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Blind Tom, the Musical Prodigy.

Philadelphia: Ledger Job Printing, [circa 1865]. Lithograph, 13.125” x 10”; sheet size, 16.5" x 12.5"

An exceedingly rare early portrait of the celebrated African American musical savant, based on an 1865 photographic portrait by the Bendann Brothers of Baltimore and apparently published in connection with a series of concerts given by Blind Tom in Philadelphia in 1865.

The image depicts a young Tom Wiggins (approx. 17 years old) seated beside an ornate piano in his customary costume of the period, a military frock coat with matching trousers. The uniform and pose are identical to that in the Bendann Brothers photograph (a wood engraving based on the photo appeared in the 10 February 1866 issue of Harper’s Weekly and can be viewed at npg.si.edu). However, in other respects the image differs considerably, the lithographic artist substituting a piano for the table on which Tom’s elbow rests in the photo and introducing a curtain on the right.

Thomas Greene Bethune or Thomas Greene Wiggins (1849–1908), was born into slavery and revealed his prodigious musical abilities at a very early age. His concert career began at the age of eight, and by the beginning of the Civil War he had earned thousands of dollars for his owner, Georgia lawyer and publisher James Neill Bethune. Tom continued to perform in public during the War, with Bethune donating much of the proceeds to the Confederacy. Following the war, Tom chose to remain in the custody of the Bethune family, essentially consenting to "legal slavery“ for the remainder of his life, and by the time of his death had amassed for his owners a fortune estimated at three-quarters-of a million dollars. Today it is thought that Tom was autistic, adding another dimension to the story of his exploitation.

An exceptionally rare print, with no institutional copies recorded in OCLC or discovered via google. OCLC does record two other Blind Tom items printed by Ledger Job Printing, a pamphlet entitled A Sketch of the Life of Thomas Greene Bethune (Blind Tom) and a playbill for a series of concerts at the Philadelphia Concert Hall, both of which were published in 1865. The lithograph offered here was almost certainly published around the same time. Moreover, Ledger Job Printing printed another lithograph of Blind Tom with the identical title, but based on an entirely different photograph (in which Tom holds the sheet music for his celebrated composition “Rain Storm”), taken by Philadelphia photographer W. L. Germon. An example is held by the Detroit Public Library and can be viewed at digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org. (Germon’s photograph can be viewed at columbusmuseum.pastperfectonline.com.

One of the rarest and most appealing printed portraits of Blind Tom.

CONDITION: Very good, mild creasing and a few light stains to margins, one nick at top edge (not affecting image).

REFERENCES: The Marvelous Musical Prodigy Thomas Greene ‘Blind Tom’ Wiggins at nmaahc.si.edu; Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) at blackpast.org.

Item #6637

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