Major H. A. Barnum, Recovery after a Penetrating Gunshot Wound of the Abdomen with Perforation of the Left Ilium, from the Photographic Catalogue of the Surgical Section
1865
Medium
Photography-Photoprint
Classification
Photography-Photoprint
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Accession Number
1994.91.14
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
William Bell was a Philadelphia daguerreotypist who fought at Antietam and Gettysburg during the Civil War. In 1865, he was hired by the newly established Army Medical Museum in Washington to document the range of injuries and medical procedures among veterans. His catalogue of images helped establish the field of military medicine in the United States.Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
About the Artist
William Bell · 1830–1910
William Bell (1830–1910) was an English-born American photographer whose career bridged medical documentation and the exploration of the American West. Born in Liverpool, England, he immigrated to the United States and served in the Mexican-American War of 1846–48. After the conflict, he entered the emerging field of photography by partnering with his brother-in-law, the Philadelphia daguerreotypi...