Between the Covers

Hardcover. Oblong quarto. Gilson Adjustable Album with printed label inside rear board, silk cord-tied cloth over boards with "Photographs" in gilt. Modest wear on the spine, near fine; images have scattered rubbing or silvering, else near fine. A total of 117 sepia-toned gelatin silver prints of various sizes, mostly larger than usual, with some modest panoramas, and with a representative size of perhaps about 6¼" x 4¾", with both larger and smaller prints. The majority of the images are mounted one to a page. A number have been hand colored, one has been cut into a shape. Largely uncaptioned, a couple have been dated 1902 and 1906, which seems about right, and with the last two facing pages obviously much later, identifying five middle-aged women in 1935. It seems likely the photographer was a woman.

A few clues indicate the location of the images are in Maine, probably in the vicinity of Mechanic Falls. One image shows a woman with a camera case, whom we suspect is very likely to have been the photographer and compiler of the album. The composer of the album took great care to achieve an artistic effect. The images tend to be largely rustic (although a few are of houses in both town and country), and document the natural world and people interacting with it: fishing, rowing, sailing, swimming, on farms, haying with wagons, a busy dock full of sailing vessels in a harbor, some family scenes, a few women posed in nature, and natural vistas and scenes. Perhaps a dozen images have been lightly and artistically hand-colored. A few portraits and still-lifes complete the album.

An unusually artful and pleasing album of photographs by a young woman.

Item #439042