Four Photographs (Woodburytypes) of the Moon, 19th Century

Four woodburytpes, unmounted, and thus curled and in consequence slightly damaged at the edges, and showing very distinctly the relief of the woodburytype printing plate; chocolate brown with near-white highlights and good detail. Two views of the moon (two prints of each): full, and approximately half, the latter showing crisp detail and relief in the vicinity of the shadow, as usual. They are approximately 4½ by 3½ inches, and the moon's disc exactly 3 inches. One of the half-moon pair is a little paler than the other. Although there are two prints of each they are the same, not stereoscopic pairs. The photographer is not known, but they appear to belong to the period of Rutherfurd's moon photographs (see 12962), which is also when woodburytypes were in common use, usually for book illustration (1870s-80s).