Photo Album of 1898 Pacific Journey Including Hawaii, China, Hong Kong, Japan, with many colorized photos, and some interesting subject matter, including a few of things not the usual fare for a tourist photo album
- SIGNED Full blindstamped morocco. Stab binding, two bolts holding leaves together and to spine
- 1898
1898. Full blindstamped morocco. Stab binding, two bolts holding leaves together and to spine. Very Good. Interesting photos include one of a gang of women drilling a hole in Hawaii (probably convicts); pictures of Honolulu when it was just a small city, and the best accommodations would have been a two story clapboard structure; a Japanese train with passengers pressing their heads against the glass; a gull caught on board a ship; the race track in Hong Kong. Other photos are of subjects other travelers would have thought to capture on film, but while we wouldn't say these are photos of professional caliber, the little bit of color and some ineffable quality makes things such as Japanese markets and their varied characters just a little more vivid; it may be still photography, but there are times the photographer here is able to suggest movement. a little more to life. ess Japanese markets; a Japanese canal lined with ships; Oblong, 18.5 by 29.5 cm. 29 leaves of card. Photos on every page, plus inside front and rear cover. 128 photos in all, of varying sizes, 44 colorized to a greater or lesser degree. People are sometimes identified in penciled captions. With significant time spent on ship, it is no surprise that a good number of photos are devoted to shipboard life, with photos of crew as well as other passengers who the album compiler might not have known previously. The photographer, though, snapped pictures of other ships and boats frequently, including such things as a Russian Man-o-War. The album certainly doesn't document everything this traveler saw and did, for which, perhaps, we should be grateful. The traveler was somewhat selective, and this created an record of greater interest than most other well-to-do tourists would have, even among those who would have had a camera at that time, when one had to treat photography as a serious hobby if one were to do it at all given the cumbersomeness and greater challenges of the physical activity of picture taking then. The album binding has staining mainly along its joints and on the spine. Light edgewear. The cover boards aren't rigidly attached to the spine, but that is the nature of the binding. Age toning to the card leaves onto which the photos are mounted. Many photos are faded but they are securely mounted and generally clean. The fading is the toll of time and not the result of mishandling.