Description
This collection includes original Muybridge glass plate negatives and prints, as well as modern day copy prints of his photographs.
Original materials, 1872-1880, include images of the Stanfords' residences in Sacramento and San Francisco, other unidentified
estates, and two printed cards from his horse in motion series, 1878. Images represented by copy prints include Canadian Pacific
Railway, Indians, San Francisco, Oakland, and several Central America photographs. Also included in the collection is a set
of glass slides, primarily of images included in this collection, probably assembled by Harry C. Peterson, former curator
of the Stanford Museum.
Background
Eadweard
Muybridge was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, England, in April 1830 as Edward James Muggeridge. He came to the United States in 1851
and worked for two publishing companies on the east coast until 1855, when he moved to California and established a book store
in San Francisco. In 1860 he set off on an extensive journey east through the United States and on to Europe, but was injured
in a stagecoach accident in Texas. He spent some time in England recuperating and back in the States suing the stage coach
company, but not all of his activities between 1860 and 1866 are known.