Lot 615
William Notman (1826-1891)
Lot 615 Details
William Notman (1826-1891), Canadian
PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (ALBUM OF 26), CIRCA 1889 - 1904, TITLES INCLUDING:
LAKE LOUISE AND VICTORIA GLACIER [ 4732 ];
BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL [3784]; BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL [3780]); LAKE AGNES AND THE BEEHIVE [3800];
THE CASCADE AT GLACIER AND EAGLE PEAK [3866];
THREE SISTERS, CANMORE [2036]; CATHEDRAL PEAK. (ALT. 10,284) KICKING HORSE VALLEY [3819]; CASTLE CRAGS, LEFROY, HAZEL, & LAKE AGNES [3098];
VALLEY OF THE TEN PEAKS [3803]; TAKAKKAW FALLS. (1,200 FT. HIGH) YOHO VALLEY [8834];
twenty-six albumen prints; each with photographer’s studio stamp, titles and inventory numbers printed in the negative, each mounted at the corners to blank sheets of a hard cover Gilson Adjustable Album with gilt lettered cover titled “Photographs”.
Each approximately horizontal or vertical/Overall 9.5" x 7.5" — 24.1 x 19.1 cm.; 11.1" x 15.9" — 28.3 x 40.3 cm.
Estimate $1,000-$1,500
Additional Images
Note:
British Columbia’s decision to enter the newly confederate provinces of Canada in 1871 was entirely contingent upon the construction of the transcontinental railway within ten years, a development that expanded settlement, opened new markets, benefited trade and established Canada as a nation from coast to coast. Despite the financial toll of such a massive building project, the quickly westward-moving United States sparked Sir John A. Macdonald and the federal government into action, and they considered the construction of the railway a national imperative.
Printed by Notman, the first internationally recognized Canadian photographer, these photographs of early railway construction depict the rugged and sublime nature of the land, visually expressing and impressing the difficulty of the task. The creation of hotels, new towns and cities, shipping lines and trade with the Pacific, and a greater involvement in mining and metallurgy, served as tangible signs of the benefits of such expansion.