Gamble's Hill Panorama


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This panorama was taken by Alexander Gardner from the turret of Pratt's Castle on Gamble's Hill. The images that make up this pan are Gardner # 881-884. The leftmost image presents something of a puzzle - the Library of Congress have 8x10 plate negatives of this view, and it was obviously meant to complement the other images, which were originally published in stereo. This image does NOT appear in Alexander Gardner's stereo catalog. Yet, the camera position for the leftmost image is slightly amiss from that of the others, presenting the probability that Gardner actually shot TWO sets of this panorama - one in stereo, and the other on plates. If this is the case, then to my knowledge, the other plate negatives have not survived (the second image from the left is probably made on plate also - but a similar image appears in the stereo catalog). Yet the answer to this question may simply be the desire to avoid one of the turrets of Pratt's Castle dominating the foreground - Gardner may simply have decided to use his plate camera for the two leftmost images, slightly to the left of one of the turrets.

Regardless of whether Gardner made this image in plates or stereo, the mechanics of making this photograph had to present a challenge for he and his assistant, who would have had to run up a long set of spiral stairs to get the exposed plates to Gardner for exposure.

Library of Congress negatives
LC-B817- 7026 LC-B8171-0881 LC-B815-0882 LC-B811-0883 LC-B811-884