Isabella Stewart Gardner - Travel Album: China and Japan, Volume II, 1883

Isabella Stewart Gardner (New York, 1840 - 1924, Boston)

Travel Album: China and Japan, Volume II, 1883

Bound album including collected photographs, found papers, pressed botanicals, and pen and ink annotations, 31.8 x 26.2 x 4.6 cm (12 1/2 x 10 5/16 x 1 13/16 in.)

Commentary

Isabella Stewart Gardner kept records of her worldwide travels in the form of albums. In 1883, Isabella and Jack Gardner were among a select group of wealthy global travelers who were able to take advantage of relaxed political restrictions and improved travel infrastructure early in the modern history of tourism to Japan. The tourism market for photography was already well-established and Isabella purchased nearly two hundred individual photographs from commercial photography studios and other vendors during her visit. She arranged them in this album to chronicle places she visited.