Historic Photography

Philips Demonstration Tour "La voix du géant" – Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, 1930

Photographic diary of 89 concerts and demonstrations in three months on a tour over 9000 km through the three Maghreb countries

Presumably an internal documentation of a promotion tour of the Philips company for a radio and speakers system called "La voix du géant". Stops of the tour through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia from end of February til May 1930 are meticuously recorded in the form of a diary. Daily handwritten entries are accompagnied by photographs, newspaper clippings and other original documents. The promotional events (“concerts“) in the various towns and villages are documented, as are the locations themselves. For cata...
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ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN USBEKISTAN c. 1930

Lot of 15 Photographs taken in Samarkand, Bukhara, and Taschkent
Picture size between 8 x 11.1 cm and 16.5 x 12 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1930

Very rare photos from Usbekistan –

Rare pictures from architectural sites in Samarkand, Taschkent and Bukhara such as the Madrasah at Registan square in Samarkand or the mosque in Bukhara. Some pictures present stamps in Cyrillic in verso so they are possibly Russian press photos.  The collection is conservationally processed for archival purposes and is stored in PAT material (photographic activity tested):  - Original photos mounted on carton (acid-free, unbuffered, PAT) - Each photo in acid-free sleeve (PAT) - Stored in photographic archive boxes (a...
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CAIRO AND SUEZ CANAL FROM THE AIR in 1925/26

Collection of 23 vintage prints, half of them aerial photographs
Picture sizes around 11 x 17 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1925/26

Rare aerial shots –

What makes this collection of 23 images from 1925/1926 special are the 12 aerial photographs of, among others, Cairo, Ismailia, the Walda Palace, Port Suez and Port Said. These images paint a very clear picture of the situation in the country at the time.  The collection is conservationally processed for archival purposes and is stored in PAT material (photographic activity tested):  - Original photos mounted on carton (acid-free, unbuffered, PAT)  - Each photo in acid-free sleeve (PAT)  - Stored in photographic archi...
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BAALBEK, DAMASCUS, TRIPOLI IN 1932

Private Album of French Army Officer with 99 vintage prints
Size: 24 x 18 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1932

The album contains 99 pictures which, in addition to illustrative scenes from army and camp life, mainly contain impressions of excursions to Baalbek, Damascus and Tripoli with numerous details. The unknown photographer seems to have had a keen interest in archaeological sites. For cataloguing and digital availability, the album is offered with an electronic inventory in Excel and/or pdf format and a digital reproduction of each motif in high resolution (approx. 2 MB per item)....
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GRANDE TOUR AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN: Gibraltar, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Malta

Collection of 37 vintage prints by Lehnert & Landrock
Taken between 1910 and 1930.
Size of photos: 17 x 12.8 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c.1910-1930

Lehnert & Landrock –

This very well preserved collection of 41 vintage prints by the famous photographers Lehnert & Landrock covers many well-known sujets in the Mediterranean.  Lehnert & Landrock was based in Tunis before WW I and moved to Cairo after the war. The foremost interests of Lehnert and Landrock were in the Maghreb and North Africa. However they covered the whole range of sites in southern Europe and around the Mediterranean. The collection is conservationally processed for archival purposes and is stored in PAT mater...
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ALGERIA IN THE 1880s

Photos taken in Stora, Biskra, Tlemcen, Mansoura, Algiers, and Tunis
55 Albumen Prints in Album (36 x 26.5 cm)
Picture size c. 17 x 28 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1880s

This well preserved heavy album with 55 mainly private albumen prints covers among others sujets at Tlemcen, Biskra, Algiers and in the countryside.  The photographer had a good eye for composition and framing and a special interest in some unusual subjects such as the Trappist monastery in Staouli or the house of Lady Tennison, who was an English painter and well-known traveller. For cataloguing and digital availability, the album is offered with an electronic inventory in Excel and/or pdf format and a digital reprod...
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HOLY LAND & EGYPT (c. 1896)

Album with 49 Large-format photographs Holy Land & Egypt (c. 1896)
Majority of Photos Taken by Bonfils and Zangaki

Bonfils, Zangaki –

This well preserved leather-bound album with 49 mainly large-format photographs from a typical tour in the 1890s covers partly well-known sites in the Holy Land and in Egypt, in addition a number of street scenes, buildings and studio photopgraphs. For cataloguing and digital availability, the album is offered with an electronic inventory in Excel and/or pdf format and a digital reproduction of each motif in high resolution (approx. 2 MB per item)....
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’PHOTOGRAPHIES DE TERRE SAINTE’ – Holy Land by Felix Bonfils (1908)

Album with 48 large-format photographs – Distributed by F. F. Marroum, Jerusalem
Size: 35 x 25 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1908

Félix Bonfils –

Particularly beautiful and very well preserved collection of 48 photos by Bonfils, enclosed in a wood carving binding. Besides some of Bonfils’ well known photos this album comprises many rarer views and a number of rather unknwon portraits as well as scenes of local life. The album and the photographs are well preserved and make altogether a good example for the touristic interests of the time as well as for the real situation . Félix Bonfils was a French photographer who was one of the first commercial photographers to pr...
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‘DISCOVERY OF OIL IN IRAQ‘ (1929/30): Baba Gurgur, Sulaiman Bek, and British Petroleum

88 photos mainly taken during an extended business trip by car in the region between Baghdad, Tuz and Kirkuk
Package of original photos and digital files
Size: 18 x 12 cm
July 1929 and August 1930

In July 1927 oil was discovered near Kirkuk making it the first commercial oil find in Iraq. British Petroleum (BP) started drilling the first oil well at Baba Gurgur north of Kirkuk. BP was shareholder in the ‘Iraqi Petroleum Company‘. The photographs in this small album depict an interesting documentation of that time, embedded in private insights of the photographer. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability the album is offered with an electronic invento...
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Photograph No. III – ‘DIE KA'BAH‘

Historic photo from Snouck Hurgronje’s Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka, taken in 1885.
Size of photo: 21 x 16.8 cm (Passepartout 37.7 x 27.4 cm)

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) –

Following his PhD with de Goeje in Leiden and further studies with Nöldecke in Strasbourg Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) went on an extended research trip to Jiddah and Mecca during the years 1884 and 1885. He converted to Islam during his stay and lived in the Holy City of Mecca from February until August 1885. Snouck Hurgronje was the first European photographer in Mecca and the second photographer ever after the Egyptian Mohammed Sadiq Bey. Upon return to the Netherlands he became lecturer at Leiden University. ...
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‘UPPER EGYPT & CAIRO‘ with focus on Architecture & Archaeology (1908)

Large-format travel album with 262 photos including by Zangaki and Lichtenstern & Harari
Size: 42 x 32.5 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1908

Zangaki, Lichtenstern & Harari, others –

Album meticulously documenting a private trip to Egypt during presumably 1908. This absolute rarity in size and volume presents, in addition to some personal motifs, mainly direct insights into life in Egypt at the turn of the century. However the majority of the pictures covers various archaeological and architectural sights, often from an unusual perspective. Also included are many details, such as in Assuan, in the sanctuary of Philae, in Komombo, Edfou, Louqsor and Karnak, Valley of the Kings or in Dendera. Some of the 2...
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Panorama de Jérusalem (PANORAMA OF JERUSALEM). Albumen print, c. 1880.

Three part albumen print panorama (84.5 x 21.7 cm) backed onto linen.
Photographic title and numbers 298, 299, 300 in the negative.
Fair condition, some fading where prints are joined.

Félix Bonfils –

Panorama view of Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives, with the dome of the Al-Aksa Mosque featuring prominently at the left. Félix Bonfils (1831-1885) was a French photographer and writer who was active in the Middle East. Having served in a French army expedition in 1860 he left France for Lebanon in 1867 and established Maison Bonfils photographic studio. Around 600 negatives were produced by Felix Bonfils, notably of Jerusalem, but also of Egypt, Syria, Greece and Constantinople. Today they offer valuable document...
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TUNISIA: Biskra, El-Kantara, Mansouria, Sidi Okba, Temacine, Touggourt

Album with 40 Silver Gelatin Prints
Size: 31.5 x 25.6 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1925

This album from a private trip to Biskra, El-Kantara, Mansouria, Sidi Okba, Temacine, Touggourt in Tunisia in around 1925 contains a few shots of well-known tourist attractions but, above all, a large number of pictures of everyday life. 35 well-preserved gelatin prints show vivid and authentic street and market scenes with a focus on the representation of children and groups of people with different occupations. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability t...
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MOROCCO – FEZ & MARRAKECH: Souks, Buildings, Street Scenes, Ramadan Prayers

Album with 27 Silver Gelatin Prints by E. Hoffmann
Package of original photos and digital files
Size: 20 x14.5 cm
c. 1929

E. Hoffmann –

Beautiful example of a travel album that reproduces aspects of personal interest on a trip to Marrakech and Fez in 1929 to a good technical standard. in addition to images that capture familiar tourist views of architecture and landscape from unusual perspectives, this album focuses on shots of people and situations on the street The album contains many precise observations of special occasions such as the funeral of a child or the celebrations at the end of Ramadan. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries a...
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TUNIS & CARTHAGO: Mainly Islamic Architecture

Album with 44 Large Albumin Prints
Size: 44 x 31.2 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1890

Neurdein, Soler, Rives,, Albert –

Album with 44 well preserved large format, mostly Albumin prints a third of those taken by Neurdein, Soler, Rives, and Albert. The album focuses on Carthage and Tunis with intricate architectural details, many of them onFrench buildings there. Not least the cathedral of Carthago is covered from different perspectives. The album also contains several street scenes and situations in greater Tunis. Our service for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability the album is offered with an electronic inven...
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EGYPT: ASSUAN, LUXOR, MEDINET HABU, KARNAK, THEBES, CAIRO

Album with 81 Gelatine Prints by Anonymous Photographers
Size: 27 x 20.8 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1911

Well-preserved travel Album of 1911 with 81 gelatine prints focusing on Assouan, Philae, Luxor, Theben, Carnak and Cairo. Excellent amateur photographs highlighting important details in the Pharaonic sites and giving a lively impression of the circumstances in which the trip took place. Several archaeologically interesting pictures of the visited sites, some of them details of the frescoes or pillars. The unknown photographer had a good eye for light and perspective. Our service for libraries and museums: For cataloguing...
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ALGERIA: Architecture, Portraits, Street Life, Tents

Two Albums with 57 Albumen Prints, Photogravure, Heliotypie, and 54 Postcards
Size: 32.8 x 25 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1890 – 1900

Album on Algeria from 1890/1900 with 57 mostly Albumin prints. The first half of the album focuses on architectural details mainly in Algiers, the second half features street scenes and portraits of the local population. Most pictures are privately taken, some are unsigned but obviously professional photographs. The collection is complemented by a rare collection of 54 postcards in a second Album. This album also focuses on Algiers but contains numerous pictures of scenes from the army and of city and street life. The depi...
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