CHINESE PHOTO ALBUM, COMMEMMORATING THE VISIT & WELCOMING OFTHE AMERICAN MERCHAN

[China c.1897.]Half leather over brocade silk, most of spine gone, else very good, 69 b.w. photos, most are 14.5 x 9 cm., some panoramas 8.5 x 30 cm., one large photo 27 x 21.5 cm., all edge gilt, clean & solid copy. * Q U I T E R A R E * . *** **** *** . . AN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM OF AMERICAN MERCHANTS . . . IN CHINA, [1897] . * A very unusual album of photographs showing the tour of what appears to be American Business community members & their wives. Arrival in Kwantung [Guangdong i.e. Canton], tour of the Ming tombs, a panoramic ! With visits to some of the famous sights in China. . * Photos of early Canton area, sea coast, the Great Wall, a trip up the Yangtze River, city streets, river/canal scenes, elegant banquets with High Chinese military & political figures. . Of outstanding nature is the last & largest photograph depicts a grand photograph showing all of the members of the group of American & Kwantung Chinese Merchant Advisory Board. A stunning and classic commemorative photograph. . * Also excellent images of an early and primitive Macao, lovely panoramas of that old Portuguese city, the hills around city, river & bay with the city rising up the gentle slope, with a good number of old Chinese junks anchored in the harbor. Again, there are not captions, we believe this group of photos can be Macao, we are not 100% sure. . * The Chinese title above the grand panorama reads: "Guang Dong Zhi Xin Ju Haun Yin Mei Guo Sang Hui Ji Nian:" "IN COMMEMORATION OF THE WELCOMING OF THE AMERICAN MERCHANT ASSOCIATION BY THE CANTON ADVISORY BOARD." . * Consists of about 22 pages of tipped in clear, bright & good focus original photographs. The most fascinating of them is the last group memorial photo of the Canton Advisory Board & all of the Americans & their wives, as posed for the camera. In the front row are what one may assume are the most prominent and important members. . * Central to one American who has a striking resemblance to the Roosevelt [yes the Famous Roosevelt's !!!] family, is a very gaunt & small Chinese holding a long stick, with a flag, wearing a traditional long Chinese robe. One other Chinese is seated in the front row, and he is a be speckled solid man with an alert bearing. Other members are standing behind in ordered rows, with an occasional American naval officer peering from the left and a few small bewildered Chinese boys peeking in from the far right side. . Many of the members hold some sort of a commemorative flag, with the Advisory Board name embroidered upon it. Probably used as a 'guide-on' while touring so the foreigners would not get lost. . * The whole group is standing before a most handsome and great Chinese architectural building with elaborate windows. . The album is without any text or captions whatsoever. Based on the title found on the last photograph, one can deduce the activities of the visitors and their guides. . Of particular interest is a nice photo of a Chinese altar. This has an embroidered cloth over it, with Chinese [Hanzi] characters reading: "Guan Xi Er Si San Nian Men [?] Ji dan: "Twenty-third year of Guangxi i.e. 1897, Birthday to indicate an auspicious day for a religious festive day, thus the Chinese brought the Americans to the temple to celebrate the happy occasion. . * Other photographs clearly represent a graphic record of the arrival to Canton, the places the American merchants were guided to by the Advisory Board members. . Archaeological monuments, old shrines, the Great Wall [indicating a trip to the North near Beijing], temples, Ming tombs, with a host of wonderful street scenes, probably Macau & Hong Kong views, photos of the local Chinese and the jaunty Americans in straw hats, canes, spats, while the American women wore great hats, long skirts and long-sleeved white blouses as the posed for the camera. They were often conveyed in mule-drawn carts with a Chinese groom leading them. . * Other travel was by ship up and down the canals of Canton, photos of th.…