San Francisco: Muybridge, Morse's Gallery, 1877. 11-panel albumen photograph panorama. Most images measure approx. 8 x 7 1/4 in., total length approx. 85 in., Mounted to linen-backed cardstock. (Some toning to edges, brown spotting to cardstock.) Original brown cloth portfolio, gilt titles to front board (staining, spine deteriorated). Imprint to lower margin.

MUYBRIDGE'S 360-DEGREE PANORAMIC VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

Often referred to as the "Patrician's View" of San Francisco. Muybridge captured the stunning views of the city from the observation turret in the unfinished mansion of Central Pacific Railroad tycoon, Mark Hopkins. He along with the other extravagantly wealthy men behind the CPRR, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Collis Potter Huntington, had built mansions near one another on California Street Hill (later Nob Hill). New York Historical Society curator Wendy Ikemoto observes: “Hopkins and Crocker both had panoramic observation towers built into their mansions, and Stanford had panoramic windows built. So, the panorama is in some ways the vision of a commercial king—a vision of monopoly, power, and control. And yet, Muybridge presents the opposite: The city is empty and desolate, and everything seems still. There are all these strange little interruptions to the sense of omnipotence that you would normally associate with a panorama.” Howes M-926; Mitchell, Kerrie. "San Francisco is a Ghost Town: The Story Behind Eadweard Muybridge’s Spooky Panorama"; Solnit, River of Shadows.