From a private California collector.

The images that constitute this panorama represent one of the most precise visual records of pre-earthquake San Francisco still in existence. Originally published by Morse's Gallery, in 1877, these images also spawned the photographer's interest in progressive motion and sequential imaging, laying the groundwork to the stop motion photographs that Muybridge would produce later in his career.

This panorama was produced fresh from Muybridge's return from Central America where he traveled for a self-imposed working exile after the conclusion of his murder trial. Luckily for the photographer, the citizens of San Francisco were willing to accept him back into the city--despite his brutal murder of his wife's lover--viewing the deed as a form of "frontier justice." Ex-governor Leland Stanford even assisted Muybridge with his defense.

According to the publication eadweard muybridge: the stanford years 1872-1882, "In early January of 1877, Muybridge set up his camera on the tower roof of the residence that Mark Hopkins was building at the corner of California and Mason Streets in San Francisco to record the city. Its sweep of Bay and surrounding hills in a 360 degree view, the most complete panorama of San Francisco that had ever been made."
Previously, Muybridge attempted to capture San Francisco in his panoramas produced in the late 1860s and early 1870s with simpler north, south, east and west directional shots. However, these extraordinary 11 plates illustrate a massive 381-foot view from the California Street Hill encompassing 50 miles in length and 15 miles in width of the city below depicting a booming San Francisco and the lives of its quarter of a million residents.

Within the panels, spiraling cathedrals speckle the landscape between the lovely architectural townhouses that have now become associated with the city. Such remarkable details as signage and laundry hanging on the rooftops of buildings in the distance are present throughout. Dirt roads and construction is obvious in many of the panels showing the expansion of the city along with boats in the distance revealing San Francisco's busy ports. When compared to panoramas produced after the earthquake the destruction to this bustling landscape is simply extraordinary.

"The Man Who Stopped Time."

Eadweard Muybridge: The Stanford Years, 1872-1882.