#PD80
Ca. 1914
Oblong Folio (ca. 38 x 27 cm or 15 x 10 ½ in). 88 stiff paper leaves (one blank). 87 mounted gelatin silver photographs ca. 22 x 17 cm (8 ½ x 6 ½ in). All but three images with period ink or pencil French captions on mounts. Period olive quarter morocco album with green pebbled cloth boards and spine with raised bands. Mounts slightly age-toned with minor tearing and creases on extremities not affecting photos; a few photos mildly faded, but overall a very good album of interesting photos.
An interesting and extensive collection of 87 large amateur gelatin silver photographs of Egypt before World War I. The album was likely compiled by French travellers on their journey up the Nile River in the early 1910s.
Over 15 photographs show views from along the Nile. They include the compiler’s boats (their dahabeah, a river boat for use on the Nile, and a small boat with two sails), the First Cataract of the Nile, the island of Elephantine near Aswan, the river steamer Ibis, villages along the Nile (including a “Marabout” village and El Balyana), a cable ferry, a load of goglets crossing the river, peasants standing on the banks, women collecting water, and irrigation devices.
Over 20 photographs show ancient sites in Egypt, including the Philae temple complex, Medinet-Abou, the Dendera temple complex, Karnak, Luxor Temple, the Temple of Edfu, Abydos, and Esna. One photograph shows the interior of the tomb of Rameses V. Two photographs show a group of Arab women in front of a temple.
Several photographs are views of Cairo, including the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan, the Cairo Citadel, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, the funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay, and the French Legation building. Other photographs show the Abu Haggag Mosque in Luxor, built on top of ancient ruins, and a quarry near Aswan.
Other photographs are snapshots of daily life in Egypt. They include street scenes, a Mawlid celebration (“Fete des prophets”), a demonstration in the streets, a market in Aswan, a public square in Esna, a group of men sitting on the side of the road to the Pyramids of Giza, a group of “fellahs” (Egyptian peasants) “au passage du bateau postal,” and cane harvesting.
Overall, a very interesting collection of photographs of Egypt in the early 1910s.
