Postcard by Valentine - View to the east along Princes Street from the foot of the Mound

Princes Street

The View

This view looks to the east along Princes Street from the foot of the Mound, towards the Scott Monument with Calton Hill in the background

The Postcard

When was this postcard published? The numbering of the card does not fit into the normal Valentine numbering sequence.

The picture appears to be based on a photograph, but some of the details appear to have been drawn onto the picture - in particular, the National Monument and the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill.

Retouching Negatives

Thank you to Alan Barden, Akron, Ohio, USA for giving the following additional information about Valentine postcards, and question about postcard numbering.

Alan wrote:

Negative Retouching

The monuments on Calton Hill were not quite drawn into the picture, but almost. The photo negative was undoubtedly retouched before it was used to produce the printing plate.

The retouch artist basically just strengthening lines that were there, but not sufficiently visible for use in the card. I learned about this from a commercial artist, who learned to retouch negatives at a photo studio while in school, and later did it occasionally while employed at a printery.

Alan Barden, Akron Ohio, USA - (for many years the rubber capital of the world - 12 Aug 2005

Postcard Numbering

Could you point me in the direction of any research you are aware of on postcard numbering systems? I belong to the Curt Teich Archives, but they are primarily concerned with Teich cards, and a few other smaller publishers.

I'm also interested in Valentine and Raphael Tuck, and also WR&S and DBE (is this Davidson Brothers?). Any tips or info you could pass along would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening. Best regards,

Alan Barden, Akron Ohio, USA - 12 Aug 2005

The St Andrews University Library in Scotland has a large collection of Valentine postcards, and has produced a useful little booklet about the company. It includes a section on the dating of Valentine images from the numbers on the postcards.

If you are aware of any information on numbering of postcards by other publishers, can you please e-mail me so that I can pass on the info to Alan Barden and learn more about the subject myself.

Thank you:

- Peter Stubbs