Perhaps the first publication of the text of the "John Brown Song," with the notation at the bottom reading, "From an Original in the Possession of Mr. Abram E. Cutter of Charlestown." Republished in George Kimball, "Origin of the John Brown Song", New England Magazine, vol. 7, no. 4 (1889), 374.
Quarter-plate daguerreotype of John Brown holding what is believed to be an antislavery flag. This is the earliest photograph of John Brown known to exist. It was taken by black photographer Augustus Washington in Hartford, Connecticut.
Attribution:
Washington, Augustus
Attribution Statement:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; purchased with major acquisition funds and with funds donated by Betty Adler Schermer in honor of her great-grandfather, August M. Bondi
Etching by Victor Hugo of John Brown hanging on the noose after his execution in Charles Town, (West) Virginia, December 2, 1859. While in exile on the Isle of Guernsey, Hugo wrote an open letter requesting that Brown be pardoned; that letter was in fact written the day of Brown's execution. This sketch was used as the frontispiece for a treatise that Hugo published the following year.
Advertisement for John Brown medallions sculpted by Edmonia Lewis. This ad was placed in the 25 March 1864 edition of The Liberator, an antislavery magazine based out of Boston. Lewis was able to raise enough money through her sales to fund her relocation to Italy.
The busts of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and George L. Stearns (by Samuel Morse) on display in the Tisch Library at Tufts University in 2017. Photograph taken August 16, 2017.
The busts of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and George L. Stearns (by Samuel Morse) on display in the Tisch Library. Photograph taken August 16, 2017.
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing damage to nose and eyebrow. This photograph was taken in May 2016 prior to the bust's complete restoration.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
A handwritten note dated May 4, 1977, stating that the bust of John Brown may have been stolen in 1952. There are no records on this, but it is likely the bust was simply misplaced.
Letter from John Brown written to George L. Stearns from Tabor, Iowa. The letter is dated August 10, 1857. Brown wrote, "I am in immediate want of from Five Hundred to One Thousand Dollars for secret service & no questions asked."
Attribution:
Brown, John
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Card with the A. C. Russell woodcut of the bust of John Brown (by Edward A. Brackett) and a statement by Brown given to George L. Stearns in Medford, 1857: "Mr. Stearns, I consider the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence one and inseparable." On the reverse is a handwritten note that the bust was owned by Mrs. Mary Stearns regarding the bust's creation: Wood- cut of the Bust of John Brown in the possession of Mrs. Stearns - the only one in the world. It was taken by her order while awaiting execution in the Virginia Prison, October 1859."
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the West Virginia State Archives, John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection
Oil on canvas painting of John Brown on the way to his execution on December 2, 1859. Brown, still injured from the failed raid at Harpers Ferry, was said to have kissed the head of a black baby on his way to the gallows.
Attribution:
Hovenden, Thomas
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Stoeckel, 1897
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. The photograph used for the card was printed by W. Shaw Warren of Cambridgeport, Cambridge, MA.
Attribution:
Warren, W. Shaw
Attribution Statement:
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Photography Collection, The New York Public Library
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing a 3D-printed plastic replacement nose. With the plastic nose, conservators were able to make a cast and then a new plaster nose. This photograph was taken in 2016 as the bust was being restored.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
A tech from 3D Printsmith 3D-scanning both the damaged bust of John Brown and an undamaged plaster copy from the Boston Athenaeum. This was done in order to prepare an exact, 3D-printed copy of the nose and eyebrow for the damaged bust. This photograph was taken in May 2016.
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Cabinet card featuring the John Brown bust owned by Mary E. Stearns. This cabinet card was printed by Litchfield Studios in Arlington, MA. A handwritten note on the back of the card reads, "John Brown. From the Bust taken while awaiting Execution in the Virginia Prison, by order of Mrs. George L. Stearns, October 1859. This is the only marble Bust of the Martyr, at present writing - 1919 - in the world. It was only secured by the earnest entreaty of Mrs. Stearns, for whom, and his faithful friend Mr. Stearns, he cherished warm regard. E. A. Brackett, Sculptor."