I recently came across the souvenir album Barnett's Views of Johannesburg and Suburbs. I photographed a panoramic view of the early town (in three sections) and thought I would share it. The book has no date but the look of the cover, very art nouveau design with floral garland, and the street scenes and buildings leads me to believe that it was published in the late 1890s or early 1900s. It is probably post 1897 but pre the introduction of Chinese labour to the Rand in 1904. This volume came up on sale on Antiquarian (book) auctions a few years ago and sold for $125.
Album Cover
Some of the images inside the album are familiar as Barnetts was the professional photography firm whose collection of glass plates came to be owned by The Star (collection now housed at Wits Historical papers, William Cullen Library). Two thousand photographs comprise The Star Barnett Collection and there were hundreds if not thousands of Barnett postcards. In 1966 The Star published two volumes of early JHB and South African photographs from the collection and those two books are now much sought after Africana books. They have a price tag of up to R500 each.
Volume I
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