Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cards

with three of the cards showing railway signals to be read at a distance of 20 feet--as these were commonly used for testing the vision of train conductors/railway workers

with a little cracking to the hard rubber surfaces here and there

(I might lay it on its side in a gesture of trying to slow things down

but I found them so juicy and beautiful I had to have them--and deeply enjoyed playing around with them in order to take photos

but the engravings in this rare volume are abundant and quite marvelous

Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cardsTo my eye a super striking and evocative antique photograph, which feels a lot like a film still, and definitely as if capturing a scene from a much longer novel: what are the stories of these four (five), and the picture taker too, and what has brought them together here? Heading west I might guess, standing for the moment in what feels quite like the dry middle of nowhere. 4 x 4 15 16 and in good antique condition, very late 19th very early 20th c.