Panorama de Constantinople Pris de la Tour de Calata [sic] (Panorama of Constantinople Taken from the Galata Tower) [10 ALBUMEN PHOTOGRAPHS]

[Constantinople]: Sebah & Joaillier, 1890. First edition. Hardcover. vg- to vg. Oblong small folio. 12 1/4 x 14 1/4". Red pebbled cloth boards with decorative gilt ruling, tooling and lettering on the covers. Rebacked maroon leather spine. Gilt-stamped crescent moon and star motif (the national emblem of Turkey) on the back cover.

Taken from the Galata Tower, in what is now the Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul, this magnificent panorama displays the skyline and cityscape of Constantinople, as it appeared sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s. The panorama is comprised of 10 original albumen photographs, mounted on heavy card stock, and bound together in accordion style (leporello), measuring a total of more then 11 feet when completely unfolded. Shot in a southwardly direction, the viewer can see Galata (Karaköy) in the foreground, and from left to right, across the Bosporus to the Uskudar district (on the Asian side), and then across the harbor at the mouth of the Golden Horn, the Galata Bridge, and across to the Pérama neighborhood and the Faith district, where many famous landmarks of the city can be seen, including the New Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and many others. Each panel measures about 13" wide and 12" tall.

The photography is credited to "Sebah & Joaillier" one of the most prominent and prolific photography studios of Ottoman Empire during the second half of 19th century. Originally founded sometime around 1857 in Instanbul by Syrian-Armenian photographer Pascal Sebah (1823-1886), the studio was one of the earliest in the city (and all of Ottoman Turkey). By the 1870s Sebah had become among the most prominent Ottoman photographers, having also opened a branch of the studio in Cairo. Upon Sebah's death in 1888, the firm was taken over by his 16 year-old son Jean (Pascal) Sebah, who then partnered with photographer Policarpe Joaillier (1848-1904). The firm was renamed "Sebah & Joaillier". Therefore, although this panorama is undated, it could not have been issued earlier than 1888; most likely sometime shortly thereafter, circa 1890.

Spine of of the portfolio has been professionally re-backed. Plates with minor to light foxing, although the images are still quite clean and vibrant. Binding in very good, images in very good- to very good condition overall. * A slightly later version of the panorama from Sebah & Joaillier, simply titled "Constantinople" is comprised of 12 slightly smaller panels, instead of 10, and measures around the same size in total.

Bibliographic refences: Jacobson, Ken. Odalisques & Arabesques: Orientalist Photography 1939-1925. Quaritch, 2007; Özendes, Engin. "Photography in the Ottoman Empire"; Öztuncay, Bahattin. The Photographers of Constantinople. Aygaz, 2003. (Inventory #: 54541)