A.J. RUSSELL ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. HAYDEN, FERDINAND VANDIVEER. 1829-1887....

A.J. RUSSELL ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. HAYDEN, FERDINAND VANDIVEER. 1829-1887. And ANDREW JOSEPH RUSSELL. 1829-1902. Photographer. Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery. New York: Julius Bien, 1870. 4to (302 x 245 mm). 30 mounted albumen print photographs by Andrew Joseph Russell. Contemporary half dark green morocco over pebbled cloth boards, rebacked retaining original spine with 5 raised bands, all edges gilt. Somewhat rubbed, a few spots of light dampstaining, slight cockling to mount sheets as usual, a few fingermarks. Provenance: Rochester Historical Society Library (blindstamp on title page). SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF AN IMPORTANT WORK OF WESTERN PHOTOGRAPHY AND WESTERN AMERICANA, illustrated with A.J. Russell's dramatic photographs of the landscape of the Rocky Mountains. Russell learned photography during his service with the Military Railroad and the Quartermaster Corps in the Civil War, becoming the only photographer for the Union Army to hold a military commission. He then took his skills to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, becoming their official photographer. He spent over two years documenting the construction of a new Pacific route, taking over 800 images on glass-plate negatives. His work was published in various forms, and his best-known images include the iconic photograph of the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. In 1869, he published a selection of 50 of those images as The Great West Illustrated in a Series of Photographic Views Across the Continent; Taken Along the Line of the Union Pacific Railroad...., a great rarity of Western photography. The following year, Ferdinand Hayden, Geologist-in-charge of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, chose thirty of Russell's most striking images to illustrate this work, adding a descriptive text 'with the view that the book may be used as a guide by those who will avail themselves of the grand opportunities for geological study....' Flake 3920; Howes H-337; Margolis, To Delight the Eye 7; Sabin 31007; Sandweiss 177; Truthful Lens 81. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing