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Finding aid to Miscellaneous Views of California Taken by I. W. Taber, circa 1890-1899
BANC PIC 1977.021--AX  
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Collection Details
 
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  • Collection Summary
  • Information for Researchers
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content

  • Collection Summary

    Collection Title: Miscellaneous Views of California Taken by I. W. Taber
    Date (inclusive): circa 1890-1899
    Collection Number: BANC PIC 1977.021--AX
    Extent: 12 photographic prints, black and white; 19 x 24 cm. or smaller 12 digital objects
    Repository: The Bancroft Library.
    University of California, Berkeley
    Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
    Phone: (510) 642-6481
    Fax: (510) 642-7589
    Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
    URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
    Abstract: Eight of the twelve photographs in this collection by I. W. Taber are of the San Francisco area. Included are views of Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Union Square, the Palace Hotel, and Telegraph Hill. The remaining photographs are of the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Hotel del Monte in Monterey, Santa Barbara Mission, and a Mexican-American family at Mission San Juan Capistrano. All but one of the photographs bear a printed caption and photographer's number. The photograph of the Hotel del Monte is dated 1895. The other photographs were presumably taken in the 1890s
    Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English

    Information for Researchers

    Access

    Restricted originals. Use viewing prints only. Use of originals only by permission of the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library.

    Publication Rights

    Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
    All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Miscellaneous Views of California Taken by I. W. Taber, BANC PIC 1977.021--AX, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

    Digital Representations Available

    Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below.Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.

    Related Collections

    The Bancroft Library has extensive holdings of Taber photographs. See the on-line catalog for other collections.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
    California Heritage Project. CU-BANC
    Online Archive of California.
    California State Capitol (Sacramento, Calif.) -- Pictorial works.
    Families -- California -- San Juan Capistrano.
    Hotel Del Monte (Monterey, Calif.) -- Pictorial works.
    Mexican Americans -- California -- San Juan Capistrano -- Photographs.
    Mission San Juan Capistrano -- Pictorial works.
    San Francisco (Calif.) -- Pictorial works.
    San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) -- Pictorial works.
    Santa Barbara Mission -- Pictorial works.

    Administrative Information

    Acquisition Information

    Unknown.

    Biography

    Isaiah West Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts August 17, 1830. Taber went to sea at the age of fifteen and spent several years working on whaling ships in the North Pacific. He came to California in 1850, where he spent four years working first as a miner, then a farmer. Taber returned to New Bedford in 1854 where he studied dentistry and began a dental practice. An interest in amateur photography eventually became his life-work. He settled in Syracuse, New York, where he opened his first studio. In 1864 he returned to California at the inducement of the photographers Bradley and Rulofson, whom he worked for until 1871. Taber established the "Taber Gallery" at No. 12 Montgomery Street in 1871. His highly successful business was well-known for portraiture and a vast stock of California and Western views -many of which were the unacknowledged works of other photographers. Taber's success and stature in California and abroad are evident in his being awarded the photographic concession of the Midwinter Fair of 1893-94 in San Francisco, his being sent to London in 1897 to photograph the pageant of the Queen Victoria Jubilee, and his commission to photograph King Edward VII. Taber's career ended in 1906 when his entire collection of glass plates, view negatives and portraits on glass were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire. He died February 22, 1912.
    (Sources: Hart, James D. A Companion to California. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978, p.439; Murray, W. H. The Builders of a Great City: San Francisco's Representative Men. San Francisco: The Journal, 1891, p.329-330; and Burdette, Robert J. American Biography and Genealogy. California edition. ( Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., [191-]), p. 756-761.)

    Scope and Content

    Eight of the twelve photographs in this collection by I. W. Taber are of the San Francisco area. Included are views of Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, Union Square, the Palace Hotel, and Telegraph Hill. The remaining photographs are of the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Hotel del Monte in Monterey, Santa Barbara Mission, and a Mexican-American family at Mission San Juan Capistrano. All but one of the photographs bear a printed caption and photographer's number. The photograph of the Hotel del Monte is dated 1895. The other photographs were presumably taken in the 1890s