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For sure they had color prints in 1861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography

Sorry can't help you any further than that.

I would guess this was a private purchase item that the family or soldier could then paste the photo to. (I have a similar WW2 print.. but more generic)

 

I just saw the rest of the pics with the Currier and Ives label.. that could up the value as well as there are people who collect solely Currier and Ives prints. Their lithographs are world famous and many are beautiful.

-Brian

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This is actually something that was produced after the Civil War, commemorating his service in the regiment he served in. These are common, and in good condition, these are worth $150. Yours is worth less than $100 due to condition. I also believe the correct word you are looking for is "muster". ;)

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Steve Rogers

Some of these, including this one, are wartime.

They show up under a number of titles: Soldier's Record and Soldier's Memorial are two fairly common titles, and they show up in color or black and white. A number of companies made them and the wartime ones seem to have been peddled in camps by salesmen who would canvas different outifts and take subscriptions. It is unclear if the different printers would have several different formats to choose from or the saleman was locked into a particular style. This probably varied, but the overall formats were pretty generic. In some cases individual service data might be included for various soldiers listed and sometimes battle honors might included in the blank panels on either side at the bottom. Some had open panels at the top where albumen photos of officers might be mounted. In this case, yours has printed portraits of Lincoln, Scott and McClellan at the top, but the company commander at the bottom.

The absence of any service data or battle honors indicates they had not been in service long, though we could argue that would have cost more and the men were cheap and did not want to pay for such extras, also the unit did not do much until 1864. The presence of Scott and McClellan, though also points to an early date.

We are on somewhat surer ground from the service record of the unit and the men. The 14th Mass Artillery was actually the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery. It had been recruited as the 14th Volunteers and changed from infantry to heavy artillery in January, 1862. The change in title, however, was not official until September, 1863. This gives a window for production of the piece, though again, there may have been a delay between the subscription and the production or delivery. We can narrow it a bit further since Co. L was not recruited until February and March, 1861, and Captain Andrews was not commissioned in the regiment until 3/19/62. That leaves a probable date between March, 1862, and September, 1863. And, since the company was in the camps and fortifications around Washington for this entire period, they would have been fair game for peddlers at any point. You might narrow the dates a bit further if men who were discharged before a certain date on not listed, and others who later were discharged are still on it, though the list might simply be everybody on the original muster roll.

As for value... condition counts a lot, but this is a good unit as heavy artillery units go. They were taken into the field as infantry by Grant in 1864 and suffered very heavy losses. A collector of the unit may not have much opportunity to acquire one, even in poor shape, but of course demand is everything and some collectors might not want a framed piece of any sort.

One selling point, though, is the photo mounted at the bottom. This would not have the same desireability as a CDV, and it has condition issues, but it is a period albumen photo and the officer did see some action: he served in a Michigan outfit before joining this one, was commissioned a Captain in March, 1862, and at the Battle of Spottsylvania 5/19/64 was wounded in action eight times... needless to say, he got a discharge for wounds on 10/4/64.

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