Chemin de fer du Nord – Ligne de Paris à Boulogne – Vues photographiques

Public Domain

En lire plusFavori

Images(4)

Artist Édouard Baldus(French, born Prussia, 1813–1889)French, born Prussia, 1813–1889

Artist Auguste-Hippolyte Collard(French, 1812–c. 1897)French, 1812–c. 1897

Artist Furne Fils & H. Tournier(French, active, 1858–1863)French, active, 1858–1863

Artist Unknown

CultureFrench

Titles

Chemin de fer du Nord – Ligne de Paris à Boulogne – Vues photographiques

Date1855–1859, assembled c.1860

MediumAlbum of 50 albumen silver prints

DimensionsOverall (album overall, closed): 15 3/4 × 20 13/16 × 1 7/8 in. (40 × 52.8 × 4.7 cm)
Mount (each): 15 7/16 × 19 7/16 in. (39.2 × 49.4 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number2021.723.1-.50

Non exposé

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS

Description

Baron James de Rothschild, Europe’s leading banker and industrialist and owner of the Northern Railroad, commissioned 25 copies of this album as gifts for the railroad’s board of directors. Reprising a lavish album of photographs by Édouard Baldus presented to Queen Victoria during her state visit in 1855, this version celebrated a shortened route on the line destined to be an essential economic link between Britain and France. The album’s mix of stations, tracks, bridges, and viaducts alongside historic monuments in the towns along its route shows two radically modern technologies—photography and the railroad—still in their early days.

ProvenanceBaron James de Rothschild (1792-1868); Philippe Rodolphe Hottinguer (1806-1878); [...]; [Rémy le Fur et Associés, Paris]; [Serge Kakou, Paris]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
Exhibition HistoryThis specific copy of the album has not been exhibited to my knowledge. Exhibition history of other copies will be researched and added to the catalogue record.
Published References Ernest Lacan, "Album offert à S. M. la Reine Victoria." La Lumière, 1 Sept. 1855, p. 134. Malcolm Daniel, “Edouard Baldus, les albums du Chemin de fer du Nord,” La Recherche Photographique 8 (Feb. 1990), pp. 82–89. Malcolm Daniel, "The Photographic Railway Albums of Edouard Baldus." Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1991. Malcolm Daniel, “Édouard-Denis Baldus and the Chemin de Fer du Nord Albums.” Image 35, nos. 3–4 (Fall–Winter 1992), pp. 2–37. Malcolm Daniel, "The Photographs of Édouard Baldus," Exhib. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994). Sylvie Aubenas, ed., "Des photographes pour l'empereur. Les albums de Napoléon III," Exhib. cat. (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2004). Simon Kelly and April M. Watson, "Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet," Exhib. cat. (St. Louis Art Museum; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2013), pp. 212-219. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Gilt stamping on the cover: “CHEMIN DE FER DU NORD / LIGNE DE PARIS A BOULOGNE / VUES PHOTOGRAPHIQUES”. Printed and inscribed title page: "CHEMIN DE FER DU NORD / LIGNE DE PARIS A BOULOGNE / ALBUM DE VUES PHOTOGRAPHIQUES / Exécuté et tiré à 25 exemplaires par ordre de Mr. le Baron JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD / Président du Conseil d'administration/ Exemplaire / No. 4 offert à Monsieur P. Hottinguer."

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.