1. VITTORIO SELLA. Alagna Cirque and the Village of Riva Valdobbia, from the path ascending to the Ollen Pass, c. 1879-1892, Sella number AVII 1576. 11.3x15.5" collodion print, printed c. 1893, mounted on 16 3/4x12" heavy brown board. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: Alps 1576. Alagna Cirque and the Village of Riva Valdobbia. VII; Inscribed in pencil: 1576/ A; Inscribed in blue pencil: VII; Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; Stamped in ink on mount verso: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Stella - Biella; Inscribed in pencil: Loan 72.

2. VITTORIO SELLA. Bors Glen and Tagliaferro, from above the Vincent hut, c. 1879-1892, Sella number AVII 1578. 11.3x15.2" collodion print, printed c. 1893, mounted on 16 1/2x12 1/8" heavy brown board. Inscribed in ink on mount recto: 1578. Bors Glen and Tagliaferro, from above/ the Vincent hut; Inscribed in pencil: 1578/ A; Inscribed in blue pencil: VII; Print recto embossed with artist's credit stamp in bottom right corner; Stamped in ink on mount verso: Depose / Tous Droits Reserves / V. Stella - Biella.

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.

1. 1576 Very Good: Wear and dirt on edges of print, dirt, abrasions, marks, prints lifted where panels meet, and spots. Mount has edge has missing edges and corners and is fragile.
2. 1578 Good to Fair: Wear on edges of print, abrasions, marks, prints lifted where panels meet, spots and is dirty. Mount has edge has missing edges and corners and is fragile.