One of the auction’s highlights will be a rare album by one of the pioneers from the early age of photography: Edouard Baldus (1813-82).
Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, which dates from c.1861-3, is dedicated to the French railway company of that name, known as the PLM. It contains 69 albumen prints, including two panoramic views, taken from paper and glass negatives, some of which are signed and titled in the negative.
The prints detail scenes in France that include a number of famous architectural landmarks such as the Pont du Gard, the Roman amphitheatres at NÎmes and Arles and the antique theatre at Orange as well as views of bridges and viaducts.
The album comes with an attractive provenance. It has passed down by direct descent from Jean Louis Gérard West (1802-82), a Parisian lawyer with interests in financial and industrial affairs who was an administrator for the the railway company from 1854 until his death.
Estimate €40,000-60,000.
