Album 1: Oblong Folio (ca. 24,5x31 cm or 9 ½ x 12 ¼ in). 23 card stock leaves. With 79 original mounted gelatin silver photographs, including 28 large images ca. 18x24 cm (7 x 9 ¼ in); the rest of the photos are from ca. 13x18 cm (5x7 in) to ca. 5,5x6 cm (2 ¼ x 2 ¼ in). No captions. Period grey card boards fastened with a ribbon. A couple of photos mildly faded, several detached and loosely inserted, several mounts removed from the stub and loosely inserted, but overall a very good album.
Album 2: Oblong Quarto (ca. 16,5x25 cm or 6 ½ x 9 ¾ in). 22 card stock leaves. With 44 original mounted gelatin silver photographs, all ca. 13x18 cm (5x7 in). One photo with a period ink caption and a date “Brazzaville, le 30 Mai 1926” on verso. With two typewritten letters, dated “Matata [or Matiti], le 22 Août 1926,” both ca. 27x21 cm (10 ½ x 8 ¼ in). Period black cloth binding. A few photos mildly faded, two detached and loosely inserted; one empty leaf removed from the stub and loosely inserted at the rear, but overall a very good album.
Album 3: Large Octavo (ca. 23,5x17,5 cm or 9 ¼ x 6 ¾ in). 12 card stock leaves. With 48 original gelatin silver photographs mounted in windows, all ca. 8x11 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ in). No captions. Period grey card boards fastened with a ribbon. a few photos mildly faded, but overall a very good album.

Interesting, extensive collection of three albums with 171 original gelatin silver photos, documenting life in the colony of French Congo (since 1958 – the Republic of the Congo) in the 1920s, evidently compiled by a French resident.
The collection includes twelve images of the ceremony of inauguration of the monument to Prosper Augouard (1852-1921), a noted French Catholic missionary in Equatorial Africa, one of the founders of Brazzaville and Apostolic Vicar of the Diocese of Brazzaville from 1890 until his death. The monument was erected in 1926 in front of the Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral in Brazzaville. The images include views of the statue covered in cloth and unveiled, scenes of the ceremony with French officials, waving flags and a crowd of spectators, portraits of Catholic nuns next to the monument. Six smaller images from the same album portray a native congregation next to their church in the countryside and French missionaries.
A dozen images show railway tracks, bridges, stations, passengers, construction works and native labourers. Most likely, the photos refer to the Congo-Ocean Railway (Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan), which was built to connect the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire with Brazzaville in 1921-1934. There are also interesting large countryside views, with colonial residences and native villages. Over twenty photos portray native Congolese people - tribal and family groups, in their villages, sometimes joined by Frenchmen. There are also several individual and group portraits of French colonial residents posing in front of their villas and residences, on picnics and outings in the forest or on the ocean shore, in gardens, &c. One photo shows a French colonial family opening a parcel with “Chocolat Félix Potin,” another one portrays five Frenchman at a cottage, with several boxes with the signs “C.M.C.F.” – “Compagnie Minière du Congo Français.” There are also three photos of French river steamers (one with a visible sign “Duc de Brabant”) and five views of the offices and warehouses of “Magalhaes & Cie.” Several images show rivers, rapids, waterfalls, forest scenes and the ocean shore of French Congo.
One of the albums has two typewritten letters from the “Comité des Forges Équatoriales” with the headquarters on the Mbamu Island. Both letters are dated August 22, 1926, and are addressed to Bishop Firmin-Jules Guichard (Vicar Apostolic of Brazzaville in 1922-1935) and “Monsieur Taillade, Ingénieur Chef du Service des Travaux Publies de l’Afrique Équatoriale Française.” The letters discuss the possibility of moving the remains of Christian missionaries from a cemetery in Brazzaville, which was at risk of demolition (letter to Bishop Guichard), and the creation of a memorial site to the heroes of WW1 in Brazzaville (letter 2).
Overall a historically interesting, extensive collection of original photos of French Congo (now the Republic of Congo) and its people in the 1920s.