When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
This exceptional, museum-quality late-19th-century Victorian "Photo-Autograph Album" is an incredibly rare find, published by the renowned William W. Harding of Philadelphia. It features a spectacular lithographic misprint on the copyright line, mistakenly spelling Librarian as "Librian"—a diagnostic hallmark confirming a highly prized early printing run of the 1874 design. Deeply personalized, the ornate brass flip-lock clasp is elegantly hand-engraved with the name of its original owner, "Emma C. Hulst" (Hulse).
The album functions as a pristine window into a localized social circle centered in Middletown and Goshen (Orange County), New York between 1875 and 1878. The double-sided die-cut pages, beautifully illustrated with lithographic floral ferns and lily-of-the-valley sprays, expertly pair 14 crisp sepia Carte-de-Visite (CDV) photographic portraits directly with their corresponding handwritten signature card windows.
Highlight portraits include a rare occupational/militia young man in a double-breasted uniform with an insignia cap badge dated March 10, 1875, and a stunning female portrait by the legendary G.W. Pach Studio (official West Point photographer). Prominent regional signatures include Louis S. Stivers (the notable Middletown newspaper publishing family), Frank D. Kernochan (prominent NYC socialite merchant family via Jordan Studio on Greenwich St.), Nate M. Hallock, James B. Lawson, D. Conkling, and Charles A. Winfield. The collection culminates in a fascinating international genealogical link: a loose autograph card sent directly to Emma from James G. Hulse in Hobart Town, Tasmania (Australia), dated July 1878. This is a premier heirloom piece offering immense value for advanced antique photo collectors, regional historians, and genealogists alike.
Condition Notes:
This album is in very good, structurally stable antique condition with an authentic aged patina. The exterior textured black leather covers exhibit expected shelf and corner wear, with rubbing and material loss exposing the underlying board along the right margins and the spine edges. The beautiful ornate brass clasp is fully functional and securely riveted, displaying light age tarnish. The internal heavy cardstock page block retains bright, gleaming gilt edges, though the inner binding cloth at the front and rear flyleaf junctions shows typical paper seam separation from age. The lithographic internal pages are clean with crisp die-cut windows; a few pages display a natural rectangular brown "shadow stain" from contact with the historical photographs over the last century. The individual CDV photo cards are remarkably crisp, showing rich sepia contrast, excellent clarity, and minimal surface wear, with only occasional minor spots of faint foxing.
