TO HONOR THE LIFE + ADVANCE THE LEGACY OF JOSHUA ABRAHAM NORTON
RESEARCH • EDUCATION • ADVOCACY
Much of the relevant background is in the title.
The rare, fine-grained, wonderfully textured photograph, a stereoview, is by J.J. Reilly.
It's beautiful.
What's left is to get your bearings and see the view — which you can do by clicking below!
In the mid to late 1870s, the Bradley & Rulofson studio created one of the seven photo-portraits of Emperor Norton the studio is known to have taken of the Emperor during his reign. The seated Emperor is holding his favorite walking stick, and his Chinese umbrella is propped against the chair.
The best-known version of this photograph appeared in a book published in 1964. The photo appears very dark — which adds to the mood but also obscures many details.
Here, we present a rarely seen brighter, more balanced — and more revealing — version of the photo that appeared in 1961.
Read MoreA little more than half of the 17 extant photographs of Emperor Norton have reliable dates attached. In this context, "date" means year.
Armed with one historical lead, a good set of links to early San Francisco directories, some basic detective skills and a little patience, we set out to pin down the date of a well-known photograph of Emperor Norton that had no date.
We found it.
Read MoreNew Campaign research seems to confirm that a photograph sometimes thought to be of a young Emperor Norton is not the Emperor but just a boy with a military costume and a fake beard.
Read More