ALBUM OF PHOTOGRAPHS

An album of photographs relating to the firm of Jewsbury and Brown. The album measures 16' x 12' and is cloth boun.d. with leather spine and corner guards. The back cover is missing, while the front one is held in place by selotape. Despite some buckling, the cardboard leaves of the album and the photographs are in good con.d.ition. The photographs were pasted onto thin card prior to pasting into the album.

The album contains 28 photographs, measuring approximately 11' x 9', although there is some small variation in size. The photographs, by a gelatino-bromide process, were all taken by John Ambler. The name Ambler is impressed in the bottom right corner of all the prints. Ambler worked in the Manchester studio of Lachlan McLachlan before setting up on his own account at 276, Eccles New Road, Salford (1879-1883 according to trade directories) and 7, Market Street, Manchester (1883-1889 according to trade directories). The process, the dates Ambler operated out of Market Street and the dress of the females represented in the photographs suggest a date for the production of the album in the late 1880s/early 1890s.

The photographs appear to document every department of Jewsbury and Brown's operations. Comparison with similar collections suggest the album may have been commissioned to celebrate the opening of new premises considered to be models of excellence. The repeated concern to display the Jewsbury and Brown name and advertising material suggest the album was inten.d.ed for public rather than private viewing.