Scope and Content of Collection

The journal by Englishman J. G. Pilter documenting his trip to Algeria in November and December of 1872 includes 91 albumen photographs; three maps with travel routes indicated in red ink; three tipped-in official letters in French and Arabic urging local sheikhs to adequately provide for the travelers' needs; and a newspaper clipping. Eleven pages of the text include small photographic reproductions of drawings of desert scenes. Seventy-five pages contain text only. The narrative and images begin in Stora and proceed to Phillippeville (Skikda), Bône (Annaba), Guelma, Hammam Maskhoutine, Batna, Chabet el Akhra, El Kantara, and Biskra. Included are numerous views of nomad encampments, Roman ruins, and oasis landscapes. A large number of the images document Biskra and nearby villages and oases such as El Kantara and Sidi Okba.

Twenty-seven photographs bear the printed credit on their mounts: A. Sarrault à Versailles. Two photographs bear the printed credit on their mounts: Usine photoglyptique à Nanterre. A. Sarrault & Lombard. The photographer(s) of the remaining photographs are unidentified.

The title on the front cover reads: Tour in Algeria. J. G. Pilter. November-December 1872. Page numbers are handwritten at the top of each page following the title page. English captions are printed or handwritten, usually in ink, on the mounts, except where noted. Titles of the individual photographs were derived from either the Sarrault mount titles or the handwritten captions, as noted. Titles for the images lacking titles on the piece were devised by the archivist.

Arrangement

Arranged in a single series:
Series I. J. G. Pilter, Tour in Algeria, 1872.

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