55 pages of text + 50 leaves of stiff card with 100 laid down collotype photographs, pictorial title page with portrait of Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere (who was the patron of the publication) laid down in centre, original full pictorial green leather with embossed gilt pictorial decoration. Gilt design repeated in blind on the back. Crack to the top front edge of the spine and some light general edge wear. Tissue guards to each page. First two images are faded. Some spotting and foxing to a few others. Alexander visited South Africa early in 1880 to collect the photographs for this album. He advertised the book in the Cape Argus of 20th April 1880 stating, ‘The Photographs will all be from First-class artists, and no portion of the Western and Eastern Provinces of the Cape Colony, Natal, Diamond Fields, worthy of a place in the book will be unrepresented. There is Scenery both of Woodland and Rock in South Africa vying in beauty and grandeur with that of any portion of the known world, but the chief part of which has as yet never been subjects for the artists, and it is therefore little known… S. ALEXANDER has been fortunate in securing the Patronage of His Excellency SIR HENRY BARTLE EDWARD FRERE, to whom the work will be dedicated, by his Excellency’s express permission. PRICE; – 5 GUINEAS TO SUBSCRIBERS’. There are fine views of all the major S.A. cities and towns and of Mozambique. Zululand views include ‘Isandlwana’, ‘Fort Pearson’, ‘The Spot where Prince Imperial fell’ and the ‘Graves of Coghill and Melville’. Two particularly outstanding photographs portray an as yet unreconstructed Rorke’s Drift, showing the clear signs of the struggle which had taken place there in the previous year.
Publisher: Sam Alexander
Date Published: 1880
First Edition: Yes
Condition: Good
Binding: Hardcover
Dimensions: 25 x 30cm
Additional information
Weight | 3500 g |
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