Very rare quarter-plate daguerreotype of poet, author, political essayist Louisa Susannah Cheves McCord (1810-1879). Scroll down for a longer bio. Dag is in its FULL original case. She is identified by writing inside, written in pencil on the back of the case. Photo #2 shows this very same image used on the cover of "Louisa S. McCord, Selected Writings", by Richard Lounsbury. The scan is provided for reference - the book is not included. Dag case is 4.75" x 3.75" when closed. The covers are separated along the spine. The dag is unsealed. It has swipes and some mat abrasions but displays nicely.
Longer bio, from Wikipedia: Louisa Susannah Cheves McCord (December 3, 1810 - November 23, 1879), was a 19th-century American author from South Carolina, best known as a political essayist. McCord, the daughter of Langdon Cheves, was born in 1810, in South Carolina. She was educated in Philadelphia. In 1840, she married David James McCord, becoming a widow in 1855. She mainly resided in Columbia, South Carolina.[1] She was active as an author from the 1840s onward, and her production is regarded as an important contribution of Southern Antebellum literature. McCord's writings consisted principally of essays and reviews, and she wrote well on the subject of political economy. Her published volumes included, My Dreams, a volume of poems, published in Philadelphia in 1848; Sophisms of the Protective Policy. A translation from the French of Bastiat, published in New York. 1848; Caius Gracchus. A five-act tragedy, published in New York, 1851. McCord was a contributor to the "Southern Quarterly Review," and the "Southern Literary Messenger," for a number of years from 1849. Her poetry was simple and clearly uttered.[1] Henry Timrod, Paul Hamilton Hayne, William Gilmore Simms, William Henry Trescot, Requier and James Matthews Legaré were her contemporaries; some of these were among her personal friends.[2]