Inventory of the William Bell Photographs, 1872
[top]Descriptive Summary
Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke
University
Creator
Bell, William,
1830-1910
Title
William Bell Photographs,
1872
Language of Material
Material
in English
Extent
1.6 Linear Feet
16 Items
Abstract
16 Items
William Bell was a
photographer from Philadelphia. He was employed in 1872 by the U.S.
Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th
Meridian, a United States Army survey team.
Collection includes sixteen gold-toned
albumen prints, printed from negatives made by William Bell on the Wheeler
Expedition of 1872. Fourteen photographs are from Arizona, two from Utah.
Primary subjects include landscapes of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River.
Some of Bell's photographs from this expedition were used for prints in George
M. Wheeler's
Report Upon United States Geographical Surveys West of the One
Hundredth Meridian...(Washington: GPO, 1875-1889). In the field Bell prepared
his own dry-plate negatives, a photographic process somewhat uncharacteristic
for his time. he This process allowed him to store prepared plates longer than
his contemporaries, who used wet plates, but would have also increased the
exposure times for his plates.
[top]
Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, collection may contain materials to which the
Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies.
Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in
Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour
delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare
Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Copyright Notice
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred
to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the
Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William Bell Photographs, Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The William Bell Photographs were received by the Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as a purchase in 1972.
These and other photographs by western expeditionary photographers
were purchased from Lowdermilk's bookstore in Washington, D.C. prior to its
liquidation.
Processing Information
This collection was previously processed by Bill Erwin in 1982.
Erwin conducted a great deal of research used to identify photographs made by
western expeditionary photographers. Every effort was made to retain both the
organization and informational aspects of his work except when they conflicted
with more modern practices.
Information folders contain copies of earlier catalog records and
bibliographic information for related sources including sources in which these
photographs have been published.
Additional folders contain photocopies of photographs annotated by
the National Archives, and reference prints made from copy negatives held in
this collection.
Processed by Chris Black, November 24, 2004
Encoded by Michael Shumate, Chris Black
Completed August 2006
Accession is described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local
Style Guide.
[top]
Biographical Note
Chronology List| 1830 | Born Liverpool, England |
| 1848 | Began photographic career working for his brother-in-law's daguerreotype studio in Philadelphia |
| 1872 | Served as photographer for the Wheeler Survey, West of the 100th Meridian |
| 1910 | Died in Philadelphia, Pa. |
In 1872, William Bell, a photographer from Philadelphia, found employment on a survey team established by the Army and formally titled: "U.S. Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, under the command of Lieutenant George M. Wheeler." Bell had been hired by Wheeler to replace Timothy O'Sullivan, another expeditionary photographer, who participated in the Wheeler survey of 1871 and returned in 1873.
Perhaps because William Bell participated in only one expedition, a limited amount of biographical information has been recorded for him, and that information is often vague. William Bell has most often been confused with another photographer Dr. William A. Bell (1841-1920) who served on the Palmer Expedition of 1867 for which William Jackson Palmer surveyed a route through the southwest for the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
William Bell may have fought in the US-Mexican War and for the Union in the Civil War.
Some sources have also indicated that William Bell was appointed chief photographer of the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D.C., where he may have made photographs of soldiers wounded in the Civil War.
[top]Collection Overview
This collection includes sixteen gold-toned, albumen prints, printed
from negatives made by William Bell while on the
Wheeler Expedition of 1872. Fourteen photographs
are from Arizona, and two are from Utah. The primary subjects of this
collection are picturesque landscapes made of the Grand Canyon and Colorado
River. Some of Bell's photographs from this expedition were used for prints in
George M. Wheeler's
Report Upon United States Geographical Surveys
West of the One Hundredth Meridian...(Washington: GPO, 1875-1889). This
collection is composed of one series entitled the Wheeler
Expedition of 1872 Series.
The government included photographers on western expeditions to make a
visual record of the landscape and its inhabitants. The photographs created
during these expeditions served to create maps used to plan for the
construction of roads and railways; locate natural resources; facilitate future
military operations; as well as to collect ethnographic information on and
locate Indian tribes. Perhaps most importantly, the commanders of western
expeditions used the resulting photographs as a public relations tool to gain
support for future expeditions, and to record geological information, the study
of which had become a popular science during the period. By the time of their
completion, the surveys had explored much of the region between the Great
Plains and the Pacific Coast. This recording made Bell and the other western
expeditionary photographers some of the earliest participants in America's
tradition of documentary photography.
While in the field, Bell utilized a photographic process somewhat
uncharacteristic for his time; he prepared his own dry-plate negatives. This
process allowed him to store prepared plates longer than his contemporaries,
who used wet plates, but would have also increased the exposure times for his
plates.
[top]
Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a
search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will
bring up other related research materials.
- Bell, William, 1830-1910.
- Geological Survey (U.S.)
- Photographers.
- Documentary photography.
- Landscape photography--West (U.S.)
- Landscape photography--Southwest, New.
- West (U.S.)--Pictorial works.
- Southwest, New--Pictorial works.
- West (U.S.)--Discovery and exploration.
- Southwest, New--Discovery and exploration.
- Arizona--Pictorial works.
- Utah--Pictorial works.
- Grand Canyon (Ariz.)--Pictorial works.
- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)--Pictorial works.
- Photographs.
- Albumen prints.
Related Material
The following collections in the Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript
and Special Collections Library may contain related material. These photographers each participated in
similar surveys and have since garnered somewhat more attention than William
Bell.
John K. Hillers Photographs,
1871-1889 and undated
William Henry Jackson Photographs,
1869-1878 and undated
Timothy H. O'Sullivan Photographs,
1868-1873
 | List of Series in Collection | |||||||
 |  | Wheeler Expedition of 1872 Series | ||||||
Detailed Description of Collection
Wheeler Expedition of 1872 Series
(1 box)
Quotation marks were used to indicate information taken directly
from the photographs.
When photographs were identified as Bell's by comparison with
negatives held at the National Archives the relevant negative number has been
provided.
Box WB1
Print WB.P1
"No. 1. Cañon of Kanab Wash, Colorado
River, Looking South"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P2
"No. 2. Cañon of Kanab Wash, Colorado
River, Looking North"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P3
"No. 3. Cañon of Kanab Wash, Colorado
River, Looking South"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P4
"No. 6. Grand Cañon, Colorado River, Near
Paria Creek, Looking West"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
copy negative available: WB-N4
Print
WB.P5
"No. 7. Grand Cañon, Colorado River, Near
Paria Creek, Looking West"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P6
"No. 8. Grand Cañon, Colorado River, Near
Paria Creek, Looking East"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P7
"No. 9. Looking South into the Grand
Cañon, Colorado River, Scheavwitz Crossing"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P8
"No. 10. Rain Sculpture, Salt Creek
Cañon, Utah"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P9
"No. 12. Grand Cañon of the Colorado
River, Mouth of Kanab Wash, Looking East"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P10
"No. 13. Grand Cañon of the Colorado
River, Mouth of Kanab Wash, Looking West"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P11
"No. 15. Limestone Walls, Kanab Wash,
Colorado River"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P12
"No.11, Taylor's Creek Cañon, Kanara"
8 x 11 inch print mounted on a
16 x 20 inch board
copy negative available: WB-N12
Print
WB.P13
"No. 13" (bottom left corner of print)
Kanab or Paria Canyon, Arizona. (source: National Archives)
National Archives negative number: 106-WB-590 :
8 x 10.5 inch print mounted on
a 16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P14
"No. 32" (bottom left corner of print)
Canyon and Headlands of Colorado and Paria Rivers. (source: National Archives)
National Archives negative number: 106-WB-280 :
8 x 10.5 inch print mounted on
a 16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P15
No. A. Grand Canyon. Mouth of Kanab Wash
Looking East. (source: National Archives)
National Archives Number 106-WB-268 :
8 x 10.5 inch print mounted on
a 16 x 20 inch board
Print
WB.P16
[No. 43.] Panorama. Part of 43. Colorado
Plateau. Grand Canyon. (handwritten on front of board)
National Archives Number: 106-WB-44 :
8 x 10.75 inch print mounted
on a 16 x 20 inch board
