History's Anteroom - Photography in San Francisco 1906-1909

History's Anteroom is a collection of vintage photographs made in San Francisco, California, during the years 1906-1909. In April 1906 the San Francisco Bay Area fell victim to a powerful earthquake, and in October 1909 the city hosted a "regional rebirth" with a celebration named the Portola Festival. The photographs and illustrations reproduced here - some only rarely shown or seen now for the first time - have been given a close reading and placed within the specific historical context by the authors. The result is a journey back into the early history of the twentieth century and its first great urban catastrophe.