In 1852 the Academy’s Secretary D O Hill RSA (1802-70) proposed establishing a Photographic Department. In its infancy, works by early UK and overseas photographers were collected.
This later gifted album was compiled by the Edinburgh photographer Dr Thomas Keith (1827-95) and includes works by Hill, J G Tunny (1820-87) and William Walker (1814-85). Most are architectural records of Edinburgh from a time of major urban improvement, which saw the loss of many historic buildings and streetscapes.
Some of the Keith photographs in this album are the only known copies (print or negative). Protected from light between the pages of this album, many of them retain a clarity that would have otherwise faded.
Presented by Sir Edmund Findlay from the Library of his father Sir John Ritchie Findlay HRSA, 1931
