Chicago at the turn of the century in photographs

the long version

Fine historical photographs are like eyewitnesses with perfect recall. They provide us with a wealth of accurate, irrefutable data about the physical reality of the past. But the best photographs do more. They not only record and preserve the objective environment, they make us feel the quality of life in a different and place. Such is the case with this remarkable collection of vintage views of Chicago, most dating from 1904 to 1913. The photographs have been painstakingly reproduced from large 11" x 14" contact prints in the collection of the Chicago History Society, The contact prints, in turn, were made from 300 irreplaceable glass, gelatin-emulsion and dry-plate negatives given to the Society by the Barnes-Crosby Company, one of Chicago's largest photoengraving firms around the turn of the century. Compared to much of today's 35mm photography, these virtually grain-less prints contain an astonishing wealth of detail- a boon for historians, sociologists, architects, city planners, lovers of Chicago-anyone interested in the city as it appeared 80 years ago. Taken with large view cameras, often from high vantage points, the photographs offer superb documentation of the city's architecture and street life, including a host of landmark buildings and locales: City Hall, State Street, the Loop, Hull House, Michigan Avenue, Lincoln Park Zoo, Cook County Hospital, stockyards, Union Station, Jackson park and the "White City," and more. Chicago's importance as a center of architectural innovation is revealed in splendidly clear and detailed photographs of Adler and Sullivan's Chicago Stock Exchange; the lobby designed by Henry Hobson Richardson: S.S. Beman's magnificent Grand Central Station, and many other architectural milestones. For convenience, the views are arranged geographically from north to south, and from east to west in each tier; they are also keyed to two maps of the city published in 1904. Concise captions identity each site or building, with dates when possible, architects, and other data. In all, 122 photographs provide an unparalleled look back at the bustling, sprawling Chicago our grandparents knew-a city of horse-and-buggy charm where steamboats docked along Rush Street, vaudeville was in flower and the White Sox played ball in Comiskey Park at 35th and Shields. Not only are these prints an invaluable chronicle of a bygone Chicago; until now they have not been readily accessible to the public. This large-format Dover edition makes them widely available at low cost-an inexpensive tribute to the dynamic metropolis of long ago and the anonymous photographers who captured its essence.