1. VITTORIO SELLA. Panorama from the summit of Auguille du Midi, at 12,600 feet. Tour Ronde, Mont Blanc Du Tacul (140); Mont Blanc and Mont Maudit (141); Dome du Gouter. (142), c. 1879-1892, Sella number AII 140-142. 11.1x39.4" 3 silver prints mounted on heavy gray board 13x40.7". Inscribed in black ink mount recto 140: Tout Ronde, Mont Blanc du Tacul / III 140; Inscribed in black ink mount recto 141: Mont Blanc and Mont Maudit / III 141; Inscribed in pencil mount verso 141: Loan V.; Inscribed in black ink mount recto 142: Dome de Gouter / III 142.

Along with being a mountaineer and photographer, Sella was also an energetic businessman. In 1886 he formed a bank, Gaudenzio Sella & Co., with three of his brothers and three cousins (as of 1999, "The Sella Group"). In 1899 he and his family started a modern viticulture program (vineyard) in Sardinia, known today as "Sella & Mosca." His other business venture was the distribution, exhibition, and sale of his mountain views. Like other large format photographers of the time - William Henry Jackson, Carleton Watkins, Bisson Freres, Roger Fenton, the Alinari Brothers, and Samuel Bourne - Sella produced a catalog of mountaineering photographs that numbered 100 views in 1882. By 1888 that number had grown to 534. Sella had a field and studio assistant named Emile Bota. He preferred to manage his own distribution. Later he worked with Spooners in London from 1882 to 1917 and when Spooner died, he moved his work to Sifton Praed. His photographs were exhibited widely in climbing, geographical, and exploration clubs and societies throughout Eurasia and North America. In the United States, the Appalachian Mountain sets were shown at over 100 venues in the 1890s and 1900s.

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.

Good: All prints have wear, abrasions and marks; 140 has missing 4x1/8" layer of emulsion missing lower edge, abrasions and marks, edge and corner wear and lifting; 141 has edge wear, lifting edges, missing emulsion edges scratches upper right edge and left side; 142 has streaks, vertical abrasion right side. Mounts have wear corners and edges.