Photography & Ephemera

[NAVAL]. Scenes on Board a Man–of–War. U.S.S. Flagship Tennessee. New York: Hatton & Hart, [ca. 1885]. Oblong 4to (279 x 362 mm). 27 mounted albumen photographs on 20 thick leaves depicting officers and crew including Rear Admiral James E. Jouett and Captain O.F. Stanton, the captain’s cabin, and various views of the ship’s deck and exterior. Original blue cloth pictorially stamped in gilt, silk moiré endpapers (spine panel perished, hinges broken with several leaves loose, covers darkened or stained, several mounts chipped at margins). Provenance: Thomas Rénaud–Rutter (bookplate). Launched in July 1865 out of the New York Navy Yard, the flagship was originally named the U.S.S. Madawaska and later changed to U.S.S. Tennessee in 1869 when she was fitted with more powerful engines as her duties were to service the Asiatic Squadron and later the North Atlantic Squadron which was the largest vessel then in commission in the American Navy.