Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 552

Stereoview, Samons' Cabin and North Dome, Yo Semite Valley

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
Samons' Cabin and North Dome at 3,725 feet elevation in Yo Semite Valley is the subject of this albumen stereoview, published by John P. Soule of 199 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, and hand-colored on a yellow-bordered mount. The image is number 1075 in Soule's California series, copyrighted in 1870. Soule distributed this series through Boston and the views remain among the earliest systematic photographic documentation of Yosemite.

The composition frames a low-pitched log cabin with a board-and-batten roof set beneath towering pines and deciduous trees, with a figure seated among scattered timber and debris at the cabin's base. Two long poles lean against the cabin wall, a barrel rests near the wood pile, and the pale granite mass of North Dome is faintly visible through the tree canopy behind the structure.

J. C. Samons is noted on the reverse as the first settler in Yo Semite, giving the cabin particular historical significance as a record of the valley's earliest European-American habitation. The reverse also carries a handwritten ownership inscription reading "Emma L. Bachelder / 141" above the printed series checklist.

The front mount reads "No. 1075. Samon's Cabin, and North Dome, 3725 feet high, Yo Semite Valley." The left border reads "California., Yo Semite Valley" in gilt script.

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