China and Japan | Album of 119 photographs titled "'Souvenir de mon voyage en Extrême Orient', 1896-97

China and Japan

Album of 119 photographs titled 'Souvenir de mon voyage en Extrême Orient. 16 Janvier 1896 - 13 Mai 1897'.

Oblong folio (316 x 400mm.), 119 albumen prints (average 210 x 270mm., or the reverse), comprising 45 of China (2 signed in the negative by Pow Kee and one by Sze Yuen Ming & Co.), 4 of Hong Kong, 52 hand-tinted of Japan (some by the studio of T. Enami), 12 of Egypt and 6 of Ceylon, pasted at corners onto paper leaves, recto only, each with contemporary manuscript ink caption in French on the mount, contemporary half roan, decorative papered-boards with vignettes of Chinese life, birds, flowers, and symbols, printed in gold, silver and red on a black background, some photographs faded (mostly of Egypt), some occasional wear and tears, a few photographs detached at corners, binding slightly rubbed

A large and impressive album of rare photographs, mostly of China and Japan, collected by a French traveller, Monsieur Rothan, during a 17 month trip to Asia in the 1890s.

The photographs comprise 45 of China (11 views and scenes in Hankow, one of Shanghai, 2 of Wuchang, 6 of the tea trade in and around Hankow, 3 Chinese temples, portrait of a mandarin, portrait of the vice-roy 'Li-Lung-Chang', and various scenes of Chinese life, agriculture, trades and transport, including leather workers at Hankow, Chinese orphans at a missionary school, beggars, hunting cicadas, court scene, execution, orchestra, wedding procession, barber, taking opium, and portraits of women), 4 of Hong Kong, 52 of Japan (including views of Nagasaki, Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka, trades, portraits of Japanese and typical scenes of Japanese life), 12 of Egypt (most by Zangaki, comprising 7 views of Port Said and the Suez canal and 5 portraits of Egyptian and North African subjects), and 6 of Ceylon (most with the Apothecaries Co. Ltd. blindstamp).

PROVENANCE:

Rothan, (signature and inscription on preliminary blank); thence by family descent