Hurgronje, Christian Snouck

Folio (365 x 270mm). 20 collotype prints mounted on 18 sheets loose in red gilt cloth portfolio as issued, complete with the oft-lacking half-title, title and preface; title with loss not affecting text, short edge tears and chipping to text leaves, corners of mounts worn, but prints only very slightly toned. Cloth portfolio a little faded.

A rare and important work by a key figure in the early history of the photography of Mecca and one of the first non-Arab photographers of the Hijaz. A respected Dutch orientalist and scholar, Snouck Hurgronje played a major part in the photographic documentation of Mecca in the late nineteenth-century. In 1884-5, Hurgronje was given leave of absence from his teaching post in Leiden in order to travel in Arabia. After an initial five months in Jeddah, he moved on to Mecca, arriving there in February 1885. Hurgronje stayed in the Holy City for approximately six months, during which time he converted to Islam, adopted the name Abdul Ghaffar and generally immersed himself in local customs and traditions. However, in August 1883, Hurgronje was accused of attempting to steal the Tayma Stone and was banished. On his return to Leiden, he published numerous works on Mecca and its inhabitants, including two important photographic monographs: Bilderatlas zu Mekka (1888) and the present work. The Bilderatlas zu Mekka was published together with two text volumes and contains photographs both by Hurgronje and others. Encouraged by the success of the work, Hurgronje went on to publish a further series of similar photographs: "Following the publication of Bilderatlas zu Mekka, Hurgronje received a letter from his doctor in Makkah, whom he had taught the art of photography. The letter contained new photographs of the hajj which were of such great interest that he decided in 1889 to publish his Bilder aus Mekka as an annexe to it." (Badr el-Hage, p.45)

It seems that the doctor referred to is Abdul Ghaffar, a celebrated Indian photographer of Mecca, from whom Hurgronje adopted his name on conversion to Islam. "[With these two works...] Hurgronje has given us a rare and unique archive of photographs of the Hijaz, and of Makkah in particular.... The photographs provide an insight into the world of Makkah's inhabitants, pilgrims from all over the Islamic world, in addition to the sharif of Makkah, the Turkish governor, and various religious and secular figures"(ibid. p.46). (For a full account, see Saudi Arabia Caught in Time, Badr el-Hage, Reading, 1997.)