VITTORIO SELLA. Central and eastern peaks of La Meije (497); Monte Viso, Pelvoux (498); Les Ecrins, Les Bans (499) Panorama from the eastern summit of La Meije, 13,077 feet, c. 1879-1892, Sella number AI 497-499. 9.6x41.5" 4 collodion prints, printed c. 1893, mounted on 12x43.25" brown board.

1. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 497. Central and Eastern Peaks of La Meije.
2. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 498. Monte Viso, Pelvoux, etc.
3. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 499. / Les Ecrins, Les Bans, etc. / (Panorama from the Eastern summit of La Meije, 13077 feet.); inscribed in blue pencil: AI. Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso: 497-499.

The Dauphiné Alps (French: Alpes du Dauphiné) are a group of mountain ranges in southeastern France, west of the main chain of the Alps. Mountain ranges within the Dauphiné Alps include the Massif des écrins (in the Parc national des écrins), Belledonne, the Taillefer range and the mountains of Matheysine.

Vittorio Sella (1859-1943) began serious mountain climbing and photography when he was a teenager mastering the wet plate technique and making panoramas by 1880. By 1879 he began to use dry plates and in 1880 began a series of winter views in the Alps. Every holiday, summer and winter, Sella was in the nearby mountains, often carrying an old photographic apparatus that had belonged to his father.

He climbed and photographed in the Alps annually making the first winter ascents of a number or prominent peaks including the Matterhorn in 1882 and the first winter hike across Mont Blanc in 1884. His panoramas were up to 12 plates and 360 degrees. Photography and mountain climbing were family affairs, and most climbs would be with his brother Erminio a couple of other companions and guides including Daniel Maquignaz and later his assistant photographic assistant Emile Bota.

Very Good: moderate wear corner and edge wear some small stains and marks, print is dirty. Mount has severe wear and marks.