16.5 x 22.5 cm albumen print from Lower Egypt, Thebes and the Pyramids.
Editions published by W. Mackenzie, London, c. 1862.
In addition to the stereoviews, Francis Frith’s photographs of Egypt were also published in several print editions. The first edition was Egypt and Palestine Photographed and Described by Francis Frith, published by James Virtue between 1858 and 1860. The publication was a 25-part subscription edition that ran for two years. The subscriber received three new photos each month. The first part was sent to subscribers when Frith was on his second journey. The complete edition consisted of 76 photos with descriptions by Frith. The pages could be bound together in two albums. The photos were taken with the whole-plate camera during Frith’s first two trips. The later prints were made by Frith’s photographic publishing company, had a size of 16.5 x 22.5 cm and were pasted onto large letterpress mounts. The subscription model was offered in the United Kingdom and the United States. The publication was a great success, and 2,000 issues (subscription and complete editions) were sold. New editions followed between 1860 and 1862, including two bibles.
16.5 x 22.5 cm albumen print from Upper Egypt and Ethiopia.
Editions published by W. Mackenzie, London, c. 1862.
Francis Frith
Francis Frith (1822–1898) was an English photographer and publisher. He became famous for his three trips to Egypt and the Holy Land in 1856–1857, 1857–1858 and 1859–1860. He photographed the ancient monuments and biblical places with three cameras (including a stereo camera), and the collodion wet plate process. The photos of his trips were published as stereoviews and in print editions. The commercial success of his published photos inspired Frith to set up his own photographic publishing company, F. Frith & Co. The company became the first publisher in England to produce and distribute images on a large scale.
The complete story of Francis Frith