Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Caribbean vacation photograph album contains 110 commercially produced photographs compiled by an unidentified traveler during visits to several Caribbean countries and territories.

The Caribbean vacation photograph album contains 110 photographs compiled by an unidentified traveler during visits to several Caribbean countries and territories.

The album (30.5 x 25.5 cm) is bound with gray leather. All photographs are unmounted and most are accompanied by hand-written and printed captions including dates. It remains unclear whether the dates listed with captions (ranging from 1892 to 1897) refer to when a photograph was originally taken or when the photograph was acquired by the album's anonymous compiler. Certain photographs appear to have possibly been reproductions of earlier daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, etc. Most images were commercially produced by professional photographers, some of whom are identified in captions.

Caribbean locations represented include Cuba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Curacao. Also present are views of Caracas, Venezuela, as well as St. Augustine and Rock Ledge in Florida. In addition to street scenes, landscapes, occupational portraits, and architectural views, there are also numerous images depicting local civilians engaged in various activities, including many portraits of Afro-Caribbean men, women, and children.

Contents include views of the Alcazar Hotel and a slave market building in St. Augustine; a silk tree, The Queen's Staircase, and a banana garden in Nassau; views of Columbus Cathedral, Columbus Memorial Chapel, the Tomb of Columbus, an Afro-Caribbean stagecoach driver, Moro Castle, and Our Lady of Mercy Church in Havana, Cuba; the Cienfuegos Cathedral and plaza; a group of people performing a "Zapatec Dance (sic)"; views of the steamers Orinoco and Trinidad likely shown docked in Hamilton Harbour, Bermuda; the Princess Hotel, Harrington Sound, Pyramid Rock, Hungary Bay, Tucker's Cave, "Queen Cave," and St. Peter's Church in Bermuda; the H.M.S. Tourmaline in the Bermuda floating dry dock; a bird's-eye view of St. George's, Bermuda; a coral rock quarry scene; views of Jamaican scenery including Port Antonio, Annotto Bay, Castleton Garden, a "Negro Cottage," Kingston, the Rio Cobre Hotel, a bog walk in Spanishtown, and a group of Afro-Caribbean sugarcane cutters; "Blue Beard's Castle" on St. Thomas; a group of masqueraders performing in a parade on St. Kitts; a leper hospital on Rat Island, Antigua; a large group portrait of Afro-Caribbean women doing laundry in a river on Guadeloupe; a view of a windmill in Barbados; a studio portrait of an Indo-Trinidadian woman; a view of a coffee plantation in Grenada; a view of La Guaira, Venezuela; and views of Caracas, Venezuela, including the interior of the "American Home" and the house of former president Antonio Guzmán Blanco; views of Curaçao including the harbor; and a studio portrait of an Afro-Caribbean woman posing with water coconuts.

The John A. McBride photograph album contains 46 photographs showing patients, rehabilitation activities, architecture, grounds, and interiors of the New Jersey State Hospital at Morris Plains.

The John A. McBride photograph album contains 46 photographs showing patients, rehabilitation activities, architecture, grounds, and interiors of the New Jersey State Hospital at Morris Plains.

The album (28 x 37 cm) is lacking a front cover while the spine has fallen off. The back cover is bound in black leather. The title page bears a photographic reproduction of what appears to be a text template with added pen inscription reading "John A. McBride, Esq. of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey State Hospital. Morris Plains. 1904." Contents mainly include images of patients engaged in various activities such as cow milking, ice cutting, land grading, stage acting, and bowling as well as views showcasing the hospital’s architecture, grounds, and interior spaces (including the main entrance, chapel, halls for male and female patients, drug room, day room, dining room, water reservoir, dormitory, kitchen, amusement hall, and various laboratory spaces including a "Photo-Micro-room"). Of particular note is an image captioned "Articles taken from a stomach - after death" showing an array of spoons, stones, and other inedible objects that had been removed from a deceased patient's stomach during their autopsy. All images have printed captions pasted beneath.

The Kate and Robert Johnson photograph album contains interior and exterior images of the Johnsons' homes and grounds in San Francisco, and Menlo Park, California, as well as portraits of the Johnsons, their family members, and friends photographed at these locations. The pictures, taken by Eadweard Muybridge circa 1880, also include examples of spirit photography.

The Kate and Robert Johnson photograph album (30 x 25 cm) contains 84 images of the Johnsons' homes on O'Farrell Street in San Francisco, California, and "Heartsease" near Menlo Park, California, taken by Eadweard Muybridge circa 1880. The album has a pebbled brown cover with a binder's ticket from Partridge & Cooper, 192 Fleet St. [London].

The first group of 42 images consists of exterior and interior views of their San Francisco mansion, including views of parlors, bedrooms, and children's rooms. A few individual portraits taken on the premises are included. Of particular note are several spirit photographs of Robert and Kate Johnson, both of whom were alive at the time (20, 21, 24, 29). The couple's art collection is often visible including the painting "Elaine" by Toby Rosenthal. Furniture and decorative arts objects appear and reappear in different rooms and positions in the carefully composed images. In one image (37), it is possibly the photographer Muybridge who appears in a mirror reflection. The section ends with a close portrait of Robert C. Johnson.

The remaining 42 photographs are scenes from the Johnsons' "Heartsease" estate near Menlo Park, California. While the San Francisco photographs focus primarily on room interiors, the Menlo Park photographs mostly show the grounds and surroundings. Two images include sporting activities: a girl riding a young pony (70) and a group of men and women playing croquet (60). A photographic title page image for this section includes Muybridge's pseudonym "Helios" (44). Also included is a portrait of one of Kate Johnson's numerous cats, her affinity for which was well-documented (43).

This album showcases Muybridge’s interest in urban architecture and landscape photography, his success in earning commissions from notable men and women, while also touching on San Francisco’s rapidly developing wealth. It highlights the Johnsons' ornate mansion, their expansive art collection, and features both their urban homestead and rural retreat simultaneously. Moreover, with portraits, staged "spirit" photographs, and landscape scenes placed alongside more traditional photographs of the Johnsons' homes, the album speaks to Muybridge’s multiple artistic talents and the nuances of the Johnson’s personalities.

The Marble, Colorado photograph album contains approximately 55 photographs related to industry built around the marble quarry and stone works of Marble, Colorado.

The Marble, Colorado photograph album contains approximately 55 photographs related to industry built around the marble quarry and stone works of Marble, Colorado. The album (20 x 28 cm) has brown leather covers and is partially disbound. Numerous images have manuscript captions on their versos. Images of interest include views of the marble quarry; the town of Marble; the trolley used to move marble slabs; the school and cottages made for the workers; the saw mill, finishing mill and planer; power generators; a 3-photo bird's-eye view of the marble deposit and quarry; a 2-photo panorama of the mill and village; the lathe making marble columns; a cave for mining called the Wilson Opening; and elements of the Denver-based U.S. Post Office and Federal Building (now the Byron R. White U.S. Courthouse) and Cheesman Park Memorial being constructed. The last photograph of the album bears the stamp of Arthur Luckhaus.

The New England, Boston, bridge engineering collection consists of 56 photographs including scenes in New England and New York and a railroad drawbridge under construction as well as a series of 11 half-tone images of Boston landmarks.

The New England, Boston, bridge engineering collection consists of 56 photographs including scenes in New England and New York and a railroad drawbridge under construction as well as a series of 11 half-tone images of Boston landmarks.

The photographer/compiler of the collection has not been identified. Photographs are included on loose pages that appear to have once been bound together. The initial grouping of photographs includes major landmarks such as Grant’s Tomb, scenes of action on city streets, and serene views of rocky shorelines. Automobiles only appear in a couple of photos. The steel railroad drawbridge documented in the second section can definitively be dated to 1908 when the Pennsylvania Steel Company built Bridge Number 3.40, better known as the “Bronx River Bascules,” for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

The final grouping of half-tones shows Boston as a modern, progressive city. Most of the images are derived from photographs, but the image of the new opera house was rendered from an illustration.

Souvenir Photographs of “A Trip to Cuba” is a privately published photograph album that contains approximately 213 photographs taken during a 26-member excursion to Cuba in 1907 conducted by the South West Land Company of Cuba.

Souvenir Photographs of “A Trip to Cuba” is a privately published photograph album that contains approximately 213 photographs taken during a 26-member excursion to Cuba in 1907 conducted by the South West Land Company of Cuba.

The album (35 x 27 cm) is bound in grey buckram and with the title "Cuban Trip '07" gilt stamped on the front. The name "Fred W. Adams" is also gilt stamped on the front while "Fred Adams Norman Adams Jan. 1907" can be found inscribed on a loose page tucked inside the front cover.

A printed title page is included indicating that the album's images were created during an expedition to Cuba "conducted under the auspices of The South West Land Co. of Cuba." in 1907 while also listing the traveling party's personnel and itinerary. Departing from Youngstown, Ohio, on January 4th, 1907, the group traveled to Washington, D.C., by train before departing for Havana via Tampa. Professional photographer R. W. Johnson of Pittsburgh is listed as the group's official photographer who produced the album's images.

The album begins with images taken in Washington, D.C., of the U.S. Capitol as well as a group portrait of the 26-member group piled into a D.C. sightseeing vehicle. In the latter image two pencil marks indicate the position of the album's former owner Fred Whittlesey Adams and his 13 year old son Norman (their presence is noted by pencil mark in several photographs). Subsequent images include a series depicting the party's travel by sea aboard the steamer Newhaven, views of Havana Harbor, street scenes and architectural profiles, Havana Cathedral, a cockfight, exterior and interior scenes from around Morro Castle, group portraits of Cuban agricultural laborers, views of Caibarién, images of produce being prepared for shipping, a group portrait of a family showing the mother allowing her infant to feed from a goat udder, views of the traveling party touring rural farmsteads and plantations, and a portrait of an Afro-Cuban carpenter.

The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album contains approximately 234 copies of photographs of Californian scenery originally produced by various photographers between 1856 and 1875 that were reproduced and compiled by photographer Treu Ergeben Hecht between 1890 and 1900.

The T. E. Hecht California views photograph album contains approximately 234 copies of photographs of Californian scenery originally produced by various photographers between 1856 and 1875 that were reproduced and compiled by photographer Treu Ergeben Hecht between 1890 and 1900.

The album (32 x 20 cm) has a leather spine with "Photographs" gilt stamped on the front and marbled paper cover boards. Contents are organized into geographic sections and mainly consist of street scenes, architectural profiles, aerial views, and landscape photographs documenting aspects of several Californian cities including San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Grass Valley, Nevada City, Copperopolis, Sonora, Knight's Ferry, Lake Tahoe, Cisco, Benicia, Vallejo, and Mare Island. San Francisco-related content is the most prevalent material and includes views of the Express Building, Chinatown, Russian Hill, the Mission District, Woodward's Gardens, Portsmouth Square, Telegraph Hill, Union Square, San Francisco Bay, North Beach, Broadway Wharf, the Stock Exchange, Cliff House, Market Street Railway, the Palace Hotel, and more. This album purportedly once belonged to former mayor of San Francisco James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, Jr.

Many images include handwritten captions identifying places and buildings, and in some cases the original photographer is credited. Original negatives were mainly produced during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. Photographers whose works have been reproduced include George R. Fardon, Lawrence & Houseworth (later Thomas Houseworth & Co.), Eadweard Muybridge, W. M. Stuart, and William J. Shew. Two photographic reproductions of non-photographic materials are also present including a print of San Francisco with several building vignettes as well as a document titled "Proposed Plan for Completing the County Jail." Of particular note are images of people and businesses in Chinatown, the aftermath of the 1868 Hayward earthquake, the airship Avitor Hermes, Jr. prior to takeoff during in 1869, numerous views showing businesses and storefronts (including the photography studios of Silas T. Selleck, Thomas Houseworth & Co., and W. M. Stuart), and pictures of missions across California.