Collection Guide
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Taber (I.W.) photographs
MSS.PHOTO.0175
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
Undetermined
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: I.W. Taber photographs
creator:
Taber, I. W. (Isaiah West), 1830-1912
source:
Hopkins Transportation Library
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.PHOTO.0175
Physical Description:
3 box(es)
33 prints in 3 print boxes
Date (inclusive): circa 1870
Abstract: 33 photographs of the American West and the Southern Pacific Railroad by I.W. Taber.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
These materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.
[identification of item], I.W. Taber Photographs (MSS PHOTO 0175). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Hopkins Tranportation Library.
Taber was a noted commercial photographer whose studio was based in San Francisco beginning in 1871. Along with his own photographs
he sold work by Carleton Watkins (whose negatives he purchased following Watkins' bankruptcy) and Alfred Hart among others.
By the 1890s Taber had offices around the world, but the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake which destroyed his studio and negatives
effectively ended his career.
33 mounted prints by Isaiah West Taber (1830-1912) documenting California mountain scenery and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Most belong to two numbered series (900-1000 and B2000), but several are not captioned prints and have been identified in
pencil on verso (these are also presumed to be made or sold by Taber). Many of the images depict Mt. Shasta and Castle Rock.
The breakdown is as follows:
1 mammoth plate of the Palo Alto tree for which the town is named (number 548)
6 mammoth plates primarily of Mt. Shasta and vicinity (numbers 995, 996, 997, 999, 1000, and 1001)
4 8x6" vertical mounted prints, unnumbered, of the Shasta Division of the Southern Pacific rail line.
3 8x6" vertical mounted prints of Hot Spring Canyon (Monticeto), Portola Valley (San Mateo County), and Santa Barbara mission.
17 7.5x9.5" horizontal mounted prints of both the Shasta and Oregon Divisions of the Southern Pacific line (numbers 2066,
2070, 2074, 2075, 2081, 2083, 2085, 2086, 2093, 2094, 2101, 2107, 2109, 2110, 2113, 2115, and 2116)
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Please note that due to the nature of these prints the card board mounts have warped over time and do not lie flat.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California -- Description and travel -- Views.
Railroads -- California.
Taber, I. W. (Isaiah West), 1830-1912
Southern Pacific Railroad Company
Southern Pacific Company
Hopkins Transportation Library