Collection Guide
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Keystone-Mast Collection1996.0009
1996.0009
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California Museum of Photography
Title: Keystone-Mast Collection
creator:
Keystone View Company
creator:
Underwood & Underwood
creator:
B.W. Kilburn Company
creator:
H.C. White Co.
creator:
Universal Photo Art Co.
creator:
American Stereoscopic Company
creator:
Rau, William Herman, 1855-1920
creator:
Berry, Kelley & Chadwick
creator:
Rose, George, 1861-1942
Identifier/Call Number: 1996.0009
Physical Description:
350,000 items
Date (inclusive): 1870-1963
Abstract: The Keystone-Mast
Collection comprises over 350,000 stereoscopic photographs and negatives that depict the
world between the late-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Firms represented in
Keystone-Mast include Keystone View Company, Underwood and Underwood, B.W. Kilburn, H.C.
White Company, Universal Photo Art Company (C.H. Graves), American Stereoscopic Company,
W.H. Rau, Berry, Kelley and Chadwick, and George Rose. The photographs are not stereo cards,
but contact prints from the original negatives, annotated by Keystone staff and
photographers.
The Keystone-Mast Collection is a virtually encyclopedic visual document of the world
between the late-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, as photographed stereoscopically
(three-dimensionally). It is comprised of the extant prints and negatives created by
Keystone View Company, and the stereoscopic firms whose negatives and prints they acquired
during their tenure, which includes Underwood and Underwood, B.W. Kilburn, H.C. White
Company, Universal Photo Art Company (C.H. Graves), American Stereoscopic Company, W.H. Rau,
Berry, Kelley and Chadwick, and George Rose. Because many of these firms had in turn
acquired other studios and companies, many more photographers and companies' work may
survive in Keystone-Mast.
The photographs in this collection are not published and mass-distributed stereo cards, but
rather are contact prints from the original negatives with handwritten annotations from
Keystone staff and photographers. The images include both those that were mass-produced as
stereo cards and many more that were never published. A numbering code on the back of each
photograph gives some indication as to source (publisher), as well as whether the card was
published by Keystone View Company. It is often not possible to ascertain publication status
on images from publishers other than Keystone View Company.
There are approximately 100,000 photographic prints and 250,000 glass and film negatives in
this collection. Negatives are sometimes duplicated, but there are negatives for which no
print survives, and vice versa. In their day, one of Keystone View Company’s marketing
slogans was "the best of a million negatives," but because the company tended to destroy
obsolete views, far fewer survive to present day. Approximately 45,000 prints and negatives
have been individually cataloged and digitized. The collection is organized in the manner it
was kept by Keystone View Company. The majority of the photograph collection is organized
geographically, with the remainder organized by pedagogical topic. There is some overlap and
duplication of images between the two. The negatives are organized numerically, sorted by
publisher/company. Additionally, the company kept ledgers where they logged each negative.
The ledgers are organized numerically, sorted by publisher/company. The ledgers list the
identification numbers and titles for the negatives. Occasionally it also lists dates and
photographer/source information, however this information is often scarce.
The Keystone-Mast Collection does not include any additional business records of the
Keystone View Company or any other stereoscopic firm included in the collection. The museum
has collected a few print catalogs and other ephemera related to the collection. Although
not part of Keystone-Mast, this material is also open to research.
Whenever possible, original order of this collection was maintained.
Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California Museum of Photography, University of California,
Riverside
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Keystone View Company
Underwood & Underwood
B.W. Kilburn Company
H.C. White Co.
Universal Photo Art Co.
American Stereoscopic Company
Rau, William Herman, 1855-1920
Berry, Kelley & Chadwick
Rose, George, 1861-1942