George M. Anderson photograph collection
Abstract
This collection consists of photographs, prints, and negatives of the work of Adalbert Johann Volck, a Baltimore dentist, artist, cartoonist, sculptor, and silversmith.
Dates
- 1861-1969
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.
Biographical Note
George McCullough Anderson, D.D.S was a Professor of Orthodontics at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, and at the Dental School at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He also was a collector of the work of Adalbert Johann Volck (1828-1912), a Baltimore dentist, artist, cartoonist, sculptor, and silversmith. In 1970 he self published The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck, which includes 100 images of Volck’s works.
Adalbert Johann Volck (1828-1912) was born April 14, 1828 in the town of Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany. As a youth he studied art in Nuremburg and Munich, and in 1848 participated in the revolutions then sweeping through Germany and parts of Europe. Volck was captured and sentenced to four years of service in the Bavarian Army. Rather than serve, he deserted and fled to the United States. Volck arrived in Boston and headed west. In 1849, he followed the gold rush to California but soon returned east, finally settling in the Baltimore area, where he would remain for the rest of his life. He entered the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery as one of its first students, graduating in 1852. Volck was a member of the Association of Dental Surgeons and served as president of the organization. He was one of the first dentists to use porcelain fillings. In 1852, he married Letitia Robert Alleyn, one of his patients, and their union produced two sons and three daughters.
During the Civil War, Volck became an ardent supporter of the Confederacy. According to some accounts, he served as a personal courier for Confederate President Jefferson Davis, carried dispatches across the Potomac River, smuggled medicine and other contraband for the Confederacy, assisted volunteers, mechanics and artisans with their defection to the South, and used his Charles Street home as a rendezvous and hiding place for Confederate sympathizers. Other sources dispute these exploits. Volck is most famous for his political drawings and etchings produced during the Civil War, although this is largely due to a later rediscovery of his work, rather than any contemporary impact. There was limited circulation of his drawings in the North and most likely none in the Confederate States until after the war. Under the pseudonym V. Blada, Volck printed three series of thirty Civil War sketches, titled Sketches from the Civil War in North America. Another series, Comedians and Tragedians of the North, caricatured prominent northern figures including President Lincoln, General Benjamin F. Butler, General Winfield Scott, and Thomas Hicks, Governor of Maryland. Benjamin Butler and President Lincoln drew particular scorn from Volck’s pen; Volck produced a series of sketches and two books lampooning Butler, and nine images featuring Lincoln. Although his feelings toward Lincoln softened over time, he maintained his affinity for the Confederacy; discussing his Civil War sketches in a letter to the Library of Congress in 1905, he wrote that his “greatest regret ever was to have aimed ridicule at that great and good Lincoln - outside of that the pictures represent events as truthfully as my close connection with the South enabled me to get at them.”
Following the war, Volck continued both his dental practice and art. He produced portraiture and works in silver, bronze, oil, and sculpture, while largely avoiding the political slant of his earlier work. Volck was also a fixture in the cultural and artistic life of Baltimore. He was a founding member or member of various organizations devoted to the arts including the Academy of Art, the Allston Association, the Wednesday Club, the Athenaeum Club, and the Charcoal Club.
Volck died on March 26, 1912 and is interred in Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore.
Extent
2.67 Linear Feet (4 full Hollinger boxes; 1 flat box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection contains photo prints, negatives and prints of the works of Adalbert Johann Volck. It is divided into two series. Series I: Adalbert Johann Volck contains primarily photoprints, prints and negatives of images of Volck’s work. These are found in Boxes 1, 2, and 3. Box 3 contains oversize prints of images found in boxes 1 and 2.
Series 2: The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck housed in Boxes 4 and 5 contains photoprints and negatives of Volck’s works used by George Anderson in preparation for his book The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck.
All images contained in the collection are works by Adalbert Volck, except where indicated in the container list.
Series I: Adalbert Johann Volck
Subseries A: Civil War Sketches (Folders 1-38, 107-135)
This subseries consists of drawings from "Sketches from the Civil War in North America" which were printed in three issues between 1861 and 1865 under the titles Sketches from the Civil War in America, 1861, ’62, ’63 and Second and Third Issues of V. Blada’s War Sketches. In “flyers” printed by Volck advertising the war sketches, 30 drawings are listed, with more “ready for printing.” All 30 are represented in this collection. Below is a listing of the etchings as indexed on the flyers.
Sketches from the Civil War in America, 1861, ’62, ’63
No.1 – Worship of the North
No.2 – Passage Through Baltimore
No.5 – Searching For Arms
No. 6 – Enlistment of Sickles Brigade
No. 7 – The Fight at Santa Rosa Island
No. 12 – Slaves Concealing their Master from a Search Party
No. 15 – Tracks of the Armies
No. 16 – Formation of Guerilla Bands
No. 21 – Gen. Stewart’s [sic] Raid to the White House
No. 24 – Scene in Stonewall Jackson’s Camp
(Note: No. 5 and No. 6 are not in this series but can be found in Series II).
Second and Third Issues of V. Blada’s War Sketches
No. 4 – Battle in Baltimore, April 19, 1861
No. 8 – Marylanders crossing the Potomac to join the Southern Army
No. 9 – Election in Baltimore, November, 1862
No. 10 – Stone Blockade off Charleston
No. 11 – Making clothes for the boys in the army
No. 14 – Valiant me “dat fite mit Sigel’
No. 17 – Jemison’s [sic] Jayhawkers
No. 18 – Smuggling Medicines into the South
No. 19 – Offering of bells to be cast into cannon
No. 20 – Albert S. Johnston crossing the dessert [sic] to join the Southern Army
No. 23 – Butler’s victims of Fort St. Philip
No. 25 – The Emancipation Proclamation
No. 26 – Free Negroes in the North
No. 27 – Free Negroes in Hayti [sic]
No. 28 – Vicksburg Canal
No. 30 – Cave Life in Vicksburg
No. 32 – Gen. Stewart’s [sic] return from Pennsylvania
No. 33 - (Untitled)
No. 40 – Substitute Office
No. 45 – Counterfeit Confederate Notes publicly offered for sale in the City of Brotherly Love
(Note: No. 40 is not in this series but can be found in Series II).
Images from Sketches From the Civil War in North America, 1861, ’62, ’63 can be found in Folders 1-8 and Folders 107-117. Images from the Second and Third Issues of V. Blada’s War Sketches are in Folders 9-28 and Folders 118-135.
Folders 29-37 consist of sketches from the civil war period that are unfinished or untitled. Some may have been designed for inclusion in future issues of Sketches from the Civil War in North America that were never produced. (Note: Subtitles in brackets are taken from The Works of Adalbert Johann Volck)
Folder 38 has an index for the 2nd edition of Confederate War Etchings, a reprinting of 29 of the prints from Sketches from the Civil War in North America published ca 1892 by Porter and Coates of Philadelphia. The 1st edition was published in 1882. (Note: Sets of the Confederate War Etchings can be found in PP 248)
Subseries B: Robert E. Lee (Folders 39-40)
This subseries consists of photo prints of two oil paintings of Robert E. Lee. According to Volck, for the painting of Lee in his study, he painted Lee’s head from life, and completed the work in Baltimore.
Subseries C: Comedians and Tragedians of the North (Folders 41-52, 136-137)
Subseries C consists of images from a series of etchings, which caricatured prominent northern figures including President Lincoln, General Benjamin F. Butler, General Winfield Scott, and Thomas Hicks, Governor of Maryland. (Note: The image, Don Quixote and Sancho Panzo, may not have been part of this series)
Subseries D: Benjamin F. Butler (Folders 53-68)
This subseries contains images of drawings caricaturing Union General Benjamin Butler. In 1861-1862 Volck produced Ye Exploits of Ye Distinguished Attorney and General B.F.B. (Bombastes Furioso Buncombe) in two series of six sketches each, shortly after Federal Troops under Butler’s command occupied Baltimore following the riot of April 19, 1861. Images from this series are in Folders 53-56. Some of these sketched were updated and used again along with additional drawings in two small books, Life and adventures of B. F. B. (Bombastes Furioso Buncombe,) the warrior, sage and philanthropist / a Christmas story (1862) and The American Cyclops, Hero of New Orleans, and Spoiler of Silver Spoons (1868). Images from these volumes are in Folders 57-68.
Subseries E: The Wednesday Club and the Athenaeum Club (Folders 69-91, 138)
This subseries contains images of drawings done by Volck for events at the Wednesday Club and the Athenaeum Club, two Baltimore cultural groups of which Volck was a member. The Wednesday Club, meeting from 1877-1883 focused on music and theatre, while the Athenaeum Club (1877-1909) was geared towards art and literature. There are also sketches of members of the Athenaeum Club, including Volck. Folder 84 contains a drawing of the members of the Allston Society the forerunner of the Wednesday Club by John Roy Robertson.
Subseries F: Miscellaneous (Folders 91a-106, 139-140)
This subseries contains miscellaneous items including a negative of Volck, possibly in his home, an image of a painting of Dr. George Keidel, a friend of Volck and collector of his works, and a drawing of Daniel Coit Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University. There are also some drawings related to Baltimore cultural activities Volck was involved in. (Note: Folder 91a has no relation to Folder 91; Folder was numbered incorrectly)
Series II: The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck
This series consists of photoprints and negatives used by George Anderson for the preparation of the book, The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck. The images are in the same order as they appear in the book. Many of the items have notes and markings made by George Anderson, indicating how they were to be cropped or mounted in the book.
Anderson changed or misidentified the titles of some of the etchings for his book, primarily from the Civil War sketches. The container list uses Adalbert Volck’s titles as they were originally printed on the flyers advertising Sketches from the Civil War in North America. Anderson’s titles follow in brackets.
This series consists of nine subseries which follow the order and layout of The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck. Series titles correspond to chapter titles in the book.
Subseries A: Prefatory material, (Folders 141-142)
This subseries contains 2 images that appear before the preface in The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck; an image of a self portrait of Dr. Volck on copperplate and an image of Volck’s monogram as V. Blada.
Subseries B: V. Blada’s War Sketches, 1861-1865, (Folders 143-172)
This series consists of drawings from Sketches from the Civil War in North America. All 30 are represented here.
Note: “The Fight at Santa Rosa Island,” Folder 172 was part of the first issue of Sketches from the Civil War in North America. The etching was misidentified by George Anderson as an untitled sketch. “General Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson,” Folder 162 included here by George Anderson was not listed by Volck as part of the civil war sketches. Also, “Passage through Baltimore,” Folder 177 from the first issue of the civil war sketches and “Emancipation Proclamation,” Folder 179 from the second and third issues are found in subseries D in this collection.
Subseries C: Preliminary, Unfinished, Unknown, Untitled Sketches, (Folders 173-175)
This subseries consists of three unfinished or untitled sketches, from the Civil War period.
Subseries D: Abraham Lincoln (As depicted by V. Blada), (Folders 176-180)
This subseries contains 7 etchings of President Abraham Lincoln.
Note: “The Knight of Rueful Countenance,” Folder 180, “Great American Tragedians, Comedians Clowns and Rope Danzers [sic] in Their Favorite Characters,” Folder 181 and “Mokana,” Folder 182 are part of the series of sketches Comedians and Tragedians of the North found in subseries E. Anderson included these sketches in his chapter on Lincoln.
Subseries E: Comedians and Tragedians of the North, (Folders 183-191)
Subseries E consists of images from a series of 12 etchings which caricatured prominent northern figures including President Lincoln, General Benjamin F. Butler, General Winfield Scott, and Thomas Hicks, Governor of Maryland.
Note: The sketch “Mephistopheles,” Folder 190 was incorrectly identified by Anderson as being a caricature of a “Tim Lane”. The sketch is a caricature of James Henry Lane (1814-1866) a Kansas Senator and “Jayhawker.”
Subseries F: Benjamin F. Butler, (Folders 192-203)
This series contains images of drawings caricaturing Benjamin Butler. These originally appeared in the Life and adventures of B. F. B. (Bombastes Furioso Buncombe,) the warrior, sage and philanthropist / a Christmas story (1862) and again, some with changes, in The American Cyclops, Hero of New Orleans, and Spoiler of Silver Spoons (1868). “Ye Vow,” Folder 199 is from Ye Exploits of Ye Distinguished Attorney and General B.F.B. (Bombastes Furioso Buncombe (1861).
Subseries G: Robert E. Lee, (Folders 204-205)
This subseries consists of photoprints of two oil paintings of Robert E. Lee. According to Volck, for the painting of Lee in his study, he painted Lee’s head from life, and completed the work in Baltimore
Subseries H: The Wednesday Club, 1877-1883, (Folders 206-221)
Subseries H contains images of drawings done by Volck for events at the Wednesday Club. There is also an image of an etching of members of the Athenaeum Club, including Volck. Also in this series is a drawing of Daniel Coit Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University and a satirical sketch of a Parade at the Washington Monument in Baltimore.
Note: The image “Untitled,” Folder 206 was not included by George Anderson in The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck.
Subseries I: Silver, Bronze, Copper, Porcelain, (Folders 222-242)
This subseries consists of images of sixteen examples of Volck’s work in silver, bronze, copper, porcelain, and clay.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of George M. Anderson in June 1974.
Bibliography
Keidel, George C., “Catonsville Biographies: A Series of Personal Sketches,” The Argus, October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, November 13, 29, 1915.
Neely, Jr. Mark E., Harold Holzer and Gabor S. Boritt, The Confederate Image: Prints of the Lost Cause (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987)
Van Dyk Macbride, “The Lincoln Caricatures,” The Lincoln Herald Vol. 56, no. 3 (1954): 23-43.
Scope and Contents
Collection of photo prints, prints, and negatives of images of the work of Adalbert Johann Volck (1828-1912), a Baltimore dentist, artist, cartoonist, sculptor, and silversmith. Series II contains photo prints and negatives of images used by George M. Anderson in preparation for his book The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck.
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the George M. Anderson photograph collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Damon Talbot
- Date
- 2011-03
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2020-02-26: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Mallory Herberger.
- 2022-07-27: Container list entered into ArchivesSpace by Emily Somach.
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org