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.

The original daguerreotype is apparently lost. It was last seen in New York, when it was auctioned for $110 on March 18, 1903. Several carte-de-visite copies exist, most prominently at the Maryland Historical Society and the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University. These carte-de-visite copies were presumably made in 1878. (Deas, Portraits, p. 32).