War AGAINST WAR Photography and World War one
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Price list available upon request. Prices are in Canadian dollars. All items are subject to prior sale. Canadian customers will be charged 13% HST where applicable. Customers new to us are requested to send payment in advance. Institutional billing requirements will be accommodated. All items are guaranteed as described. If not satisfied, returns will be accepted within 10 days of receipt. Advance notification is requested. We accept Canadian or U.S. dollar cheques, international money orders, and wire transfers. All items will be shipped surface unless otherwise advised. All packing, shipping, and insurance costs are the responsibility of the purchaser. Full scans and descriptions available upon request. In the listed dimensions, height precedes width. The date, where possible, refers to the negative date. All photographs are vintage prints, unless stated otherwise. Photographs may not be exactly as they appear in the digital or print format catalogues. This catalogue is available to view online and for purchase in print at www.rarephotogallery.com. Please contact us by telephone at (416) 535-9895, or by email at rarephotoltd@gmail.com. We welcome visitors by appointment. We are always interested in purchasing individual items and collections. 41 Spadina Road, Suite One Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2S9 Direction: Neil David MacDonald Design, cataloguing, imaging: sol Legault All rights reserved. Not intended for reproduction. Š2014 Rare Photo Gallery
War AGAINST WAR Photography and World War one
In this, the second installment of our offerings of World War One photography during the centenary year, we are privileged to present intact photo albums and diaries. Each one a unique object telling a personal story, or showing a sequence of images beyond pure documentation, but evidence of the folly of war. The cost of each recorded moment must be measured in suffering or the loss of human life. The Great War took millions upon millions of lives and changed the civil nature of humanity as we knew it. Each inch of land taken, surrendered and retaken could have cost a soldier’s life, therefore each image illustrated in this catalogue was the result of someone dying, and in many cases thousands. Do not view lightly.
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In 1924, ninety years ago now, and ten years after the outbreak of hostilities, Ernst Friedrich published his ground breaking book “War against War”. His aim as a pacifistic anarchist was to shock through his collection of images, illustrating not only the barbarism, but hypocrisy behind the conflict. Originally published with captions in four languages, it was the most graphic book ever published, and it is only in homage to him that we can justify the following content. Let these artifacts not only enrich your collection but provide a window to history, a move toward understanding, and the courage to be on the side of change. Friedrich wrote in his preface, in part… “Let the general strike be the first weapon! The men will refuse service! True heroism lies not in murder, But in the refusal to commit murder…. The last and most dreadful war has not yet Broken out which will cast gas and poison and Flames on human beings and animals and houses. It lies in our hands, in our power to prevent, To hinder, this most dreadful tragedy. Let the great, inspiring example of consistent Conscientious objectors be our model. They suffered death for their consistent ‘No’! Rather than themselves become murderers!”
Neil David MacDonald Rare Photo Gallery
1 British Royal Flying Corps
Photographic Section
Album Bound in Camouflage fabric from a German Plane c. 1918 An outstanding and unique album, assembled by a member of the Royal Flying Corps 7th Air Squadron Photographic Section stationed at Spich, signed by Arthur Cyril Cross. Of particular interest are not only the incredible and abstract aerial photographs, but the personal images. Each photograph is complemented with a typed caption, including views of Dunkirk, Poperinge, Oblique, Hindenburg Line, many of Ypres, Menin Road, Rheims, the Rhine, Cologne, and Courtrai, among other locations. The aerial images show landscapes riddled with shell holes and vary with water, ice, roads, trenches, etc. Also included are scenes of attack on Chilly, Zeppelin sheds, including one wonderful view of a Zeppelin in a shed noted to have been found on the premises, alluding to being a captured photograph. The album concludes with regimental group portraits and casual snapshots of personnel and friends. The album itself is bound in geometric patterned camouflage fabric with a label stating that the fabric is from a German airplane, brought down in 1917. A truly extraordinary piece. album: 21.6 x 31 x 4.6 cm, German camouflage fabric, housed in a custom folding clamshell box 100 gelatin silver prints, from 4.8 x 6.1 cm to 21.2 x 16.1 cm
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2 German Field Aeronautics
Division No. 1
strategic aerial Panorama May 29, 1916 This amazing aerial survey photograph depicts Zillebeke, Ypres, and Lizerne, Belgium, with numbers inscribed in ink on the print and accompanying legend below. Shot from the German air balloon Spirit, the photograph is accompanied by technical specifications including location, date, and altitude, inscribed in German on the cover. This stunning artifact is composed of 16 prints making up the full panorama, mounted on six hinged card panels. 16 gelatin silver prints on card mount: 24.1 x 26 x 0.6 cm (folded), 24.1 x 153.7 cm (unfolded); image: 12.7 x 125.1 cm (overall), (individual parts from 12.7 x 3.8 cm to 12.7 x 12.7 cm) Above: detail; Below: folded, cover (left), and fully unfolded (right)
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3 Canadian Album - Views of Camp Borden 1917 - 1918 With typewritten captions accompanying each stunning photograph, this album presents in detail the training grounds at Camp Borden, Ontario. As a kind of visual inventory, the images compiled here describe explicitly the artillery, and aerial and communications equipment used by Canadian forces in the Great War. album: 28.6 x 39.4 x 5.1 cm, soft black leather 42 gelatin silver prints, one per page, each approx. 19 x 24.1 cm
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4 American United States Signal Corps views in the field 1914 - 1918
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A riveting collection of loose photographs showing many aspects of military life at the front lines. From training, troop movements, and planning, to taking prisoners and acting in makeshift plays, the group contains many images one might consider modernist or surreal, showing bombed landscapes, trenches, and destroyed or damaged vehicles. Each image with ‘U.S. Official; Signal Corps USA’ and five digit number in the negative. Excellent group with vivid images. 39 gelatin silver prints, each approx. 16.5 x 21.5 cm
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5 German personal Snapshot AND POSTCARD album c. 1914
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This German album, its cover stamped in silver “Aus grosser Zeit” and “W / 1914” within the Iron Cross, contains snapshots and photo postcards depicting German military and civilians, primarily at leisure, in interior views and in cities, playing cards, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, participating in parades, and more. Many of the postcards are inscribed, and one location is identified as Rethel, France. album: 12.7 x 20.3 x 3.5 cm, black cloth, decorated 35 gelatin silver prints, each approx. 13.9 x 8.9 cm
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6 German Member of Field
Aeronautics Division No. 4 Personal ALBUM 1915 - 1918
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This carefully compiled and hand-inscribed German album depicts a broad view of wartime civilian and military activity. It contains views of German Forces aircraft and activities, portraits of soldiers, aerial views from balloons, artillery, bombed sites, trench life, gravesites, recreational time, chateaux turned into prisons, and even a shower scene. One portrait identified as Luetn Sibaltz appears to show facial scars as a result of dueling. Also present is an unused prisoner of war postcard. Includes locations from France and Germany. Through this album one gains a sense of the daily life of the soldiers of the German Balloon Corps, on the Western Front. album: 20.9 x 26.7 x 1.3 cm, green card covers 37 gelatin silver prints from 5.4 x 8.2 cm to 12.7 x 17.8 cm; 1 printed postcard
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This remarkable album created by a German aviator, is densely packed with images from Germany and France. It depicts a range of subjects including Zeppelins and balloons, airplanes , plane crashes, amphibious vehicles, aerial landscapes, communications posts, an alcohol distillery, civilian women and children, animals, leisure activity, landscapes, manoeuvres, surveying, and group and single portraits. The aircraft images could include very rare examples of the DIV and/or the prototype model DIII. Includes airship numbers ZX, ZX12, LZ38, LZ77, LZ81, and ZIV. album: 23.8 x 33.3 x 1.9 cm, grey card covers 66 gelatin silver prints: from 4.1 x 6.4 cm to 16.5 x 11.7 cm; 1 printed postcard
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7 German Aviator PERSONAL aviation album c. 1916
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8 German Aviator personal Album - POLAND, EASTERN FRONT c. 1915
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A dramatic album containing images inscribed as depicting “types” of people, such as Polish Jews, a Polish fisherman, a “Jew in winter garb,” another titled “Polish pigs.” Juxtaposed with jovial photographs of German personnel in the airfields and at leisure. One image shows a dog sitting upright with a tobacco pipe in its mouth. Also included are several aerial survey photographs and images of aircraft in flight. Inscribed inside the cover by Edgar to his mother. A coolly composed album, giving a chilling narrative. album: 20.9 x 24.8 x 0.6 cm, brown card covers, gilt decorated 26 gelatin silver prints, 12.1 x 8.9 cm and smaller
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9 Austrian-GERMAN
Aviator personal Album
This album contains snapshots depicting locations in France, Poland, and the Ukraine; in addition to casual views of aviators, aircraft, aerial views, animals, buildings; and soldiers, civilian women, and children posing for the camera. Of special note are two images together inscribed “Warschau [Warsaw] / Proclamation.” This would have been the historic “Act of 5th November” (1916), the declaration of the Kingdom of Poland by German Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Franz Joseph. Three more images of note in this album depict the visit of a high official to Kamień, Poland, on November 3, 1916, inscribed “S.M. in Kamień” (seine Majestät/His Majesty) that show Franz Joseph walking among the troops. Notably, Joseph died shortly after these photographs were taken, on November 21st, of pneumonia. album: 14.3 x 20.9 x 1.9 cm, grey card covers 96 gelatin silver prints, most approx. 5.4 x 5.7 cm
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10 Canadian Aviator,
86th Training Squadron personal album - ONTARIO AND TEXAS 1917 - 1919
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This album depicts the activities of the 86th Canadian Training Squadron (Air Force) at training camps in Ontario, Canada, and Texas, U.S.A. Images depict aircraft both on the ground and in flight, crash wreckage, tanks, military parades, recreation, travel views, leisure, foot races, baseball, women, landscapes, groups, Christmas decorations, zoo animals, and more. Locations in Texas include: the Dallas Zoo, Barron Field, Benbrook Field and Fort Worth. Also shown is Deseronto, Ontario. Many pages and prints carry handwritten inscriptions. The album has a unique reverse leather cover depicting a Native American man and “compliments of the season� in pyrography. album: 19.7 x 26 x 2.5 cm, limp reverse leather 188 gelatin silver prints from 5.4 x 7.9 cm to 8.9 x 12.1 cm; 1 printed calling card
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11 German album - military movements July - September 1917
This small German album contains photographs depicting military ambulances, military convoys of horse-drawn carts traveling through the country and cities, destroyed bridges, trenches, military outposts, military visits of high officials (with names noted in inscriptions), bird’s-eye-view landscape photographs with inscriptions indicating and describing trench locations. A unique image, squared up in pencil for reproduction, perhaps, is shown above. Also included is one loose 1918 Russian ten-ruble bill. Another interesting feature of this album is the paper to which the photographs are mounted: map paper, possibly depicting Poland or Belarus. album: 11.3 x 18.1 x 2.5 cm, self wrappers 18 gelatin silver prints, most approx. 8.7 x 13.8 cm; 1 ten-ruble bill
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12 CANADIAN Official
photographers
collection of captioned prints 1914 - 1918 This important group of photographs, each with an adhered, numbered caption, depicts mainly Canadian troops in training, in action, and at rest. Also included are images of British Royal visits, General John Joseph Pershing and Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, other officers, artillery, bombed sites of note, gas explosions/bombing, damage done in German attacks, German graffiti, German corpses, gravesites, and more. Some locations depicted are: France: Albert (Somme), Arras, Courcelette, Lens, Picardy, and Vimy Ridge; Belgium: Passchendaele, West Flanders, and Ypres. 68 gelatin silver prints (59 loose, 3 frames containing 9 prints), each approx. 12.4 x 14.3 (sheet)
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13 American W.E.R. Personal album - submariner c. 1919 This personal album by American submariner “W. E. R.” contains unique snapshots depicting wonderful images of camouflaged ships, submarine interiors, ports, military activities, leisure time, and more. Inscriptions describe ship names, locations, etc. Locations include Panama: Miraflores Lock and Pedro Miguel Locks; Washington: Puget Sound and Aberdeen; Samoa; Vallejo, California; Alaska: Resurrection Bay, Seward, Childs Glacier, Chignik, Sitka, and Indian River Park (Sitka); Key West, Florida. A number of prints loosely inserted. An interesting album, with submarine content being very uncommon. album: 13.6 x 20.9 x 3.8 cm, limp black cloth 168 gelatin silver prints from 7 x 5 cm to 8.6 x 14.6 cm; 1 coloured halftone stereo print
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14 British Royal Air Force Album - Middle East, Baghdad 1918 - 1926 Another uncommon album depicting the deployment in the U.K., Kurdistan, and Iraq of a member of the British R.A.F., in snapshots, and a number of real photo post cards. Locations include England: Cranwell, Croydon, London, and Waddon Air Station (London); Baghdad, Iraq: The Golden Mosque/Kazmain Mosque, “Sheich Omer’s Tomb,” Kirkuk Bridge, Midan Mosque, the British Cemetery, the Tigris River, and the Ruins of Babylon; Kurdistan: Chamchamal and Sulaymaniyah. Included are numerous inscriptions on versos. album: 14 x 20.3 x 4.4 cm, patterened brown leather 139 gelatin silver prints, 8.6 x 13.6 and smaller
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15 commonwealth album - official photographs c. 1914 - 1918 A vivid album showing the carnage of war, including mostly official views of bombed-out ruins, battlefields, trenches, corpses, German prisoners, aerial views and more in France, including such locations as: Champagne, Reims, Somme, Lens, Cambrai, Ypres, Albert (Somme), BĂŠthune, Arras, the Grave of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt (Chamery), Verdun, PĂŠronne (Somme), Chauny, St. Mihiel, Bapaume, Menin Road (Ypres), and St. Quentin Cathedral. album:19 x 25.4 x 1.9 cm, full red calf 24 gelatin silver prints, each approx. 14.6 x 21.3 cm
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16 American Lyman Wright Rogers album - war in italy c. 1918 This large album contains incredible photographs depicting the actions of Italian and American troops, views in the battlefield, trenches, explosions, corpses, bombed ruins, views of the Alps, official visits, leisure time, troops, trenches, shrines, etc. Included are important photographs documenting the Red Cross in Italy. Particularly poignant are a number of what appear to be captured photographs which contain what appear to be bullet holes through them. We can only imagine where they were found and how they got that way. Locations include: Konigspitz Mountain, and the Italian Alps; etc. Includes a photocopy of a Chicago newspaper article from 1918 highlighting Lieutenant Rogers, entitled “Gives Thrilling Stories of War in Italy.� album: 25.7 x 31.7 x 5.7 cm, patterned brown leather with name gilded in gold on upper cover 603 gelatin silver prints, from 4.1 x 6 cm to 19 x 24.1 cm
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17 German P. Weber, Field
Aeronautics Division No. 20 album - ballooning, eastern front 1917 - 1918 This album, by a member of the Feldluftschiffer Abteilung 20, contains images of German blimps in flight and in-hangar, parachutists, military personnel, strategic planning, aerial views, landscapes, casual gatherings, sunsets, homes, civilians, and more. Includes one photomontage propaganda postcard (opposite, top left). Although most locations are not noted, a group of men are noted to be having a “jolly evening� in Baranvichi (Belarus), in a snapshot (fourth down, opposite, left). album: 24.4 x 18.1 x 4.4 cm, floral printed cloth 94 gelatin silver prints (some hand-coloured) from 5.5 x 8 cm to 18 x 12.7 cm
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18 German Aviator personal album c. 1917 This German aviator’s personal album contains a broad array of images and subjects, including aerial, landscape, interior and architectural views, views of soldiers at work, leisure and recreation, studio portraits, and images of military gatherings, manoeuvers, aircraft, bombs, cities, cathedral interiors, etc. Locations include: Albert (Somme), Bouzincourt, [Charleville-Mézières], La Fére, and Mouzon, France. Inscriptions indicate subject names. Of special interest is the album cover, sporting a gilt, ornate crest with a carefully cut and tipped-in photograph of a German airplane in flight. The album’s pages are intermittently red and green in colour. album: 29.8 x 21.6 x 1.3 cm, grey card covers, decorated 75 gelatin silver prints, from 5.7 x 6 cm to 11.7 x 16.5 cm
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19 Canadian William John
Coell, Royal Flying Corps aviation photographs c. 1918 A group of loose photographs depicting aviation, airplanes, stunt antics (including a view of an aviator standing on top of C187 as seen from another plane), flight formations, airplane crashes, aviation training, pilots, and a photograph of a (chalk?) drawing depicting the “Guardian of the R.F.C.� Pilot Lieutenant Edwin Ballough performing at Camp Mohawk. Locations include: Camp Banbrook, [?]; Camp Mohawk, Ontario, Canada; [Air] Field #3, Fort Worth, Texas; Bay of Quinte, Ontario. Inscriptions in regard to locations and some technical info. Many types of aircraft and tail numbers visible. 48 gelatin silver prints, from 5.4 x 7.3 cm to 11.3 x 15.4 cm
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20 Canadian military personal ALBUM 1916 - 1918
Group of loose album pages with adhered snapshots depicting varied scenes; airplanes in an airfield with civilians in Montreal, military camps, civilian family life, naval scenes, soldiers at home, cavalry, men wearing bathrobes outdoors, military training, children, military marching, soldiers’ quarters, etc. 11 pages, from 13.6 x 19 cm to 23.5 x 30 cm 121 gelatin silver prints, from 4.1 x 6 cm to 8.4 x 11.7 cm
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A fascinating gathering of scrapbook leaves containing notes, clipped signatures, drawings, some colour postcards, news clippings and ephemera. A diverse collection of material, mainly focused on nurses and high ranking officials, the majority of which were highly decorated. Many of the signatures have been enriched with the bars and orders awarded. They include: Major Waldorf Astor, Lord Penrhyn, Col. Sir Arthur Pendarves Vivian, Lord Falmouth, The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, Col. Sir Fred Hall, and many others. The grouping contains over 100 autographs.
21 Commonwealth autograph collection c. 1914 - 1919
16 leaves, each approx. 24.2 x 32.3 cm 159 tipped-in pieces of ephemera (varied dimensions)
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22 Canadian Official battlefield album 1919 Album of aerial views of bombed, damaged, and destroyed areas and ruins of cities, towns, buildings, the countryside around Ypres and Vimy Ridge; and bridges, German ships, German corpses, trenches, craters, gas attack, captured German artillery, Canadian soldiers building a bridge and loading a 15-inch gun, a British tank, portraits of the Prince of Wales, Sir Douglas Haig, and Generals Currie, Watson and Morrison, etc. album: 26 x 34.3 x 1.9 cm, black cloth 46 gelatin silver prints, each approx. 15.1 x 20.2 cm
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A sentimental and moving assemblage of papers documenting the life of a fallen soldier. Like a memento mori, documents and letters have been arranged walking us through the life of ‘Will’ or ‘Billy’ Clements, from elementary school reports where he was noted as ‘a good boy,’ to scholarship papers, to his apprenticeship as a bookbinder, which he suspended at 18 to go off to war. Serving with ‘A’ Company, 9th East Surrey, British Expeditionary Force, he made it to France where he was killed in action on the third of September, 1918. The album contains his often illustrated letters home, addressed to “Dad, Mum, Fred and Winnie” in Islington, London, as well as letters sent to him from friends also serving, and concludes with letters of condolences and many pieces of related ephemera. Clements’ last letter home sadly asks to keep ‘the chair dusted and [the] piano well oiled’ for him. A lieutenant notes that ‘he died fighting’ and writes of his last parcel being distributed among the boys, and of the details of his funeral. Early correspondence alludes to the possibility of his father being a bookbinder as well, particularly poignant if he were the creator of this memorial. The letters and ephemera have been meticulously window-mounted, and special windows with photographs have been placed inside each cover. The red morocco spine has raised bands with title panels in alternating colours and have been tooled in gilt extra. Both covers have illustrated prayer prints inset, a fine and unique presentation binding. album: 21.6 x 31 x 4.6 cm, full red calf; 7 gelatin silver prints (inserted inside board windows), from 9.5 x 6.5 to 7.8 x 12.6 cm; 202 sheets of correspondence/paper forms and 2 prayer prints (set into covers)
23 British L-C William Thomas Clements The Last Letters From France 1903 - 1919
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24 Brtish military personal album c. 1914 - 1918
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A remarkable gathering of images tipped onto loose leaves from a cord bound album. Numerous aerial views of cities and sites across France, views of battlefields, fantastic and eerie ruined buildings including the “Crown Prince’s house in Mountfaucon,” one group portrait of German soldiers captioned “The Enemy,” a staged tableau depicting troops running “over the top thru gas,” with one soldier not wearing a gas mask, choking from the effects of the poisonous air. 32 leaves, each 21.5 x 28.3 cm 48 gelatin silver prints, from 11 x 17.5 cm to 17 x 22.5 cm
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25 American Horace S. Oakley in macedonia 1920
A souvenir album put together by members of the Macedonian Unit of the American Red Cross, who served from 1918 to 1919. The album contains original tipped in photographs, taken by Captain Barry, Captain Adams, Lieutenant Lemon, Sergeant Gilmore and others who served in the Unit. Each photograph mounted to the leaves with printed captions. The dedication leaf by Oakley is signed in initials and the volume also contains a list of the Macedonian personnel on leaf 22, a particularly scarce item with only one copy located in WorldCat. Oakley, a lawyer from Chicago, lectured on the need for a league to enforce peace, and joined the Red Cross Commission to Greece in 1918. This album reports on the surveying and relief efforts, with original photographs by his fellow officers. Provenance: Goodspeed’s Bookshop, Boston. folio volume: 31 x 26.5 cm, 22 leaves, red cloth 34 gelatin silver prints, from 11.3 x 8.6 cm to 24.7 x 19.7 cm
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This unique album, compiled from the perspective of a Red Cross nurse, contains an array images showing action on the Canadian lines. From official views of battle and gas shells exploding, to a series of personal snapshot-style individual and group portraits of nurses with ambulances, snapshots of kitchen staff, nurses on horseback, views of wreckage, bombed sites and architecture, and postcards depicting tanks in the field, Albert Cathedral, troops in action, prisoners, a field hospital, etc., and a sequence of 6 colour printed photographic postcards depicting the minute-by-minute take-down of a zeppelin on Sunday, September 3, 1916; along with numerous casual and equestrian photographs. Back of the album has suffered from water damage, not detracting from the better images mounted in the first half. album: 28.5 x 38 cm, black cloth (rear cover damaged) 168 gelatin silver prints, 26 printed postcards; from 4 x 6.3 cm to 19 x 24 cm
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26 Canadian nurse’S PERSONAL ALBUM c. 1918
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27 American United States Signal Corps official wartime photographs c. 1914 - 1918 A collection of unmounted images with particular series of photographs focusing on poison gas production and projectile delivery. A number show laboratories with an array of chemistry bottles, beakers and apparatus. Others show mask wearing soldiers in the field. Bombed ruins and marching prisoners of war are also represented, buildings, bunkers and a wrecked train yard round out the grouping. A dramatic selection. 19 gelatin silver prints, each 16.5 x 21.6 cm
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28 British Royal Engineers
Chemical section wartime diary c. 1914 - 1918
A small pocket notebook kept by a member of the Royal Engineers Chemical Section contains wonderfully vivid and detailed notes describing his day-by-day activities in the trenches, among other events of note. An excerpt: “Communication trenches supports were full of water so had to go across the open right up to the firing trench. A moonlight night but a little misty. A motor machine gun was busy but beyond a little rifle fire there was very little firing going on. All came back in safety. The road from dump to trench was awful mud + water knee deep in places a distance of a mile + half which seemed 10 times the distance. Several went headlong in the mud + sludge. Poor infantry.” Futher along, this poem: “Nay, if you read this line / remember not / The hand that writ it, for I / love you so / That I in your sweet thoughts / would be forgot / If thinking on me then should / make you woe.” With vivid wartime action, handwritten poetry, addresses, lists and notes, this is truly a unique, personal, and special record. 1 small leatherbound notebook, 13.2 x 9 cm; 1 gelatin silver print, 5.9 x 10.4 cm; 5 paper currency notes; pencil inserted along spine
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Evoking a vision of a knight in the Middle Ages, its inscription translated “cavalryman with gas mask�. This iconic image is seemingly intended to represent the valour of the Warrior, but in hindsight effectively conveys the futility and inconsequence of a single man in a giant war, this sentiment reflected by the vast and desolate landscape. 1 gelatin silver print, 11.8 x 15.9 cm
29 German Max Pohly, [att.] Cavallerist mit gasmasken c. 1914 - 1918 65
30 German SOLDIER AND HORSE WITH GAS MASKS c. 1914 - 1918
A dramatic photograph showing the inhumanity of the newfound use of chemicals as weapons. The determined yet somehow pathetic stance of the two figures, seemingly set together against the world itself, exemplify the futility and the insignificance of the individual in a war of such scale. 1 gelatin silver print, 11.9 x 15.9 cm
31 German gas maschiene c. 1914 - 1918 Showing a group of soldiers posing with a “German gas-producing machine� that provides hydrogen for air balloons, this image is an important document of the new machinery of modern warfare. It can just be seen that it appears to move on rails. 1 gelatin silver print, 9 x 15.6 cm
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32 French/Romanian two photographs c. 1914 - 1918 These photographs carry inscriptions in French, and one in English, along with official stamps from the French and Romanian army photographic sections. The inscriptions read: (above) “Séroncourt Aisne. Troupes Anglaises de relève arrivée du Royal Irish Rifles.” (trans: Séroncourt - Aisne. Arrival of English relief troops, of the Irish Royal Rifles); and (below, right) “Soldiers resting and playing a sort of ten pin game at the front. / Soldats en repos, jouant aux quilles sur le front,” and “Romanian Army.” 2 gelatin silver prints: approx. 12.7 x 17.8 cm each
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33 Canadian artillery officers c. 1914 - 1918
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A distinguished panoramic view of a group of four Canadian Artillery Officers and their attendants and horses, posing by a command tent. Likely taken in Canada due to the surrounding vegetation. Lieutenant General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson appears to be standing in the centre. 1 gelatin silver print, (sight) 22.7 x 51.7 cm frame: 27.2 x 56.2 cm
34 french THEOphile Alexandre
Steinlen
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923). This wartime lithograph, called “Sketch Sheet No. 2� carries two images on a single sheet. On the left appears a vision, perhaps of Liberty reeling; and on the right side are two soldiers in the trenches, one sketching. In the bottom centre of the sheet is a small self portrait of Steinlen, signed in pencil. stone lithograph, 37.5 x 56.9 cm Edition 19/100, signed in pencil
feuille de croquis no. 2 c. 1916
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An album of assembled real photographic postcards, studio and informal exterior portraits, many from around the Yorkshire area. Including some fine and more intimate shots of soldiers individually, posing together or with family members. A number of the chaps appear to have ‘RE’, or Royal Engineer, badges on their shoulder epaulettes. Others wear the badges of the regiment ‘SWB’, or South Wales Borderers. album: 18.5 x 13.8 cm, green cloth 91 gelatin silver prints, each approx. 13.9 x 8.8 cm
35 British Personal/FAMILY ALBUM c. 1914 - 1918
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36 Canadian
James William Victor Macey, 1st Depot Battalion 1st C.O.R. Kapuskasing Internment Camp collection c. 1917 - 1920
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A unique and important collection documenting a dark chapter of Canadian history. Kapuskasing, Ontario was the site of one of the country’s largest internment camps during the War, holding over 1,300 prisoners. The majority were recent immigrants from the Ukraine, who were being forced to work due to nationalistic hysteria and the need for cheap labour, rather than any actual treason committed. Personal photograph collection of James Macey, documenting his time serving at the camp. Images include the camp, showing its fortified perimeter, the buildings, an interior shot of the Mess Hall, soldiers stationed there in formation and at leisure including boxing matches, scenes of the rugged natural surroundings in summer and winter, one photo entitled ‘Americans July 4, 1918’, the train station. A number of studio portraits of uniformed soldiers from Toronto are also included, as well as a hand drawn postcard sized piece of birch bark depicting an Indian. A particularly finely carved prisoner of war art frame with an Ukrainian style, holds a portrait of, we presume, Macey. A few photographs show a cemetery with names and internee numbers, evidence of the toils and hardship of the prison life. The Kapuskasing concentration camp continued well after the War; Macey obtained his Discharge Certificate (included in this collection) on January 15, 1920, just weeks before the camp was finally shut down. He began working there in 1917.
176 gelatin silver prints (165 loose, 10 mounted, 1 framed) from 3.9 x 6 cm to 15 x 9.5 cm (frame: 25.3 x 13 cm) 1 drawing on birch bark, discharge document, a couple pieces of related ephemera: 22.8 x 20 cm and smaller
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37 Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps 2nd Division 2nd anzac sigs 1917: xmas in france December, 1917 An unusual front line printed pamphlet. This menu with stencilled cartoons, demonstrating a sense of humour for the Christmas holidays. Featured on the cover is an illustration based on Bruce Bairnsfather’s “Old Bill”. Also included are a page of cartoons, the menu, and the last blank leaf bearing signatures. booklet [4 pp.]: 20.3 x 15.5 cm
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38 Russian real photo postcard collection c. 1917 A fine collection of photographs depicting Russian military personnel in service and leisure; in the countryside, picnics, standing by rivers, posed in front of the Acropolis [Athens], on mountainsides, also marching in formation, etc. One image shows a soldier poised, about to throw a grenade, by a barbed wire fence. Illegible [Cyrillic] handwritten inscriptions in pencil on many of the postcards. 48 gelatin silver print postcards, each approx. 8.7 x 13.8 cm
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39 Canadian ‘Teddy the Bear’ album c. 1914 - 1919 An exciting snapshot album of life, leisure and travels around Ontario during the First World War. Included among a number of portraits of soldiers are three images depicting a small black bear; apparently unpublished moments in the life of ‘Teddy the Bear’, unofficial mascot of the 160th Bruce Battalion. Of particular note is a real photo postcard silver print showing the cub on a leash in a doorway. The other two images show candid moments cub at play. The soldier seen in the background resembles Harry Colebourn, keeper of the famous Winnie the Pooh, but is probably Jack Hilditch, one of two brothers who kept Teddy. A number of portraits, of soldiers both makeshift studio and informal, are included. One image is a decorated hall with ‘Platoon welcome Kincardine Boys’. The remaining images include people, small towns, typical scenes of the Canadian woods, a railway station, and general stores. Urban backdrops appear to be Toronto, with buildings that are likely the University. The album may have belonged to a woman as one image clearly shows the shadow of the photographer, wearing a large fashionable hat. An amazing document showing the almost unknown World War One bear mascot that was also given to the London Zoo in 1918. There, Teddy shared the same enclosure as Winnie, but sadly died unexpectedly at only a year old. We can only wonder of his fame had he lived long enough to have been seen by A.A. Milne’s son and possibly becoming Christopher’s favorite instead of Winnie? Further reading can be found in Allan Bartley’s book Heroes in Waiting, the 160th Battalion in the Great War, published in 1996. album: 17.8 x 23.5 x 3.2 cm, black cloth binding (made in Germany) 248 gelatin silver prints, 3.5 x 6 cm to 8.2 x 14 cm
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40 American Album - official photographs c. 1914 - 1918 A partially disbound album containing a collection of loose captioned photographs depicting an array of vivid wartime subjects including soldiers in the trenches, corpses on the battlefield, visits from officials such as General J. J. Pershing, naval action, bombed ruins, aircraft, etc. album: 14.5 x 18.5 cm, black card covers, damaged 57 gelatin silver prints, from 6 x 8 cm to 8 x 10.8 cm
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41 Commonwealth wartime album c. 1914 - 1918
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This large album contains an array of excellent prints that vividly convey the conditions of war. A remarkable assemblage of official photographs, with strong detailed prints which truly place you in the action. It contains some of the best and most poignant images from the Allied perspective. Well preserved, the photographs run through France, the Hindenberg Line, prisoners of war, downed aircraft, captured and destroyed tanks, camel brigades, bridge construction and destruction, dead soldiers, and conclude with a memorial and cemetery views. album: 37.5 x 29 x 3.6 cm, red cloth, re-backed 96 gelatin silver prints, two per page, each approx. 15 x 20 cm
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COUNTRY INDEX Country Item Number(s) AMERICAN
4, 13, 16, 25, 27, 40
AUSTRALIAN and NEW ZEALAND
37, 41
AUSTRIAN-GERMAN 9 BRITISH
1, 14, 23, 24, 28, 35
CANADIAN
3, 10, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 34, 36, 39
COMMONWEALTH 15, 41 FRENCH 32, 33 GERMAN
2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, 29, 30, 31
ROMANIAN 32 RUSSIAN 38
Rare Photo Gallery 2014