To Mrs. Arthur T Kemp (né Baby Belle) From James L. Breese

On the front free endpaper of the folio is a personal dedication by Breese to the album’s original owner who attended the party: Mrs. Arthur T. Kemp, otherwise known as New York socialite “Baby Belle” Neilson. (Mary Isabelle Neilson Hunnewell: 1878-1924) In late April, 1897, Neilson married Arthur Tryon Kemp, (1871-1945) a wealthy New York City property owner who was an 1894 graduate of Yale. The marriage ended in divorce in 1903.

One of perhaps only 50-70 copies produced, with almost all believed to be either lost or destroyed, this rare mammoth album of original carbon photographs, including of artwork produced by notable artists and an original multi-color lithograph, was compiled by amateur photographer James Lawrence Breese in early 1897. An important and historical photographic and artistic record of America’s Gilded Age, it was produced as a lavish “souvenir” album of a gathering of 70 invitees of the New York City elite, including members of The Four Hundred. The occasion was a costume party at the photographer’s “Carbon Studio” and townhouse at midnight on December 17, 1896.

The album contains ten carbon prints, laid down on oversized cards and individually matted, all with Breese’s “The Carbon Studio” blindstamp, and an original lithograph of  the party’s “menu” printed in colors by American artist Robert Lewis Reid. (1862-1929)