GREBER (Charles). - Lot 119

GREBER (Charles). Palestine, Arabia, and Syria. Architecture—Landscapes—Scenes of Daily Life. Paris, Librairie des Arts Décoratifs, A. Calavas, n.d. [circa 1930]. Large quarto, publisher’s full orange cloth, title and emblem gilt on the front cover. A beautiful photographic album devoted to the Middle East, illustrated with numerous black-and-white photogravures depicting the main historical sites, religious monuments, landscapes, and scenes of daily life in Palestine, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula. The captions are provided in several languages (French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish), highlighting the book’s international scope. Charles Greber, a photographer and traveler, follows in the tradition of the great documentary albums published during the interwar period by the Librairie des Arts Décoratifs. The illustrations, of excellent technical quality, combine views of monumental architecture (Jerusalem, Damascus, Bethlehem, Baalbek, etc.), panoramas, desert landscapes, and ethnographic scenes, in a style that is both documentary and aesthetic. Condition: slightly soiled cloth binding with some signs of wear; interior is fresh despite a few scattered foxing spots; a very well-preserved copy of this book, which is often found in worn condition.