RCS/Y30214A-C contains:
Y30214A	Egypt and Palestine - Frith - Volume I
Y30214B	Egypt and Palestine - Frith - Volume II
Y30214C	Sinai and Palestine - Frith

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Albums by Francis Frith

Title	Egypt and Palestine - Frith - Volume I
Reference	Y30214A
Creator	Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer
Covering Dates	circa 1857
Extent and Medium	37 images in 1 album; Generally fair condition, but with fading and some yellowing.

Content and context

An album of photographs of scenes within Egypt and Palestine.

Further information

This collection published as: Frith, Francis (?1858), 'Egypt and Palestine', vol. I, London: James S. Virtue.

Indexed

This collection is available on microfiche: Middle East, fiche number 14-15.

Index Terms

Frith, Francis (1822-1898) photographer

RCS/Y30214A-C/Y30214A contains:

Portrait. Turkish summer costumes. 143 x 182 mm. Portrait of Francis Frith seated on a sofa in Turkish costume. Frith describes the costume as consisting of: 'a vest with sleeves made of Damascus silk of some gorgeous pattern - blue or scarlet, and gold; white trousers, white or blue stockings, with red silk garters; and, for out of doors, a gown reaching to the ankles, open in front, made of the finest cashmere.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some overall yellowing..

circa 1857

The Sphynx and Great Pyramid, Gezeh [i.e. Giza]. 229 x 157 mm. A composition showing a profile of the Sphinx's head in the foreground with the pyramid beyond, and figures at the foot of the Spinx. According to Frith: 'The profile, as given in my view, is truly hideous'. This viewpoint occurs again and again in photographs of Gizeh pyramids, but it is interesting in that, when compared with a modern photograph of the same scene, it shows the degree of excavation that has been carried out in the area of the Sphinx.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some overall yellowing and fading..

circa 1857

Koum Ombo, Upper Egypt. 235 x 138 mm. A view showing the massive ruins of the temple of Horus and Sobk at Kom Ombo with two figures standing beside a sculptured block of stone as an indication of size. As seen here the temple lies buried in sand to over half its height, and according to Frith: 'the accumulated sands of ages have buried this once magnificent pile to the capitals of the columns, and its stunted height strikes you as strangely disproportionate to the vastness of its other dimensions, and the immense size of the stones. It reminds you of some grand old giant, buried to the shoulders, not dead yet, but overpowered and imprisoned by some potent spell - majestic in his helplessness ... It does not seem too much to hope that Koum Ombo may at some period be released from his sandy sepulchre ... ' (this has in fact now been achieved).
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition..

circa 1857

The pool of Hezekiah etc. from the tower of Hippicus, Jerusalem. 232 x 158 mm. A view looking down on the pool of Hezekiah, enclosed on all sides by buildings (among them 'The Mediterranean' Hotel), with the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre beyond.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Cleopatra's Temple at Erment [Armant] near thebes. 211 x 160 mm. A view showing the standing columns of the Temple at Erment (also spelt Armant) with piles of rubbish and a seated figure in the foreground. In his commentary Frith condemns the contemporary prejudice that anything less than three thousand years old is considered 'degenerate', modern - of no interest.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading..

circa 1857

The New English Church etc. from the Tower of Hippicus, Jerusalem. 235 x 158 mm. A view of the houses in the town and hills in the distance behind the church. The commentary reads: 'The annexed view exhibits one of the most interesting modern structures which claim the attention of the English visitor in Jerusalem: it is the Protestant Episcopal Church, with the British Consul's residence on the left and that of the mission on the right ... The interior, as well as the exterior of the church, is in the simplest and plainest style of Gothic architecture, and is used in common by English and German Episcopalians ...'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, slight overall fading..

circa 1857

Nazareth, from the north-west. 224 x 150 mm. A view looking over the small square houses of Nazareth perched on a hillside with hills and enclosed fields beyond the village. Y30214C/28 is also given the same caption but the two photographs are taken from diametrically opposed view points; which is correct has not been determined.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight yellowing at edges..

circa 1857

View at Luxor. 230 x 158 mm. A view showing monumental temple columns with a stone wall and a partially obscured obelisk (? the Tuthmoside obelisk) in the background. According to Frith: 'The great columns represented in my picture, with the expanded lotus flower capital, will at once be familiar to every Nile traveller; many of whom I have no doubt, with myself ... have hurried past the superb columns in hot haste to the temple Mustapha-Aga, the native English consular agent, for their letters! Mustapha's abode lies in the shadow on the right of the picture ... The columns, of which there are twelve, in a double row, were probably erected by Amunoph III (Amun-hotpe), about B.C. 1500 ... The group of figures in the centre of the picture are natives, who were quarrelling energetically at the moment, and quite unconscious of my designs upon them. The picture was taken in about six seconds.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Bethlehem, with the church of the Nativity. 226 x 156 mm. A view looking up the hillside towards the church built by the Empress Helena on the supposed site of the nativity, with terraced fields and the low square houses of Bethlehem at the right of the print. Frith considers Bethlehem and its situation 'truly picturesque and beautiful. It is one of the few places in Palestine which will not disappoint the imaginative traveller.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some overall fading..

circa 1857

Sculptures from the outer wall, Dendera. 231 x 160 mm. A view showing a wall of finely carved hieroglyphics on the exterior wall of the temple of Hat-Hor at Dendera. It was from this temple that S.L. Saulnier and J.B. Lelorrain looted the famous zodiac of Dendera.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, but some fading and yellowing..

circa 1857

View from Philae, looking north. 234 x 152 mm. A view showing the temple colonnades at the left of the print with the Nile winding away through a rocky landscape beyond. The island of Philae lies above the Asswan Dam, completed in 1906, and when the sluices were closed, the island was submerged. With the building of the second dam the problem of the survival of the monuments at Philae became acute and a twenty year project to remove the buildings to Agilkia has recently been completed.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Entrance to the Great Temple, Luxor. 231 x 161 mm. A view showing the massive stone entrance to the temple with carved hieroglyphics over its face and flanked by two monumental statues of Rameses II buried to the shoulders in the sand and the rubble. Beyond the entrance can be seen the tower of a mosque of more recent date.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, but overall yellowing and some fading..

circa 1857

Nablous, the ancient Shechem. 220 x 157 mm. A view looking over the rooftops of Nablous, a town of white houses surrounded by tree-covered hills. According to Frith: 'Sichem ... Is to this day a pleasing proof of the good taste and sound judgement of those venerable patriarchs [Abraham and Jacob] in matters residential and agricultural.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, but overall yellowing and slight fading..

circa 1857

Colossi and Sphynx at Wady Saboua, Nubia. 217 x 151 mm. A view showing the two scarred colossi with their guardian sphinxes in the desert at Wady Saboua, near Korosko. Frith supplies a conventionally romantic remark on their desolation: 'The reader will conjecture that the desolate figures which form my picture are the two statues which terminated the dromos, and some of the mutilated bodies of the androsphynxes. The pylon of the temple is rude, and very much dilapidated; and it appeared to me that these figures were most impressive, standing alone, as I have represented them, amidst the sultry stillness of the desert, whose remorselessness sand-waves are gradually stealing round, engulfing them.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Abou Simbel, Nubia. 158 x 220 mm. A view showing the facade of the great temple at Abu Simbel with the colossal statues of Rameses II seen in profile. Probably the most photographed of the Ancient Egyptian sites from Maxime du Campe (1849) onwards. The temple was moved to higher ground to protect it from the effects of the Aswan High Dam.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Poor condition, some overall fading and yellowing in from the edges.

circa 1857

Baalbec [Ba`labakk], from the south. 235 x 157 mm. A general view looking towards the massive remains of the temples of Baalbek, 35 miles north-west of Damascus. The photograph shows the six standing columns of the Great Temple, with the more complete smaller Temple at the right of the print.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, but slight overall fading..

circa 1857

Osiride Pillars and great fallen Colossus, the Memnonium, Thebes. 238 x 161 mm. A view showing the row of Osiride pillars with the overturned colossal bust of Rameses II lying face down in the sand. In the foreground stands a group of Europeans, one of whom lies on the shoulders of the Colossus. It was from the Memnonium (more properly the Ramesseum) that Belzoni in 1816 took the other colossal statue, the 'young Memnon', now in the British Museum.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from overall yellowing..

circa 1857

View at Hebron. 216 x 145 mm. A view looking over rocky ground (the ruined foundations of a former settlement) towards the western or Jewish quarter of the town, a closely-packed mass of low square buildings surrounded by hills.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, slight overall yellowing..

circa 1857

Pharaoh's Bed, Island of Philae. 232 x 159 mm. A view showing the tall and magnificent ruins of the temple with a Nile-boat moored at the left of the print. Frith comments: 'Philae is the most beautiful thing in Egypt; and the temple, absurdly called Pharaoh's Bed, is the most beautiful thing upon the island. I flatter myself, too, somewhat upon the quality of my photograph, - light transparent shadows [always difficult to achieve in the harshness of the Egyptian sun], sweet half-tones, oh discriminating public! It is true that the temple outdoes the Tower of Babel, not only 'reaching unto the heavens', but robbing the picture of well-nigh all its sky - that feature so essential to the picturesque in landscape. But what could I do? I must give that scrap of water, and the Nile boat (a favourite anchorage for travellers' dahibieths, this nook), and I could not falsify the height of the bank, as I see most artists have done to suit the proportions of my picture.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some fading in from edges..

circa 1857

The town and lake of Tiberias, from the north. 224 x 151 mm. A view from the north-west looking over the town and towards the lake with the ruins of the roman castle and a modern brick wall in the foreground, about which Frith comments: 'I would have given anything in reason to have been able to play the artist, and omit.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Hall of columns, Karnac. 228 x 160 mm. A view showing the closely built pillars of the great hall at Karnac (the Hypostele Hall of Sethy I and Rameses II) with piles of debris and stone in the foreground. Frith comments of his photograph: 'I am even ashamed of my view, it is so thoroughly inadequate to the subject.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Damascus. 214 x 161 mm. A view taken from a rooftop near the east gate, looking over the flat rooftops of Damascus towards a distant mountain. The commentary contains a disquisition on the romanticism of writers' and artists' views of the east and the counterbalance provided by photography.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

The great pillars, etc, Baalbec [Ba`labakk]. 156 x 223 mm. A view showing the six remaining columns of the Great Temple standing among the ruins.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, but slight overall fading..

circa 1857

Ruined mosque near Philae. 230 x 162 mm. A landscape view of the ruined mosque and its tower in the foreground, the Nile beyond and the Island of Philae in the distance. This view was taken near the village of Mishdd. In his commentary, Frith states: 'The picture being almost an instantaneous one, the waves or ripples upon the river re preserved, although perhaps somewhat at the expense of the deeper shadows.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, considerable fading in highlights..

circa 1857

Sculptured gateway, etc, Karnac. 231 x 161 mm. A view showing one of the entrance gateways o Karnac at the end of the avenue of recumbent sphinxes, one of which (headless) can be seen in the foreground. The gateway itself is richly sculptured with hieroglyphics. Technically, a fine print, with full detail in the shadows of the gateway.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

View at Girgeh [Jirja], Upper Egypt. 154 x 226 mm. A view looking towards the Nile with the tower of a ruined mosque standing on the banks and balanced in the composition by two palm trees in the foreground. Frith states that there are also huts in the foreground which were: 'composed of Doura straw, and are the temporary portable homes a troupe of Gawazee, or dancing girls.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition..

circa 1857

Obelisk and granite Lotus Column, Karnac. 155 x 231 mm. A view showing the obelisk, which is , according to Frith: 'the most beautiful in Egypt', and the broken Lotus Column, which is, again according to Frith: 'an exquisite piece of work', standing among the ruins of Karnac.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some overall fading..

circa 1857

City wall and mosque of Omar, etc, Jerusalem. 226 x 160 mm. A view looking along the city wall towards the dome of the mosque of Omar and 'El Haram-esh-Sherif', the Holy Sanctuary, with the houses of the city beyond. With wasteland and cactus in the left foreground.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight fading..

circa 1857

The statue of Memnon, Plain of Thebes. 232 x 155 mm. A view showing the two vast seated statues of Amenophis III which were erected in front of the mortuary temple, now disappeared. In the foreground are two Europeans and an Egyptian. The central figure (leaning on a rifle) is identified in 'Creative Camera' (December 1979) in a similar, though not identical view, as being Frith himself.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight overall fading..

circa 1857

The great pillars and smaller temple, Baalbec [Ba`labakk]. 161 x 234 mm. A view showing five of the pillars of the Great Temple with the smaller temple visible beyond.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.

circa 1857

Portion of the Great Temple (the Government corn stores). 235 x 165 mm. A view showing some of the standing pillars of the Great Temple with a large pile of corn in the background and various winnowing boxes scattered around.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, slight fading in from edges..

circa 1857

Antiques at Biggeh, opposite Philae. 232 x 153 mm. A view showing the temple ruins in the foreground with the granite formation beyond which looks over the island of Philae. Frith was obviously pleased with this composition: 'Ah, brother Photographers! With a sky like that, and such subjects, and a bottle of splendid pale - not ale - but, collodion, you only can imagine the glory of such a day.'.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Good condition, apart from slight overall yellowing..

circa 1857

Jerusalem, from the Well of En-Rogel. 229 x 159 mm. A view from the junction of the valley of Jehoshapat and the valley of Hinnom, showing the Well of En-Rogel (enclosed in a vaulted stone building) in the foreground with the City of Jerusalem visible on the hillside beyond. The surrounding landscape is rock-strewn hillside with an (?) olive grove in the middle distance.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some fading..

circa 1857

Interior court of Medinet Haboo [Habu], Thebes. 232 x 162 mm. A view showing one of the inner temple courtyards with sculptured hieroglyphic inscriptions on the supporting pillars. In the courtyard itself lie fallen columns.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, slight overall fading..

circa 1857

The Memnonium, Thebes. 225 x 157 mm. A view showing two of the still standing halls of the Memnonium (more properly the Ramesseum) with an Egyptian and a camel in the foreground.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, some overall fading..

circa 1857

Jerusalem, from the city wall. 128 x 155 mm. A view looking from the city wall, over an area of waste ground towards the dome and minaret of the Mosque of Omar.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Fair condition, but overall yellowing and some fading..

circa 1857

The north shore of the Dead Sea. 228 x 152 mm. A view looking along the shore of the sea with dead vegetation littering the beach.
Creator: Frith, Francis, 1822-1898, photographer.
Very poor condition, considerable overall fading..

circa 1857

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