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506
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(PHOTOGRAPHY.) BATTEY, CORNELIUS MARION.
“Thompson Coles
of Alabama, 97 years old.” [written in pencil on the reverse].
Original silver print
photograph 7
1
⁄
2
x 10 inches; blind stamp of “Photographic Division, C. M. Battey, photo-
graphic director Tuskegee Institute, Alabama” in the lower right corner; faint paper-clip
impression at the top blank margin, with no significant affect on the photograph at all;
small closed tear to the bottom, blank margin; the number “48” in the negative.
Tuskegee, circa 1920’s
[1,500/2,500]
A touching portrait of Thompson Coles at age ninety-seven, seated in front of a cabin, presumably his
home. Given his age, and the probable date of this photograph, Coles was born around 1823, quite
likely in slavery. Until 2010, not single photograph by Battey had ever been offered at auction.
506
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