Palestine and Egypt, March 1894

Collection History

The materials selected for the debut of this evolving digital collection include classics of illustrated travel and regional archaeology, as well as the Library's earliest works of photography in the Middle East region. In general, they came to the Library from the founding collections of the Astor and Lenox libraries; these institutions had in turn acquired many titles as contemporary illustrated publications of their time. The digital collection ranges to the turn of the last century when entrepreneurial photographers and publishers mass-produced handsome mounted photographs, custom albums, and elegant photo-mechanically printed books for the tourist. Most of the photographic compilations came to the Library as gifts from the descendents of the travelers whose journeys they evoke.

Background

Monuments of ancient Egypt and the Biblical world figured prominently in the early years of photography. French Academician François Arago (1786-1853) endorsed the new medium in 1839 claiming it would provide a labor-saving means "to copy the millions and millions of hieroglyphics which entirely cover the great monuments at Thebes, Memphis and Carnac, etc." Immediately artist-travelers took chemicals, cameras, and photographic plates of metal, and later glass into the regions around the southeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, to record the famous sights that had been known previously to Westerners only through the intervention of the artist's hand.

In addition to early photographic pioneers Du Camp, Salzmann, Robertson & Beato, and Frith, the collection includes work by image providers catering to tourist travelers in the last third of the 19th century, such as Arnoux, A. Beato, Bonfils, Lekegian, Sébah, and Zangaki. The selection offers resources for exploring Western impressions of the Middle East in that era through the lens of practitioners of the new medium of photography, and in turn through the expectations, preferences, and assumptions of its consumers.

Related Resources

Beelden van de Oriënt: fotografie en toerisme, 1860-1900 = Images of the Orient: Photography and Tourism, 1860-1900. (c1986)

Chevedden, Paul E. The Photographic Heritage of the Middle East: an Exhibition of Early Photographs of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece, & Iran, 1849-1893. (c1981) Occasional papers on the Near East; OP 1/3.

Dewitz, Bodo von. An den süssen Ufern Asiens: Ägypten, Palästina, Osmanisches Reich: Reiseziele des 19. Jahrhunderts in frühen Photographien.(1988)

Evans, Elaine Altman. Scholars, Scoundrels, and the Sphinx: a Photographic and Archaeological Adventure Up the Nile. (2000)

Graham-Brown, Sarah. Images of Women: the Portrayal of Women in Photography of the Middle East, 1860-1950. (1988)

Howe, Kathleen Stewart. Excursions Along the Nile: the Photographic Discovery of Ancient Egypt. (c1993)

Jammes, Marie-Thérèse. En Egypte au temps de Flaubert: 1839-1860, les premiers photographes. ([1980])

L'Orientalisme: l'Orient des photographes au XIXe siècle. (c1994)

Perez, Nissan N. Focus East: Early Photography in the Near East, 1839-1885. (1988)

Vaczek, Louis Charles and Gail Buckland. Travelers in Ancient Lands: a Portrait of the Middle East, 1839-1919. (c1981)

Collection Data

Names
Bonfils, Félix, 1831-1885 (Photographer)
Arnoux, Hippolyte (Photographer)
Zangaki, Constantine, active 1860-1890 (Photographer)
Dates / Origin
Date Issued: 1894
Library locations
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection
Shelf locator: MFZ+ (Bonfils) 82-117
Topics
Egypt
Palestine
Genres
Photographs
Notes
Content: 64 albumen prints approx 230 x 280 mm. in original gold-stamped binding; prints titled numbered and most signed in negative: 1 signed Arnoux, 28 Bonfils and 21 Zangaki. Mounts dated Mar. 1894 in ink.
Content: Captions in French.
Content: Cover title.
Content: [Page numbers (printed in blue) added later?] BFK Rives watermark on some pages. Pages 41 - 45 do not have photographs on them. Probably removed.
Statement of responsibility: Bonfils, Arnoux, Zangaki.
Physical Description
Extent: 69 p. : all ill. ; 28 x 36 cm
Albumen prints
Extent: Mounts : 33.5 x 26 cm
Type of Resource
Still image
Text
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: NYPG82-B1657
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b10733511
TMS Object Number: MFZ+ (Bonfils) 82-117
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): c49e9520-c6ef-012f-4453-58d385a7bc34
Show filters Hide filters
topic
x Sleeping
name
x Adelphoi Zangaki (Firm)
collection
x Palestine and Egypt, March 1894
place
genre
Date Range
to
1 result found
Filtering on:
x Division: Wallach Division: Photography Collection
x Name: Adelphoi Zangaki (Firm)
x Topic: Sleeping