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Description
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Three family albums complied by a British political agent or representative during while serving in different countries in the East, including Morocco, Zanzibar and Iran. Photographs document the life of the family and more generally the one of wealthy British expatriate communities in the Middle East. The first album contains 546 photographs taken in Tangiers, Fez and Zanzibar between 1901 and 1907. The second one has 427 photographs taken in Tangiers between 1908 and 1912. Many pictures consist of portraits of family and friends, mostly taken during social gatherings, such as parades, consulate parties, tea times, cricket, tennis and polo matches, picnics, weddings, hunting and horse-riding excursions and visits to touristic sites. Some images document holidays in Europe and travels by sea, while others portray the albums’ owners in their colonial homes showing living rooms, photographic collections, and gardens. There are some portraits of Western women in Oriental dresses. Most of the photographs are group portraits and include Western expatriates as well as local dignitaries and acquaintances. Names of people portrayed are often written under the photographs, among them British diplomats Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther and Vice-Consul Ernest Bristow. Images also document royal personalities, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (r. 1888-1918) during his 1905 visit to Morocco and Prince Henry of Prussia, while in Zanzibar in 1907. The albums include some opera books and newspaper cuttings (The Zanzibar Gazette) related to social happenings among the British expatriate community. The third album houses 676 photographs taken between 1912 and 1917, mostly in Iran - namely in Rasht, Tehran, Isfahan, Persepolis, Gulhek and Shiraz - between 1912 and 1917. There are also some pictures related to Istanbul, Basra, and Baku. The last part of the third album is devoted to the military and political presence of the British legation in Iran during WWI, with some photographs of Prince Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma (Prince Firman in the album), at that time General Governor of Shiraz and a renowned Anglophile. The album contains stamps of British divisions, such as the 22nd Cavalry (Frontier Force), the South Persia Rifles, the 124th Duchess of Connaught's Own Baluchistan Infantry, the 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis)., Title and date devised by Library staff. Prints are mounted recto & verso, with inscriptions. In cloth or half morocco albums. Included is a full page of The Times, dated 5 January 1931, with an illustrated map of Persia advertising the activities of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company., Main Heritage Compact General, HC.HP.2020.0020.03 3, 2-D Graphic, 3, Item-ID: i2611835x, BIB-ID: 2745828 |
