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[Identification of item], Samuel Bourne photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The Samuel Bourne photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in April and June 2012.
Processed by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Matthew Warren, October 2012
Encoded by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Matthew Warren, November 2012
Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2012-0059, -0117, and -0118.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Samuel Bourne (1834-1912) was born in Shropshire, England, and began taking photographs around 1855. He joined the photography firm Howard & Shepherd around 1864, which eventually became Bourne & Shepherd and had offices in Calcutta, Simla, and Bombay. Bourne sailed for India in 1863, the first of three lengthy trips he took between 1863 and 1869. During these trips he photographed in all regions in India, Nepal, the Tibet Region, and Burma. One of his trips was devoted to finding and photographing the source of the Ganges in the Himalayas. In 1870 Bourne returned permanently to England, and Charles Shepherd also left India in 1878. Following Bourne's departure from the firm, Colin Murray was hired as chief photographer and then became manager of the firm. Reportedly, it is likely that some of the unsigned Indian images and most of the Burmese images included in this collection are his work. Back in England, Bourne became a businessman and magistrate. He died in 1912. Colin Murray died in Calcutta in 1884. The firm Bourne & Shepherd is still in business as of 2012, one of the oldest photography firms in continuous operation. The over 2,000 glass plate negatives Bourne left with Bourne & Shepherd were destroyed in a fire in 1991.
Large collection of albumen photographs taken from about 1863 to 1875 while photographer Samuel Bourne traveled to India, Nepal, the Tibet region, and Burma. Of the 375 prints in the collection, 200 are mounted in three large commercial photograph albums published by the commercial firm Bourne & Shepherd, while the remain ding 175 are loose matted prints taken by Bourne. Most are large-format, with a few of cartes-de-visite size. The images were secured using the wet-collodion plate method, often under extreme conditions. The bulk of the images consist of landscapes, but there are also many architectural studies, including many photos of Hindu temples and civic buildings. There are also many fine portraits of varied groups and classes of individuals, male and female, and rural village scenes, as well as images of Bombay and Calcutta (Kolkata) during the colonial period.
The three large brown leather and gilt albums in this collection hold 200 mounted albumen photographs taken by Bourne, his partner Charles Shepherd, and Bourne & Shepherd photographer Collin Murray, in India, Nepal, the Tibet region, and Burma roughly between 1863 and 1875. The volumes are titled
While the majority of the images in the collection are landscapes and architectural views, there are also a good number of interesting portraits and ethnographic studies. The landscapes and architectural views portray rivers, mountains, valleys, plant specimens, bridges, temples, tea plantations, forts, and city buildings; included are the Taj Mahal and views of buildings titled "European Bombay." There are Bombay street scenes, views of villages, and portraits of dancers and musicians, business owners, villagers (including group portraits of Tibetan, Bhootea, and Toda villagers), family portraits, and group portraits of high-ranking men, sometimes with a small boy included. There is a portrait of a group of hermaphrodites, and images of groups described in the captions as "thugs" and "thieves" as well. According to researchers, most of the portraits and ethnographic images included here are the work of Charles Shepherd.
Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts.
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.
Large commercially produced large leather-bound photograph albums embellished with gilt. Captions are original; captions in brackets have been supplied by dealer or archivist. One Calcutta image, #1748, shows Bourne's wife.
Images include group portraits of entertainers (sword swallowers, musicians, dancers) as well as portraits of individuals, a large religious statue, and individuals washing clothes by a river
Chiefly landscape and architectural studies taken in India during the 1860s and 1870s while Samuel Bourne traveled there on three separate occasions, and printed between 1863 and 1885. Prints produced in later years by the Bourne & Shepherd studio display white negative numbers and titles. Locations include Agra, Benares, Bhurtpore, Calcutta, Darjeeling, Delhi, Gwalior, Kashmir, Lucknow, Lake Manusbul (Kashmir), Mussoorie, the Neilgherries, Ootacamund, and Simla. Captions are retained with their original spelling. The prints are housed in 16x20 mats. Arranged in print number order, which is generally chronological, following Bourne's trips to the various regions. Numbers in brackets were assigned by dealer.
Number was later changed to 2409 by the studio.
[Mistakenly listed on original studio negative list as 2038.]