Miscellaneous Views of California Taken by I. W. Taber, circa 1890-1899
Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- Eight of the twelve photographs in this collection by I. W. Taber are of the San Francisco area. Included are views of Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Union Square, the Palace Hotel, and Telegraph Hill. The remaining photographs are of the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Hotel del Monte in Monterey, Santa Barbara Mission, and a Mexican-American family at Mission San Juan Capistrano. All but one of the photographs bear a printed caption and photographer's number. The photograph of the Hotel del Monte is dated 1895. The other photographs were presumably taken in the 1890s
- Extent:
- 12 photographic prints, black and white; 19 x 24 cm. or smaller 12 digital objects
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Eight of the twelve photographs in this collection by I. W. Taber are of the San Francisco area. Included are views of Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Union Square, the Palace Hotel, and Telegraph Hill. The remaining photographs are of the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Hotel del Monte in Monterey, Santa Barbara Mission, and a Mexican-American family at Mission San Juan Capistrano. All but one of the photographs bear a printed caption and photographer's number. The photograph of the Hotel del Monte is dated 1895. The other photographs were presumably taken in the 1890s
- Biographical / historical:
-
Isaiah West Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts August 17, 1830. Taber went to sea at the age of fifteen and spent several years working on whaling ships in the North Pacific. He came to California in 1850, where he spent four years working first as a miner, then a farmer. Taber returned to New Bedford in 1854 where he studied dentistry and began a dental practice. An interest in amateur photography eventually became his life-work. He settled in Syracuse, New York, where he opened his first studio. In 1864 he returned to California at the inducement of the photographers Bradley and Rulofson, whom he worked for until 1871. Taber established the "Taber Gallery" at No. 12 Montgomery Street in 1871. His highly successful business was well-known for portraiture and a vast stock of California and Western views -many of which were the unacknowledged works of other photographers. Taber's success and stature in California and abroad are evident in his being awarded the photographic concession of the Midwinter Fair of 1893-94 in San Francisco, his being sent to London in 1897 to photograph the pageant of the Queen Victoria Jubilee, and his commission to photograph King Edward VII. Taber's career ended in 1906 when his entire collection of glass plates, view negatives and portraits on glass were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire. He died February 22, 1912.
(Sources: Hart, James D.A Companion to California.New York:Oxford University Press,1978, p.439;Murray, W. H.The Builders of a Great City: San Francisco's Representative Men.San Francisco:The Journal,1891, p.329-330; and Burdette, Robert J. American Biography and Genealogy. California edition. ( Chicago:Lewis Publishing Co.,[191-]), p. 756-761.)
- Acquisition information:
- Unknown.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481