TUNISIA

Historically Significant Album with 97 Original Gelatin Silver Vernacular Photographs, Taken by French Travellers in Tunisia, Showing Tunis (Al-Zaytuna Mosque and Minaret, French Gate, Cathedral of Saint Vincent de Paul, Hotel Eymon, Medina), Saint Louis Cathedral in Carthage, Chapel Saint-Louis de Carthage, Borj Cedria (School, Mansion of Paul Potin, Winery), Kairouan (Great Mosque, Tunis Gate, Street Views), Sousse (Port, General and Street Views), Bedouins, &c. Ca. 1900s – early 1910s.

Oblong Folio album (ca. 31,5x42 cm or 12 ¼ x 16 ½ in). 24 card stock leaves. With 96 mounted and one loosely inserted original gelatin silver photos, all ca. 13x18 cm (5x7 in). All photos with period pencil numbers on the mounts; most photos, including the loosely inserted photo, with period pencil captions on verso. Period black half sheep album with cloth boards; moire endpapers; binder’s paper label mounted on verso of the front free endpaper. Binding rubbed on extremities, spine neatly repaired on the top, bottom and the hinges, boards and endpapers slightly discoloured, a few photos mildly faded, one photo with a small loss of the right lower corner, but overall a very good album of interesting photos.

Interesting extensive collection of original gelatin silver snapshot photos of French colonial Tunisia, taken by French travellers in the early 20th century. The album opens with twelve photos, showing the departure of the travellers’ steamer from the port of Marseille and a voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to Tunisia. About forty images show the colonial capital, Tunis. The identified photos include views of the city skyline with Al-Zaytuna Mosque and minaret, French Gate and other city gates, streets of the European quarter with French colonial administrative buildings, Cathedral of Saint Vincent de Paul, Hotel Eymon (with a visible sign), local businesses (“Coiffeur Salon Riche,” “Epicerie Giusti”), and Medina quarter with narrow alleys, local merchants, beggars and passers-by. There are also views of Saint Louis Cathedral in Carthage (now the Acropolium of Carthage, a property of the Tunisian government since 1964), Chapel Saint-Louis de Carthage (demolished in 1950), and portraits of local kids.

Five photos show a small town of Borj Cedria, located twenty kilometers southeast of Tunis. Apart from a general view, and photos of the buildings of the town school/post office and a winery, there are interesting images of a mansion and a pasture with a haystack and a agricultural machinery – both belonging to “Paul Potin” – a son of Felix Potin, who founded a major French grocery distribution brand of the same name (operated in 1844-1995).

Seventeen photos of Kairouan – an important trading hub and center of Islamic scholarship in the 9th century AD – show the Great Mosque (distant views, the entry gate, domes, minaret, inner courtyard and the galleries), general city views from the minaret of the Great Mosque, Tunis gate, streets, passers-by, patrons of a Tunisian coffee house, owners loading a camel, &c. The album also contains ten images of Sousse on the Mediterranean Sea coast (including the loosely inserted photo), showing the city panorama taken from the sea, rooftop views, Sousse port and streets, a performance by a snake charmer and a group of Bedouins with their camels.

Overall an interesting collection of original vernacular photos of French colonial Tunisia in the early 20th century.

Item #PE69

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Globus Books is an independent San Francisco-based bookshop and a member of the American Booksellers Association and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and has been in business since 1971. Globus Rare Books and Archives is the department within Globus Books that specializes in rare travel and exploration related items from around the world with an emphasis on the Americas, the Pacific and Russian explorers and travellers.

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