Descrizione

Oblong folio (360 x 260 mm). 96 albumen photographs mounted on card. Contemporary vellum elaborately ruled in floral gilt. A thorough collection of late 19th century Holy Land souvenir photographs, featuring photography by American Colony, the Bonfils studio, and others, depicting views of Cairo, Palestine, and surroundings. - Félix Bonfils (1831-85) was a French-born photographer who had come to the Levant with General d'Hautpoul in 1860 and remained active in the East. Based in Beirut, Bonfils produced thousands of photographs depicting Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Greece and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of Western tourism to the Middle East, his works soon became popular as souvenirs. - The photographs depict views in and around Palestine and Egypt, including scenes of grotto chapels and many interior scenes of churches and mosques, including the Al-Aqsa (Qibli) Mosque, the Mosque of Omar, the Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Al-Azhar Mosque, and Sultan Qaytbay's mosque and mausoleum complex. - Bookseller's ticket of C. Glingler, Rome, to front pastedown. Light wear and fading to photographs. A handsomely bound collection.