The NCL collection contains photos taken by western photographers in Taiwan during the 19th century, providing an invaluable record of the scenery and society of Taiwan in earlier times. The main source of these photographs is the following two volumes in the library collection:

．Edouard Thomas Charton, Le Tour du Monde: Nouveau Journal des Voyages, Paris: Libraine Hachette, 1875

．George Leslie Mackay, From far Formosa: The Island, its People and Missions, Edinburgh: O. Anderson & Ferrier, 1896

The NCL has scanned and web-published 37 photographs from these two volumes to open a window to Taiwan in the 19th century.