PHOTO TRANSCRIPTS 1858
THE ART JOURNAL, pub. by Virtue & Co., London
Vol. n.s. IV (old series vol. 21 CHECK)
VERSION: July 5, 2021
NOTE: Need. to get more complete set. Hopefully this will also have issue #s.
NOTES:
--Italics have been retained from publications, which use them for both titles as well as emphasis. To more easily locate image titles, I have continued this italicization when titles have been rendered in all capitols or put in quotes, however italics have NOT been used when the general subject of an image is mentioned.
--Image numbers listed in articles can be either an entry number in an exhibition, or the photographer’s own image number as found on labels.
--All names have been bolded for easy location. Numbers frequently refer to the photographer’s image number, but can also refer to a number in a catalog for a show. Decide whether to bold or not if can tell.
--It is not always possible in lists of photographers to know when two separate photographers are partners or not, e.g., in a list, “Smith and Jones” sometimes alludes to two separate photographers and sometimes to one photographic company. Both names will be highlighted and indexed but a partnership may be wrongly assumed. Any information to the contrary would be appreciated.
-- Brackets [ ] are used to indicate supplied comments by the transcriber; parenthesis
( ) are used in the original sources. If the original source has used brackets, they have been transcribed as parenthesis to avoid confusion.
--“illus” means that I have the view mentioned and should be scanned and included.
--Articles by photographers about technical matters – when transcribed, only names and titles have been listed. If other names are associated with the paper they are listed as well.
--Meetings of Societies – Names of officers, members attending or referenced, dates and locations of meetings have been given. If the reports are very short or discuss photographs, then the articles have been copied; if administrative or technical in nature, they have not.
--“[Selection]” = This has been used when not all portions of a feature are copied, such as The Photographic News’ “Talk In The Studio”. If the word does not appear, then the entire feature was transcribed.
-- Some journals, e.g., The Art-Journal, cover both photographer and painting/drawing. As they frequently refer to the production of both the photographer and the painter as “pictures” it is not always possible to tell when photography is indicated. If there is doubt, it will be included but a note will be added stating that the names listed may in fact not be photographers.
--Mostly articles totally discussing technical aspects of photography, products, etc. are not transcribed unless they are part of a larger article covering photographs. When technical descriptions are too lengthy to transcribe that is noted.
--Cultural sensitivity – these are direct transcriptions of texts written in the 19th-century and reflect social comments being made at that time. Allowances must be made when reading some texts, particularly those dealing with other cultures.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____June 1, 1858, p. i:
[Ad] Stereoscopic Views, the English Lakes, Scenery in Wales, &c., &c.
Messrs. Ogle & Edge beg to call the attention of connoisseurs and the numerous admirers of picturesque scenery to their Photographic Views for the Stereoscope. They consist generally of scenes selected for their artistic beauty, or historical and literary poetic associations, principally in the lake district of the north of England and in North Wales and have been already extensively patronised, as among the most successful productions of the Art-science of which they are the result. Specimens may be had from the principal dealers in photographic reproductions in London and the provinces. –Preston May 12th 1858
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____June 1, 1858, p. 191:
Messrs. Ogle and Edge’s Photographic Views for the Stereoscope.—Our attention has been directed to a series of photographic views, the productions of these gentlemen, who are locally resident at Preston, in Lancashire, and whose works may be inspected at the establishment of Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, in Cornhill. They consist exclusively of views in England and Wales, comprising subjects of universal interest, being extremely beautiful in their scientific development, charmingly picturesque and artistic in selection and effect, and showing in nearly all instances a refined discernment of objects, historically and pictorially, of rare value. In this series we have lake, mountain, and river, with views of some of the most striking and important among the many remains of feudal and monastic grandeur—pictures of the abbeys of Furness and Tintern, the castles of Conway and Carnarvon; while views of Greta Hall and Rydal Mount, the homes of the laureates Southey and Wordsworth, and Nab Cottage, the lowly winter residence of the simple-minded Hartley Coleridge, are by no means among the least valuable of the collections, as well from their associations with the great men “Who penned and uttered wisdom,” as from their scenic beauties among the ever-living charms of the English lakes. Moreover, we are here introduced to places which the “lake poets” have made familiar as household words: the ancient mill at Ambleuse; scenes on the Brathay and the Rothay, with their bridges and villas; Borrowdale and Rydal Mere, Grasmere and Ullswater; the falls at Lowdore, Gowbarrow, and Rydal, and other points made renowned in immortal verse. We regard this series as a boon of no common magnitude, peculiarly acceptable at this moment, when “travel” is likely to be in England, rather than on the Continent, where so many impediments to pleasure now exist. How many there are who have journeyed over Switzerland and through the South:--nay, who know more of Sweden and Norway than they do of England, to whom these views may be suggestions and inducements, exhibiting, as they do, so many attractions of delicious scenery, of hallowed associations, and of structures rendered sacred by time and use. Artists who supply us with subjects such as these are patriots as well as benefactors—they add to our pride and love of country, making us more than content with “home,” and inculcating not alone a duty to be fulfilled, but a happiness to be enjoyed by visits to the scenes which nature and genius have made “holy.”
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Aug. 1, 1858, p.220-230:
Egypt and Palestine* (*Egypt and Palestine, Photographed and Described by F. Frith, jun. London: James S. Virtue, City Road and Ivy Lane.)
We have before us the very best work we have ever yet met with, to illustrate two of the most interesting countries in the world. Mr. Frith gives to people who sit at home at ease the result of his travels, in the shape of beautifully executed photographs, with very brief notes of his own, referring to the places illustrated. He says, and says truly, “Scarcely any one ever does read the letter-press which accompanies a series of views;” and, “if the critics will be good enough not to call disagreeable attention to my writing, not one person in ten will think of looking at it.” Criticism is in this way disarmed; and accordingly we have taken up Mr. Frith’s work—as we presume he intends us—to look at the drawings, and form our estimate of his undertaking by them alone. The three numbers already published [addenda to this article covers the 4th number] contain views of the Great Pyramid, Sphynx; Koum Ombo, Upper Egypt; the Pool of Hezekiah, at Jerusalem; Nazareth; Cleopatra’s Temple at Erment; the English Church at Jerusalem; Bethlehem; Luxor; and Sculptures at Dendera. We have in these a sufficient variety to show what the rest of the work may be expected to be; and when we contrast the immeasurable superiority of these photographs over all other views of these countries which have of late been accumulated by the thousands, we feel that great praise is deservedly due to Mr. Frith for the resolution he has displayed in overcoming many difficulties, which, in the East, make photographing at some periods almost hopeless.
Mr. Frith says, “A photographer only knows—he only can appreciate the difficulty of getting a view satisfactorily into the camera; foregrounds are especially perverse; distance too near or too far; the falling away of the ground; intervention of some brick wall or other commonplace object, which an artist would simply omit; some, or all of these things (with plenty others of a similar character) are the rule and not the exception.” But these are not the only difficulties. There are superadded the trouble in working the collodion, and the personal inconvenience of the artist. “When (at the Second Cataract, 1000 miles from the mouth of the Nile, with the thermometer at 110˚ in my tent) the collodion actually boiled when poured upon the glassplate, I almost despaired of success. By degrees, however, I overcame this and other difficulties; but suffered a good deal throughout the journey from the severe labour rendered necessary by the rapidity with which every stage of the process must be conducted in climates such as these; and from excessive perspiration, consequent on the suffocating heat of a small tent, from which every ray of light, and consequently every breath of air, was necessarily excluded.”
We have quoted Mr. Frith’s own words, in order to convey to the reader’s mind some idea of the obstacles which oppose themselves in the East, to such an undertaking as that which he has brought to so successful an issue. Although the temperature in Palestine is some degrees below that experienced during the hot weather in India, nevertheless, with an intimate knowledge of both climates, we can express the result of an experience in stating, that the glare and heat upon the hills of Palestine is more oppressive and stifling than in any part of Indian. We would infinitely prefer a six days’ march in May across the Delta of India, to the two days’ march across the Lebanon from Baalbec to Damascus.
It is due to Mr. Frith to have these facts put forward before making any remarks upon his sunpictures, because their value would not otherwise be properly understood, and their defects would seem like faults, which the artist might have avoided.
Mr. Frith’s illustration of the stone wall, which an ordinary artist would omit, but which the photographer cannot, is very much to the point: for instance, in first looking over his drawings, we felt really disappointed with the view of Nazareth. AS we learn from the letter-press, Mr. Frith first approached this lengthened residence of the Saviour from the south, coming from Jenin across the great plain of Esdraelon. Nazareth itself is secluded in a little basin adjoining the plain, which is surrounded by fifteen hills. The town itself climbs up the sides of the one towards the west. We should have expected that the photographer would have endeavoured to face the town, taking in the Latin Convent on the left, and the Greek Church of the Annunciation on the right, so giving a complete view of Nazareth, and of the hill on which it stands. But Mr. Frith has done the very reverse; he has fixed the camera among the prickly pears upon the hillside over the town, and consequently in the picture we look down upon Nazareth and its small valley, and trace the outline of the southern hills of Samaria on the horizon.
This is anything but a good view of Nazareth; indeed, strange to say, the one really picturesque view seems to have escaped the detection of every artist who has traveled in Palestine. For the benefit of future tourists we will mention it, hoping that some one following in Mr. Frith’s steps, may be able to secure for the public a view that is scarcely second to any in Palestine, and of which we have never yet seen a drawing. To gain a proper impression of Nazareth, it ought to be approached from the north, and not from the south; just as Jerusalem ought to be approached from Jericho and not from the Mediterranean. Mr. Frith, like almost every other traveller, saw Nazareth first, coming down from Jerusalem; he ought to have seen it coming up from Tiberias through Cana. If so, on surmounting the crown of the hills which intervene between Cana and Nazareth, and having passed through the narrow cut in the rock upon the summit of the hill overhanging the town towards the north, he would have beheld a view such as photography might well desire to represent. It is a view which takes in the whole of the little basin below—the town upon the hill-side, and the plain of Esdraelon beyond. But supposing this view had presented itself, there might, and we think probably would, have arisen an insuperable objection, over which an artist might have triumphed, but which would have perplexed the camera. From the point of view we describe, the descent into the valley is so immediate (almost precipitate), and the effect of the panorama so entirely depends upon the steeps of the encircling hills, that we can quite believe a photographer would fail in attempting to catch the representation of this position. Even a partial success would be attended with great difficulties. It is, therefore, a matter of justice to consider what infinite obstacles there are in the way of such an undertaking as the present.
When, however, the camera is directed upon objects of an architectural character, the triumph of the art was never more beautifully exhibited than it is in this work. We allude more particularly to the Egyptian views, though the same remark may, with equal justice, be applied to the Pool of Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The two plates, “Cleopatra’s Temple,” and the “View at Luxor,” will realize to every one who has been in Egypt, not only the familiar place of travel, but that which even painters so commonly fail in producing—atmosphere. In the view of Luxor more particularly, the palpable, almost tangible heat, is conveyed in the picture. The figures crouching on the ground, the mud walls and rude thatch of the cottages, in the midst of the splendours of that gigantic architecture, do not more truly represent the character of the place, than the hot haziness which pervades the platform reminds us of scorching moments passed among those ruins. We do not remember to have seen any drawing which so thoroughly made us conscious of the atmosphere of Egypt as this view of Luxor does. We allude to this, because it is a proof to us of the care with which Mr. Frith has pursued his art; and the fact is proved by our own experience, for as we write we have photographs lying before us, made by ourselves upon the spot, which up to the present time we have regarded with peculiar satisfaction. Me. Frith has convinced us of his immense superiority; and knowing, as we do, at what a cost that superiority must have been purchased, how much pains it must have demanded, both in the chemical and the artistic departments of photography, we feel we are doing no more than simple justice to this gentleman, in giving him our warm thanks for having produced such admirable works of Art.
What we have said with reference to the view of Nazareth may also be said of Bethlehem. If we were to speak from the first impressions produced by the picture, we should express disappointment. The view ought to have been taken approaching Bethlehem from Jerusalem, somewhere near Rachel’s Tomb. From that position the whole amphitheatrical platform of Bethlehem would have been presented, and the background would have been filled in with the entire length of the Convent of the Nativity.
This, we apprehend, is the view which a draughtsman would have presented. Mr. Frith has chosen the very opposite. He places us immediately beneath the Convent, which we see only at an angle, catching sight at the extreme corner of the points of the roof of Queen Helena’s ever-memorable church: that church which is the most ancient Christian fabric in the world, and to repairs of the roof of which, at a alter date, King Edward contributed the oak of England. This is to us a matter of regret:--we shall probably be told by Mr. Frith that he could not help it.
The result, therefore, of our remarks on these views is briefly as follows. The architectural pictures are everything that can be desired; the landscape pictures are not their equal. In the former case, Mr. Frith (to borrow a political phrase) was master of the situation; in the latter he was not. It would be hypercriticism to make this a fault; because we believe it to be one of the difficulties which beset photography in taking views in the East, which cannot, in the present infancy of that great art, be surmounted. It is amply compensated by such a picture as that of Jerusalem from Hezekiah’s Pool. Anything more complete or satisfactory could not be desired.
As journalists of Art, we are therefore bound to express our obligation to Mr. Frith, and to wish his work all the success it so thoroughly deserves.
(Since these observations were written, a fourth part has been issued; it contains—1. Nablous, the Ancient Shechem; 2. View from Philæ, looking north; 3. Entrance to the Great Temple, Luxor. They uphold the interest of the work; and continue, with admirable judgment, a selection of views that have value in all parts of the Christian world.
It is only justice to say, that Mr. Frith has been fortunate in his alliance with the printer: our readers know how much of the result in reference to this art will depend upon the manner in which the mechanical aids are supplied; if these be defective, the artist labours in vain; he depends upon the printer even more than does the painter on the engraver when a work is to be multiplied. In these photographs there is an amount of clearness and decision in harmony with the atmosphere in which the views were produced; we may add, also, that the publication is issued with all the helps it can derive from graceful typography, and that it is altogether a very elegant production of the press.
It is certain that works of this class must increase, and that those of the engraver will decrease in proportion. In landscapes, and copies of all actual facts, the nearer we can imitate the originals the better. Where fancy may be, and where accessories ought to be, introduced, photography may in vain compete with the painter; but where facts merely are required, we are enabled to obtain aids invaluable by this wonderful art.)
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Aug. 1, 1858, p. 254:
The Scenery of Ireland.—We have much pleasure in directing public attention to a series of stereoscopic views issued by the London Stereoscopic Company; it amounts in number to 100—sufficient, therefore, to convey a fair idea of the beauties an peculiarities of the very interesting country it thus depicts. As we believe we have seen every place pictured in the collection, our recommendation may have some weight: we do recommend it cordially; especially as it cannot fail to add other inducements to those that already exist, to tourists to visit Ireland; where they will find—by its lakes and rivers, among its mountains, by its wild sea-coasts, in its ancient castles and venerable abbeys, gazing on its mysterious Round Towers, examining its fine buildings, standing near its grand waterfalls--, in short, wherever they may wander, attractions, such as, we believe, no other part of the British dominions can afford them, at so small a cost of time, labour, and money. This series does the country justice—in so far as pictures can do it: we have here the most charming “bits” of all-beautiful Killarney; the loveliest dells and hills and lakes of Wicklow; the most imposing and picturesque of its ruins—such as Cashel, Jerpoint, Holy Cross, Mucross, and Kilcrea; the finest of its modern structures—the Bank, the Post-office, the Custom-house, the Four Courts, and the College in Dublin; the grandest of its waterfalls-Torc, Powerscourt, and Dunemare; magnificent river breaks and cataracts, such as those on the Ouvane and the Deenagh; the most solemn and impressive, or the most agreeable and lovely of its glens—the Devil;s Glen, the Dargle, the Gap of Dunloe, and the Scalp; the quars at Dublin and Cork; the old castles—Blarney, Carrig-a-droid, and Ross; with :miscellanies” of a varied and striking order—such as Dangan Castle (the birthplace of Wellington), the monastic relics and crosses at Monasterboice, the Tunnel leading from Glengariff to Kenmare, Cork Harbour, the Mines in Wicklow, Howth and Kilkenny Castles (built by the Norman settlers, and still inhabited by their lords), &c. &c. It will be seen, therefore, that the series may afford pleasure of the highest order; not only to those who having visited the country know the placers well, but to those who delight in beautiful and characteristic scenery—the works of Nature or of Art. It is, thus, a valuable acquisition which this company has brought within our reach; and we thank them for it, as a boon to Ireland and a gratification to England.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Aug. 1, 1858, p. 255:
A Series of stereoscopic Views of “the Leviathan” steam-ship has been published by Messrs. Howlett and Downes (New Bond street). They are of considerable interest, and are executed with remarkable skill, exhibiting the monster of the deep under several aspects, and enabling those who cannot see the actual sight, to arrive at a fair conclusion concerning its mighty proportions. These are shown on the sides, as well as “fore and aft;” the deck also is exposed, and occasionally groups are introduced, the whole giving a very clear and satisfactory idea of the great work in its progress. Probably the artists will complete their task when the vast ship is ready for sea: they can do it well—for, judging from the examples before us, there have been few more successful contributors to the delights of the stereoscope.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Aug. 1, 1858, p. 255:
Reviews.
The Stereoscopic Magazine: A Gallery of Landscape Scenery, Architecture, Antiquities, and Natural History, accompanied with descriptive articles by writers of eminence. Published by Lovell Reeve, London.
The success which has attended the publication of Professor Piazzi Smyth’s “Teneriffe,” with its stereoscopic illustrations, has induced the publisher, Mr. Reeve, of Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, to enter upon a periodical work, of which photo-stereographs will constitute not the secondary, but the principal feature. IN these days of stereoscopies there doubtless are very many families who will be glad to be supplied monthly with three good and well-selected new views, at a very moderate charge; and if the said new views present themselves in company with equally good brief descriptive notices, it may be assured that in almost every instance they will find a still more cordial welcome. The general idea of this “Stereoscopic Magazine”: may, accordingly, be pronounced to be a sound one: the ultimate success of the Magazine itself, however, must mainly depend upon the subjects of the stereoscopic views which it will be found to contain, upon their merit as photographs, and also upon the character of the letter-press that is to be associated wit them.
The first part, now lying before us, appears to be about as favourable a specimen as first parts generally are, and generally are expected to be; for, while it would be but reasonable that the commencement of every new publication should be at least equal to the average quality of the entire work, this is rarely found to be the case; and, indeed, so generally do first parts fall short of such an average standard, that it has come to be a custom not to expect any great things from them. Part I. of the “Stereoscopic Magazine” adheres to the ordinary rule; the views are fairly executed, and they “come out” tolerably well. Why the series should open with “Falaise Castle, Normandy,” we do not presume to surmise. There is a present interest in Foley’s noble equestrian statue of Lord Hardinge which at once gives a satisfactory explanation of the reasons which have led to its being selected to form the second photograph of the group. And the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, which must always be an object of present interest, very consistently completes the first trio. The descriptive notices are much too long and much too ponderous. If they are to be read, they must be brief and attractive; they must be “descriptive notices,” and not historical or biographical essays. Such articles as those that appear in this first part may be valuable, but they are out of place; and they will only ensure the views being cut out for the stereoscope, while the letter-press is thrown aside unnoticed. If the work is to be kept together, its literary department must be recast; the views themselves we expect to improve.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Aug. 1, 1858, p. 255-256:
Reviews.
Portraits of Eminent British Artists. Photographed by Lake Price. Published by Lloyd Brothers, & Co., London.
What is to be the fate of the miniature-painters and portrait-engravers? their occupation, like Othello’s, seems almost, if not quite, gone. Photography has superseded the polished ivory and the colour-box; the professors of “sun-painting” waylay the pedestrian in every great thoroughfare, soliciting a sitting for “sixpence, frame included;” they have become a nuisance on the highways of the metropolis, while the caravan of the travelling photographist moves along the country roads, side by side with that of the wandering Zingari. In thickly populated towns, and at the door of the rustic labourer, everybody is now enabled, by a cheap and rapid process, to have his form and features handed down to his children’s children: such is one of the wonders of our age. It is no marvel, then, that artists—educated artists—are renouncing, as many have, the work in which for years they have laboured, to find employment by means of this newly-discovered agency.
Mr. Lake Price, for example, though he still exhibits to us, in the gallery of the Water-Colour Society, those charming representation of a past age, architectural and social, with which we have long been acquainted, is now one of our most successful photographists,--but certainly not of the class to which reference has just been made: the camera in his hands is made subservient to his taste and skill as an artist. We have frequently had occasion to notice his photographic pictures, combining in their material and execution all the qualities that are essential to a real work of Art; and in this series of portraits such qualities are strikingly manifest; each individual is represented
GET PAGE 256 AND TRANSCRIBE.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____ Oct. 1, 1858, p. i:
[ad repeated Nov. 1st]
[Ad] Stereoscopic Views in the North of England and Wales.
Messrs. Ogle & Edge, having made numerous important additions to their extensive Stock of PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS [sic] of Places and Objects celebrated in the History and Literature of the Northern part of England and North Wales, beg to call public attention to the present notice. Among the subjects in these additions, it may be sufficient to generalize Views (from divers points of sight) of the interesting monastic remains of Fountains, Rievaulx, Byland, and Kirkstall in Yorkshire; New Views of Furness Abbey in Lancashire; several of the Ancient Martial Strongholds, and some of the stupendous structures accomplished by modern civil science and art in the Principality, Numerous subjects, “ever charming ever new,” in the poetic district of the English Lakes, including its most celebrated retreat at Newby Bridge (the Hostelrie of the Swan), various picturesque Cottages in Trout-beck and at Conistone, and along et cet, of which no idea can be conveyed by any reference in mere general terms. Printed lists of the whole may be seen, where the Views can be procured, namely, of all Respectable Dealers in Photographic productions in London and the provinces.
Messrs. O&E [sic!] are continually adding to the lengthened list of subjects, already before the public and being themselves the only out-door operators of their establishment, the fact implies a guarantee that no views will be produced that have not some claims to distinction, either from literary association or picturesque presentment. –Preston, October 18th, 1858
1858: The Art Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; #____ Nov. 1, 1858, p. 347:
“Stereoscopic Slides.—We have been much pleased with some of the recently-introduced stereoscopic slides producing day and night effects. There is an ingenuity and an interest attached to these similar to that which gave to the diorama so high a degree of popularity. The night effects are produced by very carefully perforating the ordinary photograph, and placing coloured media behind those perforations. Of course, when we look at the stereoscopic picture so treated, with the light reflected from its surface, we have the ordinary daylight effect; but making it the screen through which the light passes to the eye, the result is that of night, with its gas-lit streets and illuminated windows. It will be readily understood that, by introducing, as any ingenious artist may do, a system of opaque and transparent painting into the stereoscopic picture, superadded to this system of perforation, an infinite variety of day and night effects can be produced; and it appears to us exceedingly easy to obtain the means for varying the effects, by opening screens behind the picture when the observer is inspecting it in his stereoscope. Those already produced by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra are highly interesting.”
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Dec. 1, 1858, p. 373:
Mr. Elliott, photographer, has submitted to us a series of very interesting stereoscopic pictures—the subject of which is the sacking of a Jew’s house; the grouping must have presented many difficulties, for there is a considerable mount of reality in all the compositions; and the several objects, which are in admirable keeping, could not have been obtained and placed together without much trouble and care. The result is highly satisfactory: they are truly pictures, and have all the value and interest of pictures on which the mind has been engaged. These works are thus a novelty to the art, as a consecutive series which “tell a story:” the plan may be followed up with great advantage, so as to detail a history of higher and more universal interest: for example—the Vicar of Wakefield. We hope Mr. Elliott will consider this meritorious issue as only the beginning of an important work.
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Dec. 1, 1858, p. 374:
Messrs. Ogle and Edge, professional photographers, of Preston, Lancashire, have submitted to us several of their more recent issues of views for the stereoscope: they are of the highest excellence, taken with more than the usual amount of artistic skill, and most effective when examined by the instrument, although really beautiful and interesting, as pictures, when seen apart from the advantage they derive from its power. The views to which we refer are principally taken in the vicinity of the Northern lakes. These lakes have become deeply interesting, not only for their natural beauties, but as associated with the histories of some of the most distinguished men of mark of the age and country—Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Wilson, and a host of lesser stars. Wordsworth especially has made famous nearly every spot that bears a name in this charming locality; and those who read his works—happily now-a-days “their name is legion”—will feel grateful to those photographers for supplying so many delicious accompaniments to his poems, better, because more actual, than those which any mere artist could produce by years of labour.”
1858: The Art-Journal vol. n.s. IV [old vol. 21]; # _____Dec. 1, 1858, p. 375:
“Stereoscopic Views in the Holy Land, Egypt, Nubia &c., from Negatives taken by F. Frith, Esq., 1858. Published by Negretti & Zambra, Photographers to the Crystal Palace.
There has been no collection of stereoscopic views at once so interesting and so valuable as this, which, coming from the hands of a singularly fortunate and skillful artist, brings to us acquaintance with that part of the old world which is dear to the heart and mind of every Christian, associated, as it is, with all that is memorable in the early progress of his faith. There is not a town, a height, a dell, a rock, a path—scarcely a step that does not recall some point in Sacred History with which every thinker and reader would desire to be made familiar; and although ‘change’ has passed over much in Palestine, much there is upon which Time has had no influence—much that is to-day as it was eighteen centuries ago, when the feet of the Saviour paced those valleys and hills. The historian and the poet have found there their richest and most exciting themes—they have drawn on their own imagination to warm that of their readers; while the painter has perhaps as often and as widely exercised his assumed privilege of giving a colouring to fact. Here, however, in this series, we have only the plain unvarnished truth: the actual is absolutely before us, and we know it. There has been here no possibility of either adding or subtracting. The sun is a rare truth-teller, which cannot lie to produce effect, not err to lead astray. Hence the surpassing value of this collection, which brings us to the very places which, eighteen hundred years ago, the Saviour trod, every one of which are noted in the holy books of the prophets and the apostles.
Although Mr. Frith says little or nothing about these impediments, we know they must have been serious and continuous. He had to travel, not with a mere note-book, which his pocket hid and secured, or a portfolio and pencils he could carry under his arm; it was absolutely necessary that he should be accompanied by a large and embarrassing apparatus, relative to which there must have been much speculation and no little suspicion, and it is a marvel that he was able to do what he has done—to bring to England his stores and himself in safety, and to give to the world the results of his toil and his danger.
The views in the Holy Land are in number fifty-eight; those in Egypt and Nubia amount to one hundred; the latter include the Pyramids, the Nile, &c., the former consist of ‘copies’—for that is the only word we can properly use—of Jerusalem (some twenty scenes), Gaza, the Mount of Olives, Arimathea, Jerjath [sic], the Pool of Bethesda, Mount Zion, Bathany [sic], Bethlehem, Hebron, the Dead Sea, the Ford of Jordan, Philippi, Damascas, Nazareth, Tiberias, Baalbec, Lebanon, and many others. The reader will hence perceive that a rare treat awaits him who will examine this deeply interesting series, and at the same time peruse the key, which gives a succinct yet sufficient history of the place described. We desire that we many as possible may share the enjoyment we have ourselves derived from this very fertile source of interest, and cordially thank the enterprising traveler and skillful artist, Mr. Frith, for having given us an ‘evening’ brimful of delight.”