Constantinopel [Constantinople] and Athens [cover title].

[Constantinople, circa 1860]. Folio, orig. (faded) purple cloth covers with gilt-stamped title on upper cover, neatly re-backed and re-cornered in rich brown morocco; orig. fabric paste-downs and flyleaves. 28 albumen photographs, averaging 10” x 13”, mounted on stiff leaves bound on stubs. Early pencil inscription on front fly: “J. E. Chase.”.

A fine assemblage of photographs in a contemporary binding of ca. 1860 with fifteen views of Constantinople and thirteen views of Athens.

About one third of the prints are signed in the negative “Robertson and Beato” (one is signed simply “Robertson”) but there is no question that they are all by the same photographers. Much has been written about this two man firm; see especially Ken Jacobson, Odalisques and Arabesques, pp. 264-5. Robertson and Beato formed a partnership sometime in the early to mid 1850s; at that time they were based in Constantinople. Of the present album, the Constantinople group includes three photos of veiled “Turkish Ladies” (studio portraits), the remainder of architectural monuments, including Santa Sophia, Sulieman Temple, Mosque of Mohammed II (this view is illustrated in Jacobson, p. 25) and Mosque of Sulieman. The Athens group includes views of the Acropolis, the Temple of Jupiter, the Parthenon, the Erectheum, the Temple of the Winds, and others.

Robertson and Beato traveled to Greece and Jerusalem in 1857, and the images of Athens in this album were likely taken at that time. Ken Jacobson observes that: “What is clear is that the collective work of Robertson and Beato in its breadth, antiquity, aesthetic quality and historical significance is the most important body of photographic work taken outside of Europe & North America.” (Odalisques & Arabesques, p. 264). All of the images in this album are titled in English with calligraphic pen and ink captions. A good representation of the work of this important firm.

CONDITION: Some prints foxed, a few with larger spots, otherwise very good, most prints with strong tonality.