# - Playfair, Lt.-Col. Sir Robert Lambert, Dr John Adamson, David Octavius Hill, Robert Adamson, and others, photographers.

Large 8vo (257 x 172mm.), 69 salt and albumen prints, mounted recto and verso (except 5 portrait photographs loosely inserted), 3 heightened with watercolour, a couple with pencil captions on the mount, 3 mounted prints, contemporary purple half morocco, some leaves detached, some stains, fading and wear, contents becoming disbound, binding worn, lacking most of spine

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

a rare and important photograph album including the first known photographs of aden, which are among the earliest photographs of the arabian peninsula, taken around 1852 by Col. Sir Robert Lambert Playfair (1828-1899), who was in Aden from 1852-1862. These photographs of Aden are earlier than any held in the Oriental and India Office Collections in the British Library.

Robert Lambert Playfair was born in St Andrews, third son of Surgeon-General George Playfair, he joined the Madras Artillery in 1846 and travelled extensively from Aden to Egypt before his appointment by Sir James Outram as Assistant Political Agent in Aden. He moved to Zanzibar as Political Agent in 1862 where he remained until his appointment as Consul-General of Algeria from 1867 to 1897. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Zoological Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, his works include: History of Arabia Felix or Yemen, Travels in the Footsteps of Bruce and The Fishes of Zanzibar (with Günther; see lot 133).

The photographs include 7 views of Aden, 3 heightened with watercolour, one of a Yemeni, 43 individual and group portraits of the Playfair family (and others), some by Dr John Adamson, 4 views of St. Andrews by Hill and Adamson (c.1846), 11 group shots and colonial buildings and 3 unidentified views. the aden photographs comprise: 1. Shrine/Tomb (?near Crater); 2. Sirah Fort (?); 3. View of Front Bay, Crater; 4. Crater; 5. Main Pass between Crater and Maalla; 6. Yemeni with sword; 7. Gold Muhur Valley, natural arch; 8. Jebel Shamsan, highest point of Aden. A photograph album compiled by Sir Henry Barkly (1815-1898), now in the State Library, Victoria, Australia, includes 12 photographs of Aden identified by Barkly as the work of Colonel Playfair; other photographs of Aden are preserved in albums in the Playfair archive at St Andrew's University.

The portraits include Robert Lambert Playfair, George Ranken Playfair (1816-1881), Lyon Playfair (1818-1898), Dr William Smoult Playfair (1835-1903) and Miss Jane Playfair, some taken by Dr John Adamson (1810-1870), who is believed to have taken the first portrait in Scotland, a calotype made in St Andrews, in May 1840.