Our friends at the Library of Congress have published a new set of photos in their Commons account.
The 169 glorious and majestic views of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in Photochrom Travel Views .
To see all 6,500 pictures now, check out the Photochrom Print Collection at the Library of Congress, lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pgzhtml/pgzabt.html
What's a photochrom?
Published primarily from the 1890s to 1910s, these prints were created by the Photoglob Company in Zürich, Switzerland, and the Detroit Publishing Company in Michigan. The richly colored images look like photographs but are actually ink-based photolithographs, usually 6.5 x 9 inches. Plenty more info at lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pgzhtml/pgzproc.html.
Like postcards, the photochroms feature subjects that appeal to travelers, including landscapes, architecture, street scenes, and daily life and culture. The prints were sold as souvenirs and often collected in albums or framed for display.
The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division assembled its collection from two sources that provided prints in mint condition. In 1985, the prints of Europe and the Middle East were purchased from the Galerie Muriset in Switzerland. In 2004, Howard L. Gottlieb generously donated the North American views.
Additional photochroms can be found in the online collections of the Zurich Central Library, www.zb.unizh.ch/ and other archives.
Here's a look at some views of Sweden ~