Product Description

In a time before air travel or radio, on the brink of a revolution in photography and filmmaking, Burton Holmes (1870-1958) set upon a lifelong journey to bring the world home. From the grand boulevards of Paris to China's Great Wall, from the first modern Olympics in Athens to the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Holmes delighted in finding "the beautiful way around the world" and made a career of sharing his stories, photographs, and films with audiences across America. As a young man, Holmes was mentored by John L. Stoddard, a pioneer of the U.S. travel lecture circuit, who passed on his well-established mantle when he retired. Holmes roamed the globe throughout the summer and traversed the United States all winter, transforming the staid lecture tradition into an entertaining show. He coined the term "Travelogue" in 1904 to advertise his unique performance and thrilled audiences with two-hour sets of stories timed to projections of hand-painted glass-lantern slides and some of the first "moving pictures." Paris, Peking, Delhi, Berlin, Moscow, Manila, Jakarta, Jerusalem: Burton Holmes was there. He visited every continent and nearly every country on the planet, shooting over 30,000 photographs and nearly 500,000 feet of film. This book represents the best of the Holmes archive, brimming with brilliant color photographs not published in decades. A rare window on the world of 100 years ago, "Burton Holmes Travelogues" will transport you to a time that has all but evaporated, and inspire you to strike out on a journey of your own.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #219501 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 366 pages

About the Author
In the 1960s, Genoa Caldwell was the New York-based photo researcher for the London Sunday Times, as well as photo editor for both Black Star and Magnum. While operating her own photo agency in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Caldwell was introduced to the work of Burton Holmes and became private archivist for the extensive and unique photographic collection. Caldwell has maintained the collection for over 30 years and has lectured and published on the life and work of Burton Holmes.

Customer Reviews

A rare view
Beautifully bound and illustrated, this gives a superb overview of a very well travelled 19th century photographer.
The collection of images here is huge and each one opens up a long since forgotten world, monarchs, cities and landscapes along with ordinary working folk are all captured naturally and with some considerable skill.
There are no 'fillers' in this collection, each picture is fascinating and seems to have a story to tell. Alongside most of the photo's is a small quote from Holmes himself and he comes across as a self-effacing and modest man despite his talent.
Also included are excellent notes on Holmes and his work and influences.
You may not have heard of him but his ability as a travelling photographer was second to none and still is. The painstaking process of hand tinting colour onto his works simply means that today they stand out and appear as alive as when he took them.
From around the world and from all walks of life Burton Holmes travelogues presents a fascinating view of a world long since gone. This book is extremely difficult to put down and the production values of both content and printing are 1st class.
I recommend this highly for both artists and those interested in the world around them and history, you will enjoy it immensely, buy with confidence.

Quality & Knowledge
This book was a birthday present from my daughter. I study History of Early Photography. The whole subject fascinates & absorbs me. The quality of this Taschen publication is absolutely superb. The full page photographs, both black & white and the colour, to me, are spell-binding. I have not read any of the text yet, as I am still marvelling at the photographs themselves. People of long ago. Places, buildings, now deteriorated, some no longer existing. History gone for ever. Black & white photographs had to be hand-tinted. The colours of the photos are soft, muted. That was an art in itself. The colours no doubt being matched to the colours of that time. Some of the colours of the faces & attire, are so obviously tinted. Yet hold a charm of their own. To me, as one studies those people of long ago, their personalities still shine through, highlighted by such tinting. One studies expressions more closely. Often today's colour photographs of people don't encapture face-personality the same way. Some of the scenes are delicately tinted. I imagine them to be based on the colours that Burton Holmes was viewing. There would not be the vast array of material dyes, like today's world. Whether the photographs are black & white or partially tinted, Burton Holmes had the eye of an artist and a photographer. I believe that this 363 page volume could also be used to capture a child's or teenager's interest and get them interested in the countries, buildings, nations and people of the past. Could even be used as a means of expanding vocabulary. One could even play the child's game "I SPY" with some of the photographs. Or -perhaps to illustrate an essay,or deepen their knowledge in a related area. As you see, this book has completely fascinated and absorbed me. I hope you will find this too.