A collection of souvenir albums of the conquest of Jerusalem by British forces (1917), featuring photographs of Palestine, dried flower arrangements, and elegant olivewood bindings. [Palestine, ca. late 1917 and 1918]. English, Hebrew, and additional languages.
33 souvenir albums commemorating the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of British armed forces. Most include photographs of sites throughout Palestine, with emphasis on Jerusalem (photographs and illustrations, some in color); and arrangements of dried flowers, bound in olivewood. The image of the Dome of the Rock is carved on the front board of some of the bindings.
The art of preserving dried flowers began to develop in Jerusalem roughly in the mid-nineteenth century. The assembly of dried flower albums rapidly turned into a lucrative business that represented a source of income for local artists of diverse training and backgrounds, as well as for souvenir merchants. In the beginning, these albums were geared mostly toward Christian tourists and pilgrims; as such, alongside the dried flowers, they included prints showing sites holy to the Christian faithful. The first Hebrew-language album of dried flowers was published by the historian and author Ze'ev Yavetz in the late nineteenth century. Subsequently, similar albums were published by Abraham Moses Luncz.
A significant increase in the number of incoming tourists – and with it, an increased demand for souvenirs – came with the British conquest of Jerusalem in December of 1917. At the time, albums created as souvenirs of the day of the conquest were widely distributed; they were sold to the British soldiers who took part in the campaign in Palestine, and to the numerous tourists. In the years following the First World War, the printing of these albums gradually diminished as an industry, until it finally vanished entirely from both sight and memory.
Included in the collection:
• "Flowers and Views of the Holy Land, Souvenir of the British Occupation, 9th December 1917" – Albums published by "Edition Jsac Chagise" and printed by A. L. Monsohn, featuring a dozen lithographs depicting Mt. Zion, the Western Wall, Rachel's Tomb, and other sites in and around Jerusalem, as well as landscapes of Tiberias, Jaffa, Hebron, Jericho, and other cities. Opposite each of these lithographs, dried flowers, collected at the various sites, were arranged and mounted.
7 albums, approx. 13X8.5 cm., with identical lithographs and different flower arrangements, and 1 album approx. 16.5X10 cm in size. All in olivewood bindings; most carved with the Dome of the Rock. One binding with the Hebrew inscription "Bezalel Jerusalem" and an illustration of the Tower of David.
• "Flowers and Views of the Holy Land" – Album published by Emanuel Friedman & Co. Booksellers and Publishers, Jerusalem. A dozen color paintings and eleven dried flower arrangements. The Rising Sun emblem of the Australian armed forces appears on the back coverboard, with the caption "Australian Commonwealth Military Forces".
• "Album Souvenir Entrance of the British and Allied Troops in Jerusalem" – Three albums, with ten photographs commemorating the day of Jerusalem's conquest (General Watson entering through Jaffa Gate for the first time, General Allenby reading the "Jerusalem Declaration", and more), and nine dried flower arrangements. The albums have different bindings; two are made of olivewood.
• "Palestine by Word and Illustration", edited by Abraham Moses Luncz – Album with photographs depicting sites in Palestine, with information (in English) regarding those sites. The front cover bears the inscription "Souvenir of the Occupation of Jerusalem…".
• And more.
33 albums (including editions with different bindings and flower arrangements, but otherwise identical). Size and condition vary. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, tears, and other blemishes. Three incomplete albums.