The Stoddard Series

John Lawson Stoddard was a travel writer and lecturer who published a series of photo books about his world travels in the late 1800's, which became immensely popular among the travel-hungry Victorians.  A while back I bought a little photo book about the Maine seacoast on eBay, but when the package arrived in the mail, it contained a slightly dilapidated copy of one of Stoddard's books instead.  My eBay seller quickly sent the right book, and let me keep the first book as well.  So, what happens when a collagist is allowed to keep a slightly dilapidated old photo book?  A new project, of course.  Above, one of the title pages from a "Portfolio of Photographs of Famous Scenes, Cities and Paintings Prepared Under the Supervision of the Distinguished Lecturer and Traveler John L. Stoddard Containing a Rare and Elaborate Collection of Photographic Views of the Entire World of Nature and Art," c. 1893.