File:"Three Years Later," volume 1 - DPLA - 4f44f06007753675f2ff931afe21a277 (page 71).jpg

Johnson compiled seven volumes of photographs to illustrate a few of his earliest travels to Europe. This album represents volume 1 of the set entitled "Three Years Later." It is a follow up to the 1878 trip; the Johnsons returned to Europe in 1881. Images begin with seaside views of Brighton on England's southeastern coast, followed by various villages, spas and cities in Switzerland and Germany, on to the Netherlands and Brussel, and end in England with images of Shakespeare's home and Stoneleigh Park for a total of 524 photographs. The Johnsons also visited Prague, where they saw the Radetzky Memorial, which has since been transferred from its outdoor location to the National Museum. In 1881, the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On this trip, Johnson returned to the Old Masters' Picture Gallery in Dresden, and devoted twenty pages of the second volume to a number of its paintings. Among the works of art from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin reproduced in Johnson's picture books are panels depicting the Annunciation from the Ghent Altarpiece. Johnson also included images of paintings from Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Haarlem's Frans Hals Museum and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Unlike the 1878 trip, Johnson's itinerary in 1881 included a number of stops throughout England, most of which are documented in the third volume. Among the sites visited were Windsor Castle and its royal collection and the National Gallery of Art in London. Johnson commemorated the latter with images of more than fifty paintings.