The History of Photography: As Seen Through the Spira Collection

"S.F. Spira collected more than twenty thousand individual objects relating to the history of photography - a collection of unusual substance and depth, including many items extremely rare and not duplicated among the holdings of any museum in the United States. Spira's collection is remarkable in that it clearly illustrates the connection between one phase in the development of photography and the next, and the complex relationships between photography and the other disciplines such as painting and scientific research."-the publisher.