[Album of Istanbul].

[late 19th century]. . Two large folding panoramas of Istanbul in 8 and 10 parts respectively, 2 parts panorama of Athens, 18 albumen prints, including 13 of Istanbul. 14 photographs including panoramas bear photographer's credit. Dimensions: panoramas app. 32 x 260 cm, photographs app. 22 x 28 cm. Kept in contemporary portfolio with red morocco spine over red cloth, gilt lettering on upper board, photographer's label on lower pastedown. An impressive album featuring two large panoramas of Constantinople, with each one being more then two metres long, by renowned Swedish photographer Guillaume Berggren (1835-1920). Berggren left home to study photography in Berlin in the 1850s and settled in Constantinople in 1866. A foremost photographer of his age, Berggren "made a great contribution to the art of photography — particularly landscape photography — in Istanbul" (Öztuncay, Photographers of Constantinople, p.291). When the Swedish King Gustaf V (1858-1950) visited Istanbul in 1885, he presented Berggren with a decoration. Berggren was also awarded an Ottoman decoration by Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909).