Italy and France | seven vellum bound albums of photographs, 1870s

HARE, AUGUSTUS J.C. (COMPILER)
A set of seven albums of photographs: six of Italy and one of France, c.1860s-1870s.

7 albums, comprising 6 volumes 4to (310 x 230mm.), and one folio (465 x 370mm.), over 450 ALBUMEN PRINTS (average 245 x 180mm., or the reverse; some larger: 280 x 350mm., or the reverse, and some small) by Robert Rive, De Bonis, C. Naya. Moritz Lotze and others, mounted on card or paper, mostly recto, some recto and verso, nearly all with neat pencil captions on the mounts, plus a few loose unmounted photographs, contemporary vellum, flat spines gilt, each volume titled and numbered on the spine in gilt, some images faded, some spotting and dust-staining, the mounts in the folio volume separating, some stains to bindings

Hare was born in Rome and educated at Harrow and Oxford, he became a prodigious author of biographies and travel guides, including some for John Murray, and others written in his own name, including Walks in Rome, Walks in London, Wanderings in Spain, and Cities of Northern and Central Italy. Hare was also a competent watercolourist and his work was exhibited in London in 1902. The photographs include buildings, landscapes, street scenes, architectural studies and details, paintings and classical sculpture. Nearly all the photographs were acquired from professional photographers, but some smaller photographs may have been taken by Hare.

PROVENANCE:
Augustus John Cuthbert Hare (1834-1903); Sir Philip Sassoon Bt. GBE CMG (1888-1939), Port Lympne, Kent (bookplate and label on upper covers); Kenneth Clark, Baron Clark OM CH KCB FBA (1903-1983), Saltwood Castle, Kent; Private collection: the six 4to albums purchased by the present owner from Clark's daughter in 1983; the folio volume purchased in 2018 from Saltwood Castle and re-united with the set

Condition Report:
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.

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