Photographic Scenery of South Africa, [S.l.]: S. Alexander, 1880

A printed book containing tipped-in reproductions from photographs, all measuring 140 x 100 mm, with brief letterpress captions beneath the prints. The prints are grainy with high contrast. Consequently, the images are listed rather than described in detail, although occasional notes and cross-references on points of interest have been added. The process used in the reproductions has not been identified.

This volume appears to be the third edition of the work. The first edition of the album, printed in Cape Town in 1878, contained 108 pages of photographs interspersed with advertisements. Mendelssohn's South African bibliography also records an edition (no date) with a similar number of prints but without advertisements and with fewer captions. The 1880 edition contains a 56-page introduction, fuller captions, but no advertisements. No place of publication is mentioned but it appears to have been printed in London since in the preface Alexander mentions the work done on the book by Messrs. Marion and Co., a Soho firm specialising in the production of photographic paper and other material. Many of the negatives from which these prints were made have been signed/scratched with the initials 'S.A.' but it has not been determined whether Alexander himself was a practising photographer. It seems more likely he purchased other photographers' work. The only other signed photograph is plate 16, by William Roe of Graaff Reinet.

Please cite as Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Photographic Scenery of South Africa, [S.l.]: S. Alexander, 1880, Y305B

Indexed

This collection level description was entered by KS using information from the original typescript catalogue.

This collection is available on microfiche: Africa, fiche numbers 154-155.