The collection consists of photographic glass-plate transparencies depicting life in Japan, including scenery, street scenes, workers, farming, fishing, silk production, stone carvers, wood carvers, metal workers, potters, and artists. These "Yokohama photographs" were sold to foreign tourists between about 1868 and 1912, before cameras and postcards were generally available. They have been described in: Meiji no Nihon: Yokomana shashin no sekai: Saishoku arubamu. Yokohama-shi Yurindo, 1990. (Meiji Japan in tinted album: the world of Yokohama photographs -- includes bibliographical references). The collection also consists of photograph and postcard albums collected by Herbert and Annie Geddes between 1907 and 1959.