Visions of America: The Stephen White Collection

Anonymous, 20 albumen photographs, 7 x 9 in. mounted on larger 8 1/4 x 10 in. mounts, each numbered sequentially.

An extraordinary 360-degree panorama of Providence, RI, taken from the tower of one of the many mills that made the city a textile manufacturing powerhouse in the 19th century. The name of the mill is unknown, but its location seems to have been on the West Bank of the Seekonk River just north of its junction with the Providence River.

Accompanied by four (4) photographs showing the process for mounting the tower where the photos were taken. Ca 1880s.

Panoramic photographs of American cities trace their history to the daguerreian era when important views of Cincinnati were made as early as 1848, and in 1851 of booming San Francisco. Neither of these important images captured the cities in 360 degree format. This is the only such American panorama we are aware.

The richness of the prints and level of detail suggest that the photographer used a large format camera capable of taking 8 x 10 in. negatives. There is a notable lack of street and river traffic visible, suggesting the images were taken on a quiet Sunday morning. What few trees that can be seen in the dense urban setting are leafless, indicating the photograph was likely taken in early spring.

We could find no record of this feat of photography, though suspect that a careful search of a Providence newspaper from this era might mention its existence.

A masterpiece of American photography.