Scope and Contents

One albumen print, circa 1860s-1870s, of a view of a temple complex in India. A black ink inscription in the lower left corner reads "Trickaleecoondrum", probably Tirukalikundram, Tamil Nadu. Blindstamped "Frith's Series"

Arrangement

One flat box.

Biographical / Historical

Francis Frith (1822-1898) was one of the pre-eminent travel photographers of his day, contributing greatly to the popularization of travel photography. He also founded Frith & Co., a specialty printing and publishing firm largely devoted to travel photography in a variety of formats, including souvenir postcards and individual prints of scenic views. By employing a team of photographers to supply images for his inventory and purchasing the rights to interesting photos from other photographers and publishing them under the studio's name, Frith soon amassed the largest collection of its kind, with a catalog than ran to almost 700 pages. Upon their father's retirement from the firm, Frith's sons continued to operate Frith & Co. until World War I, when it was sold outside the family. Today a large part of Frith & Co.'s collection is held in private hands, while a significant number of glass negatives are housed at the Birmingham City Library