Felix Bonfils - Photo Album. The Holy Land and Environs. 19th Century

Felix Bonfils - Photo Album. The Holy Land and Environs. 19th Century

Album with 39 photos pasted on its leaves, from the most prominent Holy Land photographer of the 19th century - Felix Bonfils. The large format photos [28x23 cm] depict sites, scenery and residents in traditional dress in and around the Holy Land. Includes: Jaffa, scenes from the Old City of Jerusalem (Temple Mount, Jaffa gate, Mt. of Olives, Valley of Jehosaphat, Old City and more), the pyramids in Egypt, Bedouins in traditional dress, Christian and Moslem holy sites.

Most of the photos are stamped in the print (Bonfils), some have captions in the negative. Bonfils was active from 1867-1878. Some of his photos were taken by his son Adrian who took over the photography business in 1885, when Bonfils passed away.

In his foreword to the album Memories from the Orient (published in 1877), one of Bonfils' most famous works that included hundreds of original photos of the Holy Land and the Orient, the president of the French Society for Literature and Science wrote: "The photos of F. Bonfils are one of the greatest achievements of our generation ... the man took upon himself an expansive job and executed an incomparably important service to science despite the danger and intensive labor ..."

Album: 34x26 cm. Photos: 23x28 cm. Original half-leather binding with floral and leaf decorations and gilt embossing on the spine, red edges. Stains on some of the photos, the leaves of the album are slightly loose in their connection to the spine. Light tears and peeling on the jacket binding. Overall fine condition.