A Boude & Miley carte de visite of Colonel Thomas Hoomes Williamson (1813-1888), who is described verso as "Tho H Williamson / Col Williams was / Gen R.E. Lee's engraver during / the greater part of the War." Featuring a "Stonewall Art Gallery / Boude & Miley / Lexington, Virginia" back stamp verso. Displayed in a floating mount in a clear acetate slab. The sepia-colored photograph on stock card shows expected weathering, else very good to near fine. The carte de visite measures 2.375" x 3.875" while the overall size of the slab is 3.125" x 5.75."

The claim that Colonel Thomas H. Williamson served as the official engraver of Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) during the Civil War could not be substantiated. However, it is a reasonable assumption that Colonel Williamson, with his expert knowledge of engineering and drawing, could have been employed by Lee at some point as a valuable resource of draftsmanship and map making skills. We know, for example, that Williamson received a special assignment from General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in April 1862.

Colonel Williamson had studied but did graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Lee's alma mater. Williamson served as professor of engineering, drawing, and tactics at the Virginia Military Institute (Lexington, Virginia) after 1841, and except for interruptions caused by the Civil War, he would teach at V.M.I. for over 45 years.

Williamson is tied to Lee in a different way. Colonel Williamson provided the working drawings for the Lee Chapel, the Victorian edifice located on the campus of Washington & Lee University, that was erected between 1866-1867. The project is believed to have been an artistic and architectural collaboration between Lee, whose recumbent statue now resides in the chapel, Lee's son Custis Lee, and Colonel Williamson.

Boude & Miley was a photographic gallery in Lexington, Virginia established by John C. Boude and Michael Miley in 1867. It issued numerous views of Robert E. Lee and other Confederate heroes.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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