Lot Essay
Photographs recording part of Henry Morton Stanley's US lecture tour in 1890-91, arranged by Major J.B. Pond following Stanley's participation in the Emin Pasha Expedition. Pond arranged for the party to be transported around the States in a special railway carriage complete with kitchen, bathroom, 3 bedrooms and drawing room with piano. The tour ranged from Canada through to Texas and California and back to New York, taking in the mid west, New Orleans an Chicago. It netted $12,000 in New York alone and Stanley earned himself $60,000 overall, and a guaranteed place on the lecturing circuit.
The first album of photographs listed was photographed and compiled by Pond himself. It commences with the party in California, visiting Monterey, and depicts Stanley, his wife and their travelling companions, Major and Mrs Pond, Sadie Glass, Mrs Stanley's sister and mother, et al., many of whom are identified in the manuscript captions below about 30 photographs. Also featured are photographs of the interior and exterior of the special Pullman, the 'Henry M. Stanley'. Two photographs show Stanley in front of the home of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. This detour would have been particularly meaningful to Pond, who was an ardent abolitionist and soldier in the Civil War. Most of the photographs are in the southwest: southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The album ends with family shots in and around the Pond home.
The first album of photographs listed was photographed and compiled by Pond himself. It commences with the party in California, visiting Monterey, and depicts Stanley, his wife and their travelling companions, Major and Mrs Pond, Sadie Glass, Mrs Stanley's sister and mother, et al., many of whom are identified in the manuscript captions below about 30 photographs. Also featured are photographs of the interior and exterior of the special Pullman, the 'Henry M. Stanley'. Two photographs show Stanley in front of the home of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. This detour would have been particularly meaningful to Pond, who was an ardent abolitionist and soldier in the Civil War. Most of the photographs are in the southwest: southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The album ends with family shots in and around the Pond home.