Beschreibung:

FRITH, FRANCIS. 1822-1898. Sinai and Palestine. London, Glasgow and Edinburgh: William MacKenzie [1863]. Folio (451 x 330 mm). 37 albumen prints, mounted, with printed title on mount. Original wrappers, disbound, spines separated, closed tear to cover of Part V, some minor foxing to mounts. WITH: Lower Egypt, Thebes and the Pyramids. London: William MacKenzie [1863]. Folio (451 x 330 mm). 25 (of 37) albumen prints, soiling and foxing to paper mounts. Some wrappers and text present. WITH: Upper Egypt and Ethiopia. London: WWIlliam MacKenzie, [1863]. Folio (451 x 330 mm). 11 (of 37) albumen prints, soiling and foxing to paper mounts. Some wrappers and text present. RARE PARTS ISSUE, COMPLETE OF FRITH'S "BEST EDITION" OF SINAI AND PALESTINE, with 26 additional albumen prints from the accompanying volumes. Born in Chesterfield, England, Francis Frith was an apprentice in a cutlery house and a partner in a prosperous grocery business before he turned to photography in the early 1850s. In 1856 he traveled to Egypt to photograph its ancient monuments, producing his albumen prints in situ in a portable wicker darkroom. These photographs proved so popular that he was able to return to the Middle East twice in the next three years. This edition, called by Gernsheim the "second expanded edition," was issued in three separate volumes (here) plus a supplement titled Egypt, Sinai and Palestine, each available in half-morocco for £7, or in 12 parts at 10s each. "The prints in this edition are of a much stronger quality than those in the first edition having been gold-toned" (Gernsheim 195).