[145 Early Postcards] Pre-Revolutionary Visual Record of Ekaterinoslav and the Dnieper, ca. 1900–1917

Item #1666

Ekaterinoslav [now Dnipro, Ukraine], ca. 1900–1917. Collection of 145 postcards, predominantly photographic and phototype views of Ekaterinoslav, with a substantial number of chromolithographic or hand-tinted cards. Mostly approximately 9 × 14 cm. Captions principally in Russian, frequently accompanied by French, German, or other European-language captions. Numerous cards postally used, with Imperial Russian stamps, cancellations, correspondence, and foreign transit or receiving marks; others unused. The cards span several phases of postcard production, from early undivided backs—on which correspondence was restricted to the picture side—to later divided backs, and from monochrome phototypes to tinted and color issues.

A substantial pre-Revolutionary visual record of Ekaterinoslav, one of the principal industrial and commercial centers of southern Imperial Russia. The collection ranges from general panoramas and the city's principal streets to civic, educational, religious, railway, industrial, recreational, and river subjects. Particularly well represented are Ekaterininsky Prospekt and adjacent commercial streets; the City Garden and its elaborate entrance, bandstand, fountains, and English Club; the Cathedral; City Hall; railway station; Potemkin Palace and Potemkin Garden; monuments to Catherine II and Pushkin; the Mining Institute and other educational institutions; girls' gymnasia, commercial and technical schools; the Governor's residence; and the city's principal public buildings. Numerous cards preserve animated street scenes with pedestrians, horse-drawn traffic, electric trams, telegraph and electrical infrastructure, storefronts, hotels, and commercial signage.

The Dnieper forms a second major component of the collection. Views include the great railway bridge, riverbanks and landing places, boats and river traffic, the rocky shores around Potemkin Garden, islands, winter scenes, and numerous views of the Dnieper rapids, including Nenasytetsky and other named or numbered rapids. Several photographs focus on the distinctive exposed rock formations and turbulent water that characterized the river before the construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, which radically altered this landscape in the Soviet period.

Overall very good, with condition varying from card to card. Numerous examples postally used, with stamps, cancellations, and manuscript correspondence; others unused. Expected occasional toning, spotting, soiling, rubbing, creasing, corner and edge wear, manuscript annotations, and postal handling. Several cards show heavier staining or surface wear, but the images are generally well preserved.

Price: $3,500.00