The Harrison D. Horblit Collection of Early Photography: A Strategy for Research, Cataloging, Imaging, and Exhibition

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Harrison D. Horblit Collection of Early Photography comprises more than 7000 items from the 1830s to 1900. Of special interest are approximately 1000 salt prints, 50 photogenic drawings, and 300 paper negatives from the earliest decades of photography by many key photographers. Formed by Harrison D. Horblit (1912–1988), the collection was given to Harvard University in 1995. Horblit bought widely and without applying aesthetic judgements that tend to shape fine art collections, resulting in a collection containing unique material for the social history of photography and examples of the range of photographic processes used in the nineteenth century. In 2016, Houghton Library, Harvard University’s principal rare book and special collections library, began to update catalog records and digitize the holdings in the Horblit Collection in order to improve access. This paper describes the strategies for safe handling during cataloging, imaging and exhibition of photogenic drawings and early salted paper prints. Harvard Library Imaging Services and Weissman Preservation Center devised a procedure for imaging the many light sensitive and early experimental photographs. These practical procedures, including studio and exhibition space modification and the special handling workflow will be outlined.