(CHINA; and JAPAN)<> Album containing 68 photographs, comprising 3 execution scenes at Kowloon attributed to felice beato,<> 56 views of China including studio portraits of noblemen and women, interiors of lavishly decorated homes, details of temple icons, banner-laden Heavenly Peace Street in Canton, numerous views of a bustling harbor, picturesque pagodas, a traditional funeral procession, 3 women in stocks, peddler carrying a large boar, a group of gamblers, numerous street scenes from rural villages to bustling Shanghai, views of the Great Wall, and much more, along with 10 hand-colored views of Japan including Nagasaki and Kobe. Albumen prints, 8½x10¼ inches (21.6x26 cm.) and printing-out-paper prints (10), 4x5½ inches (10.2x14 cm.); mounted one per page. Oblong folio, gilt-stamped morocco; preliminaries foxed. 1860; printed 1860-1891
A diverse and rich compilation of scarce images of Imperial China, most likely existing as a result of "The Firm," begun in 1860 by Weed and Howard and terminating in 1977 with the Hong Kong Photographic Company. Once a photographer went out of business his stock would be sold and assumed by the next professional photographer, who, in acquiring the inventory, would amass a bank of negatives by both prominent and obscure photographers. The Firm's presence played a vital role in the preservation of images which might otherwise have been lost.<
