Avenue in the Tycoon Cemetery (Sheba) Yedo

Attributed to John Thomas Gulick (1832-1923)
Date: 1862
Photographer: Attributed to John Thomas Gulick (1832-1923)
Medium: Albumen photographic print on card
Dimensions: 3 1/4 H x 3 3/4 W (photograph); 4 7/16 H x 5 7/16 W (card)
Inscription:
Inscribed in ink on card front: Avenue in the the Tycoon Cemetery (Sheba) Yedo
Credit: Albany Institute of History & Art Library
Digital Data Number: DI 463
Catalogue Number: CH 532
Comments:

On October 14th 1862, the U.S. minister to Japan, Robert Hewson Pruyn visited Edo Castle and the Tycoons Cemetery with a group of friends and photographers. The emperor and the shogun only let foreigners into Edo Castle on rare occasions and this diplomatic access was unprecedented. This photograph is a one of a series of eight images made on that day that can be found in the collections of the Albany Institute. In the forefront, a white dog rests in the middle of the road. At the end of the road someone's head is under a dark cloth as the person focuses a large camera mounted on a tripod; evidence that at least two cameras were taken into Edo Castle on that day.