February 16, 2017
These delicately nuanced early reproductions were made using a collotype printing method, which uses light-sensitive gelatin colloid coated plates and photographic negatives to create fine detail. They were presented to Stanford University as a gift from David Starr Jordan, which is noted on a small commemorative plaque tucked in the box. "Before the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the pictures were inspected by the successive Shoguns on the occasion of their periodical visits to the Temples at Nikko, but no other persons were as a matter of fact permitted to view them." The pictures are now considered national treasures. See the fully digitized items online.