Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

2 volumes, folio (438 x 311 mm). 76 mounted albumen photographs. (Some spotting throughout.) Modern dark navy morocco gilt, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, gilt-lettering 2, all edges gilt.

FIRST EDITION of Frith's monumental photographic studies of Egypt and Palestine, one of the earliest photobooks of the Near East ever published. Francis Frith arrived in the Nile Valley in 1856 with his friend Francis N. Wenham acting as lighting technician. Contains some of the earliest images of Egypt's most iconic landmarks, including the Great Pyramid, the Temple of Karnak, and the island of Philae. Frith's photographs of Egypt and the Holy Land established his reputation as one of the most important photographers of the 19th century. "It is for good reasons that Firth's views of Egypt and Palestine were the star attractions of the 1858 exhibition of the Photographic Society ... 'His subjects in Palestine and Egypt impress us with a consciousness of truth and power which no other art production could produce'" (Truthful Lens 30). Blackmer 1942; Gernsheim, History 286; Hannavy 561; Parr & Badger I:28 ("One of the most renowned nineteenth century photobooks"); Perez, Focus East 165; Van Haaften-White XII & XV.