[ Photographs ] (Outlaws) James-Younger Gang Important group of 6 signed cartes-de-visite of members of Jesse and Frank james's legendary gang, comprising Cole Younger, Robert Young Jim Younger, and post-mortems Of Clell Miller, Charley Pitts, and

[ Photographs ] (Outlaws) James-Younger Gang Important group of 6 signed cartes-de-visite of members of Jesse and Frank james's legendary gang, comprising Cole Younger, Robert Young Jim Younger, and post-mortems Of Clell Miller, Charley Pitts, and Bill Kadwell. Albumen prints, 5 are signed, in pencil, and one is signed in ink, on mount recto; 2 with the imprint of A. E Burnham, Fairbault, Minn. on mount verso. 1876 E30000-40000 A rare group of portraits of 6 of the eight infamous outlaws associated with the bumbled attempt to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota, on Sept. 7, 1876 The photographs were taken soon after the capture of the notorious younger brothers, all three of them seriously wounded, and death of 3 gang members, by a posse. The bruised and bloodied Younger brothers were taken to a local jail, where they were cleaned up and photographed. ( Note that Cole and Jim Younger are wearing the identical suit jacket.) According to a letter of certification by Charles Hamilton, dated July 3, 1996, which accompanies this lot, "The local sheriffs and police had great difficulty in identifying the Youngers as well as the three dead robbers. Two of the robbers, Frank and Jesse James, had eluded capture. They were eventually identified as Mr. Howard and Mr. Woods, and it was months before the police were certain of their true identity as the James Brothers. " "Likely because of the fair and almost friendly treatment from their captors, who gave them fresh clothes and dressed their wounds, Cole agreed to identify himself and his brothers, as well as two of the dead bandits. The third, Bill Stiles (William Chadwell), had already been tentatively identified by St. Louis chief of police James Mcdonough, who, however, insisted that Jim Younger, unable to talk because of a serious mouth wound, was actually Cal Carter, a notorious robber from Texas. " "Under each photograph Cole wrote, in pencil, the names of himself and his brothers, Jim and Bob, was [sic] well as Charley Pitts and Clell Miller, cronies of Jesse James whom Cole had just met before the attempted robbery. Cole misspelled Clell given name and wrote Clal.' It is possible that Chadwell's photograph was not available at the time of Cole's identification, or that he was not shoun the photograph because Mcdonough had already identified the dead man by his alias of Stiles. In any event, the name 'Bill Kadwell' which appears in ink under the photograph was not written by Cole Younger as the script is entirely different from Cole's. " Portraits of the Younger brothers and the James Gang are uncommon; signed portraits are exceedingly rare if not unique. Also, each of the figures in this set is identified correctly. Accompanying the lot is a second letter of certification by Charles Hamilton, also dated July 3, 1996, noting "During the past half century I have bought and sold many letters of Cole Younger and I was thus able to make a positive identification of his signature. As a signed photograph of one of the most celebrated of all American outlaws, this photograph is unique.