Scenes of Tunis and Algiers near the turn of the century

[French Algeria and Tunisia]. Photo album - Algiers and Tunis.

€ 9,500.00

A souvenir album of colonial French Algeria and Tunisia ca. 1890, intended for a European audience. Such albums of albumen photographs were increasingly popular in the Levant at the close of the 19th century, and similar demand was sparked for views of newly conquered and colonized French North Africa.

Centered on the urban scenes of Algiers and Tunis, though with several rural scenes, views of the markets, mosques, and streets of smaller Biskra, and an Arab café in Sidi Bou Said, the albums show carefully tailored but nonetheless revealing snapshots of urban life in these two cities. In Algiers, one might see the People's Palace prior to 1910s renovations, including an elaborate interior, the Jardin d'Essai (Test Garden of Hamma), and a panoramic view of the city of Algiers in full. These are filled out with mosques, cathedrals, and especially street views, where French hotels line squares alongside mosques.

In the Tunis photographs, one may see the Dar Hussain Palace ("Palace of General Sidi-Houssin"), Bab Jazira Mosque, and the Avenue to de France decorated for Bastille Day - a reminder of the French invasion less than ten years before.