[Ezra, Alfred] (1872-1955). Album with 78 Original Gelatin Silver Photographs of Mostly Central Asia, Taken During an Overland Travel from India to England and Showing Srinagar (Khanqah-e-Moula Mosque, Hindu Raghunath Temple, Sher Garhi Palace), Kashgar (Afaq Khoja Mausoleum), Fort Verny (Almaty), Pamir Mountains, Scenes of the Party Crossing Mountains and Rivers, Portraits of Central Asian Tribesmen, a Chinese Elder, Criminals with Their Heads Locked in Pillories, Street and Market Scenes, &c. Ca. 1904.

Oblong Folio album (ca. 23x28 cm or 9x11 in). 12 card stock leaves (2,5 blank). With 78 original gelatin silver photos, mounted in windows on recto and verso; mostly ca. 8x10,5 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ in); five smaller images are from ca. 6,5x10 cm (2 ¾ x 4 in) to ca. 4x5 cm (1 ½ x 1 ¾ in). Six photos, mounted at the rear, with period manuscript pencil or ink captions on verso. Period manuscript ink note on the inner side of the front cover. Period green full cloth album; faded colour-stamped generic title “Album” on the front board. Binding slightly rubbed on extremities and loosened on the hinges; a few photos with minor creases or mildly faded, but overall a very good album of rare interesting photos.

Historically significant collection of original gelatin silver snapshot photographs, taken by a noted British breeder and keeper of birds, Alfred Ezra, during his overland trip from India to England in the early 1900s. The period inscription on the inner side of the front cover of the album reads: “Most of them were taken by Mr. A. Ezra on his trip from Jiljit through Hunza Nagar on to the Pamirs and Chinese Turkestan. 1904.” Ezra’s route most likely took him from Srinagar (Kashmir, India) to Gilgit and Hunza Nagar (both in the Gilgit-Baltistan district of Pakistan in the disputed region of northern Kashmir) and across the Pamir Mountains to Kashgar in Chinese Turkestan. Thence he continued north to Russian Fort Verny near the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains (now Almaty, Kazakhstan).

The album opens with photos of the travelling party on the march: porters loaded with cargo, mounted guards, riders and camels crossing rivers, the party resting and eating, traversing a cliff edge, &c. Several photos apparently portray the compiler and his companions (riding yaks, posing next to a signal tower, at rest stops, with hunted deer and mountain goats) and local tribesmen. A couple of mountain views most likely depict the Pamirs. About ten photos were taken in the Central Asian plains and show Turkic people - possibly Kyrgyz (horse riders, falconers, a family), and a traditional yurt (being constructed and after its completion).

At least one photo shows Kashgar, an ancient oasis and an important Silk Route stop, reconquered by the Qing Empire in 1876-77. The identified image depicts the Afaq Khoja Mausoleum. A photo of “a street of Shahr” possibly shows a part of Kashgar: Kuhna Shahr (“old city”) or Yangi Shahr (“new city”). Four images of a ferry crossing the “Shahr D.[arya]” were probably also taken there. At least two photos show Russian Turkestan – a scene with a horse-driven cart, captioned “Inn at Vierny” on verso (Fort Verny, modern-day Almaty, Kazakhstan), and a market scene with a Russian cossack and a sign in Russian in the far right. The other images include lively street and market scenes, portraits of a Chinese elder, a group of criminals with their heads locked in pillories, “Kirghiz Ladies,” two photos of Chinese religious sculptures, &c. Eight images at the rear show the banks of the Jhelum River in Srinagar, featuring Khanqah-e-Moula Mosque, Hindu Raghunath Temple, Sher Garhi Palace, one of the city bridges and private houses. Overall an interesting, extensive collection of original snapshot photos of the Pamirs, Chinese and Russian Turkestan in the early 20th century.

A list of captions: Ferry on the Shahr D.[arya] in July; Inn at Vierny; On the march, Oct. 902; Ferry on the Shahr D.[arya]; Street of Shahr. Colonel, sending you a few photographical effects, J.W.; Kirghiz Ladies; Ferry on the upper stream of the Shahr D.[arya].