We’re now at the September mid-point of this blogpost-a-day series on my recently discovered cache of amateur stereos by the press photo pioneer James Edward Ellam (1857-1920).
With this particular stereo, titled “Forth Bridge showing the tubular construction,” I recognised a familiar view.
The Forth Bridge, spanning the Firth of Forth and linking Fife and Edinburgh in Scotland, is the oldest multispan cantilever railway bridge in the world.
Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been a popular subject with photographers since it opened in 1890.
Looking at the “J.E. Ellam” sticker on the verso of James’s stereo together with its separate handwritten title pasted onto a black card, a date in the mid-1890s suggests itself.
What is interesting is that commercial companies produced stereocards of this exact same view around this time.
For example, James’s stereo is remarkably similar in conception to one sold by Underwood & Underwood (U&U) of New York and London.
Using its Strohmeyer & Wyman imprint, U&U’s card was captioned “Looking Through the Great Forth Bridge (8,300 feet long), Scotland.” It was copyrighted and dated 1896.
The significant difference in the Strohmeyer & Wyman/Underwood & Underwood version is that an elderly gent has been positioned to the right of frame to give a sense of scale.
Also, its camera has been positioned further back than James’s allowing more of the tubular steelwork to be visible.
As to James’s own relationship with Underwood & Underwood, it appears to have crystallised during celebrations to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in the following year of 1897.
On 22nd June, he and his stereoscopic camera were positioned outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London during the Thanksgiving Service to mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
A number of his views were produced by U&U, this time using its J.F. Jarvis imprint.
And a print taken from another of his stereos was published by The Graphic in its Diamond Jubilee Celebration Number (28th Jine 1897) and credited to U&U.
However, as we will see in future posts, there are indications from other Ellam stereos in my recently discovered cache of 30 of an embryonic relationship with the Underwood company in the years before 1897.
In this case, James’s “Forth Bridge” stereo suggests that he was well aware of the sort of 3D images that would have a wider commercial market.
Given the opportunity, he perhaps thought he could successfully produce what would be required from a major publisher like Underwood & Underwood.
Tomorrow: “Jervaulx Abbey.”
Pressphotoman 
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