Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 1
Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 2
Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 3
Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 4
Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 5
Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria - photo 6

Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria

Lot 206
28.01.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1360923
Lot 206 | Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria
Estimate value
$ 2 000 – 4 000
[BONFILS, Félix (1831–1885), BONFILS, Marie-Lydie (1837–1918) and BONFILS, Adrien (1861–1929). Two photo albums of Palestine and Syria. c.1896.

Early photographic record of the Holy Land by pioneering Bonfils family. "Intended as souvenirs for tourists, they provide an early photographic record of the geography, archaeology, architecture, ethnology, and cultural heritage of the region during a period of profound change. [...] French photographer Félix Bonfils moved his family to Beirut, Lebanon, in 1867 where he opened a photography studio, Maison Bonfils. For more than a decade he took photographs of Egypt, the Levant, Turkey, and Greece. His wife Lydie assisted him, making prints and taking studio portraits, especially of women. In 1878, his son Adrien assumed responsibility for taking photographs while Félix managed the studio. Adrien and Lydie continued to operate the business after Félix's death in 1885. Adrien left the business about 10 years later to establish a hotel in Lebanon, and around 1909, Lydie formed a partnership with Armenian photographer Abraham Guiragossian, who eventually bought Maison Bonfils after she was forced to evacuate Beirut in 1916. Guiragossian retained the trade name Bonfils until he closed the business in 1938." (Harvard Fine Arts Library).

Two volumes, large oblong folio (303 × 405mm). Together 112 photographs, majority about 8 by 11 inches and usually signed in the plate by Bonfils, several 4 by 3.5 inches and probably amateur, one color print, all mounted on boards, plus one loose print probably a portrait of the traveling party (mounting boards bowed, scattered light surface wear to photographs). Uniform contemporary burgundy pebble morocco, gilt titling on upper boards "Palestina" and "Palestina och Syrien," dated 1896, white herringbone fabric endpapers with gilt fleur-de-lys pattern, signed Otto Gillberg of Stockholm (rubbed along edges and spine, some scratches and stains).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
14.01.2025 – 28.01.2025
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