Collection Guide
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Muybridge (Eadweard) Photograph collection
PC0006
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Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Eadweard Muybridge photograph collection
Identifier/Call Number: PC0006
Physical Description:
8.25 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1868-1929
Summary: This collection
includes original Muybridge glass plate negatives and prints, as well as modern day copy
prints of his photographs. Original materials, 1872-1880, include images of the Stanfords'
residences in Sacramento and San Francisco, other unidentified estates, and two printed
cards from his horse in motion series, 1878. Images represented by copy prints include
Canadian Pacific Railway, Indians, San Francisco, Oakland, and several Central America
photographs. Also included in the collection is a set of glass slides, primarily of images
included in this collection, probably assembled by Harry C. Peterson, former curator of the
Stanford Museum.
Language of Material:
Undetermined .
Access to the glass plate negatives must be approved by the University Archivist.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special
Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Eadweard Muybridge Photograph Collection (PC0006). Dept. of Special Collections and
University Archives, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
Eadweard Muybridge was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, England, in April 1830 as Edward James
Muggeridge. He came to the United States in 1851 and worked for two publishing companies on
the east coast until 1855, when he moved to California and established a book store in San
Francisco. In 1860 he set off on an extensive journey east through the United States and on
to Europe, but was injured in a stagecoach accident in Texas. He spent some time in England
recuperating and back in the States suing the stage coach company, but not all of his
activities between 1860 and 1866 are known.
In 1867 he returned to California and commenced his photography career, focusing for the
next six years on California and the Far West. He traveled in Central America and Panama
during 1875 to 1876; and in 1876 and 1877 he completed his panorama of San Francisco.
Muybridge worked closely with Senator Leland Stanford on experiments to record horses in
motion, trying first to answer the question of whether or not all four feet are off the
ground during the trot. In 1873 he successfully captured that event in Sacramento, using
Leland Stanford's horse Occident as his subject. He made further photographs of Occident in
1877 and then in 1878-1879 he set up a studio at Stanford's Palo Alto Stock Farm and
conducted many photographic experiments of horses in motion.
This collection includes original Muybridge glass plate negatives and prints, as well as
modern day copy prints of his photographs. Original materials, 1872-1880, include images of
the Stanfords' residences in Sacramento and San Francisco, other unidentified estates, and
two printed cards from his horse in motion series, 1878. Images represented by copy prints
include Canadian Pacific Railway, Indians, San Francisco, Oakland, and several Central
America photographs. Also included in the collection is a set of glass slides, primarily of
images included in this collection, probably assembled by Harry C. Peterson, former curator
of the Stanford Museum.
Existence and Location of Copies
Select photographs from the collection have been digitized and are available online:
http://purl.stanford.edu/ff991hz8300
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photoprints.
Stanford residences -- San Francisco.
Yosemite National Park (Calif.) -- Photographs.
Stanford residences -- Sacramento.
Glass plate negatives.
Albumen prints.
Photonegatives
Palo Alto (Calif.) Stock Farm