If you find a dead link on this blog, or on The Compleat Muybridge website, or anywhere else, it may be possible to find that ‘extinct’ web page by using the Wayback Machine.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
This rather large storage device (located somewhere in the real world) has archived web pages since 1996.
So…. simply go to the Wayback page, paste in the web address that you’re looking for, and see what happens. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, you will be shown a chart listing dates. Click on one, and you will be ‘taken back’ to that web page on that date. It takes six months or more for a web page to be archived by the Machine, some sites block this archiving, and some pages are unavailable for other reasons. But it’s always worth trying. If a particular web address doesn’t work, try snipping off the last bit, leaving just the home page URL.
There is no word search facility so you will need to know the URL (web address, either of the site, or the specific page.) That’s why, on this blog and associated website, I am making most link addresses visible. It’s then easy to cut and paste the web address into the Wayback search box. (When doing this, make sure you don’t duplicate the http:// bit.)
If searching for other ‘lost websites’ that you know were once on the web, and you don’t know the URL, you could try to Google Search someone else’s link to a particular site (which will of course be dead), check the html text of their page (VIEW SOURCE on your computer top bar), try to find the URL you need, which will be somewhere amongst the code, and copy it. Then use the Wayback Machine.
Using this method, I was able to piece together the history of the first Muybridge web pages, and find a disappeared list of Muybridge’s models.
Searching on this blog
You can search Muy Blog for specific terms using the search box on the right. You can also locate different subject posts on Muy Blog by searching by Category (New Photography, Painting and Drawing, etc) also in the right-hand column.
Searching The Compleat Muybridge
You can search The Compleat Muybridge from the search box, accessible from the front page. There’s also a Contents page.
If you’re new to Muybridge, it’s probably best to start with the biography. There’s also a basic chronology, from which you can graduate to the more detailed chronology if necessary.
Failing everything else, an email to me: s-herbert[AT]easynet.co.uk with your question could perhaps produce results.
Stephen Herbert
What is Muy Blog?
Muy Blog 