Collecting historic photos is a treasure hunt, that has yielded many surprising finds.
These are two photos that came out of Virginia, taken probably in the late 1800's to early 1900s. The above photo is a bit of a mystery and we don't know a lot about the photographer. But a very poetic expression of love was inscribed in the back of the photo. The second photo in this group was taken by Rufus Holsinger who a very well-known and prominent photographer in central Virginia. This was confirmed by the Albemarle Charlottesville Va. Historical Society. The names of the people who sat for these photos are both unknown.
Transcription
"Life [without] sweet love! Or it would be [A world] without a Sun—
[Or as a] snow-capped mountain, dark [Or as] midnights in one; [Or a] fair scene, without one spot to glad the waste, Without one blossom of delight, Of feeling, or of taste!"
Notes on Missing Text: The left margin has sustained significant paper loss. The missing or damaged words enclosed in brackets [...] are reconstructed based on
remaining visible letter traces and poetic context.
Photo by Rufus Holsinger
Rufus Holsinger was a prominent photographer here in Charlottesville and the Holsinger Studio he had established in the late 1800s was active until 1977. The University of Virginia Library's Special Collections has a vast collection of the studio's
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