[Vernacular Photograph Album Featuring Multiple Generations of an Active African American Family]
by [African American Photographica]
- Used
- Condition
- Very good.
- Seller
-
Dobbs Ferry, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
[Most likely the Western United States, 1959. Very good.. [39] leaves, illustrated with 155 mounted photographs, almost all black-and-white, but a handful in color, ranging from thumbnails to 5.75 x 3.5 inches. Oblong folio. Contemporary black cloth, gilt title on front cover, string tied. Edges and joints somewhat frayed. Some leaves detached, some abrasions to album leaves from removed photos. Images in generally nice condition. An interesting collection of images memorializing an unidentified African American family, including their family gatherings, travel, horsing around, driving or riding in cars, attending a christening, and more. Most of the images capture men, women, and children in their Sunday best, often in very flat, rural settings. As such, it is likely that the family lived and predominantly traveled in the Middle West (Kansas or Nebraska) or some point south or westward (Oklahoma, Texas, or New Mexico). A single image carries an identifiable processing location, from a Fox Company developing location in San Antonio. This image carries an annotation on the verso from a woman named Louise, inscribing it to her mother in an unknown location, and describing her house and a recent "eleven inch snow" which is rare in south-central Texas.
At one point, several of the subjects here visited Mexico, evidenced by two photographs of several people wearing sombreros (one labeled "Tijuana") and riding a donkey. One of the very few captioned photographs pictures a group of African American children in a horse-drawn carriage, and reads, "Where is the horse?" Another image of a newborn baby carries the imprint of Gates Studio, and another is inscribed to "Virginia" from "Frederick St. Clair," which may be clues to the origins of the family. The proposed date range, 1942 to 1959, comes from the earliest and latest dated photographs present here, thereby documenting the African American experience in the latter Jim Crow years, and well into the diaspora brought about by the Great Migration.
At one point, several of the subjects here visited Mexico, evidenced by two photographs of several people wearing sombreros (one labeled "Tijuana") and riding a donkey. One of the very few captioned photographs pictures a group of African American children in a horse-drawn carriage, and reads, "Where is the horse?" Another image of a newborn baby carries the imprint of Gates Studio, and another is inscribed to "Virginia" from "Frederick St. Clair," which may be clues to the origins of the family. The proposed date range, 1942 to 1959, comes from the earliest and latest dated photographs present here, thereby documenting the African American experience in the latter Jim Crow years, and well into the diaspora brought about by the Great Migration.
Details
- Bookseller
- McBride Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2713
- Title
- [Vernacular Photograph Album Featuring Multiple Generations of an Active African American Family]
- Author
- [African American Photographica]
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Place of Publication
- [Most likely the Western United States
- Date Published
- 1959
Terms of Sale
McBride Rare Books
All items are guaranteed as described. Any purchase may be returned for a full refund within 10 working days as long as it is returned in the same condition and is packed and shipped correctly. All items subject to prior sale.
About the Seller
McBride Rare Books
Biblio member since 2018
Dobbs Ferry, New York
About McBride Rare Books
We specialize in American history, focusing on unique and eclectic materials such as archives, broadsides, vernacular photography, and interesting or unusual imprints. Particular fields of interest include Western Americana and Latin America.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- Gatherings
- A term used in bookbinding, where a gathering of sheets is folded at the middle, then bound into the binding together. The...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Folio
- A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15" in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further,...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...