4093 - Sommer, Giorgio

Sommer, Giorgio Pompeii Photographed. Early 1860s. 26 albumen prints, individually mounted to captioned cards. Each ca. 17 x 23,7 cm or reverse (cards 34 x 46,5 cm). Printed captions beneath the photographs; accompanied by 4 pp. of printed title, contents and descriptive text, with the imprint “London: William Mackenzie, Paternoster Row. Glasgow and Edinburgh.” Presented loose, as issued, in the original blind- and gilt-stamped green cloth portfolio, titled “POMPEII PHOTOGRAPHED” (overall size 48 x 35,5 x 2 cm). An uncommon English-language portfolio from Sommer’s early survey of the Vesuvian sites. The sequence leads through Pompeii’s streets, temples and public spaces, extending to frescoes, reliefs and plaster casts, and thus from monumental architecture to evidence of Roman daily life and the eruption of Vesuvius. Its English descriptive text turned the photographs into a portable archaeological guide for the Victorian Grand Tour market. The portfolio comprises 24 views of Pompeii and 2 of Herculaneum. Although the contents leaf lists 24 subjects, the present 26-print collation includes additional and variant views. – Card mounts with light handling creases, marginal soiling and scattered foxing and spotting; a few more noticeably browned or foxed, one with concentrated brown spotting and another with a diagonal crease at the upper corner. Albumen prints generally clean and well preserved. Original cloth portfolio heavily worn, with rubbed boards, frayed and split cloth along the joints, edges and corners, and substantial losses and lifting of the inner lining. Title and text leaves with handling creases and light age-toning.