[The Fore Tower of the Castle, St Andrews]

Taking advantage of the fact that the calotype allowed the production of multiple prints from a single negative, Hill and Adamson (David Octavius Hill [1802-70] and Robert Adamson [1821-48]) drew up plans to publish their pictures in bound albums that would be available for public purchase. On August 3, 1844, they ran an advertisement in the Edinburgh Evening Courant stating that possible subjects for these volumes would include the inhabitants of fishing villages; Highland character and dress; the architecture of Scotland's principal cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow; historic monuments around the country; and portraits of famous Scotsmen. Strangely, none of these albums was ever realized, in spite of the group of existing Newhaven fishing photographs upon which to draw for the first volume.

In 1846, however, Hill and Adamson did publish a set of albums, which featured the town of St. Andrews, Scotland (see also 84.XO.965.8, 84.XO.734.4.4.32<?a> and 84.XO.964.23). Each copy of A Series of Calotype Views of St. Andrews contained about twenty-one plates (the Getty Museum's copy has twenty-three).

Adapted from Anne M. Lyden. Hill and Adamson, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 74. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum.