Stereograph

Description

This photograph was taken from the roof the the North Family's Great Stone Barn (1859) looking south with the North Family buildings in the foreground and a glimpse of the Church and Center Family buildings in the distance. The roof of the Barn, originally with a very slight slope, was changed in the spring of 1881 to have a steeper-pitched slate-covered gable roof -- not something on which a photographer could stand to take a photograph. The view was made and sold by A. J. Alden in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1879. From the Berkshire County Eagle we have the following: "The Shakers are being photographed by Alden. He has made 25 or more negatives of groups, buildings and scenery in Lebanon, and the Shakers are to sell stereoscopic views to the hundreds who visit their settlements." [BCE. 51(August 28, 1879): [2], and "Alden's Shaker views which are for sale at Nugent's newsroom, show groups of brethren and sisters in the quaint costumes and they will be interesting additions to stereoscopic collections. One group has Elder Evans in the center with leading members of the fraternity around him. [BCE. 51(September 11, 1879): [2]. N.B.: There are at least two different versions of the listing that appear on Alden's views. In what appears to be the earlier list, Alden, or his printer, misspells the possessive form of family as "families" and of ministry as "ministries." It is corrected on the later version of the list. Several photographs from the first set of views (numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 17, and 18) have been replaced by different views. In all there should be at least 33 different views produced by Alden. This image was designated as view number 27.