[WESTERN AMERICANA]. O'SULLIVAN, Timothy (1840-1882), photographer. Mono Lake, California. Albumen photograph from Clarence King's Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. 1868.
Sale 1250 - American Historical Ephemera & Photography
Nov 30, 2023
10:00AM ET
Live / Cincinnati
Estimate
$1,500 -
$2,500
Sold for $2,268
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
[WESTERN AMERICANA]. O'SULLIVAN, Timothy (1840-1882), photographer. Mono Lake, California. Albumen photograph from Clarence King's Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. 1868.
7 x 10 1/2 in. albumen photograph on 8 3/4 x 10 7/8 in. cardstock mount with "US Engineer Department, Geological Exploration. Fortieth Parallel" printed in lower margin (variable degree of spotting, mount trimmed, small crease to lower right corner of mount). Inscribed in contemporary pencil at lower right. Photograph referenced in Davis and Aspinwall's 2011 book Timothy H. O'Sullivan: The King Survey Photographs [plates 39 and 52].
The photograph was taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan during the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel led by Clarence King from 1867-1869 and 1872. The expedition was ordered by the War Department and approved by Congress in 1867 for the purpose of exploring land along and north of the fortieth parallel north, from eastern Wyoming, through southern Idaho, northern Utah, northern Nevada, and northern California.
Located in Mono County, CA, Mono Lake is a saline soda lake that formed as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin at least 760,000 years ago. High levels of salts accumulate in the lake due to the lack of an outlet, which make its water alkaline. Although it is a desert lake, Mono Lake has an unusually productive ecosystem.
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