A fine boxed album of large photographs mainly showing Jerusalem, all by the famous German-born Jewish photographer Peter Bergheim (1813-95). Included are the city gates, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the "Mosque of Omar" (Dome of the Rock, Qubbat as-Sakhra) and the Al-Aqsa (Qibli) Mosque, the Pulpit of Omar, and several city views, but also scenes in Bethany, Jerusalem, Saba, Jericho, and Hebron as well as of the River Jordan.
One of the most celebrated photo artists active in Palestine in the 19th century, Bergheim had early converted to Christianity while still in England, where he had emigrated in 1834. He was a merchant and banker; in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem he owned a photography studio which catered to the growing market for souvenir photographs following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 (cf. J. Hannavy [ed.], Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, s. v. "Egypt and Palestine", p. 478). Several of the photographs retain his signature in the negative.
Numbered 1-54 with a few caption numbers skipped; some photographs are without caption or number. Captions transposed in no. 21/22 and nos. 35/36. Some exterior wear to the original cover integrated into the modern box; the large-sized photographs are well preserved throughout.