Stereographic Views of San Francisco Bay Area Locations by Eadweard Muybridge, circa 1865-1879

Summary

Creators:

Eadweard Muybridge

Abstract:

The Stereographic Views of San Francisco Bay Area Locations collection consists of 42 stereographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge from circa 1865 to circa 1879.

Extent:

42 stereographs; 12 x 18 cm. and 9 x 18 cm. 41 digital objects

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

The Stereographic Views of San Francisco Bay Area Locations collection consists of 42 stereographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge from circa 1865 to circa 1879. The collection is distributed into five Series consisting, for the most part, of garden and woodland scenes from the "Homes of California" series, many captioned "Mosswood, Alameda County" and some captioned "Fernside, Alameda County." Also represented are the following series: "Views of the Pacific Coast," "San Francisco," "California," and "Bay of San Francisco." Many show views of residences and estates featuring interiors and exteriors. Industrial views include the Pacific Rolling Mills (San Francisco) and one view of women at work in the California Standard Sack Company (San Francisco). Some views were published by Bradley & Rulofson, San Francisco, and those from the "Views of the Pacific Coast" series bear Muybridge's pseudonym, "Helios Flying Studio." A number were for a time in the possession of the Monsignor Joseph Gleason Library as part of the Muybridge Lone Mountain Collection. Printed captions are reprinted in the container listing. Captions in parentheses appear in manuscript on the stereographs. Captions in brackets have been supplied.

Biographical / historical:

Edward James Muggeridge was born on April 9, 1830 in Kingston-on-Thames, England. He was the second of four sons born to John Muggeridge and Susanna Smith Muggeridge. John Muggeridge was a grain, coal and timber merchant and Susannah Smith Muggeridge came from a prosperous family engaged in the business of carrying by barge. At the age of 22 Edward decided to go to America and he changed his name to Eadweard Muygridge. He took the spelling of his first name from the "Coronation Stone," which had been discovered in Kingston in 1850. Seven Saxon kings had been crowned upon this stone and two kings named Eadweard appeared on its plinth. As for the spelling of his last name, the "muy" may have been added to reflect some Spanish ancestry.

Upon his arrival in New York, Muybridge secured employment as a commission merchant for the London Printing and Publishing Company. One of his first friends in the U.S. was daguerreotypist Silas T. Selleck, who sparked Eadweard's interest in photography. When Selleck went West and established a successful photography studio, Muybridge soon followed. In 1855 he settled in San Francisco, where he opened a bookstore at 113 Montgomery Street. In his free time Muybridge explored California; he was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the state that he began to think about photographing landscapes. Muybridge was aware of the potential of new photographic markets in America and he considered the possibility of photography as a second career. In 1860 he returned to England where he spent several years regaining his health (he was injured in a stage coach accident during the trip from SF to NY) and studying photography more seriously. Around 1866 he returned to America, altering his surname from Muygridge to Muybridge. When he arrived in San Francisco he joined Silas Selleck in the photography business. The following year Muybridge took his "Flying Studio" to Yosemite and made numerous photographs which were presented in 1868 under the pseudonym "Helios." Over the next couple of years he made photographs of the San Francisco Bay Area, Alaska, and the Pacific Coast.

In the Spring of 1871 Muybridge married Flora Shallcross Stone. A year later he became acquainted with the Leland Stanford family and this marked the beginning of his motion photography. Over the next couple of years, in addition to his motion studies, he photographed the Modoc Indians and U.S. soldiers in Northern California, Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad. In February of 1875, after being acquitted for the murder of his wife's lover, Muybridge went south to photograph Panama and Central America. He returned to San Francisco in November upon hearing of his wife's death. The rest of his career was spent primarily on the motion studies, first at Stanford University and later at the University of Pennsylvania. Eadweard Muybridge died May 8, 1904 at 2 Liverpool Road, Kingston-on-Thames.

Acquisition information:

The Stereographic Views of San Francisco Bay Area Locations photographs were formerly part of the Lone Mountain College Collection of Stereographs by Eadweard Muybridge (BANC PIC 1971.055). The collection was purchased in 1971.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website