Timothy O'Sullivan: Photographer of the Civil War and the West (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781476699981)

Appointed Government Photographer in 1867, Timothy O'Sullivan joined Clarence King's Fortieth Parallel Geological Exploration, a pivotal government survey of the American West. During his career, O'Sullivan worked alongside Charles R. Savage, a Salt Lake City photography studio owner, and Andrew J. Russell, a notable Civil War photographer.

This work draws from a new comparative analysis of the three men's photographs that supports the War Department's attribution of credit to O'Sullivan for 62 images that recent scholarship had reassigned to Russell, Savage, and others. It reconstructs O'Sullivan's life and work using diary entries, correspondence, and official reports from army officers, engineers, and civilian scientists who worked alongside him. By reexamining the photographer's work and impact on contemporaries during both the western surveys and the Civil War, it presents a cohesive history of the photographer and his peers during this critical period of change within the United States.