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Finding Aid to California Views Photographed by I.W. Taber, 1885-1890
BANC PIC 1962.005--PIC
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Collection Title: California views photographed by I.W. Taber
Date: 1885-1890
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1962.005--PIC
Photographer:
Taber, I.W.
Extent:
39 photographic prints mounted on 20 boards; mounts 19 x 26 cm.
39 digital objects (39 images)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Collection is open for use.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
[Identification of item], California views photographed by I.W. Taber, BANC PIC 1962.005--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below.Digital image
files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto
35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD
files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.
Selected items were digitized or re-digitized at a later date.
The Bancroft Library has extensive holdings of I. W. Taber photographs. See the on-line catalog for other collections.
Gift of Francis P. Farquhar
Isaiah West Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts August 17, 1830. Taber went to sea at the age of fifteen and spent
several years working on whaling ships in the North Pacific. He came to California in 1850, where he spent four years working
first as a miner, then a farmer. Taber returned to New Bedford in 1854 where he studied dentistry and began a dental practice.
An interest in amateur photography eventually became his life-work. He settled in Syracuse, New York, where he opened his
first studio. In 1864 he returned to California at the inducement of the photographers Bradley and Rulofson, whom he worked
for until 1871. Taber established the "Taber Gallery" at No. 12 Montgomery Street in 1871. His highly successful business
was well-known for portraiture and a vast stock of California and Western views -many of which were the unacknowledged works
of other photographers. Taber's success and stature in California and abroad are evident in his being awarded the photographic
concession of the Midwinter Fair of 1893-94 in San Francisco, his being sent to London in 1897 to photograph the pageant of
the Queen Victoria Jubilee, and his commission to photograph King Edward VII. Taber's career ended in 1906 when his entire
collection of glass plates, view negatives and portraits on glass were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire.
He died February 22, 1912.
(Sources: Hart, James D.
A Companion to California. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, p.439; Murray, W. H.
The Builders of a Great City: San Francisco's Representative Men. San Francisco: The Journal, 1891, p.329-330 ; and Burdette, Robert J.
American Biography and Genealogy. California edition. (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., [191-]), p. 756-761.)
This collection of Taber photographs was presumably collected by Francis P. Farquhar who donated them in 1962. It consists
of 39 photographs mounted back-to-back on 19 x 26 cm. mounts. Included are views of hotels, mansions, missions, buildings
and general city views taken in various California locations. Photographs 1-21 are primarily of Southern California locales
including the Hotel del Coronado (San Diego), the Englewood Hotel (Riverside), Santa Barbara Mission, and the Raymond Hotel
(Pasadena). Locations in Los Angeles and San Gabriel are also included in this portion of the collection. Photographs 22-37
consist of San Francisco scenes, including Golden Gate Park, Sutro Heights, the Palace Court Hotel, the Cliff House, and Chinatown.
Photographs of the mansions of Leland Stanford, J. C. Flood, David Colton, Charles C. Crocker, and Mrs. Mark Hopkins, all
located in San Francisco, are also in this section. Photograph no. 38 is a view of San Diego from the bay. Photograph no.
39 is of the Lion and Bee Hive house in Salt Lake City, Utah. This photograph is by C. R. Savage.