Souvenir of Egypt : Monuments, Temples, Mosques, and Scenes from Every-Day (Everyday) Life

Cairo, [Egypt]: George Ch. Dovas, 1898. An unusually nice copy. Very Good++ condition. SEE PHOTOS. Handsomely bound in the original red pebble-grained cloth (imitation leather), with blind-stamped rectangular borders and gilt titles on the front cover and spine. On the cover are gold-stamped images of the sphinx (sphynx) and a pyramid. All gilt stamping is still bright and shiny. Original yellow (silk?) endpapers are a bit speckled but all other pages are creamy white, clean and unmarked with NO foxing. NO owner's name or bookplate. No date of publication (but copyright 1898). Hinges are perfect. Oblong Hardcover. 11" wide by 8" tall. All edges gilt. This souvenir photo-album has 109 leaves, mostly printed on the rectos only (i.e. versos are usually blank). Most of the photos are full-page. One, a "General View of Cairo from the Heights near the Tombs of the Khalifs" is a double-page panorama that measures 21 inches across. These photos recapture images of the Nile Valley at the turn of the century, revealing glimpses of an Egypt that no longer exists. There are many fine views of Egypt's tourist attractions -- pyramids, mummies, obelisks, ancient ruins, palaces, etc. But perhaps of greater interest are the many photos of Egyptian people and their everyday life -- such as soldiers, sais (runners), snake charmer, itinerant musician, dancing dervishes, praying Mohamedans, a boy and his donkey, silk weavers, Arabian girl wearing the burgo wimple, mushrebieh workers, Arabian musician playing the rababa, fakirs selling aromatic water, family on a donkey cart, Bedouins on their camels crossing the desert, Arabs gathering dates, sugar-cane sellers, Arabian grocer, sakkas (water carriers), market-place scene near bridge of Kasr-el-Nile, water-wheel worked by a buffalo, Suez canal scenes, etc. We note that at least one of the images in SOUVENIR OF EGYPT is being reprinted by the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, in a limited edition photographic series called LOST EGYPT. They are offering their reproduction of "Voiliers arabes dans le Nil" by the well-known nineteenth century photographer Zangaki for $535. You can get the same image with this book where it appears as plate 44.. 1st ed? (No additional printings listed). Hardcover. Very Good++ condition. Illus. by Zangaki (photographer). (iv), 218pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.