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Soule, John P. , 1870-1873

 Series — Box: 3

Scope and Contents

Primarily landscape views of Yosemite and Mendocino County. There are several images of Calaveras Big Trees and logging, including one photo taken in Fresno County. There is one photo of the Hotel and Post Office at Fisherman's Bay in Sonoma County and one Russian Hill view of Telegraph Hill and Washington Square in San Francisco. One photo of indigenous people of California from an unidentified tribe pictured with their homes in Mendocino County. One photo of "skeleton leaves" - a decorative botanical arrangement made from leaves.

Dates

  • 1870-1873

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Biographical / Historical

John Payson Soule (1828-1904) was a photographer and publisher based in Boston, Massachusetts, and, later, Seattle, Washington. According to the Boston Almanac, he maintained a studio at 199 Washington St. from 1861-1882. He learned photography from fellow Bostonian J.W. (James Wallace) Black, and later from Charles and Edward Bierstadt. In 1860, he accompanied the Bierstadts on one of their photography expeditions to New Hampshire's White Mountains and founded his own business, under the name John P. Soule, shortly after.

He began his career photographing Fort Sumpter and Fort Moultrie - Civil War military bases in South Carolina. He also reproduced images of famous artwork, including Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. He began producing stereoviews around 1875, frequently publishing images by others without credit to the original photographer. Given that a number of the views here are of Yosemite and Mendocino, it seems likely that they were taken by M.M. Hazeltine. Soule purchased a number of Hazeltine's negatives and copyrighted them in 1870, in addition to selling his own negatives to fellow publisher B.W. Kilburn.

In 1883, Soule sold his business to his brother, William Stinson Soule, who, with his business partner, began operating under the name Soule Photographic Company. In 1888, John P. Soule moved to Seattle, where he continued to photograph scenes such as the Seattle Fire of 1889, and to document the growth of the growth of the city until his death in 1904.

Information taken from:

"John P. Soule." Historic Camera. Accessed February 20, 2019. http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=2400&.

Extent

33 stereographs

Language of Materials

English