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"...A case in point is the engraving of Asahel Grant, made from a daguerreotype, which forms the frontispiece of Thomas Laurie's biography. In this shot, probably made toward the end of his stay in America, we see a face, stunned and rigid, an erect military bearing, and little else. His beard, the badge of a cleric and hakim, is gone; the broad cravat engulfs the neck; its black windings seem to distend his jaw. Grant, a man known for his charm, energy, and vitality, stares out at us like a Victorian clerk, startled and a bit weary, rather than as an explorer who has ridden alone into the heart of Kurdistan."
--Fever and Thirst, Chapter 10
