An albumen photograph by Felis Bonfils (French 1829-1885) showing a group of dahabiya moored on Gezira Island with the original Kasr el Nil bridge over the Nile at Cairo showing in the background. The bridge opened in 1872. Dahabiya were boats for tourists cruising up the Nile to either Luxor or Aswan on trips lasting respectively about forty or fifty days. These were luxury tourist accommodation and the central experience of a tour of Egypt in the late 19th century...

An albumen photograph of the Kas Mahal, the Royal residence inside the Red Fort at Agra built by Shah Jahan from 1632 to 1640. The photo shows the building and in the distance on the right the Taj Mahal. Signed in the negative, “Rust,” and possibly with the number 8. Also, on the reverse is the photographer’s stamp. Thomas A. Rust (English, 1841-1904). The image is 8 x 9 7/8 inches (20.5 x 25 cm)...

Albumen photograph of the quay from across the water at Port Said with what is, I think, the light house that was built in 1869 and architecturally important because of the early, if not the first, use of reinforced concrete. Written in the negative, lower left, “Lankaki” and lower right, “Quai du Port Said.” The Zangaki brothers who often wrote Langaki were among the early photographers of Egypt. Photograph mounted on thin card and matted. Image 8 5/8 x 11 1/8 inches (22 x 28.5 cm)...

Albumen photograph depicting the city of Damascus in the distance with a town in the middle distance and a man standing in a graveyard toward the foreground. Written in the negative lower left, “Bonfils” and lower right, “402. Damas-Vue general de Damas prise de ‘Sulkirk’(?)” Laid on paper and matted. Image 8 ¾ x 11 ¾ inches (22 x 30 cm). Mat 16 x 20 inches (40.5 x 51 cm). Felix Bonfils (French 1831-1885) was one of the early photographers of the Middle East...

Fine antique copper engraving map of Asia from the eastern Mediterranean to the western Pacific, with hand coloring, by Dutch cartographers Gerardo and Leonardo Valk, circa 1710. The map measures 20" by 24" and is laid down to a board as is often seen. Margins are adequate...

This is a HAND DRAWN map, not a print of any kind, probably crafted, with great care, by an American school child, who did not add his or her name, but did date this in the year 1809. The title is "A Map of SPAIN & PORTUGAL from the best Authorities". Unframed, it measures 16 1/8" by 20 3/4". The work contains amazing, loving detail, with towns, rivers, provinces, even mountain ranges, drawn in. The provinces are outlined and colored, creating a patchwork effect that adds to the appeal...

A well composed albumen photograph of the Mosque of Sultan Sulieman with the Golden Horn in the distance. In the distance to the very far left of the photograph is the Hagia Sophia. In the golden Horn are both sailing ships and steamers. Written in pencil on the mount in the lower left is, “Constnatinople/Mosque of Sultan Suleyman/& the Golden Horn.” The image is 6 x8 inches (15 x20 cm)...

An albumen photograph of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque also known as the “Blue Mosque” in Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey by Pascal Sebah taken circa 1880. The photograph is 10 ¼ by 13 ¼ inches (26 by 33.5 cm). It is mounted with clear photo corners in a 16 by 20 inch mat (40.5 by 50 cm). Printed on the photograph from the negative in the lower left, “58. Mosquee Sultan Akmed” and in the lower right “P Sebah.”

Condition; generally excellent...

An oversize albumen photograph of the exterior of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul by the photographer Pascal Sebah. The view is taken from outside a stone wall pierced with grilled windows...

An oversize albumen photograph of the exterior front of the Beylerbeyi Palace on the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul. The palace was built from 1861 to 1865 as an Imperial summer residence. The photograph is by Pascal Sebah. In the lower left in the negative, “38. Palais du Sultan a Beyler Bey,” on the lower right also in the negative, “P. Sebah.” 10 ¼ x13 ¼ inches (26 x33.5 cm) in a 16 x20 inch (40.5 x50 cm) mat.

Condition: good, with some wrinkles, a spot of discoloration in the s...

An interesting view of the monumental Hagia Sophia rising above houses on either side and a man standing in a square(?) that is probably some distance from the mosque but with the perspective appears quite close. No writing in the negative and the identification of the view in pencil appears later than the image which is around 1880. It is attached to a thin paper page that from the roughness of the back side might have been an album page that was separated. The mat is protective. The image is 7...

Original map printed in the year 1739 in Nuremberg, Germany, titled in cartouche at upper left "Imperii Russici et Tartariae Universiae", published by the heirs of important cartographer Johann Baptiste Homanns. The attractive map shows most of Asia from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to India, including the Korean peninsula, Japan, and Taiwan. The map measures 20" by 22 1/2" inside the mat and 25 1/2" by 28" as framed. Condition is excellent. I see at least o...

This is an actual antique page (not a reprint) from the Illustrated London News issue of April 1, 1843, the article describing in detail the efforts at the time to manufacture a flying machine powered by a light weight steam engine. The decorative and most interesting page features three detailed drawings of these primitive contraptions, all of which failed; Kitty Hawk was sixty years in the future. The drawings resemble some of the early drawings of flying machines by Leonardo da Vinci centur...

Early map titled "A Description of the Land of Goshen and Moses passage through the desert", 1614, by the English cartographer William Hole. Hole was active in cartography from about 1601 to about 1624. The map measures 10 3/4" by 14" inside the present mats (not examined out of the frame but would be happy to do so upon request). This is an uncommon map with a compass rose at lower right and cartouches at upper portion, the cartographer's name at lower left edge. There is probably much late...

A set of five antique atlas maps, titled, "Oceanie", "Amerique Septentrionale", "Amerique Meridionale", "Europe", and "Asie", published in 1856 by A. Combette, and printed by Alfred Lemercier, Paris, after cartography by Victor Levasseur. The set is framed identically in dark, "distressed" style modern framing of good quality (each measures 15" by 22"). Maps are very clean, considering the age, with only the stray fox mark here and there. There is hand coloring of the boundaries of countries,...

A fine black and white classic photo of Edward ("Ted") Kennedy, 1932-2009, United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, brother of President John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, hand signed and inscribed in ink, in the collar area: "To Ronald with this appreciation for your good work in August campaign/Ted Kennedy". (Last words difficult to decipher but this is my best guess of those final words). Judging from the youth of the subject, I would suggest the photo image itself dates...

A nicely framed photograph of famed American naive artist GRANDMA MOSES (1860-1961) with a bold ink signature of the artist on a card, along with a charming and rare historical handwritten letter dated May 21, 1960, postmarked Eagle Bridge, New York, from Mrs. Forrest Moses, the daughter-in-law, to a fan in Lonoke, Arkansas who had requested an autograph or photo. In the charming letter, the daughter-in-law, married to Moses' artistic son Forrest (born 1893, died 1974), states she appreciates t...

This is an interesting association item: at right, a color offset print of a tree in spring in full blossom, the work of the noted popular Italian contemporary artist MICHELE CASCELLA (1892-1989). In the blank left hand area, the artist wrote in French "Pour Jane Kroc, con touti saluti (avec mon coeur!), and signed by the artist and dated "Ott. 1971". I can't guarantee that this was given to the second wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, but there's an excellent chance it could indeed be insc...