Published by Primary Source Microfilm

From the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House and other sources

History of Photography is a comprehensive collection of articles and rare photographs by pioneers in photography presenting a wealth of materials for research into the history, technology and aesthetics of this medium.

The core of this collection is drawn from the holdings of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House and encompasses materials from the extensive collection of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library and Columbia University's Epstean Collection. Beaumont Newhall, Director Emeritus of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, and visiting professor of art at the University of New Mexico provided editorial guidance in the selection of materials for this collection.

This collection presents more than 2,100 monographs and periodicals published between 1830 and the early 1900s, which served as instruction manuals for hundreds of amateur photographers. The publications offered guidance in the use of photography for picture making as well as providing technical instruction. The monographs trace year-by-year development of photographic style and technique through the works of:

• Robert Hunt
• Henry Peach Robinson
• Henry Hunt Snelling
• John Towler
• Hermann Wilhelm Vogel
• Edward L. Wilson

History of Photography also encompasses many of the numerous American and foreign periodicals which flooded the market as photography was opened to thousands of photographers with the perfection of dry plates and film and the invention of the hand camera. These publications taught technique, presented illustrations of prize-winning photographs and provided essays by contributing art critics. Some answered readers' questions on technique and offered criticism of their photographs; many provided reviews of exhibitions and new books and described the personal accounts of well-known photographers.

The History of Photography includes:

• Photographische Mitteilungen, edited by Hermann Wilhelm Vogel, inventor of orthochromatic emulsions which made color photography possible
• Jahrbuch fur Photographie und Reproduktionstechnik, published by Josef Maria Eder, Austria's leading photoscientist
• American Amateur Photographer, edited by Alfred Stieglitz
• Amateur Photographer, edited by A. Horsely Hinton, one of England's leading photographers

History of Photography is an exceptional source for early texts and rare or out-of-print reference materials on the development of photography as an art form and a physical medium.

History of Photography: Bibliography and Reel Guide to the Microfilm Collection is provided with each order for the complete collection. This guide contains a bibliographic index with items arranged alphabetically as on the film, with reel and location numbers immediately following each entry. An alphabetical listing of periodicals with publication dates and reel numbers is also included with a separate listing for multiple reel titles.

Complete Collection: 489 reels

Periodicals
287 reels

Monographs and Pamphlets
202 reels

Machine-Readable Cataloging: OCLC WorldCat; 1,830 titles