"Jerusalem" - Auguste Salzmann - Paris, 1856 - Forty Photographs

"Jerusalem" - Auguste Salzmann - Paris, 1856 - Forty Photographs
Jérusalem, Étude et Reproduction Photographique des Monuments de la Ville Sainte, by Auguste Salzmann. Paris: Gide et J. Baudry, 1856. French. Two parts (text and plates) in one volume. Separate title page for each part.
"Jerusalem", 40 photographs by Auguste Salzmann. Including: photographs of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Tombs of the Kings, the Valley of Josaphat, the Valley of Hinnom, the Mosque of Omar, Jaffa Gate, and more. The photographs are bound together with a written study of the photographed sites (originally, the photograph plates and the study were printed in two separate volumes).
In 1853, the French photographer Auguste Salzmann (1824-1872) travelled to Palestine with the aim of documenting various sites, particularly in Jerusalem and its surroundings, and especially the discoveries of French archeologist Félicien de Saulcy. That year, De Saulcy had published his findings from an archeological study conducted in Palestine, in a book that aroused controversy and was received with some reservations. In an attempt to support the work of De Saulcy (to whom the present book is dedicated) Salzmann took about 200 photographs. This is considered a pioneer project in the field of archeological documentation using photography. Although Salzmann's goal was mostly scientific documentation, his photographs are also impressive in their artistic quality. The photographs were first published in 1854 in a book printed in a limited number of copies, followed two years later by the present edition.
[4], 92 pp + [3] plates; [6] pp, [4] plates, 42.5 cm. Binding with leather spine. Gilt edges. Fair condition. Foxing throughout the book, including on photographs (although about half of the photographs are clean). Printed on the title page of the first part (the study) is the title "Planches", and alongside it, in pencil, is the inscription "Etude". Damage to binding.