[Vernacular Photograph Album, with Typed Caption List, Containing Over One Hundred Images of the Alaskan Gold Rush and Canadian Northwest]

[Various locations in British Columbia and Alaska, 1900. Very good.. [14] leaves, illustrated with 111 vernacular sepia-toned photographs, between 2.5 x 4.5 inches and 3.5 x 5.5 inches. Mostly mounted four per page. Oblong folio. Contemporary black cloth, gilt, string tied. Minor edge wear and rubbing. Some edge chipping to a handful of album leaves, occasional dust-soiling. With [5]pp. typed and numbered list laid in, keyed to manuscript numbering beneath each photograph. A phenomenal collection of vernacular photographs taken by an unidentified traveler on a voyage to British Columbia and Alaska around the turn of the 20th century. Most of the photographs were taken from aboard a steamship or from a railroad car when they venture inland, but occasionally the compiler includes shots from the ground. The photographs begin with numerous scenic landscapes in and around Nelson, Rossland, and Victoria, British Columbia, picturing landmarks such as Kootenay Lake, Bonnington Falls, the Cascade Mountains, and a "Government House" in Victoria. The scene then shifts to Alaska, picturing Devil's Thumb, various glaciers, a wonderful totem in Simpson, distant shots of Juneau and Skagway, and much more. Once inland, the compiler takes pictures of the White Pass, Lake Bennet, White Horse, and more before getting back on a steamship. One particularly interesting image from White Horse shows a pair of businesses set up in tents - Cap. P. Martin's Cigar Store and the Vancouver Hotel. Once back on the steamship, the compiler shoots Five Finger Rapids before reaching the "town" of Yukon (really just a loose handful of wooden huts). The intrepid traveler lands next in Dawson City where they include at least half a dozen fantastic shots of the settlement and its downtown area. The next series of images in Grand Forks show exterior shots of gold mines called Gold Hill and Eldorado #26, and a sweeping "View of Klondike Valley." The traveler then apparently turned south, as the next series of images picture Taku, Alert Bay (with images of five Totems and the local cemetery), and eight views of Fraser Canon. The album concludes with a few shots of the Illecillewaet Glacier, Lakes Agnes and Louise, and several views in and around Banff. The latter images include one of a bear and two featuring grazing buffalo. An interesting and wide-ranging collection of photographs featuring the untouched majesty of the landscapes of Alaska and the Canadian Northwest mixed with areas already being developed and exploited by human prospectors and travelers. The images are accompanied by an invaluable list of captions which are vital to identifying the locations of the images, which appear to emanate from slightly earlier than usual in photographic groups from these areas.