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Fisher (Robert) Collection of Views of Europe
94.R.30
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Robert B. Fisher collection of Views of Europe
Creator:
London Stereoscopic Company
Creator:
Léon et Lévy
Creator:
Photo Zürich
Creator:
Frith, Francis
Creator:
Schmitz, Anselm, 1839-1903
Creator:
Bonfils, Félix, 1831-1885
Creator:
Valentine, James, 1815-1879
Creator:
Wilson, G. W. (George Washington), 1823-1893
Creator:
Sommer, Giorgio, 1834-1914
Creator:
Neurdein frères
Creator:
Darrah, William C. (William Culp), 1909-1989
Creator:
Green, C.E.
Creator:
Grillet
Creator:
Grundy, William Morris, 1806-1859
Creator:
Smith, Beck, and Beck
Creator:
Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869
Creator:
England, William, 1830-1896
Creator:
De la Rue, Warren, 1815-1889
Creator:
Sedgfield, William Russell, 1826-1902
Creator:
Williams, T. R.
Creator:
Zangaki, P.
Creator:
Bedford, Francis, 1816-1894
Creator:
Hautecoeur, J.
Creator:
Macpherson, Robert, 1815 or 1816-1872
Creator:
Notman, William
Creator:
Richebourg, Pierre Ambroise, 1810-1875
Creator:
Ogle and Edge
Creator:
Negretti and Zambra
Creator:
Fratelli Alinari
Creator:
Fisher, Robert B.
Creator:
Lawrence & Houseworth
Identifier/Call Number: 94.R.30
Physical Description:
9.8 Linear Feet
(11 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1850-circa 1920
Abstract: A collection of glass and paper stereographs, glass lantern slides, photographic prints (single and mounted in an album) and
photomechanically illustrated travel booklets, primarily depicting European sites and cities, together with some genre scenes
and a few non-European views.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in English, French, German, and Italian.
Scope and Content of Collection
Assembled by Dr. Robert B. Fisher over a 35-year period, the focus of the collection is early European photography. The collection
contains 737 items in the following formats: 142 glass stereos, 164 lantern slides, 380 paper stereographs, 44 photographic
prints, 1 album, and 6 travel booklets. The images primarily depict European sites and cities, together with some genre scenes
and a few non-European views.
Series I: Glass stereographs, comprises 142 items (boxes 1-3), arranged by geographic location. The countries represented
are Austria, England (Roger Fenton, G.W. Wilson), France (Ferrier et Soulier), Germany, Italy (Grillet), Russia, Spain, Switzerland
(Ferrier et Soulier), Istanbul (Ferrier et Soulier), and Egypt (Francis Frith). There is also a rare image of the moon by
Warren De la Rue, circa 1860s, published by Smith, Beck, and Beck.
Series II: Glass lantern slides, comprises 164 items (boxes 4-5). 109 images of France are by C.E. Green. The original negatives,
circa 1859, were published by Levy and Company circa 1870; 100 are contained in their original box (box 4). A group of 39
slides mostly labeled 1916 represent a rail trip from Italy to Russia made that year; images include trains and train stations,
markets, daily activities, monuments, parades, and demonstrations. A group of 16 miscellaneous slides contains images of Germany,
France, the cliffs of Dover, Palestine, Spain, Ecuador, Egypt, and Martinique.
Series III: Paper stereographs, comprises 380 items (boxes 6-7), arranged by country, and maker when known. The emphasis is
on early stereographic formats including salt prints, tissue views, and hand-colored salt and albumen prints, mostly dating
from 1850-1870. A number of the stereographs are from the Darrah collection. Countries represented include France, Germany,
Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland, as well as sites in the Middle East. Great Britain is the best represented,
with images by Francis Bedford, William England, Francis Frith, William Grundy, Negretti and Zambra (expositions at the Crystal
Palace, 1851, and Sydenham, 1854), Ogle and Edge, William Russell Sedgfield, T. R. Williams, and G. W. Wilson. The early works
of the London Stereographic Company are also well represented. French photographers include J. Hautecoeur and Richebourg.
There are three stereos of the Paris Commune. Tissue views include several examples of French "Diablos," European genre scenes,
and images of the Crystal Palace and London Bridge.
Series IV: Single photographs, is comprised of 44 items (boxes 8-9). Box 8 consists of mostly unmounted photographs of France,
Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. Photographers represented include: Neurdein Frères, Giorgio Sommer, and Alinari. Box 9
consists of mounted photographs, including nine images of Egypt by Zangaki, a view of the Mount of Olives by Bonfils, various
views of Italy by Sommer and Alinari, and two views of Athens, possibly by Robert Macpherson.
Series V comprises a single leather-bound album (box 10) containing 140 albumen prints with handwritten captions in English.
Some images are dated 1870 or 1872. The album belonged to an unidentified family who may have emigrated from Scotland to Canada.
Images are of various sites in Scotland and of Hespeler and London, Ontario. In addition, there are several images of Niagara
Falls by William Notman and images of San Francisco by Lawrence and Houseworth.
Series VI: Travel booklets, is comprised of 6 volumes (box 11). The volumes are small, accordion-folded, photomechanically
illustrated travel booklets. One booklet is entitled "Around the World." Another booklet is of views of the Isle of Wight.
The remaining booklets depict various sites in Scotland.
the collection was processed by Hilary Brown and Beth Ann Guynn. The finding aid was written by Guynn and encoded by Holly
Larson with grant funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).
Robert B. Fisher collection of views of Europe, circa 1850-circa 1920, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession
no. 94.R.30
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa94r30
Acquired in 1994.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Organized in six series: Series I. Glass stereographs; Series II. Glass lantern slides; Series III. Paper stereographs; Series
IV. Single photographs; Series V. Album; Series VI. Travel booklets.
The Dr. Robert B. Fisher Collection, comprising photographs and other materials pertaining to California history, is held
at the Museum of Local History, Fremont.
Robert B. Fisher, M.D. moved to Washington Township, California in 1950 and established a medical practice in San Jose. He
was keenly interested in local history, especially that of pioneer families who settled the area, and he founded Mission Peak
Heritage Foundation in Fremont, California in 1962. He was also an expert on early European photography.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Collodion transparencies -- 19th century
Albumen transparencies -- 19th century
Lantern slides -- 19th century
Collotypes -- 19th century
Photograph albums -- 19th century
Lantern slides -- 20th century
Salted paper prints -- 19th century
Photomechanical prints -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- 19th century
Tissue stereographs -- 19th century
Great Exhibition (1851 : London, England)
Chromolithographs
Martinique -- Description and travel
Middle East -- Description and travel
Istanbul (Turkey) -- Description and travel
Isle of Wight (England) -- Description and travel
Egypt -- Description and travel
Ecuador -- Description and travel
Austria -- Description and travel
Railroad trains
Railroad stations -- Europe
Parades -- Europe
Crystal Palace (London, England)
Markets -- Europe
Niagara Falls (N.Y. and Ont.) -- Description and travel
Ontario -- Description and travel
Palestine -- Description and travel
Paris (France) -- History -- Commune, 1871
Russia -- Description and travel
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Germany -- Description and travel
Great Britain -- Description and travel
Italy -- Description and travel
Spain -- Description and travel
Europe -- Description and travel
France -- Description and travel
Scotland -- Description and travel
Switzerland -- Description and travel
Moon