Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
This is a magnificent imperial size original photograph taken by famed Washington photographer C.M. Bell (Charles Milton Bell also known for his photographs of American Indians) of the 1894 United States Supreme Court picturing all nine Justices, fully robed, posed for the camera. Pictured in two rows from left to right with their last names printed beneath are: Horace Gray, Howell Edmunds Jackson, Stephen Johnson Field, Henry Billings Brown, Chief Justice Melville Fuller, George Shiras, Jr., John Marshall Harlan, Edward Douglas White, and David Josiah Brewer. This court presided over several landmark cases including several that impact the function of our current judicial system, including: the issue of jury instruction, presumption of innocence and the doctrine of comity concerning the reciprocity of our jurisdiction with laws of other nations. Another landmark case concerned income tax and the unapportioned income taxes on interest, dividends and rents. The photograph measures an impressive 20 X 18, framed in its original frame measuring 28 X 24. Original Supreme Court photographs dating from the 19th Century are very rarely made available for sale and are highly valued by historians and many collectors related to the legal profession.