The “Daly” Daguerreotype

This engraving of Edgar Allan Poe, by Samuel Hollyer, was published in 1926 as the frontispiece of A Chapter on Autography (Don C. Seitz, ed,. New York: Dial Press). It reproduces the “Daly” Daguerreotype, thought to be taken about 1847.

Three carte-de-visite versions exist, one in the Maryland Historical Society, another in the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University and a third at the University of Texas. These carte-de-visite copies were presumably made in 1878.

The original daguerreotype is apparently lost. It was last seen in New York, when it was auctioned for $110 on March 18, 1903 (Deas, Portraits, p. 32).