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Iron Muse: Photographing the Transcontinental Railroad

Glenn Willumson

3/5 ( ratings)

The construction of the transcontinental railroad marked a milestone in United States history, symbolizing both the joining of the country’s two coasts and the taming of its frontier wilderness by modern technology. But it was through the power of images—and especially the photograph—that the railroad attained its iconic status. Iron Muse provides a unique look at the production, distribution, and publication of images of the transcontinental railroad: from their use as an official record by the railroad corporations, to their reproduction in the illustrated press and travel guides, and finally to their adaptation to direct sales and albums in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Tracing the complex relationships and occasional conflicts between photographer, publisher, and curator as they crafted the photographs’ different meanings over time, Willumson provides a comprehensive portrayal of the creation and evolution of an important slice of American visual culture.

Pages: 254

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of California Press

Release: April 12, 2013

ISBN: 0520270940

ISBN 13: 9780520270947

Iron Muse: Photographing the Transcontinental Railroad

Glenn Willumson

3/5 ( ratings)

The construction of the transcontinental railroad marked a milestone in United States history, symbolizing both the joining of the country’s two coasts and the taming of its frontier wilderness by modern technology. But it was through the power of images—and especially the photograph—that the railroad attained its iconic status. Iron Muse provides a unique look at the production, distribution, and publication of images of the transcontinental railroad: from their use as an official record by the railroad corporations, to their reproduction in the illustrated press and travel guides, and finally to their adaptation to direct sales and albums in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Tracing the complex relationships and occasional conflicts between photographer, publisher, and curator as they crafted the photographs’ different meanings over time, Willumson provides a comprehensive portrayal of the creation and evolution of an important slice of American visual culture.

Pages: 254

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: University of California Press

Release: April 12, 2013

ISBN: 0520270940

ISBN 13: 9780520270947

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