Hitherto considered unobtainable: the spectacular, complete series of more than 200 photographs of the Near East and Spain by Louis de Clercq, uniformly bound

Clercq, Louis de. Voyage en Orient - Voyage en Espagne. 1859, 1860.

€ 850,000.00

The exceptional, tremendously rare complete series of Louis de Clercq's renowned photographs of the Middle East and Muslim Spain in five magnificent, original albums, all uniformly bound. This is without question the pre-eminent 19th century photobook of the Middle East. "Louis de Clercq's six-volume 'Voyage en orient' (Journey to the Orient), containing a grand total of no less than 222 prints, can be said to be the culmination of a tradition, the last of the 'first generation' of travel photobooks, that is, the 'amateur' generation [...] Those who know these rare volumes [...] regard [de Clercq] as at least the equal of Du Camp, Salzmann, Teynard and other French pioneers of Middle Eastern photography using the paper negative. His vision is characterized by its precision and assuredness [...] And he stands out in another respect: he was an excellent maker of photographic panoramas. Using two or three negatives, he solved both the aesthetic and technical problems of the panorama, and his combination prints are remarkably seamless and artfully constructed" (Parr/Badger, p. 27).

This sumptuous set, in beautiful condition, is of the utmost rarity. Fifty copies were produced under the direction of the artist, not for sale but to be presented to friends, acquaintances, and dignitaries. Several volumes have since been dispersed into single photographs which have repeatedly appeared at Sotheby's, Ader, and other auction houses, and separate volumes command record prices, while complete sets in their original bindings - as here - have been unknown to the market for more than a century (cf. records in Rare Book Hub and ABPC).

Much like the antiquarians of the Renaissance, 19th century photographers developed a passion for the remains of ancient civilisations. Louis de Clercq (1836-1901) was capable of bringing this passion to life in his photographs, early examples of albumen prints. His oriental experience began with Emmanuel-Guillaume Rey, during his second archaeological expedition to Syria from August to December 1859. De Clercq left Rey's mission after photographing Jerusalem and continued his voyage in the Middle East by travelling to Egypt.

Since 1915, when Anderson in Paris offered a presentation copy (sale 1156, lot 114), no complete set has become available to collectors. We have traced only seven other complete copies in public institutions internationally: in the French National Library (Paris), Musée du Louvre (Paris), Musée d'Orsay, (Paris), Danish Royal Library (Copenhagen), Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and The Gilman Paper Company (New York).