404. REAL PHOTO POSTCARD ARCHIVE OF EDWARD FITZGERALD SNYDER,

Auction: 2003 Americana and Decorative Arts. Nov. 12 - 13.

Price Realized: $0.00

1912-1914, a fantastic pictorial archive of Edward Fitzgerald Snyder including photographs, real photo postcards, panoramic photo postcards, dope sheets, and other ephemera, all contained within Snyder’s walnut and pine lap desk. Snyder served on the U.S.S. Montana during its 1912-13 trip to the Middle East, with stops at Beirut, Syria, Alexandretta (now Iskenderun) and Mersin, Turkey. Upon her return to the United States in June of 1913, the Montana operated along the East Coast, making several training cruises to Mexico, Cuba, and Haiti, until the U.S. entered World War I.

Included in the lot are a group of fifteen double-sided dope sheets and five dope sheet postcards that detail the activities of the Montana after its departure from Philadelphia on November 15, 1912 through April 22, 1913, when the ship was in Turkey; PLUS eleven photographs of various subjects, including scenes from the Middle East and Latin America, portraits of sailors, and ship activity; PLUS a program for a Christmas, 1912 boxing and wrestling event onboard the Montana in Beirut, PLUS a menu for Christmas dinner (1911) aboard the U.S.S. Franklin; PLUS The Gospel in Many Tongues, edited by Reverend John Sharp (London: British and Foreign Bible Society) bound in blue paper; AND a large lot of lithograph and chromolithograph postcards of various Mexican and naval subjects including a group of 17 post cards printed in Cuba with humorous naval cartoons.

The focus of the collection is a wonderful group of photo postcards and panoramic photo postcards collected by Snyder during his time in the Middle East and Latin America. This group includes 16 panoramic real photo postcards of scenes in and around Veracruz and over 200 realphoto postcards of various scenes throughout the Montana’s tour of the Middle East and Latin America, as well as naval scenes. Included are some wonderful scenes of Middle-Eastern life, life aboard a Navy ship, and other naval vessels, as well as two images of African-American sailors, one of which is identified as "R.L. Ashby, M. Att. 1 c Warrant Officers Mess."

Of particular note in this lot is a sizeable group of photos of personalities and locations that figured prominently in the Mexican Revolution, including several of revolutionaries, battle damage, and many images of the war dead, such as a particularly grisly photo entitled Cadavares Carbonizados. These photos were likely taken during the U.S. occupation of the port city of Veracruz. The occupation, began in April 1914, was President Wilson's reaction to the arrest by Mexican officials in Tampico of several "rowdy" sailors on shore leave, and to prevent the delivery of guns to the forces of President Victoriano Huerta. The occupation stirred widespread anti-American feelings in Mexico that resulted in attacks on U.S. citizens across the border, including Pancho Villa's raid on the city of Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916. Wilson sent General John J. Pershing after Villa, but he was never caught.

This is a magnificent pictorial archive that records a significant event in the history of American foreign relations; lap desk measures 9” high x 14” wide x 10” deep.

Lap desk VG, photographs and ephemera G-EXC., photo postcards generall VG+ with minor fading to some.

(EST $2000-$4000)