Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865
Peter E. Palmquist, Thomas Kailbourn, Thomas R. KailbournOverview
“The research done to compile this volume is obvious and impressive. All medium and large academic libraries, as well as public libraries, will want this documentary history of photography in the west.”—American Reference Books Annual“Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865 is a fascinating window into our photographic past. . . . [and] is indeed an authoritative text. . . . Palmquist and Kailbourn have assembled a monumental work that is thorough, readable, and enjoyable at the same time as informative. All historians of photography and western America should have a copy of this book on their desk.”—Women in Photography International
Synopsis
This extraordinarily comprehensive, well-documented, biographical dictionary of some 1,500 photographers (and workers engaged in photographically related pursuits) active in western North America before 1865 is enriched by some 250 illustrations. Far from being simply a reference tool, the book provides a rich trove of fascinating narratives that cover both the professional and personal lives of a colorful cast of characters.
Booknews
This reference contains biographies of about 1,500 photographers, as well as retouchers, printers, manufacturers and sellers of photographic instruments and stock, publishers, lithographers, and engravers active in western North America before 1865. In addition to the usual biographical data such as birth and death dates or the source of a particular image, the essays provide character sketches and, taken together, capture both the economic fluidity of the 19th-century marketplace and the geographical mobility of many Americans of the time. The entries commence with the earliest known practitioners in the region (1941-42) and terminate with 1865, at which time the eras of the daguerreotype and ambrotype had passed. Contains about 250 b&w illustrations, many of them previously unpublished. The authors, Palmquist and Kailbourn, are independent researchers and writers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
From the Publisher
"The research done to compile this volume is obvious and impressive. All medium and large academic libraries, as well as public libraries, will want this documentary history of photography in the west."—American Reference Books Annual"Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865 is a fascinating window into our photographic past. . . . [and] is indeed an authoritative text. . . . Palmquist and Kailbourn have assembled a monumental work that is thorough, readable, and enjoyable at the same time as informative. All historians of photography and western America should have a copy of this book on their desk."—Women in Photography International
"An extraordinary presentation of exhaustive research. . . . The biographies at the core of the work are an extraordinary contribution to the history of photography and the history of the West. . . . Unlike most reference works, this one is a pleasure ot read. We must commend the authors, who outside the scope of academia, have so thoroughly documented these photographers and workers and shared their research with us. We must also commend the press who published it. It will be an enduring reference work and an inspiration to other researchers to range as widely and deeply."—History of Photography
"After fifty years (between them) of photo-historical research, the authors have produced a volume that profiles some 1,500 photographers, retouchers, printers, makers and dealers of equipment, publishers, lithographers, and engravers. . . . Martha A. Sandweiss minces no words of praise in her foreword: "Phtographic history, long a stepchild of art history, has been slow to acquire a basic set of reference tools," she writes. "This volume immediately rises to the very top of the pack" (xi)."—Utah Historical Quarterly
"Peter Palmquist, who lives in northern California, is likely the world's most prolific photographic historian. Certainly in North America he is unequalled for the depth and quality of his research and writing. . . . This massive volume is the capstone of a brilliant and dedicated second career as an independent researcher, along with his co-author, into the history of photography. . . . Aimed at a specialized audience as well as the library and archives reference market, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, as historian Martha Sandweiss concludes in her foreword, "becomes the standard that future biographical compendia and photographic history books will aspire to match."—British Columbia Historical News