LiveAuctionTalk.com Highlights Vintage Photography in its Weekly Free Article

August 19, 2006—Being the first to photograph people, places and things around the world was not uncommon for British 19th century photographer John Thomson. Thomson spent 10 years in the Far East setting up a portrait studio and capturing on film some of the first photographs of the natives around Singapore.

With Singapore as his base, Thomson traveled to Cambodia where he was the first to photograph the ancient city of Angkor and its jungle-clad temples.

Thomson’s camera and lectures brought the Far East to life for England. It was a world totally unlike anything they had ever known.

His travel photographic archive is remarkable not only because it survived, but because of the range of subject matter and the exceptionally high quality of the images.

Thomson published by subscription a limited edition book 'Foochow and the River Min' in 1873. The 46 copies sold to European residents of Foochow, primarily tea-planters, missionaries, merchants and government officials in the region.

‘Foochow and the River Min’ is one of the scarcest of all 19th century books illustrated with photographs. Forty-six copies are believed to have been printed, but only six have been located at the time of this writing.

On April 22, Sotheby’s, New York, featured a copy of ‘Foochow and the River Min’ on the block in its Photographs auction. Expected to bring $50,000-$70,000, the book sold for $180,000.

Read the entire article at www.LiveAuctionTalk.com.