[Vernacular Photograph Album with More than One Hundred Original Images of Puerto Rico During the Spanish-American War]

[Ponce, P.R., and vicinity, 1898. Very good.. [25] cardboard leaves, illustrated with 105 bromide prints mounted in picture windows, sight size of images between 2 x 3 inches and 3.5 x 4.25 inches, numerous images captioned in the negative. Oblong slim folio. Contemporary red leather boards, spine string tied with black shoelaces, front board printed with U.S. Artillery Company A insignia in gilt. Minor wear to binding and photographs. A fascinating and informative collection of vernacular photographs documenting the service of an American artillery unit stationed in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. The images capture the men of Company A posed in camp individually and in groups, in training movements, walking in formation, lined up for inspection, and more. A handful of the images feature a cavalry unit, as well, featuring shots of mounted soldiers, groups of horses in a corral, horse-drawn covered wagons, and more; some of the more striking images feature a horse being lowered off of a ship by rope, and one shot shows a line of horses eating in their shipboard stables. The album include a number of shots aboard a ship, possibly the Minneapolis, which is shown in Ponce harbor. In addition to the images featuring the American soldiers, several of the shots picture indigenous Puerto Ricans, and various street scenes and other views in Ponce, featuring the Plaza, a market, houses, barracks, and more. Two of the images feature young Puerto Ricans, with the captions in the negative reading, "Muchachos." While most Spanish-American War material, including the photographic record, relates to the activities and events in Cuba, the present album documents the lesser-seen service of the American military in Puerto Rico. Also, given that the lion's share of the images are clearly vernacular, it is quite possible this is a unique photographic record.