Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

South Africa Souvenir Album, EEPA 1992-007, 1898

Summary

Collection ID:
EEPA.1992-007
Creators:
Mittlebrook, J.E.
Dates:
1898
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
50 Platinum prints
1 album
black & white
20 x 26 cm
50 Photographic prints
dupe prints (1 v.)
black & white
8 x 10 in.
50 Photographic prints
black & white
4 x 5 in.
Repository:
Container:
50
1
1
Fifty photographs taken by J.E. Mittlebrook and published by D'Urban and Kimberley in 1898 in an album entitled,
South African Souvenir.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Images indexed by negative number. The fifty-two platinotypes are arranged by the photographer following the itinerary of a route from Capetown up the eastern coast of South Africa, through Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, and East London, to Durban, and Pietermaritzburg, and provide views of the churches, parks, harbors, and main streets of these cities. Also included is a portrait of a Zulu boy, wearing animal horns on his head, with his rickshaw. Continuing up the coast into what is now Mozambique, Middlebrook photographs Delagoa Bay, and the towns of Inhambane, Beira, Chinde, at the mouth of the Zambezi River, and Quelimane. As he crosses west into the Matoppo Hills towards Bulawayo, he records "Mr. Rhodes' Farm Buildings," with a photo of "C.J.R."--Cecil Rhodes--in the entrance of one of his conical "huts". Shots of Kimberley include a bird's eye view of the city from the De Beers Floors, and the Kimberley Sanitorium built by Rhodes. In Johannesburg, Middlebrook records a bird's eye view of the city, the imposing new post office, Commissioner and Pritchard Streets, Joubert Park, the vast produce market, and processing buildings of the Randt Gold Mining Companies. There are also views of Pretoria--including a scene of "Naachtmaal," when Boer farmers and families come to town for church services, and camp out in the town square--and the hills near Barberton, where Sheba G.M. Company mines quartz. Seven of the photographs portray native people, such as Chief Khama of the Batlapins, well-known for his friendship with Livingstone; Zulu men wearing head gear of rickshaw pullers in Durban; Zulu families in front of their homes in Natal, Zululand; an Amaxosa family in Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope); a Matabele cane seller; a woman from Swaziland in native garb; and an east coast man, known as a Zanzibaree. The final two photographs are steamships: U[nion] S[steam] S[hip] Company's "Briton"; and C[astle] M[ail] P[ackets] Company's "Carisbrook Castle."

Administration

Author
Paul Wood
Custodial History note
Purchased, 1992. Conserved through a preservation grant funded by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee, 2006.
The album was the second edition.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Conditions Governing Access note
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Matoppo Hills (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Buluwayo (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Johannesburg (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pretoria (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zambezi River Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Quilimane (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
CMP Company's Carisbrook Castle Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cape Town (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barberton Proper (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Queen's River (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chinde (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beira (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
South Africa Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Delaoa Bay (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inhambane (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Grahamstown (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Port Elizabeth (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Durban (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
East London (South Africa) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Chief Khama of the Batlapina (South Africa) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
USS Company's Briton Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zulu (African people) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rickshaws Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gold mines and mining Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Steamboats Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Colonists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indigenous peoples Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Zambezi River -- Photographs Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
P.O. Box 37012
MRC 708
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-4690
Fax Number: Fax: 202-357-4879
elisofonarchives@si.edu