Frantiŝek Lexa (1876-1960)? Album with 178 Original Gelatin Silver Photographs and Real Photo Postcards, Taken during a Trip to Egypt Possibly by Frantiŝek Lexa (1876-1960) and his Wife in the Spring of 1930 and Showing Temples in Luxor, Karnak Medinet Habu, Colossi of Memnon, Ramesseum, Theban Necropolis, Edfu, Pyramid of Djoser, Great Pyramids of Giza, Philae Temple, Aswan, Fayum Oasis, Cairo, Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, Czechoslovak Legation in Cairo, Czechoslovak Ambassador in Egypt Vladimir Hurban, Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Černý, &c. Ca. 1930.

Folio album (ca. 33,5x35 cm or 13 ¼ x 14 in). 35 card stock leaves. With over 160 mounted original gelatin silver photos, including seven large images from ca. 18x23,5 cm (7 x 9 ¼ in) to ca. 12x17 cm (4 ¾ x 6 ¾ in); the rest of the photos are from ca. 8,5x12 cm (3 ½ x 4 ¾ in) to ca. 8,5x10 cm (3 ¼ x 4 in); four small images are ca. 6x8,5 cm (2 ¼ x 3 ¼ in). With ca. eighteen mounted real photo postcards, all ca. 8,5x13,5 cm (3 ¼ x 5 ¼ in). All but six leaves with period manuscript ink captions in Czech, mostly related to groups of images (sometimes to individual images). Period brown soft cardboard album, fastened with a string. Covers with creases, minor wear to extremities, one image apparently previously removed, otherwise a very good album of strong interesting photos.

Interesting, extensive collection of original photos and real photo postcards, adding to the history of connections between Egypt and the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) and tourism to Egypt by Czechs in the interwar period. The album illustrates a trip to Egypt on March 12 – April 23, 1930, done by a middle-aged couple, with the captions to the photos in Czech. Due to the similarity of the images of the album compiler to the portraits available online, the male traveller is possibly Frantiŝek Lexa (1876-1960) the first director of the Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology and a teacher of Jaroslav Černý.

The first leaf of the album contains three group portraits, taken at the entrance to the Czechoslovak Legation in Cairo and featuring the couple, Czechoslovak ambassador in Egypt Vladimir Hurban (1883-1949, in office: 1924 – September 1930), a noted Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Černý (1898-1970), and others. Over twenty images depict leisure excursions to the Egyptian archaeological and natural sites, including Hurban and Černý, among others. The album also includes several photos of the couple posing with the captain and officers of an Italian passenger steamer “Helouan.” The photos include views of Luxor (Sun Court, the Great Colonnade, statue of Ramesses II, feluccas on the Nile, water wheels, peasants’ homes), Karnak (general view, Avenue of Sphinxes, gate to the Temple of Khonsu, statues of pharaohs and a scarab), Medinet Habu (Temple of Ramesses III), Colossi of Memnon, Deir el-Medina, the Ramesseum, Theban Necropolis (mortuary temples of Hatshepsut, Abd el-Qurna), Edfu (Edfu temple – the pylon, courtyard, bas-reliefs, Nile banks and local people), the Pyramid of Djoser, Fayum Oasis, the Great Pyramids of Giza, &c. Over twenty images document a trip to the Philae Island via Aswan and Shellal (heavily flooded Philae Temple, Aswan Low Dam, local houses and ruins, boats on the Nile). Views of Cairo show the Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque, City of the Dead, Mosque of Ibn Tulun, &c. The couple presents on many photos of ancient Egyptian temples and sites, resting on the grounds of the historic Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor (opened in 1907), in front of the entrance to a Christian (most likely, Coptic) church, &c. Four photos and five real photo postcards at the rear show Venice. Overall, an interesting collection of original gelatin silver photos and postcards, taken and collected by Czechoslovaks in Egypt in 1930.