Between the Covers

Hardcover. Oblong folio. Approximately 15" x 11". Original half leather and cloth binding gilt, bound and likely compiled and sold by Palmer & Howe of Manchester, England. Some modest rubbing at the extremities, a little soiling in the margins, near fine; the images are about fine, a few with slight fading. Includes 85 large albumen photographs by Gambier Bolton, Ottomar Anschutz, Henry Dixon, and others who are unidentified. Various sizes, many are approximately 7.75" x 5.75" or larger, with a few near the end smaller. Most are captioned in ink, several are captioned in the negative. Many have the marks of either Bolton or Anschutz in the negative.

In 1882 Ottomar Anschutz, a photographer in Lisa, (then in Prussia, now Lezno, Poland) began making photographic studies of a large variety of animals which he kept on an extensive estate adjoining his home. His beautiful and well-chosen images convinced the Breslau Zoo to make similar facilities available to him there. Previously to this, large living animals, including predators, had mostly only been photographed in cages, which had restricted their movements and influenced their habits. Anschutz's resulting photographs proved important to both photographers and naturalists. The images in the album by Dixon, presumably inspired by Anschutz, were taken at the London Zoo.

Except for the few slightly smaller images of dogs and field animals, beautiful in their own right, most are outdoor action images of various wild animals. Striking, large images of animals, and seldom found in a collection of this quality and vintage.

Item #412312