“Signor F. Beato, Begs to announce to the Public of Yokohama and Travellers visiting the East generally, that he has just completed a handsome collection of Albums of various sizes, containing views & c., of Japan, with descriptions of the Scenes, Manners and Customs of the people; compiled after visiting all the most interesting localities in the country during six years residence.”
–Beato ad
On November 26, 1866, a fire ravaged much of Yokohama, and Beato’s studio was destroyed. (Since Japanese houses were made of wood with rice paper windows, devastating fires were common.) Although it is possible that some of Beato’s negatives survived, he nevertheless needed to re-photograph and reprint most of his images.
Once he built his inventory back up, Beato announced his new albums, which contained photographs juxtaposed with commentary written by a British official, James William Murray. Many of the individual photographs Beato made in Japan were originally in albums, but today they have been removed for sale or exhibition.