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Litchfield-Stryker family photograph album, 1878-1886

1 volume

The Litchfield-Stryker family photograph album contains pictures of Edwin C. Litchfield's "Grace Hill" residence in Brooklyn, New York; pictures of buildings and scenes in New York State, Florida, the Caribbean, and Bermuda; portraits and views of the property of members of the Litchfield, Stryker, and Hubbard families; and pictures taken camping and hunting. This album belonged to Thomas H. Stryker of Rome, New York, a nephew of Edwin C. Litchfield.

The Litchfield-Stryker family photograph album (34cm x 27cm) contains 52 carefully composed photographs, including 1 cyanotype and 51 albumen prints. The album belonged to Thomas H. Stryker of Rome, New York. Stryker was a nephew of Edwin C. Litchfield whose home, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, is featured in the album. Primarily dated 1878, the album also includes photographs dated 1879; April 11, 1884; and February 1886.

The first page displays portraits posed outdoors at "Grace Hill" of Edward H. and Grace D. Litchfield; Thomas H. Stryker with two women; and an unidentified woman alone. Grace Litchfield appears wearing a fez and holding a small stringed musical instrument, possibly a machete; Edward Litchfield is shown twice, once posed in a military uniform, once seated in civilian dress. The album features "Grace Hill" and other homes with six exterior views of the large, Gothic Revival residence in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York (4 items), a view across "Grace Court" from a second home owned by Litchfield in Brooklyn Heights (1 item), and a stable that Litchfield owned in Brooklyn (1 item). A group of 13 pictures relate to hunting trips by Tom Stryker and Ned Litchfield showing scenic forests, lakes, and pictures of their lean-to, possibly in the Adirondack region. One image shows the two men posed and equipped for winter hunting with snow shoes. Two of three pictures labeled "Virginia" appear to show a drilling or mining operation.

The album contains 15 pictures of scenery, people, and buildings in Saint Croix, Bermuda, and in Florida, including "Hubbard's orange grove, Crescent City." Also shown are photographs of John Stryker's residence in Rome, New York (2 items), "Cooper House" in Cooperstown, New York (1 item), "Hubbard Hall" in Utica, New York, (one exterior view and one interior view showing a grandfather clock), and unidentified scenes and buildings (2 items). "Dash No. 1," a pet dog, is posed in two photographs with hunting gear including pistols, rifles, and snowshoes. An image of a brass plate honoring Reverend Bella Hubbard (1739-1812), first rector of Trinity Church in New Haven, Connecticut, is pasted onto the volume's final page.

Of particular note are the exterior views of the impressive "Grace Hill" property, the early camping and hunting photographs, the view of the "Cooper House" hotel and grounds with well-dressed figures in the foreground; street scenes in Santa Cruz; a fine print of the waterfront in Bermuda; and the pictures of Florida orange production. The Virginia drilling/mining photos may be of importance if identified.

Collection

Peary Expedition photograph albums, [1897-1909?]

2 volumes

These albums contain photographs taken during Robert Peary's expeditions into the arctic regions. Volume 1 represents the 1897 trip to present-day Nunavut and Greenland on the ship Hope. The photographs feature arctic scenery, members of Peary's crew, the Hope, Inuit dwellings and American camps. The Inuit adults and children pictured include some of those who returned with Peary to the United States. Volume 2 represents one of the later Peary expeditions from 1905-1906, or 1908-1909. The images in this volume were removed from the original housing and are without identification. A vessel resembling Peary's ship from the later expeditions, S.S. Roosevelt, appears in several photos, as does a man resembling the Roosevelt's Captain, Robert Abram Bartlett.

Volume one contains 100 9cm x 9cm photographs taken during Robert Peary's expedition to present-day Nunavut and Greenland on the ship Hope in the summer of 1897. Each page (17cm x 29cm) contains two items; most include brief captions identifying places and people pictured. The volume's original covers are missing.

Many of the photographs feature scenery along Baffin Island in present-day Nunavut, including icebergs and glaciers; views of the Hope; small boats; Inuit boats and kayaks; Inuit huts and American tents; and natural features such as waterfalls, glaciers, and icebergs. The photographer also took pictures of Inuit adults, children, and crew members onboard the Hope; captions identify Robert Peary, his daughter Marie and her African American nurse, members of the expedition, and Inuit persons named "Kishu" and "Minnie". Kisuh may be Qisuk, and Minnie is very likely Minik, who were both taken to New York by Peary. A group photograph taken onboard ship may include Matthew Henson, Peary's African American assistant, although not identified as such. A few pictures were taken inside what appears to be a small wooden structure, and crew members occasionally posed outdoors with deer and caribou they had killed. One photograph of a "Fossil Bed" appears to have been printed from a broken glass plate negative.

Volume 2 is comprised of 92 12cm x 18cm and 10cm x 13cm photographic prints, likely taken on the Peary expedition of 1905 or later. The prints have been removed from the no longer extant original album pages, and are currently housed in a dark green ring-binder in a tan cloth sleeve measuring 34cm x 31cm. The images include scenes of northern settlements and camps; ice flows; crew-members on board ship; the hunting of a walrus, displaying a polar bear's head; men with bear cubs; and Inuit people, their dwellings, kayaks and boats. Several vessels appear including one that is likely the SS Roosevelt; also a fishing schooner; and an unidentified steamship. There are many portraits of crew members, all unidentified. Several are of a man resembling the Roosevelt's Captain, Robert Abram Bartlett.

Three magazine clippings from the mid-20th century are included that refer to Captain Bartlett.