Mammoth plate landscape photographs from the George Davidson collection, 1860-1879?

Summary

Creators:

Watkins, Carleton E. Davidson, George Jackson, William Henry

Abstract:

Large format photographs of Western landscapes by C.E. Watkins and W.H. Jackson, collected by George Davidson. Watkins views include Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta (1870?), and Mt. Lola (1879), and various Yosemite views (1861-1869.) Jackson views are of Yellowstone National Park and landscapes in the Wyoming and Montana Territories (1872?).

Extent:

110 photographic prints : albumen ; mounts between 36 x 47 cm. and 62 x 86 cm. 76 digital objects

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

Large format photographs of Western landscapes by C.E. Watkins and W.H. Jackson, collected by George Davidson. The 76 photographs by Watkins can be described as three different groups: survey photographs of Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta (presumably all taken with the King Survey in 1870), Mt. Lola are views taken as part of the 1879 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey under George Davidson's direction and, thirdly, Yosemite views. The 1870 survey views show Mt Lassen, hot springs near Lassen, and Mt. Shasta (including the Whitney Glacier). The Shasta and Lassen views are smaller than mammoth sized, measuring approximately 21 x 31 cm. (roughly 8 x 12 in.) The 1879 Mt. Lola area views are mammoth sized. The Yosemite views are all mammoth sized and date from the 1860s, with most printed from negatives of 1861. Most of the Yosemite prints are on exceptionally large mounts, although there is enough variation to suggest the images were not all originally acquired as a single, uniform set.

The 25 views by Jackson are from Montana and Wyoming; predominantly Yellowstone National Park. Included are the Yellowstone River, canyon, and falls, Mystic Lake, geysers, the Gallatin River and canyon, Mt. Blackmore, and the Teton range. Some, if not all, date from the summer 1872 expedition of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories (the Hayden Survey).

Acquisition information:

Gift of the California Academy of Sciences, from the George Davidson Collection, 1971.

Physical location:

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Note:

Many of the Mount Shasta views in this collection were also issued by the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, on mounts bearing the imprint of this survey expedition. The George Davidson collection photographs are on mounts devoid of imprint, with calligraphic captions or no captions whatsoever.

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