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Lake George.
Glens Falls, [Seneca Ray Stoddard], 1872. 8vo (9” x 7.25”), full red morocco, renewed spine with portion of original spine laid down, gilt title and ornaments at spine, gilt ornamental title and ruled border to front cover, blind-stamped ornamental title and gilt rule border to rear cover. 12 ff. of text, 12 albumen photographs mounted on 12 stiff leaves of varying colors (pink, green, gray and white). Presentation inscription in ink on ffep reading “A Christmas remembrance from Elizabeth, 1875.” Bookplate affixed to front pastedown reading “From the Personal Library of James Buell Munn 1890 - 1967 Boston Public Library” (we have been in touch with the Boston Public Library and they make no claim to the book). CONDITION: Good, some discoloration to edges of covers, contents very clean an attractive, tonality of photos generally good, three with some fading to the perimeter. A scarce and handsome Lake George souvenir book illustrated with a series of twelve evocative photographs of this popular nineteenth-century resort destination. Stoddard’s text is written in the voice of one of many arriving from the city for respite and takes the reader through a typical summer visit to the lake. The photos, of course, are the chief interest here. The first of these is an image of the falls on the Hudson River for which Glen’s Falls is named, followed by a view of Caldwell across the lake; the facade of Fort William Henry Hotel; the view of the lake from in front of the hotel; sunrise over the lake; the parlor of Fort William Henry Hotel; the bronze fountain at the lake’s edge; the steamboat Minnehaha; Black Mountain; a couple reclining beneath an apple tree (“The Old, Old Story”); a house on Fourteen Mile Island; and the headland known as “Anthony’s Nose.” Seneca Ray Stoddard (1843–1917) was a pioneering Adirondack photographer, cartographer, writer, and artist whose work helped shape popular conceptions of the region. Born in Wilton, New York, and trained as a sign and ornamental painter for a manufacturer of railroad cars in Green Island, NY, he turned to photography in the late 1860s, mastering the wet-plate process and carrying his cumbersome equipment into the mountains. From his base in Glens Falls he spent four decades documenting both wilderness landscapes and the daily life of Adirondack residents. His 3,000 surviving images form an invaluable record of a region on the cusp of transformation from rugged frontier to celebrated tourist destination. While best known for his images of the Adirondacks, Stoddard also worked in the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the St. Lawrence River, and Maine’s Mount Desert Island and Rangeley Lake region. Stoddard’s talents extended beyond the camera. He painted, illustrated, and hand-colored photographs, but found his widest audience through his publications. Beginning in 1872 he issued Adirondacks Illustrated, a frequently revised guidebook that combined photographs, maps, and witty, Twain-like commentary on the pleasures and challenges of wilderness travel. His work in print, along with his lectures and maps, promoted the Adirondacks to a generation of post–Civil War tourists while also fostering an appreciation for the region’s preservation. A passionate conservationist, Stoddard drew attention to the environmental damage caused by unchecked logging and damming. His lobbying of the New York State Legislature contributed directly to the establishment of the Adirondack Park in 1892. By the time of his death in Glens Falls in 1917, he had secured a lasting reputation as the visual and literary interpreter of the Adirondacks. OCLC records just two examples, at Trinity College and New York Historical Society, the record noting ten photographs rather than the twelve present here. REFERENCES: “Seneca Ray Stoddard : Capturing the Adirondacks” at New York State Museum online; “Seneca Ray Stoddard Photo Collection” at Chapman Museum online.
Item #9977
Price: $1,750.00
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