Description: |
The collection consists of images of a wide range of subjects in a variety of stereographic formats, made by numerous and varied photographers and publishers, some of which are unidentified.
The vast majority of the stereographs are traditional, albumen or gelatin silver prints mounted on cards, issued in series by publisher or photographer from the 1860s through the 1930s, many with handwritten captions or explanations written or printed on the verso of the mount. A relative few are photomechanical prints. Subjects include views of tourist destinations or scenery in Europe (London, Paris, Rome, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and others), the United States (New York City, Niagara Falls, Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Royal Gorge, and others), the Middle East (especially Egypt, Palestine, Jerusalem, and Constantinople), and a few of eastern Africa and Asia (India, China, or Japan); portraits of people, such as U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley, actress Elizabeth Leigh Murray, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales (Edward VII), Sir Joseph Paxton, Rev. Marshall Lang, the writer Dr. Alexander Keith, Dr. & Mrs. Arthur Prichard (these are cyanotype), musicians Paul & Viola van Katwijk, and North American Indians (from Chippewa Tribe, Lake Superior Band of Chippewa, Sioux Nation, and other Native American peoples of California and New Mexico); “genre views” of people engaged in scenes of everyday life, some staged and often humorous; documentaries of various exhibitions, including: Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857 (in Manchester, England), London International Exhibition of 1862, Exposition universelle de 1867 à Paris, Vienna International Exhibition of 1873, World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Ill., Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 (in Paris), Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 (in Saint Louis, Mo.), Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 (in Philadelphia, Pa.), The Crystal Palace at Sydenham, and permanent displays in the Louvre, the Vatican, and the Palace at Versailles; documentation of the Boer War in South Africa; and miscellaneous other subjects such as political rallies, animals, cemeteries, works of art (primarily sculpture), still life compositions, and “ghost” or “spirit” photographs.
A few stereographs on glass plates are of similar subjects, as are the “tissue stereographs,” which are albumen prints mounted in cardboard frames, backed by opaque, hand colored tissue paper, such that when the stereograph is viewed with back (or transmitted) lighting, the image appears to be colored. Typically, images of light sources, such as candles or lamps, have been pricked with a pin to increase their effectiveness when viewed with transmitted light. In addition, there are several “Diables” from the famous French series of tissue stereographs known as “Journey in Hell.”
Smaller groups include the stereo daguerreotypes, which date to the early 1850s and are primarily portraits (of William Hamilton, Wyndham Knatchbull, Mrs. Glanville & Harriet Spencer, the Rev. Charles Vere Spencer, and John A’Court Gray), still life compositions, a view of the interior of The Great London Exhibition of 1851, and a few “genre views”; a group of glass slides feature treasures of Versailles, and several groups depict the devastation in France at the end of World War I; and “kromograms,” examples of F.E. Ives’ early color process using three copies of an image photographed with different colored filters and viewed through a specially designed “kromskop.”
Several groups of amateur images have been attributed to musician and composer Paul van Katwijk, with some mounted on both sides of the card and one unmounted group of a different size; some of his stereographs are on glass slides. Subjects include touring with family and friends in various European and North American locations, particularly England, France, Holland, Switzerland, Arkansas, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and New Mexico. All probably date from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s.
Of particular interest are a glass stereograph of Michelangelo’s statue of Moses (with exceptional three dimensional effect), views of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham after it was destroyed by fire in 1936, Alfred Silvester’s series “The Hero’s Wife,” and W.I. Chadwick’s “trick” photograph of two images of the same woman, entitled “My wife and my better half.” There are also two sets of Holmes’ stereoscopic diagrams (probably wood engravings, not photographic), said to have been published in the Illustrated London News in July 1852.
Prominent photographers and publishers, not mentioned above but represented, include: Edward & H.T. Anthony, George Barker, Charles Bierstadt, Samuel Bourne, James Cremer, William Crookes & John Spiller, William England, Claude-Marie Ferrier & Charles Soulier, M. Leon & J. Levy, Francis Frith, Frank M. Good, Carlton H. Graves, George Griffith, Griffith & Griffith, J. Grillet, William E. James (who produced views of the Holy Land for sale to Sunday Schools in America), nature photographers Richard and Cherry Keaton, Keystone Viewing Company, B.W. Kilburn, Kilburn Brothers, Horatio Nelson King, E. Lamy, Loescher & Petsch, London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, Timothy O’Sullivan (one), “Phiz” (pseud. of Hablot Knight Browne), J. Quéval, William H. Rau, Jules Richard, Charles Piazzi Smyth (one), John P. Soule, Underwood & Underwood, H. C. White, Ben Wittick, and many, many others.
Other stereographs, including views of the moon (in paper and glass format), and views of the Crystal Palace in London, can be found in the following collections: Warren de la Rue Photography Collection (PH-02932) and Negretti & Zambra Photography Collection (PH-02934).
Stereo daguerreotypes can be found in the following collections: Richard Beard Photography Collection (PH-02745), A. (Antoine) Claudet Photography Collection (PH-01073), William Edward Kilburn Photography Collection (PH-02751), J. E. (John Jabez Edwin) Mayall Photography Collection (PH-00385), and the Daguerreotypes by Unidentified Photographers Photography Collection (PH-00266). |
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