Synonyms ←  PhysLinc  A58e1  → ←  Kunhardt  AL.1858.2  → ←  Internal  A58eg1  → The Image Photographer:  Byers Sitting date: 1858-05-07 Location: Beardstown, IL Technique: Ambrotype Books Hamilton '63 Pages 14, 15, 360a Book Notes Mellon '79 [p 28] Original [[ambrotype]] made by Abraham [[Byers]], in [[Beardstown]], Illinois, May 7, 1858. Ostendorf '98 [[Ambrotype]] by Abraham M. [[Byers]], [[Beardstown]], Friday, May 7, 1858. Collections cited in Books Mellon '79 [p 29] University of Nebraska.

The quality of this image in Mellon's book is a wonder to behold. Mellon and Benson copied the original ambrotype, which then was clearly in spectacular condition. In late 2007 the University of Nebraska emailed to me a freshly made scan of the original ambrotype. It showed a tragic degradation of the original image in the 32 years since Mellon's book was published, with chunks of the image missing and the contrast woefully reduced. I wrote to them, urging all steps be taken to prevent further degradation, but received no reply.