MAX ROSENTHAL'S ETCHED PORTRAIT OF UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOHN A. CAMPBELL, SIGNED "MAX ROSENTHAL" OUTSIDE THE BORDER IN NEAT PENCIL SCRIPT.
[Philadelphia: c. 1890]. Etching, 4-3/8" x 6-1/4." Mounted on card stock. Signed by Rosenthal in pencil. Near Fine. With facsimile signature, "J. A. Campbell."
Born to a Jewish family in Poland in 1833, Rosenthal at the age of twelve "was sent to Paris to study art and escape conscription in the Imperial Russian Army, which recognized the Jewish rule of regarding a boy as of age at thirteen." Immigrating to Philadelphia at the age of 17, he became a successful lithographer and mezzotint engraver, winning a "conspicuous place among American engravers" [DAB]. See, also, the Library Company of Philadelphia's online article on Rosenthal, in "Philadelphia on Stone."
A Georgia lawyer, Campbell owed his Supreme Court appointment to President Franklin Pierce in 1853. He concurred with Chief Justice Taney in the Dred Scott Case. The Civil War cut Campbell's career short: he resigned from the Court and became Jefferson Davis's assistant secretary of war. He was involved in two celebrated diplomatic events, at the beginning and the end of the War. In early 1861, he engaged in numerous discussions with Secretary of State Seward for the Union's evacuation of Fort Sumter; and in early 1865 he, R.M.T. Hunter, and Alexander Stephens met with President Lincoln and Seward at Hampton Roads, Virginia, for the celebrated, unsuccessful peace conference. Item #41787
Price: $350.00