VITTORIO SELLA. 230 Degree Panorama as seen from The Breithorn. Overland. Du Sommet du Breithorn 4171 m. Mt. Blanc, Grand Combin, Ruinette, Petit Cervin (535); Dent d'Herens, Cervin, Dent Blanche (536); Grand Cornier, Gabelhorn, Ruthhorn, and Hotel du Lac Noir (537); Weisshorn, Wildstrubel, and hotel du Riffel (538); Aletschhorn, Mischabelhorner, Alphubel, Fletschhorn, Weissmies (539); Rimpfischhorn, Gorner-Gletscher, Strahlhorn, Cima di Jazzi, Grenz-Gletscher (540); Nordend Dufourspitze Zumsternsp ze Signal-Kuppe (541) Lyskamm, Pollyx, Castor, Verra-Gletscher (542), c. 1879-1892, Sella numbers AVII 535- 542. 10.5x106.4" collodion prints (8 individual prints), printed c. 1893, mounted on 109.8x12.5" brown board.

1. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 535. MtBlanc Gr. Combin Ruinette/ Petit Cervin; inscribed in pencil: 535; Stamped in ink: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Stella - Biella; Inscribed in blue pencil on mount verso: B.K.; Inscribed in pencil: 15730/ VII 535-542; Inscribed in ink; Alps/ Panorama Breithorn/ 535 - 542; Stamped in ink: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Stella - Biella; Paper label with decorative blue border attached to mount verso inscribed: in blue pencil: 222; in ink: XVI 222.
2. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Dent d' Herens Cervin Bl; Inscribed in pencil: (Matterhorn) 14705/ 536.
3. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: anche Gr. Cornier Gabelhorn Rothhorn/ + Hotel du Lac Noir; Inscribed in pencil: 537.
4. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Weisshorn Wildstrubel Oberland/ + Hotel du Riffel/ Du sommet du; Inscribed in pencil: 538; Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: X.
5. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Aletschhorn Mischabelhorner Alphubel Fletschhorn Weissmies/ Breithorn 4171 m Gorner-Glet; Inscribed in pencil: 13.685/ 539.
6. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Rimpfischhorn. Gorner-Gletscher Strahlhorn Cima di Jazzi/ scher Grenz-Gletscher; Inscribed in pencil: 540.
7. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Nordend Dufourspitze Zumsternsp ze Signal-Kuppe; Inscribed in pencil: 5217/ 541.
8. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Lyskamm Pollux Castor/ Verra-Gletscher-/ 1. Octobre 1891/ Vittorio Sella/ C.AI; Inscribed in pencil: 14890/ 542/ A; Inscribed in blue pencil: VII; Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner.

This gigantic panaroma like many others in this auction are highlights not only of this collection but of photographic art in the 19th and early 20th century.

Vittorio Sella (1859-1943) began serious mountain climbing and photography when he was a teenager mastering the wet plate technique and making panoramas by 1880. By 1879 he began to use dry plates and in 1880 began a series of winter views in the Alps. Every holiday, summer and winter, Sella was in the nearby mountains, often carrying an old photographic apparatus that had belonged to his father.

He climbed and photographed in the Alps annually making the first winter ascents of a number or prominent peaks including the Matterhorn in 1882 and the first winter hike across Mont Blanc in 1884. His panoramas were up to 12 plates and 360 degrees. Photography and mountain climbing were family affairs, and most climbs would be with his brother Erminio a couple of other companions and guides including Daniel Maquignaz and later his assistant photographic assistant Emile Bota. Although small in stature (only 5 foot 6 inches, today he would be considered an elite athlete) Sella possessed tremendous strength and endurance. He carried heavy, large-format cameras and glass plates, scaled treacherous slopes, worked in challenging weather conditions, and endured storage conditions that sometimes ruined his negatives. He made photographs with both stereoscopic and handheld Kodak cameras, afterward enlarging his prints by various means. His masterful compositions of sublime peaks captured crisp details and the vast array of tonal ranges enhanced by high-altitude light and shadow. His most celebrated works are large, multi-plate panoramas.

This sale of lots from this auction will directly benefit the Appalachian Mountain Club Trails Protection Fund; Conservation Research and Climate Action; and the Modernization and Preservation of the AMC Library and Archives.

Very Good: Mild abrasions and wear, vertical visible abrasion lines on 5 panels where prints were folded against each other, edges lifting and worn where panels meet. Richly printed. Mount has corner and edge wear, marks and dirt.