1893 Eastman College Yearbook

Poughkeepsie, NY: n.p., 1893. An unusual handmade 1893 Eastman College photographic yearbook scrapbook. Mounted with the school's own currency notes and the previous owner's scrap elements, including an interleaved, original paper service napkin from the steamer ship MARY POWELL. Majority of pages mounted with a substantial number of unusual, albumen print photograph stamps featuring portraits of the school's faculty and students, often accompanied by personal inscriptions, drawings, engrossing, or original verse from the images' subjects. This uncommon photographic (truncated) technique is found in yearbooks from Eastman from the 1890's, though additional, extant examples of the process prove scarce. Stamp portraits such as these were briefly described in a 1905 book by Walter E. Woodbury titled: PHOTOGRAPHIC AMUSEMENTS: Including a Description of a Number of Novel Effects Obtainable with the Camera: "A special camera is sold for making these little pictures. It contains a number of lenses all of the same focus. In front is an easel where the portrait is attached surrounded by a suitable border. The images given are about the size of postage stamps and when the negative is printed from an albumen or aristo paper, toned and fixed, they can be perforated and gummed at the back. They are very useful for sticking to letters, envelopes, and for business purposes." A rich collection of examples of a rare and unusal photographic technique. 4to. Plain orange stiff card wraps. 58 leaves with manuscript text and illustrations mounted with various scrap elements and approximately 300 original albumen print portrait stamps — each 1" suqare approx. — to both rectos and versos. Majority of contents held together, though entire booklet likely loose from an original outer binding. Several stamps loose. Overall fair to good only. (Inventory #: 41718)