Three-quarter length standing studio portrait. Albumen CDV. N.p., [ca 1862-1865]. 

An attractive, boldly signed wartime portrait of Major General Abner Doubleday (1819-1893). The standing view captures the storied commander in full military dress, sporting his trademark mustache and slipping his hand into his double-breasted general's frock coat in a classic Napoleonic pose. Signed wartime cartes of consequential Union generals are always in high demand, but a face-signed example of Doubleday carries a dual layer of historical significance that bridges both military heroism and American cultural lore.

An 1842 graduate of West Point, Abner Doubleday was quite literally present at the opening salvos of the Civil War. Serving as an artillery captain at Fort Sumter, Doubleday aimed and fired the very first Union gun in defense of the fort. Promoted to Major General of volunteers, he led a division under the First Corps at South Mountain and Antietam, where his command saw brutal fighting in the infamous Cornfield. Doubleday reached his defining military hour during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. When Major General John F. Reynolds was shot and killed early in the day, Doubleday assumed field command, skillfully directing a desperate, outnumbered defense against overwhelming Confederate assaults that bought the Union army the critical time it needed to secure the high ground of Cemetery Hill. Following his long, distinguished military career, Doubleday's name was famously - and contentiously - cemented into American popular culture when the 1907 Mills Commission credited him with inventing the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839.

This autographed portrait represents a centerpiece-quality lot for advanced collectors; authentic examples signed by Doubleday on the front of the mount are remarkably scarce.

[Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Autographed CDV, Signed CDV, Civil War, Union General, Gettysburg, Fort Sumter, I Corps, Abner Doubleday, Baseball History]

Very good. The albumen surface exhibits a warm tonality with outstanding contrast and clarity. The mount shows standard age-toning and very minor, negligible handling wear along the margins.