[Photo Album of a Trip Through South America.]

Mostly Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru: 1921. 9½” x 12”. String-tied leather over flexible card. 116 pages with 236 black and white photographs adhesive mounted + an additional 12 laid in. Most photos measure 2¾” x 4 3/8” and nearly all are captioned on the page opposite the photograph. Album very good with losses at edges, and the leather covers no longer adhered to the card. Contents near fine or better.

This is a detailed photo album of a three month trip from New York to South America with an emphasis on rail travel and topography as well as street and town scenes. The photos are mounted on rectos only along with a handwritten number which corresponds to a detailed caption on the opposite page, along with the date each was taken. The anonymous compiler was likely a mining engineer or in a similar profession based on captions such as, “mature topography of the Eastern slope,” “Iquique, Chile, the great nitrate port,” or pointing out smelters, mining company offices and the like. He was traveling with a few other men, presumably to scout future business possibilities as they meandered through at least six different countries in South America, with a stop in Cuba on the way out, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands on the return trip.

The compiler left New York April 9th on a United Fruit Company steamship, the T.S.S. Ulua, and reached Cuba a few days later where he took photos of docks and harbor areas in Havana as well as twelve shots in Colón, most of which focus on its canal transport. He then traveled by sea where he reached Guayaquil, Ecuador at the end of April. Here we see a multi-shot series of men loading bananas from a barge onto a much larger vessel as well as several street scenes including a market.

As of May 3rd the compiler was at the port of Salaverry, Peru where he took photos of local laborers in small boats who were loading horses, mules and cattle onto his ship and we'll note here that at least 40 photos in the album show the native populace in each locale. After Salaverry is a section subtitled, “The Oraya Trip,” which begins with an image of banana plantations in the lowlands of the Rimac valley. There's a great shot here of locals selling fruit at a train station and a couple showing the ancient Incan terraces worked into sides of mountains. There's also a birdseye view of San Mateo as well as shots of markets and smelters at the Casapalca district mines near the Continental Divide in Peru.

The next stop was Mollendo with several more great street scenes showing makeshift structures, as well as a more built up area near the British Consulate and a wonderful view of its shoreline. In all, the album has approximately 45 street scenes as well as at least 30 showing shorelines and/or harbors of the various places visited. Another stop in Tacna included several images around train stations, a partially built cathedral, and several street scenes including store frontage. In mid-May they reached Iquique, Chile where the compiler snapped more street scenes, identified buildings, and the town's plaza. Later in May they traveled through volcano country. Here we see images of volcanoes and recent lava flows in San Pedro, images of the borax lake in Ascotan as well as views of a tiny village in Bolivia, Atocha, with shots of homes and a few of a pack of llamas.

Later our compiler was in Nazareno, Brazil where he took a great photo of an old indigenous woman spinning thread as well as one of an overloaded pack mule train. The end of May found him in Argentina and includes images of the Thorn Forest near Tucuman, cattle and haciendas on the Pampas and two shots of celebrations in La Quiaca Sortija on Argentine Independence Day.

Other interesting photos include one of a rally or meeting of a women's council in La Unión, Chile, Main Street in Uyuni, Bolivia, and many taken along the railway. Many of these show train workers as well as bridges, gorges, tunnels, and makeshift train stations. These also include majestic scenery and birdseye views of small towns such as Oroya in Peru. Also of note are four “stitched” panoramas made up of groups of two to three photos laid side by side. These include the shorelines or harbors of Havana, Guayaquil, Ecuador, Arica, Chile, and Mollendo, Peru.

A comprehensive and detailed album of a rail trip through South America in 1921. Very good. Item #4650

Price: $1,850.00