Lot 138

Rare Original Photograph of Josephine Earp 1895

Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
For your consideration is a Rare Original Photograph of Josephine Earp, famous Old West lawman Wyatt Earp's wife, circa 1895. Provenance: Tombstone Western Heritage Museum, Tombstone. Josephine Sarah "Sadie" Earp née Marcus (1861-1944) met Wyatt in 1881 in the frontier boom town of Tombstone in Arizona Territory, when she was living with Johnny Behan, sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. From 1882 she was Wyatt's life companion for 46 years until his death. Josephine was born in New York City but moved with her family when she was seven to San Francisco. When she was 13/14 years old, Josephine ran away to the Arizona Territory. There is some evidence that she lived from 1874 to 1876 in Prescott and Tip Top, Arizona Territory before moving to Tombstone sometime in 1880. The facts about Josephine's life in the Arizona Territory and in Tombstone have been obscured by her legal and personal efforts to keep that period private. Josephine's own story offers a conflicting account of when she first reached Arizona. Her confusing recollection of events show how easily Josephine mixed fact and fiction. Her "life story" was published in the controversial 1976 book, "I Married Wyatt Earp, The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp" Collected and Edited Glenn G. Boyer. Modern researchers think she may also have been concealing her own past as a "sporting lady" or prostitute. This photo displays Josephine sitting on an armchair on an outdoor deck. The attached Tombstone Western Heritage Museum label on the face of the clear protective plastic sleeve, "JOSEPHINE EARP 1895", museum code, "E-025." Handwritten on the top left corner, "Sarah Earp." Photo is in good preserved condition, age tanning exhibited. Photo measure 3"W x 4.625"L, sleeve is 4.25"W x 6.25"L. Weight is U6.

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