battle at Bull Run, he was so shaken by the experience that throughout the rest of the war he rarely visited battlefields except well before or after a major battle, instead sending teams of photographers to the front. Mathew Brady is a gracefully written and beautifully illustrated biography of an American legend-a businessman, a suave promoter, a celebrated portrait artist, and, most important, a historian who chronicled America during the gravest moments of the nineteenth century.

A comprehensive narrative and collection of photographs of the Civil War.

A biography of the pioneering photographer, who is known for his unique portrayal of the Civil War, as well as for portraits of such personalities as Lincoln, Grant, Lee, and others.

This book tells of Mathew B. Brady, a Civil War photographer, with over 300 reproductions of his work.

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Photographs by Mathew Brady from the Meserve Collection. Biographical. Indexed.

A portrait of the visual historian illuminates his role in establishing photography as a valued documenting tool, analyzing his portraits of period dignitaries and his self-sacrificing effort to capture images of the Civil War.