Between the Covers

Unbound. 24 loose gelatin silver photographs. Eight measuring 5" x 4" and 16 measuring 4" x 4", with captions. Very good or better with light wear at the edges of some, a few with glue remnant on the rear, and two with a touch of red ink at the top edge. A nice collection of images taken by a member of the crew of the USS *New York* during her first assignment early in 1894. The *New York* was the second Navy armored cruiser after the USS *Maine*, commissioned on August 1, 1893 under the command of Captain John Philip. Her first order were to join the South Atlantic Squadron in Brazil before returning to New York. The *New York* would later take part in the Spanish-American War as the flagship of Admiral Sampson's squadron, and then in various service around the world, twice be renamed (*Saratoga* and *Rochester*), before finally being scuttled in Subic Bay in the Philippines in 1941 to prevent its uses by the invading Japanese.

All but one of the images in this group is captioned on the back with the smaller images also numbered sequentially 1-16. The first few photographs show the *New York* dock at Port Casita in St. Lucia while being resupplied with coal, islanders and local police by a large coal piles, a view of the island from on deck, fruit sellers, and a wonderful image of two native St. Lucian women. These are followed by a series of photos from different places on the ship showing men on deck, the armaments, sailors on deck cheering as the ship crosses the equator, and a view of the harbor at Rio de Janeiro. The *New York* appears to have stopped at San Domingo on its return voyage. Six photographs show the wharfs, a sugar mills, a cliff side fort, the Parque Colon with the statue of Columbus, and a crumbling building captioned: "The house where Columbus was supposed to have built at San Domingo." The final images shows the voyage ending with a steamer ship in New York Harbor and three men on deck, including the unnamed photographer.

A wonderful collection of images of one of America's earliest modern naval warships and the ports and people of the Caribbean seen during their first voyage.

Item #413036