Egypt, Sinai, and Jerusalem

Francis Frith (1822-1898), Egypt, Sinai, and Jerusalem: a Series of Twenty Photographic Views; with descriptions by Sophia Lane Poole (1804-1891) and Reginald Stuart Poole (1832-1895) (London: James S. Virtue, [after 1858]). 20 albumen silver prints, sheet: 53.3 x 73.6 cm. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize 2004-0006E

Francis Frith collaborated with a lecturer and scholar of antiquities at the British Museum, Reginald Poole, and with Poole’s mother, Sophia, to produce this mammoth album of photographs. It is interesting that at the same time, Sophia’s brother Edward W. Lane (1801-1876), a scholar of Oriental linguistics, was working with Reginald on an illustrated edition of the Arabian Nights (The Thousand and One Nights, a new translation from the Arabic, with copious notes by Edward William Lane; illustrated … by William Harvey; edited by his nephew Edward Stanley Poole, 1859. Rare Books (Ex) 2263.2869).

The Poole’s had spent over seven years living and working in Egypt, and were fluent not only with the languages of the region but the history and culture. Frith on the other hand made only three trips to the area—1856-57, 1858, and 1859—passing through some cities only once. His objective was to capture photographic images that could be reproduced in many formats and sold as widely as possible. In this, he certainly succeeded.

In the beginning, Frith contracted with Thomas Agnew and Son to sell individual prints made from 16 x 20 inch negatives and with James S. Virtue to publish groups of photographs in a series of albums. Negretti and Zambra handled the stereoscopic views sold both individually and in sets. In addition, Frith formed his own company, F. Frith & Co. to sell his own work and the photographs of others, specializing in scenic travel views, which were of great interest to the British public. Frith built the largest photographic archive in Great Britain and then, in the 1880s, handed the business over to his sons and moved to a villa along the French Riviera to write his memoirs.

To see more of Princeton’s holdings of Frith albums and photographs, continue below.

Francis Frith, Egypt and Nubia: descriptive catalogue of one hundred stereoscopic views of the Pyramids, the Nile, Karnak, Thebes, Aboo-Simbel… , 1857. Marquand Library (SAX): Rare Books: XB87.0060
Francis Frith, Egypt, Sinai, and Jerusalem: a series of twenty photographic views, 1858. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): 2004-0006E
Francis Frith, Egypt and Palestine, 1858. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): 2006-0144F
Francis Frith, Cairo, Sinai, Jerusalem, and the pyramids of Egypt, 1860. Multiple Locations.
Francis Frith, Gossiping photographer on the Rhine, 1860. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): 2005-0604Q
Francis Frith, Cairo, Sinai, Jerusalem, and the pyramids of Egypt: a series of sixty photographic views, 1860. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): 2006-0146F
Francis Frith, Sinai and Palestine, 1862. Rare Books (Ex): Item 4132366q
Francis Frith, Upper Egypt and Ethiopia, 1862. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): 2007-0030F
Francis Frith, Holy Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments, translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations … , 1862. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX): BS185 1862 .G54f
Francis Frith, Hyperion: a romance, 1865. Multiple Locations.

Also by Mrs. Poole:
Sophia Lane Poole (1804-1891), The Englishwoman in Egypt: letters from Cairo, written during a residence there in 1842, 3, & 4, with E.W. Lane, Esq., author of “The modern Egyptians” (Philadelphia: G.B. Zieber & co., 1845). Rare Books (Ex), DT53 .P66