Magnificent 19th C Album of Albumen Prints of Florence by Giacomo & Carlo Brogi

Magnificent 19th C Album of Albumen Prints of Florence by Giacomo & Carlo Brogi. With 181 Albumen Photographic Prints of Florence Italy Done by Giacomo Brogi and Carlo Brogi. Album commissioned by Benjamin Franklin Barge. Album: Full leather with gilt and blind tooled decorations, ribbed spine.

Gilt tooled on top cover: B. Barge / Italy / 1898. Album Dimensions: 15.5 x 11.5 x 3 inches, about 100 doubled leaves with 166 mounted photos and 15 unmounted photos Leather covered silk-lined fitted box with B. Barge / Italy / 1898 gilt impressed on top: 16.5 x 12.5 x 3.5 inches Page Dimensions: 14.5 x 10.5 inches Print Dimension (typical): 9.75 x 7.75 inches.

Giacomo Brogi Italian engraver and photographer. After working as an apprentice with the engraver Achille Paris during the 1850s, Brogi turned to photography, and established his first studio in Florence in 1856. He produced a series of photographs of the Holy Land in 1862, and his catalogue of photographs of Florence and Tuscany appeared in 1878.

The following year, in 1879, he began photographing the antiquities and mummies of Pompei. Brogi catered to the tourist trade, with shops in Florence, Rome, and Naples. He exhibited his work widely throughout Europe, and was named "Photographer of the Emperor" by Umberto I.

After his death in 1881, Brogi's son, Carlo, with help from his brother Alfredo, continued to manage the firm. Benjamin Franklin Barge was an educator who became a businessman and acquired a substantial fortune which allowed him to engage in extensive travel.

He lived in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania. He may have acquired some or all of the photographs in 1880 when he embarked on his second European trip and during which he visited Florence.

There is no record of his stopping in Florence in any of his later trips to Europe; note however, that the album cover is marked Italy 1898 Mr. Barge went through a pleasant country, which grew more and more lovely, until he reached Florence, that hallowed city, so beautiful, so dear to the heart of the artist. Every picture he had fancied, every dream of romance imagined, had been met and surpassed in this city. In merely driving from the station to the hotel he was struck by the noble style of architecture, uniform in solidity, but not curi. Ously quaint nor monotonously gloomy; but when, the next morning, he saw the grand palaces, graceful bridges, beautiful towers, noble churches; when he caught glimpses at every turn of the pictures of Nature art could not approach, he could not but show the rare pleasure he enjoyed.

In Florence he saw Titian's and Raphael's masterpieces; the first attempts at sculpture of Michael Angelo-so many treasures of art were there; so many places renowned in history. He went to the famous Uffizi Gallery; to him the tribune, the inner sanctuary of this temple of art, contained the richest treasures of sculpture and painting the world had ever seen.

He reluctantly left the city and those glorious galleries through which he seemed to have merely glanced, and regretfully deserted the Cascini, with its drives, walks, music, and gayety. When he looked back upon Florence for the last time, he distinguished only the battlemented Palazzo Vecchio, with its fine old tower, and the slender, glistening line of the Arno.

Barge ever after mentioned his first stay in Florence as a season of the most intense delight; knowing how vast was the field for study and recreation, particularly in the lights and shades of art, he left it with feelings of remorse and a determination to speedily return. Rome and Florence, each to him enhanced the beauty of the other, neither losing anything by the comparison. Prom account of Barge's trip to Europe in 1880 in Benjamin F. Photographs: One photo has a short closed tear and one photo has an archivally repaired closed tear; one photo has a small truncated corner and a few of the unmounted prints have a small crease at an edge or corner. Apart from these, all the photographs are complete, clean and intact. Some of the mounted photos have wrinkled corners caused by nonuniform contraction from drying while the corners are constrained and the centers being free. (A few leaves with small smudge or light soil). Fitted Box: Fair to Good. Box is complete and sturdy but the leather at several edges is eroded and chipped. Some of the interior silk lining is stained. Check our other auctions and store listings for additional unusual items. For heavy sets or high-value books, the charge may be higher.

We understand that this requirement may be a problem to some of our customers and we will do our best to accommodate their needs. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Photographic Images\Photograph Albums".

The seller is "henryt" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Region of Origin: Europe
Size Type/Largest Dimension: Medium (Up to 10\
Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
Date of Creation: 1870-1879
Color: Black & White
Photo Type: albumen
Subject: Florence, Italy
Signed: Signed
Original/Reprint: Original Print
Type: Photograph Album