American Colony photographs of the Holy Land

Marroum, F. F. Photographies de Terre Sainte.

€ 3,500.00

A classic Holy Land souvenir album containing nearly fifty photographs of Jerusalem, Jaffa, and the Levant, including the "Mosque of Omar" (Dome of the Rock, Qubbat as-Sakhra) and the Al-Aqsa (Qibli) Mosque.

These photographs represent a wide selection of the work of the American Colony Jerusalem studio, one of the popular suppliers. The American Colony was, rather than being founded as a photography studio, originally a utopian Christian sect formed by religious pilgrims who emigrated to Jerusalem from the United States and Sweden. One of their members, Elijah Meyers, founded the photography side business around 1896, and by the turn of the century American Colony photographs played a major role in the local tourism industry, selling souvenir albums like this one for Europeans who were arriving in increasing numbers to tour the Holy Land at the end of the 19th century. Meyers was followed by Lewis Larsson (1881-1958), and in later years G. Eric Matson (1888-1977), who kept up American Colony photography long after the utopian sect itself had dissolved.

Light toning and edgewear; preserved in good condition within the original olive wood covers.