That title just offered itself up. Elementary Telephotography by Ernest Marriage (1901) may be the first book on the subject [10 mins. later - not quite true - Dallmeyer wrote a book although mostly about the physics of telephotography], although articles have been written some time before the publication. Chapter 3, after the first two were devoted to the construction of telephoto lenses, gets into the fun stuff. Notice the words “snap shots” in there? I wonder what snap shots meant to photogs back then.
As expected, telephoto lenses were used for similar reasons as today. What about this shot? The early Paparazzo?
Using a hat to screen incoming light? Been there, done that.
Wildlife photographers, as they do today, cherished the telephoto lenses.
Hey, this cow dude is wildlife to me. 
Lastly, check out this ad. The metal construction looks hot! Looks like it could fit right on my Rebel XTi.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Dee 03.21.08 at 4:26 pm
What a find, Emon. Look at the pic of that cow.. how photogenic is that face?
I am curious to what type of ’snap shots’ were taken back then, I mean they had no compact cams to hold with one hand and snap a cool shot of oneself for myspace or facebook. Yes, that’s what I relate ’snap shots’ to the most
Paul Levinson 03.22.08 at 12:09 am
Superb find!
Emon 03.22.08 at 7:46 am
Thanks. I agree, I wanted to know what made a shot, a snap shot in those days.