20 thick leaves with 27 mounted albumen photographs, various shapes and sizes. (Oblong folio) 27x35 cm (10¾x13¾") original blue cloth, bordered in blind, gilt title and vignette of the U.S.S. Tennessee on front.
The initial image is a photograph of a painting of the ship under sail by G.T. Douglas, the remaining 26 images are of the ship and her crew in various gatherings, beginning with the officers and staff individually or in small gatherings, followed by various groups of crew, many of the images captioned in the negative. Titles include: Captain's Cabin, Capt. O.F. Stanton, Rear Admiral J.E. Jouett & Staff (2 images thus titles), Admiral's Cabin, Steerage Mess, Fred & Rezdinald Hardekoper (two young boys in uniform leaning on a cannon, titled in pencil on mount), Tennessee Boy's(sic) in Blue, Color guard, The Band, Fireman, Josephus (an African-American man, not a sailor but presumably hold a distinguished place on board as he is the only person other than the Captain and Admiral to appear solo in a photograph, titled in pencil on mount), Mizzen Top Men, Main Top Men, Fore Top, Forecastle, Afterguard, Apprentices, Sword Excercise, Berthdeck Goons, After Pivot Gun, On the Bridge, at sea, Equipped for Landing, & Admiral's Barqe. A superb album, certainly made in only a small number, a record exists in OCLC (stating only 20 photographs) but no copies are located. The U.S.S. Tennessee, originally the U.S.S. Madawaska, was a wood screw frigate built at the New York Navy Yard. She was launched in July 1865. She was renamed Tennessee in May 1869 and served as flagship of the Asiatic Squadron. In "The Steam Navy of the United States", Frank M. Bennet relates that during the time Tennessee was flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron she was "the largest vessel then in commission in the American Navy, and the era of mastless steel cruisers was yet so far away that she was not suspected, by the youngsters at least, of being obsolete and stood as the type of all that was excellent and majestic in ship construction." The ship was sold in September 1886 to Burdett Pond of Meriden, Connecticut. With the bookplate of Thomas Renaud Rutter who is also identified (in pencil) in the first photograph.