"Published with the assistance of the Getty Foundation"--P. facing t.p. - "Ahmanson-Murphy fine arts imprint"--Prelim. p
Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-261) and index
Introduction : riddles and premises -- Arthur Schott : marking the Mexican boundary -- Timothy H. O'Sullivan : surveys of the American West -- C.C. Jones : the USGS investigation of the Charleston Earthquake -- Conclusion : archive style
This imaginative study of American visual culture reveals how the political predicaments of a few small bureaucracies once fostered pictures of an extraordinary style. U.S. geographical and geological surveys of the late nineteenth century produced photographs and drawings of topography, American Indians, geologic features, botanical specimens, and specialists at work in the field. Some of these pictures have long been celebrated for their anticipation of a modernist aesthetic, but Robin Kelsey, in this abundantly illustrated volume, traces their modernistic qualities to archival ingenuity. Th
