This portrait of James J Corbett (1866-1933) shows him in a boxing pose — though ‘Gentleman Jim’ was more than just a boxer. Although Corbett was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion 1892-97, he was also college educated, an actor in film and on stage, and a boxing coach.

In 1891 the famous Irishman John L Sullivan was the heavy weight champ. But bearing the prejudice of his times (the poor immigrant Irish were often at odds with the equally poor African Americans and competing for the same jobs) Sullivan refused to fight Peter “Black Prince” Jackson because he was black. Corbett took the fight, but neither side was able to prevail, and the fight was called a draw after a grueling 61 rounds. The following year Corbett defeated Sullivan by knock-out in the 21st round.

The portrait bears the imprint of the studio of Elmer Chickering of 21 West Street in Boston Massachusetts. Although it was common to trade or sell negatives in those days, this probably was actually taken by Chickering, as it bears a mark on the negative “Copyright by E. Chickering, 6 ??? ‘96″ (the ??? is illegible but was probably the month). Also, there is a “No. 8″ on the card, suggesting it was part of a series, and indeed the Library of Congress has another image of Corbett by Chickering, apparently taken about the same time, but showing him in a uniform.