Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2006 Issue
19th Century Photography from Charles Wood
The Falls of Taughannock
Item 146 is an uncommon memorial to a great event in telecommunications. It celebrates the laying of a transatlantic cable from France to the United States. The title is, The Landing of the French Atlantic Cable at Duxbury, Mass., July 1869, and includes a photograph of the cable extending up the beach entitled, "The Landing." $1,300.
Now for an item related to the greatest of American Indian photographic books, one that is financially out of reach to virtually everyone. A set of Edward Curtis' North American Indian Portfolios sold at a Christie's auction last year for $1,416,000. Item 38 is the prospectus for Curtis Indians, circa 1900-1905, announcing the publication of this 40-volume limited edition. You can have this item for the much more affordable price of $400.
Item 226 is a manuscript contract for the sale of rights to The Walford Process. H.H. Walford of Chiswick had developed a process for producing and printing color photographs, which he sold in 1897 for the then considerable sum of L2,000 plus shares of stock in the Walford Process Syndicate Ltd. Wood notes that he has been unable to find any information about the process, or whether the syndicate succeeded, though I suspect the absence of information is a strong sign that it did not. $300.
We conclude with The Falls of Taughannock...the highest fall in the State of New York... Wait a minute. Taller than Niagara? The answer is yes, Taughannock Falls are an amazing 215 feet high, one of the highest east of the Rockies. Located in the Town of Ulysses, near Ithaca in New York's Finger Lakes Region, it is part of Taughannock State Park. Item 85, published in 1872, includes a description of, along with a fantastic picture by Lewis Halsey of, these beautiful falls. $650.
Charles Wood Bookseller is found online at www.cbwoodbooks.com, and reached by phone at 617-868-1711.
