Lot n° 37
Estimation :
2500 - 3000
EUR
Gold digger in Africa, mining engineer in... - Lot 37 - Daguerre
Gold digger in Africa, mining engineer in Baja California
SENEGAL, MEXICO, LOW CALIFONIA, SWITZERLAND, NANTES, 1871-1885
Oblong album from the 1880's, label of the bookbinder Léon Belville, monogram 'M' surmounted by a marquis crown, about 100 albumen prints of various sizes, in frames with red ink, captions in French.
A strange, disorganized-looking album opening with three views of the disasters of the Commune, views of Senegal (including two photographs of Houzé de l'Aulnoit), gold diggers, large views of the Boléo mines and Mexican employees, excursions to the banks of the Marne, reproduction of an unlocated painting by the Domenichino, a gorilla from the Museum of Natural History in Nantes (1882), a visit to Heidelberg, Switzerland, and a departure for England (photograph signed E. Grassin).
The copper deposits were discovered in 1868 by a Mexican rancher named José Rosas Villavicencio. Soon after, a young French engineer, Georges de la Bouglise, discovered the geological potential of this metal. It was the geological report he wrote with Edouard Cumenge (pictured in the album) on December 15, 1884, that convinced the Mirabaud et Cie bank and that of the Rothschild family to invest massively in Baja California, by buying the "Compagnie du Boléo".
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue