The Scottish photographer Thomas Annan (1829-1887) is best known for his images of the Glasgow slums, published as Photographs of Streets, Closes, &c. Taken 1868-71, 1872 (Graphic Arts dividion (GAX) 2007-0023E). Not long after this commission, the city of Glasgow hired Annan again to photograph the 25 mile water system between Loch Katrine and Glasgow. This was the first successful aqueduct project in Scotland, designed to provide Glasgow with cheap, clean water.
Annan finished the first set of photographs in 1876 and a portfolio was published in 1877. He returned to take a second photograph of the commission members in 1880 and a third portrait of the group in 1886.
In the late 1880s, Glasgow had outgrown the original water works and needed a second reservoir. To raise the money for this project they again called Annan, who made additional photographs and a second expanded edition of the Water Works album was published in 1889. This is the rare volume of 33 albumen photographs that Princeton’s graphic arts division recently acquired.
Other volumes in the Princeton University library, illustrated with photographs printed by Thomas Annan:
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), Photographs of Glasgow College, 1866. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2008-0038Q
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), Glasgow Improvements Act, 1866: Photographs of Streets, Closes, &c. Taken 1868-71, 1872. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2007-0023E
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry. Illustrated by Permanent Photographs by Annan, 1878. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2007-0031Q
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire: Illustrated in Seventy Views, with Historical and Descriptive Accounts, 1885. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) In Process
Illustrated by photogravures from Thomas Annan negatives, printed by James Annan:
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), University of Glasgow Old and New: Illustrated with Views and Portraits in Photogravure, 1891. Marquand Library (SAX): Rare Books LF1081 .U548 1891f
Annan, Thomas (1829-1887), Old Closes and Streets: A Series of Photogravures, 1868-1899, 1900. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2006-0143F
