CALIFORNIA AND OREGON: YOSEMITE VALLEY, MONTEREY, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, PORTLAND, OREGON, COLUMBIA RIVER. 29 albumen photographs, circa late 1880s -- early 1890s, all probably after 1887. Seven large format and twenty two smaller format photographs, mainly scenes in Yosemite Valley, Northern California, and Monterey, including five quite rare large-format photographs of Yosemite by Yosemite photographer George Fiske (1835-1918) as well as nine smaller photographs of the valley by Fiske. None of the photographs of scenes along the The Southern Pacific Company's "Shasta Route" (opened in 1887) are numbered or signed, so, at this time, the photographer's identity is not known to us. The six photographs of coastal scenes near Monterey and the grounds of the Hotel del Monte were taken by Charles Wallace Jacob Johnson (1833-1903), born in Maryland, settled in California in 1857. "He purchased A. W. Fell's gallery in Monterey, 1880, and the opening of the Hotel Del Monte provided him with ample business through the 1890s. Johnson was a major producer, well-known for his stereoviews and boudoir card views of scenes of the Monterey Peninsula" (Mautz, p. 140). This group of 29 photographs was part of an album of photographic views, album defective and missing some images. The photographs are affixed to the rectos and versos of (now loose) card mounts (the smaller images mounted two on each side) measuring 38.5x27.5 cm (15 1/4 x 10 7/8 inches). Also present are eleven photographs, nine large format and two smaller format, of Fjaerland and Hammerfest in Northern Norway, including one of a group of Lapps. Large photos in this group are mostly about 15.8x21 cm (6 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches). Some of these photographs by various photographers are dated from the early to late 1890s. They include three by Knud Knudsen (1832-1915), "one of Norway's first professional photographers and a pioneer within Norwegian photography. His work includes images from most of Norway in his time and documents much of Norwegian history and ethnology in his photography career 1862–1900. Knudsen left a collection of 13,500 wet and dry plate negatives, and about 20,000 of albumin silver prints. The negative and print collection are at The Picture Collection, University of Bergen Library" (Wikipedia). An additional, and last image is "Blarney Castle Co. Cork," #1363, taken by an unidentified photographer. 1) Fiske, George [Glacier Point in winter] #916, signed in the negative. 32x24.6 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches). The photographer (or Hutchings) is standing on the point's overhanging rock. Strip of fade along bottom edge. Rare. 2) Fiske, George [Liberty Cap and Nevada Fall with Snow's La Casa Nevada] #1068, signed in the negative. 32x24.6 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #1. Rare. 3) Fiske, George [Vernal Fall] Stock number 340 [? obscured in the white water on left]. Signed in the negative. 32x24.6 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches). Fine. One of Fiske's classic photographs. Rare in this large format. 4) Fiske, George [Half Dome from Merced River in winter] #914, signed in the negative. 32x24.6 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #3. Rare. 5) Fiske, George [Looking up the valley in winter with North Dome, Royal Arches, Half Dome and Clouds Rest in the background] #711, signed in the negative. 32x24.6 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches). Fine. Stunning image. Rare in this large format. 6) Fiske, George [Cathedral Spires] #416, signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 x 4 1/4 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #5. 7) Fiske, George [El Capitan from the Big Oak Flat Road] #412, signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 x 4 1/4 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #5. 8) Unidentified photographer [Upper Sacramento River, Siskiyou County, Northern California, near Dunsmuir?]. 10.5x18.2 xm (4 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches). Fine. 9) Unidentified photographer [Castle Crags, Trinity Mountains, Siskiyou County, Northern California, near Dunsmuir]. 11x18.5 cm (4 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches). Fine. Lovely image. 10) Unidentified photographer [Mount Hood?]. 10x18 cm (4 x 7 1/16 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #s 8 and 9. 11) Unidentified photographer [Columbia River]. 10.3x18.5 cm (4 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches). Fine. 12) Unidentified photographer [Portland, Oregon with Mount Hood in the background]. 10x18 cm (4 x 7 1/8 inches). Fine. Lovely image. 13) Unidentified photographer [Columbia River and steamer]. 10.4x18.2 cm (4 1/8 x 7 1/8 inches). Fine. Lovely image. 14) Unidentified photographer [Columbia River Gorge]. 18.5x10.5 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/8 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #s 12 and 13. 15) Fiske, George [Wagon with tourists poised in front of the Wawona tree in the Mariposa Grove] #376, signed in the negative. 18x10.7 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches). Fine. On verso of leaf with #s 12 and 13. 16) Fiske, George [Vernal Fall] Stock number 340 [? obscured in the white water on left]. Signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches). Smaller version of image #3 above. Fine. 17) Fiske, George [Bridal Veil Fall] #585, signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 1/8 x 4 1/4 inches). Mild edge fade, nearly fine. 18) Fiske, George [Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls framed between oaks from Butterfly Avenue] #326, signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches). Fine. On the verso of leaf with #s 16 and 17. 19) Fiske, George [Stone work switchbacks on horse trail between Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls]. #441, signed in the negative. 18x10.8 cm (7 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches). Fine. On the verso of leaf with #s 16 and 17. 20) Unidentified photographer [Forest scene near Dunsmuir with Mount Shasta in the background]. 11x18.5 (4 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches). Fine. 21) Fiske, George "Big Tree Room Sentinel Hotel," #594, titled and signed in the negative. 10.5x18 cm (4 3/16 x 7 1/16 inches. Just a bit of fade, nearly fine. 22) Fiske, George [Wawona tree in the Mariposa Big Tree Grove with stage road cut through it; man with rifle posed in front of the tree], #1076, signed in the negative. 32x25 cm (12 1/2 x 9 7/8 inches). The tunnel through the tree was cut in 1881. Fine. Rare. On the verso of leaf with #s 20 and 21. 23) Unidentified photographer [Upper Sacramento River with Southern Pacific Railroad tracks on the left and Mount Shasta in the background]. 17.5x23.5 cm (7 x 9 1/4 inches). The Southern Pacific Company's "Shasta Route" opened in 1887. Fine. Lovely image. 24) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Del Monte Hotel and grounds, Monterey, California], Not numbered, signed in the negative. 11.5x19.3 cm (4 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches). Fine. The first Del Monte Hotel was built in 1880. It was destroyed by fire on June 1, 1887 and was replaced. This image and numbers 25 and 26 show the replacement. On the verso of leaf with # 23. 25) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Del Monte Hotel and grounds, Monterey, California], #17, not signed in the negative by Johnson. 11.5x19.3 cm (4 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches). Fine. On the verso of leaf with # 23. 26) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Del Monte Hotel and grounds, Monterey, California], #11, signed in the negative. 11.5x19.2 cm (4 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches). Fine. Lovely image. 27) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Monterey cypress, Carmel (near Monterey), California], Not numbered, signed in the negative. 11.5x19.3 cm (4 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches). Fine. 28) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Pacific Ocean and rocks, near Monterey, California], #4, signed in the negative. 11.7x19.2 cm (4 9/16 x 7 1/2 inches). Fine. On the verso of leaf with #s 26 and 27. 29) Johnson, Charles Wallace Jacob [Monterey cypress, Carmel (near Monterey), California], Not numbered, signed in the negative. 19.3x11.8 cm (7 1/2 x 4 5/8 inches). Fine. Lovely image. On the verso of leaf with #s 26 and 27. A exceptional collection of photographs. (#167153).
No statement of printing.