[ Photographs ] Moran, John/O'Sullivan, Timothy Darien Expedition Important group of 26 photographs from the Darien Expedition, each on the original and official 2-toned mount. Albumen prints, 8 x 11inches, each with a title, and "Darien Expedition,

[ Photographs ] Moran, John/O'Sullivan, Timothy Darien Expedition Important group of 26 photographs from the Darien Expedition, each on the original and official 2-toned mount. Albumen prints, 8 x 11inches, each with a title, and "Darien Expedition, Comd'r. Selfridge, Comd'g." on mount recto; 2 with inventory numbers in the negative; with 3 multiples (duplicates of "Tropical Forest" and triplicates of "Inquisition"). Circa 1870-71 E30000-40000 An Uncommon Group Of Photographs From The Selfridge Expedition To Panama. In 1870, under the auspices of the U S. Navy Department, O'Sullivan sailed for the Darien Isthmus as the expedition official photographer Selfridge's mission was to reconnoiter for a proposed interoceanic canal in Panama which was then part of Colombia. Given the harsh working conditions, that is, the steamy climate, dense vegetation, and uncooperative Subcuti tribespeople, O'Sullivan's work was restricted to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus, mainly focusing on shoreline architecture, street scenes and the edge of the vast jungle. Thus, the following year the Navy hired John Moran, a photographer from Philadelphia and the brother of the painter Thomas Moran, to replace O'Sullivan. According to Joel Snyder's American Frontiers, The Photographs Of Timothy O'Sullivan, "Many of Moran's prints have been mis-attributed to O'Sullivan -especially the views of Limon River and Limon Bay," which are on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. Both O'Sullivan and Moran's photographs are impressive works with strong pictorial, proto-modernist qualities. Several images from the group are reproduced in James Horan's book Timothy O'Sullivan, America's Forgotten Photographer, New York, 1964),