Unattributed, after a photograph “Geo. B. McClellan, U.S.A. Late Commander In Chief”

After a photograph.  “Geo. B. M^cClellan, U.S.A. Late Commander In Chief.” 

Publisher unknown.  Ca. 1885.  18 ¼ x 15 ¼ (image).  Engraving.  Wide margins.  Print has been professionally conserved.  Very good condition. 

An interesting portrait of General George B. McClellan probably issued after his death in 1885.  The image is attributed to being based on a photograph, but that refers only to the face, for the body appears to have earlier belonged to another individual.  It is interesting to note that his hair is parted on the right hand side where as McClellan parted it from left to right.  Behind McClellan’s head, a ghost image of another head is visible, indicating that this print was pulled from a plate which originally had the image of another person.  The body, other than perhaps the top of the uniform, shows little evidence of any modification, but the books shown to the left of the print were engraved in place of a candle, the ghost image of which can also be seen.  An interesting example of the reuse of a plate by a print publisher in the nineteenth century.