Ensemble de quatre albums de photographies

CHINA, 1904-1916 Set of four photo albums Set of approximately 700 photographs, taken by a Belgian engineer on the Chinese railway at the turn of the century, great wealth of iconography. First album is Italian format, containing 138 B&W small format photographs showing street scenes (small vendors, crowds, markets, temples, etc.) The second album has a beautiful black-lacquered cover, dated Hankow 1908, contains 93 B&W medium-format photographs showing scenes of daily life (processions, beggar, streets) and buildings and bridges. The third album is Italian format containing 338 B&W photographs, most with legends, showing scenes of daily life and street scenes ("Chinese illusionists", beggars, processions, cake sellers, camel caravan, military procession, etc.), town gates, residences, naval buildings and work sites, 14 July celebrations, floods, palace of the viceroy in Tientsin or Peking: the great wall, the temple of heaven, the arrival of Marechal Joffre, the French branch, etc. The fourth album has a green faux leather cover, Italian format containing 130 B&W medium- and large-format photographs, most with legends, showing the work on the railroad along the Yellow River.