LUYNES, Honoré Théodoric d'Albert, duc de.

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Voyage d'exploration a la Mer Morte a Petra et sur rive gauche du Jourdain. Rare complete set, conspicuously well-preserved, of "the first systematic attempt to survey and photograph the geological features and cities of the Dead Sea basin in present-day Jordan, the expedition was among the most important scientific and archaeological missions of the 19th century" (Getty). Parr and Badger describes the portfolio as "one of the finest photo-mechanically printed books of the era".This monumental work is notable for the 64 high-quality photogravure plates of the portfolio, among the earliest published photographs of Jordan and the Dead Sea basin. In 1856, de Luynes had sponsored a competition with the Societe Française de Photographie to discover the best and most practical system of photo-mechanically reproducing photographs, an initiative that is credited with launching the development of the photobook. One of the participants in the contest was Charles Nègre, and although he did not win the 7,000-franc prize, de Luynes selected him in 1865 to reproduce the photographs by Vignes and Jardin, published in this official account of the expedition, paying him 23,250 francs for the commission.The duc de Luynes (1802-1867) inherited an immense fortune and spent his life conducting scientific, archaeological and artistic pursuits. On this privately-funded 1864 expedition he was accompanied by Louis Vignes, a career naval officer, who served as the expedition's photographer, as well as

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