Beschreibung:

Title: 500 Célébrités Contemporaines: Collection Félix Potin Author: Potin, Félix Place: [Paris] Publisher: Date: [c. 1890's-1900] Description: With 513 photograph portraits taken by Félix Potin, mounted on 38 printed leaves (with corresponding text printed on the versos), plus title and index leaves. Photos measure 3x1-5/8". (Oblong) 9x14¼, original gilt-lettered dark terra cotta boards (blind-stamped leatherette in appearance) with each leaf separately laid inside. Contains over five hundred original portraits of famous celebrities from around the world representing those of the later half of the nineteenth century, but largely pertaining to France, taken by French photographer Félix Potin. Each leaf represents a different category, including: Presidents (such as William McKinley , politicians, military generals and admirals, royalty (including England’s Queen Victoria, Russia’s Nicolas II, and Turkey’s Abdul-Hamid) and upper class families, clergymen (with Pope Pie IX and Leon XIII), court justices, scientists, inventors (Louis Pasteur and a young Thomas Edison), explorers (such as David Livingstone), doctors, nearly 100 men and women of letters / authors (including Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo Jules Verne, Anatole France, Alfred Tennyson, Leo Tolstoy and Henrik Ibsen , musicians / composers (with Richard Wagner and Johann Strauss), painters / artists (with Gustave Doré and Auguste Rodin , architects, singers, stage actors (such as Sarah Bernhardt , and athletes (with fencing and bicycling champions in uniform – the bicyclers are posing while on their bikes). Entire text in the original French. Lot Amendments Condition: Light rubbing and edge wear, small nicks and scuffs, tearing to head of spine; some paper loss to paper pastedowns, occasional slight age wear to photos, which are very good to near fine; leaves very good; album covers fair to good but still presentable. Item number: 156877