(Photographer's Archive) An author/lecturer's extensive collection of 4-5000 original images

This description has been modified since the preview began.

An archive consisting of over 4000 loose black & white printed photographs and approx. 1200-1500 glass lantern slides housed in wooden carrying cases,  2 cameras, a Spencer Delineator Model D, and extra-illustrated copies of the photographer's 2 published books.  Adams was a consummate photographer who left an astounding body of work, part naturalist, part street photographer, informed by a strong sense of history and driven by a traveler's fascination with the exotic and far-away.  A review of his second book, The Long House of the Iroquois  (Fairview Farms, Skaneateles, N.Y., 1944),  opens with an appreciation for the author's "unusual ability" as a photographer. "Each picture is worth inspecting with more than passing attention for taken together they tell a true story as well as perpetuate some fiction."

Spencer Lionel ADAMS was born in 1870 and grew up on the family estate, Fairview Farm, Skaneateles, NY., a Finger Lakes village.  He graduated from  Cornell in 1893, and earned a law degree from Yale a few years later (1895), where he served as editor of the Yale Law Review. His legal career was spent in Chicago, where he became a partner in a successful law firm.  Along with Skaneateles, Adams had homes in Cape Cod, Chicago, and, later in life, Santa Barbara, Calif.--all are well represented in the archive.  

Of particular importance is that the majority of the glass slides were colored by the legendary Japanese Studio called T. Enami, a firm whose work is gaining recognition as being among the finest examples of coloring during the early 20th century.  Since the bulk of these images (all?) were taken by Adams, the archive offers research material for studying the relationship between the Japanese firm and its non-corporate customers. (See image of a packet addressed to T. Enami.)  For information on the Japanese firm see T. Enami lantern slide collection, circa 1910s-1950 shttp://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv35885, which states that, "Enami has been underrated by photo historians; only recently is his importance as a photographer being realized." As the studio was destroyed by fire in the early 1920's and then again by American bombs in the 1940's, large collections bearing the T. Enami name are uncommon.

The open boxes show the ratio of glass slides labeled T. Enami to unmarked slide: the T. Enami slides have a brown paper borders, while the unattributed slides have black borders. 

A note on condition: Paper images, though on the whole VG, run the scale from faded to strong and clear; stored in file boxes as they were, many have started to curl in; no water damage or other staining noted on the ones we inspected; inevitably some have light edgewear; not many seem to be duplicates.  

Glass slides are generally Acceptable to VG, with expected wear.  

Contents list:

• 4 Card File boxes filled with printed images, many numbered, most with inked captions by Spencer L. Adams.  Roughly 5 linear feet. Though we haven't an exact count, the individual packets are surprisingly densely packet.  For example, one marked Pasadena has over 60 photographs.  Locations with the largest number of images include: Skaneateles and Central N.Y., Cape Cod, California, Aiken, S.C. & Chicago. Easily enough for multiple "Images of America" style books for some of these places.

Wooden boxes titles:

1. World cruise 1- 124
2. Extras World Cruise 
3. World Cruise III 252-257 Pekin
4. World cruise box IV # 368 to 494
5. Washington - Ottawa number 1 - 58/ number 1 - 18
6. American scenes 1–30 Ojai #1- 102
7. American scenes box 2: 112–231
8. Cape Cod 1–115 Little River
9. Iroquois #1& 2
10. Iroquois #3 
11. Chicago and Suburbs
12. South America
13. Mexico 1 - 114

Other boxes:

• Pictures 1924 to 1928
• File box marked A1 pictures 1929 to 1933
• World Cruise PEKING 1928
• File box of travel pictures, sorted by location
• Shoebox with miscellaneous travel pics photo postcards and some original photography

Books:

• (Author's copy) Adams, Spencer L. Old Scenes in Autumn Colors. Chicago: Priv. Print, 1924. 75 pages, 1 leaf including frontispiece, illustrations.  With author's bookplate. Pocket at end marked Washington Pictures Subsequent To Book contains 9 images.

• (Author's copy) Adams, Spencer L. The Long House of the Iroquois: Why the Five Nations Possessing a Rectangular Type of Lodge Like the Shape of Their Ancient Realm in Up-State New York, Called Themselves "HO-DE'-NO-SAU-NEE" ("People of the Long House"). Skaneateles, N.Y.: Fairview Farm, 1944.  Printed by The Lakeside Press, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company.   xi, 175 pages : illustrations.  With author's bookplate.  

• Original bookplate engraved printing plate.

For more information on Adams and his hometown follow the

link: https://kihm6.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/spencer-lionel-adams/

 Keywords: Aiken, South Carolina, travel, ephemera, camera, photographs, archive, archival, South America, cruise ship, ocean liner, Indians, New York, Cap Cod, Florida, California, China, Japan, Hong King, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Cornel, Yale