Focus

Collection of HISTORIC PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHS with focus on Maghreb, Egypt and Sudan

Taken by Zangaki, Bonfils, Neurdein, among others
between c. 1890 and c. 1910
Package of original photos and digital files

Zangaki, Bonfils, Neurdein, among others –

Ninety portraits and groups photographs of artisans, merchants, farmers, Bedouins, women, children and families in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Syria. 37 of the photographs were taken by Zangaki, Bonfils, Zarrigues, Soler, Liotard, Bougault, Lehnert & Landrock, Maure, Neurdein, and Kuhn. 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 ...
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DISCOVERY OF OIL IN IRAQ (1929/30): Baba Gurgur, Sulaiman Bek, and British Petroleum

Private album with 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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CAMERA STUDIES IN IRAQ (1925)

Album with 73 photogravures taken in Basra, Baghdad, Babylon, Ctesiphon, and Mosul
Size: 31.5 x 25 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1925

A. Kerim, Hasso Bros. –

Beautifully made photo book on Iraq from the 1920s in very good condition. 73 well preserved sepia photogravure images on 50 plates, providing a very good insight of Iraq between its shaping of its borders in 1920 and its independence from Britain in 1932; clean and crisp copy; cover: crocodile imitatation board with gilded letters. Slightly worn on the outside. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability the album is offered with an electronic inventory in Ex...
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’PHOTOGRAPHIES DE TERRE SAINTE’ – Holy Land by Felix Bonfils (1908)

Album Holy Land 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. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: 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 photograph in high resolution (c. ...
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UPPER EGYPT & CAIRO: Album 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 –

Documenting a private trip to Egypt during presumably 1908. This rarity presents, in addition to personal motifs, mainly direct insights into life in Egypt at the turn of the century and in great detail various archaeological and architectural sights, often from an unusual perspective. Some of the circa 260 pictures are from Zangaki and Lichtenstern & Harari. Impressive size of 42 x 32.5 cm. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability the album is offered...
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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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Album 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

Album of 35 privately taken, well-preserved gelatin prints showing vivid and authentic street and market scenes. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: 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 photograph in high resolution (c. 2 MB each). These services are included in the price....
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Album 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. Besides interesting shots of architecture, landscape and street scenes, 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 and museums: For cataloguing and digital availability the album is offered with an electronic inventory in Exc...
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Album TUNIS & CARTHOAGO: 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 large format, mostly Albumin prints with many architectural details of Carthago and Tunis, a third of which taken by Neurdein, Soler, Rives, and Albert. Our service for libraries and museums: 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 photograph in high resolution (c. 2 MB each). These services are included in the price....
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Album 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 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. Our service for libraries and museums: 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 photograph in high resolution (c. 2 MB each). These services are inclu...
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Album 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 covering portraits, street views and scenery. Complemented by a rare collection of 54 postcards focused on the same subjects in a second Album. Our service for libraries and museums: 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 photograph in high resolution (c. 2 MB each). These services are included in the price....
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