[Compilation of Nearly 180 Photographs of Horse Racing at the Hipodromo de Maroñas, Montevideo, During the 1940s and 1950s]

[Montevideo, 1953. About very good.. 177 original photographs, varying formats, including prints measuring 3.25 x 4.5 inches, 2 x 6.75 inches, and 3.25 x 9 inches. Oblong folio album, marbled and pebbled cloth, with two sets of string ties at spine. Wear to spine and edges; light scuffing to boards; front board loose. A few leaves also loosening; most interleaved with tissue guards. Extensive and artfully accomplished manuscript annotations on leaves throughout. Mostly clean, crisp images, with an occasional blurred action shot. Photos mounted directly to leaves. An engaging visual document of horse racing in Uruguay during the late 1940s and early 1950s, containing over 175 original and professional photographs of triumphant horses and action from their races at the Hipodromo de Maroñas in Montevideo. The venue was established as the national racetrack in 1889 and holds the most significant and remunerative races in the country each year.

The present album contains a record of sixty-two races that occurred at the Maroñas from 1947 to 1953. An album leaf for each race usually includes a portrait of the winning horse and jockey being led to the track, plus one or two small panoramic, mid-race action shots and a print of the photo finish. Leaves are extensively annotated in several hands, with notes on the name of the winning horse and its jockey; the name, date, and distance of the race; names of other finishers in the money; and other relevant information. Many of the photos are credited to the local firm of A.E. Rodriguez either in the negative or in manuscript, and the photographer seems to have been an official photographer for the racetrack. The manuscript photo credits on some album leaves are quite similar to the signatures found on the prints, and it seems possible surmise that this album was a personal compilation of work by the photographer himself or perhaps a sample book for his firm. A well-composed album of images depicting one of the national sports of Uruguay during the mid-20th century.