Photographic Views of the Atlantic and Great Western RR, vol. 2

Primary TitleBridge, Atlantic & Great Western Railway

Artist James F. Ryder (American, 1826 - 1904)

Date1862

MediumBook of 60 albumen prints

DimensionsApproximate (Plates 1-60): 7 3/8 × 9 3/8 inches (18.73 × 23.81 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.317.A-JJJ

InscribedPhotographer's Credit "J.F. Ryder, Photographist, Cleveland, 0." On Plate Description: Imprinted on front, lower center, of each plate. Plate 59 - Mount is blindstamped: "Brady's Photography...". Plate 61- Stamp reading: "From Carbutt's Garden...".

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Photography

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DescriptionOne of sixty images included in Photographic Views of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway, Volume 2.
Image, 41, of a figure standing in the center of a rail line with wooden support beams below; snow-covered branches are in the foreground.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

The Atlantic & Great Western Railway was formed in 1857 from smaller rail companies in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The owners hoped to expand to St. Louis, but the start of the Civil War in 1861 put them in financial peril. As part of an effort to attract investment from England, Ryder was commissioned to make an extensive series of views in early 1862. He produced a two-volume set of original photographs (129 in all), of which this is the second volume. This is the earliest known photographic survey of a railroad in America: it predates the work of Alexander Gardner for the Kansas Pacific Railroad (in 1867) and of Andrew J. Russell for the Union Pacific Railroad (1867-1868).

Published References

James F. Ryder, Voigtländer and I: In Pursuit of Shadow Catching (Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Printing & Publishing Co., 1902; repr. New York: Arno Press, 1973).

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