George Washington Wilson - Views from Princes Street

G W Wilson

Instantaneous Views

George Washington Wilson, on his tours of Scotland, visited Edinburgh on several occasions. He was also a member of the Photographic Society of Scotland that met in Edinburgh in the 1850s and 1860s.

Princes Street Views

Wilson was one of the first photographers to take 'instantaneous photos', taking these in Edinburgh, looking to the east along Princes Street towards Calton Hill. His first were taken in 1859, but he returned to the same location in later years to try to improve on his original results.

These photos used short exposures and so captured sharp images of the people and vehicles in the busy Princes Street, rather than the blurs that appeared in most longer-exposure photographs of the period.

Princes Street - c.1859

Web site: World of Stereoviews

Princes Street - c.1860

Dates of the Photos

Thank you to Roger Taylor for guidance in dating GW Wilson's photos of Princes Street, given in his book: George Washington Wilson - Artist and Photographer (1823-93)' [pp.72-74].

Roger Taylor's book has illustrations of three 'instantaneous photos' by Wilson, all from the same balcony on one of the buildings on the north side of Princes Street.

The buildings in the foreground on the left are a guide to when the photos were taken:

- 1859: 'Sun Insurance' + 'Star Hotel'

- 1860: 'Star Hotel'

- 1863/64: 'Star Hotel' name removed. The hotel has been modernised and renamed, 'The Edinburgh Hotel'.

- 1859: Wilson's stereo view of 1859 is far rarer than his later views. the copy of his 1859 view illustrated above is currently offered for sale, in good condition, for $120 (April 2005). This is perhaps about five times the price that might be asked for one of Wilson's later views from the same location.

- 1863/64: In the 1863/64 views, the name 'The Edinburgh Hotel' can be seen on two new lamp posts erected on the pavement outside the hotel.

Format of the Photos

Wilson sold his Princes Street photographs as stereo views

and also some cut-down to cartes-de-visite size.

Location

Here is a view of Wilson's horse-drawn darkroom, parked outside the hotel in Princes Street from which he took his instantaneous views.

Other photos from the same location

G W Wilson appears to have swung his camera through 45 degrees to look to the south-west to take other views from the same location - looking across Waverley Bridge towards the Old Town of Edinburgh.