This was Valentine's first series of Tasmanian postcards. They are based on Valentine's negatives with numbers in the 48,000 range. The earliest usage date is in 1906, which was before a branch of J. Valentine & Sons was established in Australia. The images were supplied to Valentine’s in Scotland by H.W. Grattan of Launceston, so he may have been responsible for sale of the cards in Tasmania. The cards have the same back as some cards published by the British publisher ETW Dennis, which suggests Valentine's used them as the printer.
Series Contents: J. Valentine & Sons, of Dundee, Scotland, maintained a register of their holding of negatives, which they called their “View Register”. This register is now held by the University of St. Andrews, who make it available on line [Note 1]. The register lists a group of negatives with numbers in the range 48656 – 48689, sourced from Henry W. Grattan, 40 Brisbane St, Launceston. All of the cards that I have seen in this series are from this group of negatives, but whether or not all negatives in the sequence were printed as cards is not yet known.
These ar the register entries:
48656 Tasmania, Breakwater, Burnie, N.W. Coast
48657 Tasmania, Latrobe
48658 Tasmania, Crows Nest Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48659 Tasmania, Deloraine
48660 Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48661 Tasmania, Cataract Gorge from Tea Room, Launceston
48662 Tasmania, Hobblers Bridge near Launceston
48663 Tasmania, Macquarie Bridge & River, Ross
48664 Tasmania, Launceston from Trevallyn
48665 Tasmania, River Mersey, Devonport
48666 Tasmania, Entally Bridge, Hadspen near Launceston
48667 Tasmania, 1st Basin, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48668 Tasmania, Kings Bridge, entrance to Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48669 Tasmania, Launceston from Trevallyn
48670 Tasmania, Circular Head, from … Road, Burnie
48671 Tasmania, Beauty Point
48672 Tasmania, Epping, South Esk River
48673 Tasmania, Princes Square, Launceston
48674 Tasmania, St. Patricks River & Fisherman’s Hut
48675 Tasmania, Falls, Lilydale
48676 Tasmania, Corra Linn Bridge near Launceston
48677 Tasmania, Six hours’ fishing, North Esk River, 2 rods
48678 Tasmania, Cataract Gorge, Launceston
48679 Tasmania, Denison Gorge
48680 Tasmania, Pulpit Rock, Corra Linn, near Launceston
48681 Tasmania, Silver Falls, Fern Tree Bower, Hobart
48682 Tasmania, Tasmania, Government House (Domain) Hobart
48683 Tasmania, Wharf, Hobart
48684 Tasmania, Wharf and Battery Point, Hobart
48685 Tasmania, Botanic Gardens, Hobart
48686 Tasmania, Fern Tree Bower, Hobart
48687 Tasmania, Tasmania, Hut at Fern Tree Bower
48688 Tasmania, Hobart
48689 Tasmania, Macquarie Street, Hobart
Date Published: The earliest postmark date I have seen is 22 May, 1906; most used cards are postmarked in 1906 or 1907.
Printing: The printing method is multicolour photolithography, with a black halftone layer superimposed. The back layout is that of some ETW Dennis cards, suggesting they were the printer
Number in Series: If all the images listed above appeared on cards there were 34 cards in the series.
Identification: On the front of the cards there is the usual Valentine logo of JV in a circle, with the view negative number beside it. The back of the cards has the layout seen on cards printed by E.T.W. Dennis, suggesting they were the printers.
Note 1:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/imu/imu.php?request=home. Select ‘Collections’, scroll to near the bottom and choose James Valentine Collection of Landscape Photography and select ‘View Registers’ within the text.
