Guide to the Eadweard Muybridge Photograph Collection

Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford, California

October 2010

Note

This encoded finding aid is compliant with Stanford EAD Best Practice Guidelines, Version 1.0.

Overview

Call Number: PC0006

Creator: Muybridge, Eadweard

, 1830-1904

Title:

Eadweard Muybridge

photograph collection

Dates: 1868-1929

Physical Description: 8.25 Linear feet

Summary: 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.

Language(s): The materials are inEnglish.

Repository: Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford, CA 94305-6064

Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu

Phone: (650) 725-1022

URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc

Biographical/Historical Sketch

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.

In 1867 he returned to California and commenced his photography career, focusing for the next six years on California and the Far West. He traveled in Central America and Panama during 1875 to 1876; and in 1876 and 1877 he completed his panorama of San Francisco.

Muybridge worked closely with Senator Leland Stanford on experiments to record horses in motion, trying first to answer the question of whether or not all four feet are off the ground during the trot. In 1873 he successfully captured that event in Sacramento, using Leland Stanford's horse Occident as his subject. He made further photographs of Occident in 1877 and then in 1878-1879 he set up a studio at Stanford's Palo Alto Stock Farm and conducted many photographic experiments of horses in motion.

Description of the Collection

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.

Access Terms

Muybridge, Eadweard

, 1830-1904

Palo Alto Stock Farm (Stanford, Calif.)

Stanford, Leland, 1824-1893.

Albumen prints.

Glass plate negatives.

Palo Alto (Calif.) Stock Farm

Photonegatives

Photoprints.

Stanford residences--Sacramento.

Stanford residences--San Francisco.

Yosemite National Park (Calif.) --Photographs.

Stanfords' Sacramento residence, glass plate negatives

Box 1, Folder 1

8749, 8759 Exterior, #13601 rear view

Exterior, #13601 rear view