I recently obtained a lithograph dating from 1891 of Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Grier (serving from 1846-1870). After I purchased it I was instantly curious to determine its origin, because it's a lithograph of the Justice that I had never seen before. I really stumbled into what I think may be some cool history.
After doing some searching, I was able to determine that it came from a book published in 1891 entitled The Supreme Court of the United States: Its History by Hampton L. Carson. All I had to do was search for the artist's name, which is luckily right on the lithograph, Albert Rosenthal. Apparently Mr. Rosenthal and his brother had quite the reputation at the time for etching famous Americans. From the book:
The portraits have been etched by the well-known artists of Philadelphia, Max Rosenthal and Albert Rosenthal, who suggested the idea of illustrating the text, and whose knowledge, judgment taste and skill in the execution of portraits of distinguished Americans are familiar to all collectors and historical students.I had suspected that the lithograph was from a book, as they often are when they are this size (the lithograph is centered on a page which is not quite 8.5-11"). If anyone is fortunate enough to come across this book, you can find the above lithograph on an inset page before page 343.
It looks like Rosenthal etched the Grier likeness based off of an exceedingly rare albumen silver print (one of the first commercial photographing methods) made of the Justice in the mid 1800's by two men, probably brothers, named M.P. and A.I. Rice. I know that the Supreme Court Historical Society has one of the original prints. I'd like to get my hands on one if I come across it someday, but I understand they are pretty rare. Here is the original print:
