[ABOLITION] -- [EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY]. Ninth plate daguerreotype of painting of John Jay (1745-1829) and sixth plate daguerreotype of his grandson, John Jay II (1817-1894).

Sixth plate daguerreotype featuring John Jay II sitting, his arm resting on a book on the table next to him. Ink inscription on satin pad reads, "May.5.1843.". N.p.: n.p., ca 1843. Housed in full leatherette case under mat and glass, no preserver. (Tarnishing along perimeter of plate, especially to upper and left edges, wiping to plate, and spotting to mat, resealed; general surface wear to case with some finish loss.) Provenance: The Jay family, by descent (Christie's New York, 1999). -- Ninth plate daguerreotype capturing an illustrated bust portrait of John Jay. Boston: Tyler & Co., n.d. Housed in a full pressed paper push-button case. (Tarnishing along perimeter of plate, few surface abrasions, spotting to mat, unsealed.) Tyler & Co. advertising card behind image. -- Together, 2 daguerreotypes.

John Jay II continued and expanded the abolitionist legacy of his ancestors, including his famous grandfather and namesake, John Jay, to his lesser known father, Judge William Jay, who served as the president of the New York Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Jay II most notably defended "fugitive slaves" as a lawyer, helping many formerly enslaved persons gain freedom in the 1840s and 50s, and went on to help found the Republican Party.