Skip to main content

Cape Town - St. George's Street., 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y305B/54

Scope and Contents

From the Fonds:

A printed book containing tipped-in reproductions from photographs, all measuring 140 x 100 mm, with brief letterpress captions beneath the prints. The captions have been recorded as found and may contain offensive, inappropriate or outdated terms. The prints are grainy with high contrast. Consequently, the images are listed rather than described in detail, although occasional notes and cross-references on points of interest have been added. The process used in the reproductions has not been identified.

This volume appears to be the third edition of the work. The first edition of the album, printed in Cape Town in 1878, contained 108 pages of photographs interspersed with advertisements. Mendelssohn's South African bibliography also records an edition (no date) with a similar number of prints but without advertisements and with fewer captions. The 1880 edition contains a 56-page introduction, fuller captions, but no advertisements. No place of publication is mentioned but it appears to have been printed in London since in the preface Alexander mentions the work done on the book by Messrs. Marion and Co., a Soho firm specialising in the production of photographic paper and other material. Many of the negatives from which these prints were made have been signed/scratched with the initials 'S.A.' but it has not been determined whether Alexander himself was a practising photographer. It seems more likely he purchased other photographers' work. The only other signed photograph is plate 16, by William Roe of Graaff Reinet.

Dates

  • Creation: 1880

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

From the Fonds:

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Language of Materials

English

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Good condition.

General

WS.

Originator(s)

?Alexander, Samuel, fl 1878-1880, publisher

Finding aid date

2004-07-16 10:21:16+00:00

Includes index.

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom