1785.c.1

Collection of 98 topographical and architectural views of Spain, originally bound in a volume with the bookplate of H. S. Ashbee. The photographs have now been removed and remounted on acid-free card, with the original lithographed captions pasted beneath. The views are numbered in sections as follows: Seville 1-44 (prints 1-44 in present catalogue), Malaga 1-9 (prints 45-53), Madrid 1-7 (prints 54-60 ), Granada 1-25 (prints 61-85), Barcelona 1-5 (prints 86-90), Cordoba 1-5 (prints 91-95), Alcala de Guadiara 1-2 (prints 96-97), Italica 1 (print 98). A running number, relating to the original overall order in which the prints were bound, is also lightly pencilled on many of the prints. The quality of the material is variable: Masson’s work, the majority of which is identified by a faint blind-embossed stamp reading ‘L. Masson Fot. Sevilla’, is generally of indifferent technical quality, the prints in most cases showing extensive fading and yellowing. Clifford’s photographs, in contrast, exhibit his customary mastery of the large-format topographical view, and apart from some edge fading, are generally in excellent condition. Dating of views by Clifford follows information supplied in Lee Fontanella, ‘Clifford en España. Un fotógrafo en la Corte de Isabel II’ (Ediciones El Viso, 1999).