Beschreibung:

EGYPT] BONFILS, FELIX (1831-1885). Album of photographs of Egypt . Bound in flexible white cloth, titled "Egypt I" in gilt. Contains approximately 190 unmounted albumen prints on mounts with cut-out corners. 143 of these are signed in the plate [Felix] Bonfils, with text identifying the subject, as well as 22 images by H[ippolyte] Arnoux, 13 by unidentified photographers (some of which may be by Bonfils or Arnoux), 10 in smaller format by Fiorillo, and two photogravures after Bonfils. The large albumen prints are roughly 8 1/2 x 11 inches (215 x 280 mm) or the reverse. The album separated into several sections where the stitching has failed; a number of images creased at the corners, a few with minor tears or losses, but in all a remarkable collection, the images with generally excellent tonality. Subjects include the cities of Alexandria, Port Said, and Cairo. The main portion of the album ends with some very fine images of the pyramids and the Sphinx, followed by the small Fiorillo plates. This is one of the most substantial collections of Bonfils' photographs of Egypt to be offered at auction in some time. His studio in Beirut opened in 1867, and in due course his firm became one of the largest producers of images for the tourist trade in the Middle East. In the U.S., his photographs were distributed by Charles Taber of New Bedford, generally in mounted form. While unmounted albumens are more fragile, they retain a richness of tone not generally seen in mounted examples. C