Album of photographs of Beijing and its surroundings

A sixty-page album containing 449 photographs of Beijing, its surroundings, and people. The covers are made of cardboard and lined with olive-green brocade; the spine, made of wood and thread, has fallen apart. The pages of the book block are made of cardboard and are in good condition except for some minor fading at the edges. The photographs, some of which are trimmed, are affixed to the sheets with adhesive. There is a serial number next to each photo. They are in good condition.

In the album, the photos are numbered from 1 to 450, and one of the larger photos has two numbers: 293 and 294. The album was purchased by Ivan Skušek Jr. during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). The handwritten inventory of the “Bilder-Verzeichniss” album, which Skušek received upon purchase, contains the titles of the photographs listed in German. The photographs do not deviate in the selection of motifs from related albums, and some of them appear in other collections as well.

Photography came to China in the early 1840s. Jules Itier brought the first camera to China, just a few years after the discovery of the daguerreotype. Photographers such as Felice Beato, Paul Champion, and John Thomson introduced China to enthusiastic audiences in Europe and the United States with their first photographs. Photography first established itself in southern China, in Canton, and then gradually spread to the major coastal cities and the interior of China. Among the genres, portrait photography occupied a special place and had a high value. (DZ)