#O97
1906
Chicago: Geo. R. Lawrence Co., May 5, 1906. Photogravure ca. 28 x 76 cm (11 x30 in.). Very mild crinkling of blank margins but overall a very good photogravure.
Panoramic photogravure view of San Francisco in ruins just after the 1906 earthquake which "struck San Francisco and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. On Wednesday, April 18, 1906. Devastating fires broke out in the city that lasted for several days. As a result of the quake and fires, about 3,000 people died and over 80% of San Francisco was destroyed"(Wikipedia); "Lawrence's Captive Airship, as he called it, was an ingenious kite array that lifted a 50 pound panoramic camera between 400 and 2000 feet into the air. It took 17 kites to hold the camera and a stabilizing rig aloft. Three boom arms stretched out horizontally from beneath the camera with cords attached that connected to a weight dangling below the camera to keep the rig balanced"(tested.com).
