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Description
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(NEGATIVES MADE DECEMBER 1854; PRINTED 1855) 56 albumen prints from waxed paper negatives (average 268 x 347mm., or the reverse), including one 2-part folding panorama (252 x 646mm.), nearly all signed by Tripe in ink on the lower right corner of the image, each mounted on card (424 x 558mm.), each mount with Tripe's "By Thee I Draw" blindstamp (Dewan p.141, fig.1), letterpress captions pasted on the mount, each numbered in ink from 1 to 57 (excluding no.43), some spotting and occasional slight fading, the panorama with some surface wear and creasing, a few minor creases or short tears to mounts
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Lot Note
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Dewan, J. The Photographs of Linnaeus Tripe. A Catalogue Raisonné. (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2003); Taylor, R. Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2007) CATALOGUE NOTE An exceptionally rare collection of 56 of Tripe's photographs of Mysore. This is the largest known set and includes 26 unique prints, of which 3 are previously unknown images; of the remaining 30 prints in this set, only one or two other examples have been located. The only other known set of Tripe's Mysore Views is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, California, and contains only 22 prints. Linnaeus Tripe (1822-1902) had come to India to join the army of the East India Company in 1839, where he served for eleven years before returning to England for a two-year furlough. While back home in 1851 he became interested in photography and by 1853 had become an accomplished amateur practitioner, taking large-format views of the dockyards and naval shipping in his home port of Devonport. In June 1854, promoted to the rank of captain, he returned to India, bringing his camera and equipment with him. In December 1854, while on leave from the army, Tripe embarked on a private expedition from Bangalore, accompanied by fellow amateur photographer, Dr A.C.B. Neill, who was also a member of the Photographic Society of Bengal. They travelled 120 miles to photograph the little-known Hindu and Jain temples in Mysore and the photographs show architectural and landscape views at or near Hullabede, Belloor and Stranan-i-billikul. These are the earliest known photographs of India by Tripe and together with Dr Neil's images, are the earliest photographs made of these sites. In February 1855 Tripe submitted 68 of his photographs of Mysore to the Madras Exhibition of Raw Products, Arts and Manufactures of Southern India. Tripe's photographs were noted by Lord Harris, the governor of Madras and by the Hon. Walter Elliot, who both sat on the eight-man exhibition jury which praised Tripe's photographs for both their technical proficiency and informational value. "His series was judged 'the best series of photographic views on paper' and awarded a first class medal. The jury further recommended that the 'whole series be purchased for transmission to the Honourable Court of Directors' of the East India Company in London" (Dewan, p.5). Tripe's photographs of Mysore were an important turning point in his photographic career, as they brought his name to the attention of the Directors of the East India Company and led to Tripe being chosen by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, to be the photographer on the diplomatic mission to Burma in 1855 (see following lots).
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