In the early 1850s young Persifor Frazer had his daguerreotype portrait taken in the studio of Philadelphia photographer Marcus Root. Dressed in 18th-century garb complete with a white wig and sword, young Persifor embodied Root’s credo of creating a comfortable environment for his sitters, so those entering his studio “may inhale a spirit which shall illuminate their faces with the expression desired.” Root’s daguerreotype captured a bright-eyed, lively looking boy.

We recently learned that Marcus Root shot more than one daguerreotype of Persifor during that portrait session. Daguerreotype collector and scholar Rebecca Norris, aware of the daguerreotype of Persifor Frazer in ourholdings, generously donated a collection of seventy-one 19th century Frazer family photographs including many images of Persifor. The earliest portrait is a carte-de-visite (a small photograph mounted on cardboard, a format introduced in America in the late 1850s) of the costumed Persifor in Root’s studio. This carte-de-visite (cdv) taken by Philadelphia photographer Montgomery Simons is a copy of a daguerreotype shot by Root. Lacking a negative, a daguerreotype is a one of a kind process. Cartes-de-visite, on the other hand, can be reproduced in large quantities since the photographer prints from a negative.

Persifor Frazer frequently sat for his portrait, and with the acquisition of this collection we can document his journey into young adulthood.Many of these cdv’s were apparently given as Christmas gifts, for December 25th and a year is written on the verso. An 1862 cdv shows a confident seventeen-year-old Persifor about to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania (bottom left). Still displaying his fondness for costumes and props, Persifor sat for a cdv in the late 1860s while in Freiburg, Germany studying mineralogy (bottom right). Other photographs in the collection include images of Persifor’s siblings, relatives, and family friends.

Curator of Prints and Photographs
Sarah Watherwax