1892-93 Photo Album 223 Albumen Prints of Massachusetts Roads

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1892-93 Photo Album 223 Albumen Prints of Massachusetts Roads:
$5000.00

[19th Century Roadways] 1892-93 Photo Album 223 Albumen Prints of Massachusetts Roads, 1892-93 Photo album; albumen prints (223)
Each 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches; With typed information on accompanying page. A beautifully-minimalist, typological survey of the roadways from Boston to Pittsfield, each album leaf has four photographs per page which correspond with an interleaving typed report, noting: Width; Traveled Way; Surface; Sides; Gutters; Sidewalks; and further remarks (“Good road,” “Good smooth road,” “Fair road, muddy in wet weather” “Good example of gravel road” “Needs resurfacing,” etc.”). Unlike other examples of photographic city surveys, which inadvertently document the people and places surrounding the public work question, the power of this album is in its uniform spareness. The road itself is constantly the subject, the focus, the entire story.The Massachusetts Highway Commission was established in 1893 and was responsible for assisting local governments with road design, construction, mapping and organization. The agency was led by three commissioners appointed by the governor, including William McClintock, the one-time owner of the present album.
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