A GLIMPSE AT THE VERNACULAR TRAVEL, DOCUMENTARY & FAMILY ALBUMS FROM THE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CENTURIES BACK OF BEYOND BOOKS CATALOGUE NO. 23 • SPRING 2021 A GLIMPSE AT THE VERNACULAR TRAVEL, DOCUMENTARY & FAMILY ALBUMS FROM THE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CENTURIES CATALOGUE NO. 23 • SPRING 2021 83 North Main Street • Moab, UT 84532 (435) 259-5154 • (800) 700-2859 backofbeyondbooks.com
[email protected] CATALOGUE NO. 23 PUBLISHED BY BACK OF BEYOND BOOKS Today, within a blink of an eye, a newly shot digital photograph may be seen by millions of people, with the potential to be a cause for celebration, protest, or pure entertainment. We take digital photography for granted, yet it is simply one format of the many that have evolved since the first photographs were developed in the mid-19th century. Every picture tells a story, and we celebrate those stories here in Catalogue 23, where we present a range of photograph albums, from early carte de visite (CDV) and tintype albums to cabinet card albums, vernacular albums (photographs that take everyday life and common things as subjects) and documentary albums dating into the first half of the 20th century. We also offer prime examples of period albums ready to re-use today, along with small lots of CDVs, tintypes, and cabinet cards. For the past 15 years, Back of Beyond has primarily dealt in collectible books and paper, with photography as a secondary interest. This all changed when in October 2020, in partnership with our colleagues at Walkabout Books, we purchased 6,000 pounds of photographic material. Time will reveal the wisdom or stupidity of our actions, but that purchase has led us deep, very deep, into the rabbit hole of photography.