Shutters West by Miller, Nina Hull - 1962

Sage Books, Denver, CO, 1962; First Edition; oblong 8vo, 152 pgs.; green cloth, silver titles. Authoritative chronicle of the life and work of heretofore forgotten pioneer photographer Arundel C. Hull (1846-1908), who beginning in 1866 produced hundreds of the earliest existing photographs of the Western Territories, pre-dating the work of William Henry Jackson. At age sixteen Hull took a job in a St. Paul Minnesota gallery to learn photography and by the following year had succeeded in opening his own studio in St. Cloud. He soon relocated to E. L. Eaton’s, photographic studio in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 1867 traveled throughout the territories of Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, where the heretofore unseen photographs in this book were made. Upon his return to Omaha in 1868, Hull became employed with the Jackson Brothers, and in the Spring of 1869 left with W. H. Jackson to fulfill a Union Pacific contract for 1,000 stereotype photos of scenes along the new railroad. Hull’s part in the making of the U.P. photos was never credited, however several years before his death Jackson wrote to Hull’s daughter acknowledging the many photographic contributions of her father. In 1870 Hull left Jackson and established a studio at Fremont, Nebraska, where he remained until his retirement in 1895. An absorbing book, fascinatingly illustrated with over 70 rare photographs augmented with substantial historical background. These images are all that remain of Hall’s output, as the bulk of his glass plates were destroyed by a lessee of his former establishment in order to make room in the studio. Seen here are unique early views of the residential, commercial, mining, railroad, and mountain towns of the Western Territories, plus pictures of rail works, station stops, and a number of sobering images of vigilante hangings. Among the towns pictured are Omaha, Elkhorn, Freemont, Columbus, Grand Island, Plum Creek, North Platte, and Ogalalla, Nebraska; Sidney, Pine Bluffs, Steam Boat Buttes, and Cache la Poudre, Wyoming; Georgetown, Blackhawk, Central City, Golden, and Denver, Colorado; and Green River, Benton, Ft. Steele, Laramie, Dale Creek, Cheyenne, and Promontory Point, Utah. Very Good Plus, clean, crisp, and very bright, previous owner small address label at lower corner of the blank front end paper. Enclosed in the original dust jacket that has some light staining which does not penetrate to the covers, a few tiny edge chips, and two tape reinforcements on the verso which, while showing age, are supple, not brittle. A most fascinating and singular book.