(#166690) EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints. Wisconsin, The Dells of the Wisconsin River.
EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints.
EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints.
EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints.
EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints.

EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN. Albumen prints. Kilbourn City, Wisconsin: Henry Hamilton Bennett, n.d. Circa 1880-1890s. A group of eight cabinet cards, each image measuring approximately 11x8.3 cm (4 14 x 3 1/4 inches) on card mounts 15x10.8 (6 x 4 1/4 inches) embossed "Bennett Kilbourn City, Wis." across the bottom of the mount. Each photograph is captioned in ink on the mount below the image, and all are captioned in pencil on the verso of the mount. One mount has the photographer's rubber stamp in purple ink on the verso: "H. H. Bennett. / Photographic views of / picturesque Wisconsin. Dells of the Wisconsin River, &c. / Kilbourn City, Wis." The images are (1) Landing at Witches Gulch (2) In Canyon Leading from Witches Gulch (3) Waterfall in Canyon Leading from Witches Gulch (4) Giants Hand (5) The Swallows Nests (6) Chimney Rock (7) The Larks (8) The Bracket. The Dells of the Wisconsin River, a 5-mile gorge on the river in south-central Wisconsin are noted for its picturesque Cambrian sandstone rock formations and tributary canyons. "Because of the scenery provided by the dells of the Wisconsin River, Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells) quickly became a popular travel destination in the Midwest. In 1856, Leroy Gates began taking tourists on boat tours of the Wisconsin Dells. These tours were given using wooden rowboats until 1873 when the first steamboat, the Modocawanda, was used. In 1875, early landscape photographer H. H. Bennett established a studio in the city and took many photos of the sandstone formations in the dells, including stereoscopic views. Prints of these photographs were distributed across the United States, further enhancing the status of Kilbourn City as a destination for sightseers" (Wikipedia). The Dells of the Wisconsin River are now a State Natural Area closed to the public to protect sensitive ecological features, but the rock formations can still be viewed by water. According to the Wisconsin Dells Tourism Authority's "Wisconsin Dells History," the Dells were made famous in 1886 by the photographer H. H. Bennett, who took the first stop-action photo of his son jumping onto Stand Rock. Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843-1908), a major early American photographer, was famous for his pictures of the Dells of the Wisconsin River and surrounding region taken between 1865 and 1908. The popularity of his photographs helped turn the Kilbourn City into a major tourist destination. Bennett built most of his own equipment, from his camera to a stereograph mounting machine. He developed an instantaneous shutter that allowed him to stop action and built a solar printing house on iron rollers, now at the Smithsonian Institution, that could be rotated 280 degrees so that the printing racks could face the sun all day. "After Bennett created the new shutter, he was able to take clear pictures of moving subjects. The best known photograph taken by Bennett with this device was an 1886 image of his son Ashley jumping between two rock formations in the Dells. The image was used as proof that Bennett's advanced shutter technology worked. Boston audiences of 1890 gasped when this photograph was projected as a magic lantern slide" (Wikipedia). Images fine; mild wear to mounts. (#166690).

Price: $3,500.00

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No statement of printing.