[Puerto Rico Photographica]

[Scrapbook and Annotated Vernacular Photograph Album Documenting the Experiences of Navy Machinist Benjamin Knight While Serving in Puerto Rico]

[Various locations in Puerto Rico: 1941-1943]. [50] leaves, illustrated with approximately 270 vernacular silver gelatin photographs, most about 4.5 x 3.75 inches, plus numerous real photo postcards, and many dozens of ephemeral items mounted throughout. Folio. Contemporary decorative brown cloth with color illustration of a guitarist serenading in a courtyard on the front cover, string tied. One small gouge in front cover, edges a bit chipped and frayed. Contents nicely preserved. Very good. Item #3753

A jam-packed scrapbook and annotated vernacular photo album assembled by Lieutenant Benjamin Knight, a U.S. Navy machinist living in Puerto Rico at the outset of World War II. The book includes many hundreds of photographs and ephemeral items documenting Lieutenant Knight's experiences in Puerto Rico, including dozens of photographs capturing indigenous Puerto Rican people in a variety of settings, with the majority of the photographs captioned in ink below the images. The photographs featuring locals begin with the first photograph in the album, showing four young boys in swimsuits, with the manuscript caption reading, "Porto Rican Divers Caguas 6-15-41." Other photographs picture "Muchacha Bonitas" (two young girls), the "Maid of Carolina" (a young girl walking down the street), "Caguas Miss in Summery Dress," "Urchins of Cayey" (two young men on the street), a page of portraits of various young people captioned, "A Few Puerto Rican Characters," two shots of a Puerto Rican man lying on the street "On the Evils of Strong Drink," a "bar maid" in Santurce, a pair of young men captioned "Boot Blacks," a young mother described as "Madonna of La Perla," and other images of locals on the streets. One page captures several images of a "Negro Girl from Boca Congreso." Numerous photographs depict Puerto Rican street scenes or events such as the Fiesta de San Antonio. Still other images feature various scenes around the island, such as "The Hills of Aibonito," "El Morro at Entrance to San Juan," Barranquitas, downtown San Juan, several shots of the fields and hills "near Aguadilla," the beach at Point Sardinia, Fort San Geronimo, "water front dives" in San Juan, a "roadside restaurant" in Isla Verde, the "Plaza Baldioroty" in San Juan, a cemetery at Cayey, a "slum area" in Puerta de Tierra, a churchyard in Rio Pedras, Fort San Cristobal, Condado Beach, and others. A page of seven photographs depict scenes "in and around Arecibo, Puerto Rico," including two fishing shots, street scenes, and a large building called "Resp Logia 'Tanama' No.2."

Knight also records himself and others engaged in various activities around the island, at lunch, exploring the island, dancing, at picnics, and more. There are also a couple of larger group photos, one memorializing the Naval Air Station baseball team. A handful of later photographs document Knight's brief stay in Florida in 1942, with images of a "Seminole Shack" a young "Seminole Indian" in Miami, and a pair of "Seminole Boys" in the Everglades. In addition to the photographs, Knight held onto many dozens of ephemeral items which he included in the present album. These include his driver's license and other personal cards, Puerto Rican business cards, lottery ticket stubs, picture postcards, liquor labels, matchbook covers, Puerto Rican currency, cigar labels, and more.

Price: $1,250.00