Maps 15.d.21

Imprint: C. Lichtwerk, Berlin [c. 1870].

Red buckram portfolio, measuring 437 x 347mm, with decorative embossed covers and title as above stamped in gilt on front cover. The portfolio has been rebound, retaining the original boards, and contains 41 prints mounted on 40 card mounts each measuring 312 x 418 mm, a one-page foreword by Rohlfs and a 16 page pamphlet of notes to the photographs, published by C. Lichtwerck, Berlin. Each of the card mounts is printed with the letterpress title 'Gerhard Rohlfs Afrika-Reise' above the print, with individual titles beneath. The pamphlet refers to 40 photographs: this may refer to the 40 sheets comprising the collection (prints 35 and 36 are mounted on a single sheet); alternatively, an additional print may have been included in the collection. The photograph here numbered 41 shows a view in Tripoli which, if it were part of the original portfolio would logically have been included with the 3 views of Tripoli which are listed in the notes. The photographs relate to Gerhard Rohlfs' 1869 expedition to the classical sites of Cyrenaica on the Libyan littoral, which is described in detail in his 'Von Tripolis nach Alexandrien' (2 vols., Bremen, 1871). The quality of many of the photographs is indifferent and a number have been subjected to extensive retouching. Rohlfs' foreword to the collection cites bad weather conditions, the hardships of travel and local hostility to the camera as mitigating factors and defends the publication on the ground that 'the worst photograph is always better than the best drawing.' His published account also refers to the weather conditions hampering photography (vol. 1, p. 196).