Mathew Brady and His World: Produced by Time-Life Books from Pictures in the Meserve Collection

This is an incredible American History book as seen in photos. The photographs are amazing in this publication. Mathew Brady was the most important force in early American photography. Although his name is today widely known and his work heralded, his life story has long been obscured by myth and fantasy. Much has been mistakenly attributed to him, may historians have embellished and romanticized the true nature and extent of his contributions. In this volume the resources of the remarkable collection put together by the late Frederick Hill Meserve have been used, for the first time, in an effort to set straight the muddled record. Also, and long overdue, this book organizes the extraordinary output of the Brady galleries, which covered a 50 year period. It records not only the simple beauty and the historical imporance of Brandy's portrait work but some of his professional extravagances as well.Further, it seeks out and illustrates meaningful peaks in the art of picture taking during the Civil War by both Brady and his contemporaries. Finally, it offers information about the workings of the Brady galleries never before revealed. The authors are the daughter and the grandson of Frederick Hill Meserve and the trustees of the Meserve Collection.