Unique Long Island viewbooks
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Abstract
The Unique Long Island viewbooks consist of four volumes of black-and-white non-photographic prints of photographs documenting Long Island, dated circa 1900 (first three volumes) and 1904 (fourth volume).
Historical note
Long Island, the 118-mile-long island located in southeastern New York State and just east of the island of Manhattan, is comprised of four counties: Suffolk County, Nassau County, Queens County, and Kings County. Suffolk, Queens, and Kings Counties, three of the original 12 counties of New York, were established by the British in 1683. Nassau County, established in 1899, is comprised of the eastern portion of land that was once part of Queens County. Today, the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, located on the western portion of Long Island, comprise the entirety of Kings County and Queens County, respectively. Suffolk County, occupying the eastern-most portion of Long Island, is by far the largest of the four counties by area and is known for its rich, fertile farmland and vast coastline.
During the Spanish-American War, the United States government established two military camps on Long Island, Camp Black and Camp Wyckoff. Camp Black, which opened in April of 1898 near the town of Hempstead in Nassau County, was a training facility established to prepare troops for the Spanish-American War. Camp Wyckoff, established later in 1898, was located near Montauk Point in Suffolk County. The camp was set up as a quarantine and recuperation camp for soldiers returning from battle in Cuba. While in Cuba, many soldiers contracted infectious diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. The most notable of the soldiers sent to Camp Wyckoff were members of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders," led by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. The Spanish-American war ended with the signing of the Paris Treaty on December 10, 1898.
Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.
Source:
- Getty Research Institute: Art & Architecture Thesaurus. "Viewbooks." Accessed June 27, 2011. http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=viewbooks&logic=AND¬e=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300026684
Scope and Contents
The Unique Long Island viewbooks consist of four volumes of black-and-white non-photographic prints of photographs documenting Long Island, dated circa 1900 (first three volumes) and 1904 (fourth volume). Except for one image of a bike race on Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, the images from the viewbooks pertain to areas of Long Island within Suffolk and Nassau Counties. The viewbooks contain roughly 50 to 60 pages, with page size measuring 5.75 x 7.75, and the original softcovers of the first three volumes have been recovered with hardcover library bindings. The viewbooks were published by the Long Island Railroad Company.
The first volume is organized into three sections: "The South Shore: Firm safe beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay;" "The Central Shore: Fertile and healthy, the orchard and garden of the greater New York;" and "The North Shore: Heavily wooded hills overlooking Long Island Sound, its bays & harbors." This viewbook includes pastoral, seascape, and harbor views that correspond with the themes of the three sections. Images of Long Islanders engaged in activities such as swimming, sailing, picnicking, and working are also well-represented in the volume.
The second volume is a Camp Black Edition, and includes views of Long Islanders engaged in agricultural and industrial activities, though its primary focus documents recreational activities on Long Island such as golfing, sailing, boating, shooting, cycling, fishing, and swimming. Also included are pastoral, seascape, and harbor views of Long Island, images of lighthouses and windmills, and images of Camp Black, a military training camp established in 1898 for the Spanish-American War. It was located near the present-day town of Hempstead in Nassau County.
The third volume consists of views similar to the images included in volume two such as industrial, agricultural, and recreational scenes of Long Island, as well as pastoral, seascape, and harbor views. It differs from the the second volume in that it documents Camp Black and Camp Wyckoff. Camp Wyckoff, was a quarantine and recuperation military camp established in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, and was located near Montauk Point in Suffolk County.
The fourth volume contains similar material to the previous three volumes.
Subjects
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Places
Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
The materials in this collection are in the public domain. While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Unique Long Island viewbooks, ARC.233, Box number, Object ID number (if applicable); Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source and date of acquisition for this collection are unknown. The collection was formally accessioned in 1986.
Existence and Location of Copies
Item level description and digital versions of certain images pertaining to Brooklyn are available for searching via the image database in the library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
This collection combines the accessions V1986.033 and V1986.034. Fourth volume (1904) added to the collection by John Zarrillo in March 2017. This collection was rehoused and the finding aid revised by Dee Bowers in 2023.
