Between the Covers

Hardcover. Quarto. Measuring 8½" x 11". Brown leather over stiff paper boards with gilt titles. Contains 186 sepia-toned gelatin silver photographs measuring between 3" x 4" and 8" x 10", with captions in pencil. Good only album with worn edges, rubbing, and tears with very good or better photographs.

A photo album following The Campbell family of Pennsylvania beginning in 1898 and continuing through 1905. The early pages show the family and their homelife in the suburbs of Philadelphia with images of Ridley Creek, the Delaware River, and their family home. A photo of a ship on the Delaware reads, “The Noble Delaware.” One section shows a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo with images of a small child perched on a donkey. The family is also photographed vacationing at a New Jersey shore town. Later images show portraits of family and friends, and travel including a trip to New Orleans.

A large section of the album features photographs related to the Spanish American War. The compiler’s father, John Campbell, was one of the soldiers depicted and young children are seen visiting him at various camps. The photos show troops with the Second Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania stationed in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania. One image shows a soldier on horseback with the caption, “Col. J.A.G. Campbell 1898”; another reads, “Col. Shenton, Col. T.E. Clyde, Lieut. Eyre, Mr. Randle, and Col. Campbell Mount Gretna, Pa 1898.” A photo of men standing by a tented encampment reads, “drilling the ‘rookies.’” A newspaper clipping discusses the duties of the “Second,” reading, “While not at the front, the Second had an unusual responsible and at the time to the men onerous and irksome duty thrust upon them.” It continues, “On account of the destruction of several large gunpowder plants through the connivance of friends and sympathizers of Spain, the National Government decided to place a very strong guard over all the large concerns of this character in the country that were working under contract and filling rush orders for the Army and Navy Departments.”

There are also images of troops at a camp in Penns Grove, New Jersey standing for morning inspection, in the mess tent, marching, at inspection, taking part in a peace parade, and breaking camp. One photo shows a group of men standing besides a tent with a caption labeling them as “prisoners," while another shows the camp from the Delaware River.

A nice collection of photographs depicting a Pennsylvania family and troops at a homefront camp during the Spanish American War.

Item #447355