CAP HORN. —

CAP HORN. - Mission of Cape Horn 1882-1883. Unique album of 139 original photographs and photographic reproductions, handwritten captions in blue ink. Oblong folio, green half-chagrin, gilt title on the first cover, 22 cartoons bearing the 139 photographs (various sizes, about 22x17 cm, 16,6x11,5 cm, 13x11,5 cm, 13x9 cm...) and 13 cartoons left blank (period binding). Exceptional album of 139 anthropological and panoramic photos, probably the one of Lieutenant Lephay (1853-1906), meteorologist of the Cape Horn scientific mission. These photos were taken on the large island of Tierra del Fuego at Cape Horn - on land by Lieutenant Edmond J.-A. Payen and Dr. Hyades, - on sea by Lieutenant Jean Louis Doze. This unique album is composed of 139 photos of panoramas, views, buildings, canoes, mountains, glaciers, bays, portraits of Fuegians, scenes of daily life... Carefully composed at the time, it presents a handwritten caption under each photo. These captions sometimes attribute poetic and unexpected names to the views and characters: "the tender Elongu-Kipa", "the beautiful Kmanakar-Kipa", "the Trocadero hut, Bamer-Cove", "the little chimney sweeps", "the two Fuegian graces"... The last double page gives, on 4 pictures, a large panorama of the "New Year's Gulf", with La Romanche at anchor, and in side captions the list of the crew members on land and at sea. These photos were used to illustrate the 9 volumes of the important Report of the French scientific mission to Cape Horn, published in 1888-1891. This photographic report remains essential because in three decades, the Indians of Tierra del Fuego were then decimated by a tuberculosis epidemic. The mission brought back a total of 323 negatives on glass plates. In 1879, eleven European countries and the United States decided to carry out a vast study on the magnetic and meteorological phenomena of the planet, two new sciences at that time. In 1880, 15 polar stations were established to carry out these observations, including the one at Cape Horn, entrusted to France, under the scientific control of the Museum of Natural History and the Academy of Sciences. The expedition was led by Louis-Ferdinand Martial, frigate captain on the three-masted ship La Romanche. The ship left Cherbourg on July 17, 1882 with 140 people on board and arrived on September 6 in Orange Bay, 40 km from Cape Horn. All the personnel returned to Cherbourg on November 11, 1883. On land, Lieutenant Edmond J.-A. Payen and Dr. Hyades devoted themselves to the observation and anthropological reports concerning the Fuegian Yahgan Indians. Intrigued by the operations of the scientists, the Indians went to the French camp and to the Romanche River. "Through small gifts such as cookies or clothing, the French began to forge ties with the natives. They did not receive the order to carry out ethnographic and anthropological studies; these will however impose themselves to them! Initially reserved for leisure activities, the cameras will prove to be precious instruments for the study of this ethnic group. (...) In an improvised studio, they organized long photographic sessions, accompanied by anthropometric measurements and completed by body casts. Gentle and conciliatory, the Indians willingly submit to this singular exercise that they call toumayacha alakana (looking with a veil on the head). It is the occasion for Hyades to congratulate himself on the admirable progress accomplished by photography: "The extreme sensitivity of the gelatino-bromide allowed, by reducing the exposure times to a minimum, to obtain photographs of natives who could hardly remain motionless during a few seconds". At sea, Lieutenant Doze took more spontaneous photographs, born of chance encounters. The boat is used as a frame for certain portraits: behind the yahgan subjects, the railings, the tarpaulins, ropes and chimneys materialize the clash of two cultures. During the stopovers on the islands, the Indians are photographed in their natural setting, in the forest or in front of their hut. They are no longer treated as specimens placed in an environment that is foreign to them; the Western man fades away before the mysterious spectacle of a primitive and harmonious civilization. (Chez les Indiens du cap Horn, by Antoine Lefébure and Séverine Charon. Photographic treasures of the Geographical Society. The exploration of the world. Exhibition at the National Library of France, 2007). Uneven prints, some photos slightly stained, faded. Binding slightly rubbed. Exceptional album of 139 original photographs, composed by a member of the Cape Horn mission, probably Lieutenant Lephay.