[Large Collection of Early 20th-Century Photographs of Bermuda, Its People, and Environs]

New York: Brown Brothers, 1920. Very good.. 135 sepia-toned or black-and-white silver prints, between 4 x 5 inches and 7 x 9 inches. Occasional minor chipping, light surface wear, most with photographer's studio stamp and penciled manuscript caption on verso. A rich and vibrant collection of crisp, professional photographs documenting the archipelago of Bermuda in the early-20th century. The photographs were created by the Brown Brothers photo agency in New York, most likely for tourism purposes. The images capture a wide variety of people, places, and settings on the islands, including street views of the capital city of Hamilton and the town of St. George; shots of beaches, coastlines, streets, public parks and other places of recreation; charming portraits of local residents; scenes of industry and agriculture; Bermuda's version of the Khyber Pass, and much more. The majority of the photographs have manuscript captions written on the versos containing valuable information on the subjects. A sampling of captions identify "a birdseye of St. George," "typical native houses -- St. George," "American tourists gathering bananas," "View from porch of Elbow Beach Hotel," "Front St. Hamilton showing pier," "One of the oldest residences -- 200 yrs old with large Royal Poinciana Tree," "Sharp rocky coast -- South Dene Bermuda," "Picking lilys for N.Y. market," "Colored children Bermuda," "Bermuda farmers home & potato field," "One of the oldest natives and his home," "Glass bottomed boat," "Flatts Village," "Strawberry Hill cut, Bermuda" and "Load of Bermuda potatoes going to dock to ship to N.Y." One photograph of four indigenous children has a lengthy caption on the back, reading: "They may be pickaninnies, but they 'su-ah' don't speak Alabama English. If you shut your eyes you would never know you weren’t; listening to pure bred little Britishers." A few of the images capture a golf match. A wonderful collection of photographs.