[Photo Album]: New England Women, Including Librarians

Oblong octavo. Measuring 7" x 5.5". Textured leather over paper boards with "Photographs" stamped in gilt on the front board. Contains a total of 151 images (90 sepia toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs and 61 cyanotype prints), measuring between 1" x 1" and 3.5" x 4.5". Rubbing on the boards else very good with near fine photographs. A photo album kept by Florence. M. Osborne from Wellesley, Massachusetts between 1907 and 1916. The album documents home life as well as travel throughout the area and including Canada. A sizable number of the early photos are cyanotypes that depict the natural beauties of New England such as ponds, beaches, and gardens, as well as landmarks and town buildings. There are 24 photos from a trip to Quebec showing horse drawn carriages, cobblestone roads, artistic street views, and photos of Montmorency Falls. A trip to Quincy, Massachusetts shows photos of the monument to Abigail Adams Cairn, as well as Penn's Hill and a water tower. A section of the album entitled "autumn" shows portraits of the family posing around the house in fancy dress, including a photo of Osborne dressed in a large, fashionable hat. There are also photos of various rooms in the Wellesley Free Library, which was of interest to the Osborne family, notable Florence's father Weston W. Osborne who was a contributor to the library's acquisition funds. The album switches to sepia tone and black and white photos around 1909 starting with a hike up Point Allerton Hill. The album continues with visits to more New England points of interest including Nahant, where they photographed Senator Lodge's house. Two photos of a group of young women are captioned, "Junior members of Lynn Public library staff," and are accompanied by two slips of paper listing each woman's name. The album goes on to show the library's reading room and the stairway to the main floor. The final 30 photos are laid in (likely to be mounted and captioned at a later time) and show women around the house, decorated Christmas tables, and with family pets. An interesting accumulation of images depicting Wellesley, Massachusetts and the surround area with a generous selection of cyanotypes.…