Guide to the Asian Photograph Collection MSS.PHOTO.0397
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2022
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Asian photograph collection, circa 1870-1954
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.PHOTO.0397
Identifier/Call Number: 3457
Physical Description:
6 Linear Feet
(13 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1870-1954
Abstract: Collection of photographs, mostly from Meiji-era Japan, with a few albums depicting China, Hong Kong and other East Asian
countries from around the same time.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Majority purchased from Jerrold G. Stanoff / Rare Oriental Book Company, 1984. Some items added later, including three photo
albums transferred from the Julian C. Wright collection (M0722).
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Asian Photograph Collection (MSS PHOTO 0397). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Scope and Contents
Collection of published and unpublished photographs, mostly from Meiji-era Japan with a few albums depicting China, Hong Kong
and other Asian locales. The majority were purchased together from a dealer in 1984 with a few items added later. Most take
the form of albums, although there are also stereoviews and a set of cabinet cards. Many photographs are hand-colored.
These images were created and marketed for western consumption, focusing particularly on Japanese culture and customs, as
well as scenery (temples, gardens, streetscapes) and portraiture. Other themes include feminine domesticity, agricultural
labor and industry (silk, tobacco). While very few photographers are credited, there are confirmed works by Kusakabe Kimbei,
Uchida Kuichi, T. Enami, Ogawa Kazumasa, Kozaburo Tamamura, and Adolfo Farsari.
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. Most of
these materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japan -- History -- 19th century -- Pictorial works
Japan -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works
China -- History -- 19th century -- Pictorial works
China -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works
Japan -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Pictorial works
Souvenirs (Keepsakes)
Box 1
Album of 49 mounted hand-colored albumen prints - scenery, buildings, daily life
circa 1870-1885
Scope and Contents
Many prints contain short English captions. Lacquer album cover with damaged inset.
Box 2, object 1
Album of 29 hand-colored albumen prints - scenery, people
circa 1870-1899
Scope and Contents
Prints contain short English captions. Album is inscribed "Francis C. Edwards, Miyanoshita, Japan February 24, 1899." Final
photograph in set is an uncolored albumen print of Yuksek-Kaldirim street in Istanbul, Turkey, taken by Sébah & Joaillier
circa 1890.
Box 3
Disbound album of 37 hand-colored albumen prints - daily life
circa 1880-1890
Scope and Contents
All prints captioned in English. Lacquer album cover, inset with tortoise shell and mother of pearl.
Box 4, folder 1
32 cabinet card portraits and other scenes
circa 1872
Scope and Contents
Includes Uchida Kuichi's portraits of Emperor Meij and Empress Haru-ko, 1872 and work atrributed to Kusakabe Kimbei. All cards
feature same red border; most have contemporaneous handwritten captions in English on reverse. Some are hand-colored.
Box 4, folder 2
Album of 24 hand-colored photographs - portraits and scenes
circa 1880-1890
Scope and Contents
Album is accordion folding with loose wooden covers. Many prints contain captions in English.
Box 4, folder 3
Albumen print - "723. Daibutsuden in Nara"
circa 1880-1899
Box 4, folder 4
Japan Today. A Collection of Photographs by Germaine Kellerman. New York: Japan Reference Library
1941
Scope and Contents
Set of prints, each with caption on reverse, originally in labeled envelope. Letter from Japan Reference Library to Nathan
van Patten of Stanford University Libraries March 25, 1941 enclosed.
Box 4, folder 5
Illustrations of Japanese Life, Described by S. Takashima...Reproduced and Published by K. Ogawa
1896
Scope and Contents
Collotypes captioned in English, in two volumes with crepe pages and binding. Images in first volume are hand-colored. From
preface by Ogawa: '"I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to Messrs. K. Tamamura and S. Kajima, as well as to Prof. Burton,
for several of the plates in this volume." Other photographers also likely.
Box 5, object 1
The Hanami (Flower-Picnic), Described by S. Takahashima...Reproduced and Published by K. Ogawa
1897
Scope and Contents
Hand-colored collotypes with captions in English.
Box 6
175 stereoviews
circa 1896-1910
Scope and Contents
Acquired as two sets. First set is almost all black & white and features publishers B.W. Kilburn (two cards, 1901), "European
and American Views" (four cards, apparently a pirated series with no publisher printed), Strohmeyer & Wyman (five cards, sold
by Underwood & Underwood 1896), Underwood & Underwood (1896-1905, 14 cards, most depicting scenes from Port Arthur in the
Russo-Japanese War), Keystone View Company (37 cards, 1901-1905, some copyrighted Underwood & Underwood), International View
Company (one card of Russo-Japanese War by C.L. Wasson, 1905), Universal Photo Art Company (two cards of American Navy sailors
aboard H.M.S. Goliath by C.H. Graves, 1902), T. Enami (one undated card with patriotic theme). The second set of 103 cards
are all in color and are believed to be colorized versions of T. Enami images published by Sears, Roebuck & Company after
Enami's American publisher Ingersoll View Company licensed them in 1905. No publisher is printed on the cards, but one card
is labeled "World Series."
Box 7, object 1
Japan, Underwood & Underwood stereoview set
circa 1904
Scope and Contents
100 stereoviews, many in color, in printed case.
Box 7, object 2
Disbound album of 149 mounted prints
circa 1900-1915
Scope and Contents
122 hand-colored (some containing captions in English) and 27 black & white prints. Due to the fact that this album is in
loose-leaf format and many appear to be snapshots, this album may have been created by an amateur. Pages probably not in original
order.
Box 8
Sights and Scenes in Fair Japan. Tokyo: Imperial Government Railways
circa 1915-1917
Scope and Contents
Album of 48 hand-colored collotypes by K. Ogawa (uncredited in this edition)
Box 10
Two photo albums of an English teacher in Japan
circa 1938-1941
Scope and Contents
These albums belonged to Narcisa Irene Rhodes Faus (1917-1981), who taught English in Japan in the late 1930s after she attended
the America-Japan Student Conference in Tokyo as a UC Berkeley student. The first album contains captioned photographs (with
some loose or missing) including several of her students at Shiba Middle School in Tokyo. One photo taken aboard the ship
Tatsuta Maru is dated May 1941. The second album appears to be a gift from her students at Jiya Gakuen Myonichikan school,
which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. There are a few loose ephemeral items with the albums, including a notice from the
American Consulate to vacate Japan dated February 14, 1941, and a 1952 newspaper clipping that reports she served as Japanese
language officer during the war.
Box 11
Characteristic Japan. Views and Characters in the Land of the Rising Sun. Published by Tamamura, Photographer. Kobe, Japan
Scope and Contents
Oblong folio with 24 hand-colored collotypes captioned in English.
Box 12, object 1
Small album of 50 hand-colored prints, most with captions
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from Julian Wright art and photograph collection (M0722)
Box 12, object 3
Kabuki Drama color slide set (Koon Bunka Lab, Tokyo)
1954
Box 5, object 2
Album of 30 mounted photographs - Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou (Canton)
circa 1897
Scope and Contents
Photographs care captioned in handwritten English.
Box 9
China in Pictures. Shanghai: Liang You Printing & Publishing Company, Ltd.
1932
Scope and Contents
60 mounted silver prints with captions in English and Chinese.
Box 2, object 2
Disbound album of 32 mounted photographs of China, Japan, Korea and Thailand
circa 1870-1890
Scope and Contents
Includes 11 hand-colored prints of Japan (almost all captioned in handwritten English), as well as about an equal amount from
China, amd a few from Korea and Thailand (Siam). The origin of some photos is not identifiable, such as photos of a Western
man posing with a monkey and a collage of portraits of American presidents. Album covers are silk brocade over wood and are
damaged. Pages may not be in original order.
Box 12, object 2
Photo album belonging to Miss Ida B. Scott of Los Angeles
circa 1900-1906
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from Julian Wright art and photograph collection (M0722)
Scope and Contents
Personal album/scrapbook of travels with approximately 56 hand-captioned photographs of China and Japan as well California
(including San Francisco Earthquake ruins) and other locations. Envelope of postcards and other ephemera enclosed.
Box 13
Photo album of 49 albumen prints of world travel
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from Julian Wright art and photograph collection (M0722)
Scope and Contents
Album of published photographs, many hand-captioned and some with printed captions, chronicling a trip across North Africa,
Sri Lanka and Asia. Japanese prints are hand-colored. The last two are from Scotland.