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'EGYPT'. AN ALBUM OF THIRTY-EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS, CIRCA 1869

including studies of Kaid-Bey mosque, Cleopatra's obelisk at Alexandria and the temples at Abu Simbel, Albumen Prints, mounted one to a page, each approx. 270 by 215mm (10 5/8 by 8½ in.) or the reverse, the majority signed and numbered by Hammerschmidt in the negative, printed title labels with corresponding numbers affixed to the majority of prints lower left, ninteenth century red morocco gilt, upper cover lettered in gilt, folio

PROVENANCE

John Webber-Gardiner, armorial bookplate.

NOTE

This album not only documents the topography of Egypt, but also tells the story of an extraordinary sporting event. A printed article entitled 'How we spoiled the Egyptians', from a journal dated 1869, is enclosed inside the album. It recounts the events of a horse race in Cairo in January 1869 during which a group of Englishmen 'came to the conclusion that it would never do for all of us to be beaten by the natives, and for them to win all our money' and therefore set about to enter into the running for the English Cup. Informed that the Viceroy's horses were sure to win, a bet to the contrary was placed by the Englishmen. The Egyptians were delighted to enter into the bet, amused at the impudence of the foreigners who dared to defy the Royal stable. With great delight, the author recounts the victory, against all odds, of the Englishmen's horses.
'The Viceroy went away almost directly, they say in high-dudgeon, and we went and drank his health in his own champagne, for he provided a first-class luncheon each day.'

The illustrated image shows a group including Ferdinand de Lesseps and Professor Richard Owen gathered next to 'La Coupe Anglaise'. The album includes a further two photographs of the victors' cup, and another study of three men with the cup and the winning horse in the background. The album opens with a portrait of de Lesseps, followed on the next page by one of Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, the viceroy whose horses were beaten in the race at Cairo.