Index to American Photographic Collections. Second Enlarged Edition.

G.K. Hall, 1991. Edited by Andrew Eskind and Greg Drake.  701 pages. Indispensable reference, lists thousands of photographers and where their work can be found in museums and other institutions. Major collections of a photographer's work are noted. Near fine, lightly used, no marks, cloth hardcover, not issued with dust jacket.  Summary:

The Second Enlarged Edition of the Index to American Photographic Collections (1990), edited by Andrew H. Eskind and Greg Drake, is an essential reference volume produced by the George Eastman House. It serves as the definitive map of the photographic holdings across the United States during the pre-digital era.

Scope and Purpose

The primary goal of this index was to solve a major problem for researchers, curators, and collectors: knowing who owned what. In an era before online databases, this book provided a centralized registry of where the work of specific photographers was physically archived.

• Expanded Data: This edition significantly increased the reach of the original 1982 version, documenting over 500 collections and indexing more than 30,000 photographers.

• Institutional Coverage: It includes data from major museums (like the MET and MoMA), university archives, historical societies, and obscure private foundations.

Structural Organization

The book is meticulously organized to facilitate different research paths:

1. The Institutional Directory

The first section lists the participating institutions by state and city. It provides:

• Contact information and collection size.

• A general description of the collection's focus (e.g., Civil War, Western expansion, fashion, or modern art).

2. The Photographer Index

This is the "engine" of the book. It lists photographers alphabetically and provides a code for every institution that holds their work.

• The "Deep Bench": Beyond household names like Ansel Adams or Walker Evans, the index is famous for including thousands of commercial, vernacular, and local photographers who might otherwise have been lost to history.

3. Collection Profiles

For many major collections, the index provides a "count" or an estimate of how many prints by a specific photographer are in that particular archive, allowing researchers to find the largest or most significant concentrations of a specific artist’s work.

Historical Significance

• Defining the Canon: By listing which photographers were being collected by major museums, the index helped codify the "canon" of American photography.

• A Tool for Provenance: It became a vital tool for the art market and historians to verify the rarity and location of specific bodies of work.

• Transition to Digital: This physical volume laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Iconographic Collections and the online databases used by the George Eastman Museum today.

Summary Takeaway

The Index to American Photographic Collections is the "phone book" of photographic history. It transformed fragmented, localized knowledge into a national network of visual heritage, making it possible for scholars to trace the physical trajectory of American photography from its inception through the late 20th century.