Anonymous American Photographer

an album containing 80 mounted photographs of Men and Women Demonstrating the Principle Hand Signs of the Odd Fellows, platinum prints, each numbered in red letterpress, 1890s.  Folio, gilt-lettered half-leather

 

Local house auction, Sydney, Australia

Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Jo Tartt and Gary Edwards, Washington, D. C.

Ezra Mack, New York, 1999

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004, and 4 other international venues through 2007 (see Appendix 1)

Sunderland, United Kingdom, University of Sunderland, We Could Have Invited Everyone, November - December 2004

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 40 and 252 (this album)

The photographs in this album are presented one or two to a leaf. The photographs are mounted to only one side of each leaf. Each image is accompanied by a printed, clipped, red, sequential number: some of these numbers are affixed onto the album page, others directly onto (but not obscuring) the photograph. The photographs have a pleasing warm tonality. Some show slight soiling, foxing, or evidence of the mounting adhesive, but generally the condition of the photographs is quite good. Most have left offset "ghosts" on the pacing album pages. On the page facing images 3 and 4, 'A. C. Smith & Seely,' is written in pencil. On the front free endpaper is the bincer's ticket for Rawlings & Brunner, Book Binders, 262 Baltimore St., Baltimore.The exterior of the album is worn and soiled. The front cover is split at the joint along the spine, and partially detached.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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