Remarkable archive of material affiliated with Libby Prison inmate 2nd Lieutenant Charles H. Burd, 4th Maine Volunteers, who had been in the Union Army just over a month when he was shot in the head and captured at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. Political intervention on his behalf—and an unhealing head wound—brought about his exchange some nine months later. He underwent multiple surgeries to remove the bullet from his head, which passed through both lobes of the brain—remarkably, two bullet fragments recovered from the wound are included in the lot.
The archive includes: a hinged leather case containing two halves of the bullet extracted from Burd's brain, one still embedded with a piece of his skull; two prisoner art engraved bone cufflinks, one with a red cross and the other with a red heart; an original 2.5 x 4.25 carte-de-visite portrait of Burd standing upright in civilian clothing, with a bandage on his head; a 9 x 7.25 albumen photograph of Libby Prison, affixed to a 12.25 x 9 mount, identified on the mount in contemporary ink; two razors in a leather case; a purple officer's sash with gold bullion sword hilt cord; a bone prisoner of war spoon; a leather wallet; two daguerreotypes; and a pair of eyeglasses in a silver case, engraved with the name of his father, "Sam'l S. Burd."
In overall very good to fine condition.
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