Egypt and Palestine, Photographed and Described by Francis Frith

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Egypt and Palestine, Photographed and Described by Francis Frith

Artist Francis Frith (British, 1822-1898)

Date1858-1859

DimensionsOverall: 17 3/4 x 12 3/4 in. (450.85 x 323.85mm)

MediumTwo volumes, 76 mounted albumen silver prints

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Spencer and Prudy Stone

Object number

2003.34A-B

Not on View

DescriptionA two-volume set holding 76 albumen silver prints from wet plate, collodion glass negatives, along with a text written by Francis Frith. These volumes were published in separate British and American editions, ours being the British.

Label TextEgypt and Palestine records the first methodically planned and executed photographic expedition by a pioneer of early photography, Francis Frith. Taken during three separate trips, Frith’s photographs offer a comprehensive view of what the great historical monuments of the Near East looked like in his time. The production of these photographs was not without daunting challenges: “I regret many imperfections,” Frith wrote of the publication, “of which I am fully conscious… most undoubtedly I might have done more justice to my subjects—yet, when I reflect upon the circumstances under which many of the photographs were taken, I marvel greatly that they turned out so well. Now in a smothering little tent, with my collodion fizzing…and, again pushing my way backwards, upon my hands and knees, into a damp, slimy rock-tomb, to manipulate—it is truly marvelous that the results should be presentable at all.” Frith photographed most monuments at least twice on each visit to the Middle East: a vertical close-up and a horizontal distant view to take in the surrounding vista. He also photographed some monuments from different perspectives, but at roughly equal distances so that viewers could visualize some of the spatial relationships between the remaining elements of the ruined architecture. Most views contain figures whose presence provides scale.Published Referencescf. Julia Van Haaften, Egypt and the Holy Land in Historic Photographs (New York: Dover, 1980): pl. 36. cf. Chris Hemphill, "Frith’s Photographic Views of Egypt," Nineteenth Century, 3 (Summer 1977): 70--73. cf. Helmut and Alison Gernsheim, The History of Photography (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969).Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Travelers Through Ancient Lands, Sept. 10 - Feb. 6, 2011 (no cat.).

Toledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.