[WESTERN AMERICANA]. A group of 2 photographs of Judge Roy Bean.

Cabinet card featuring Judge Roy Bean and another man. Uncredited, but with red ink identification on mount verso: "Judge Roy Bean & brother 1901." The two men sit at a table topped with a striped tablecloth and stacked folios/paperwork. Roy Bean wears a circular pin on his lapel.

3 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. photograph on coated ivory-colored cardstock mount featuring Judge Roy Bean (seated) and a younger man standing next to him on the porch of Bean's law office. Uncredited, but with red ink identification to mount verso: "1901 Judge Roy Bean & Cheed Bond - 16 Langtry Texas." Another known photograph of Bean (not included here) on what appears to be this same porch shows signage promoting Bean's services as Justice of the Peace and "Law Wes of the Pecos."

Consignor relates that Roy's brother was named Joshua Bean, and he became the first mayor of San Diego, however, Joshua Bean was killed in 1852, so it is unlikely that the man featured in the photograph is Joshua Bean. Consignor also relates that Cheed Bond was a railroad worker.

Provenance: Descended in the family of a railroad worker whose family lived in Langtry and became friends with Judge Roy Bean (consignor's note).

Roy Bean (1827-1903) had a colorful military and frontier career, culminating in his opening of his saloon near San Antonio, in a town that came to be called Vinegaroon, Texas. Bean renamed it Langtry, and from the "Jersey Lilly" meted out his version of frontier justice.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Cabinet card: toning, abrasions/surface loss, taping, spotting to print. Mount with significant wear and some losses, with transparent tape in multiple places, extending into image.
Square mounted photograph: toning, soiling, wear to edges, some surface abrasions to print. Mount with soiling, surface losses, chipping to edges and corners, and much transparent tape on verso.

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Please email [email protected] for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Katie Horstman

VP, Head of Department, American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

[email protected]513.666.4958

Ms. Horstman has spent over a decade specializing in historic photography and Americana at auction. During her tenure, she has overseen several notable single owner auctions, including property from the inventory of celebrated Americana and antique arms expert Norm Flayderman. During her time with the firm, she has maintained an active membership in the Daguerreian Society. Ms. Horstman holds an MA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in Art History from The Ohio State University.

American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

[WESTERN AMERICANA]. A group of 2 photographs of Judge Roy Bean.

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