Finding aid for Félix Moulin views of Algeria, 1856-1857 93.R.24
Beth Guynn
Special Collections
2010
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
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reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Félix Moulin views of Algeria
Creator:
Moulin, Félix Jacques
Identifier/Call Number: 93.R.24
Physical Description:
14 photographic prints
Date (inclusive): 1856-1857
Abstract: The collection comprises 14 photographs by Félix Jacques Moulin of the three
nineteenth-century northern Algerian provinces of Algiers, Constantine, and Oran which he toured in 1856 and 1857.
Physical Location: To access physical materials on site, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request
an Item." Click here for
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in French.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes mounted albumen photographs from the three northern Algerian provinces of Algiers, Constantine, and
Oran which Moulin toured in
1856-1857. The photographs in this collection were most likely printed in the 1860s.
The lone image from the province of Algiers is a view of Kbur er Roumia (Kbor er Roumia; also known as the Royal Mausoleum
of Mauretania or Tomb of the
Christian Woman), the mausoleum built near Tipasa in 3 BC by Juba II, the last King of Numidia, and his wife, Cleopatra Selene
II. It was one of the
first sites Moulin visited. Images from the province of Constantine include: four photographs of the oasis of Biskra, including
one of the remains of
the twelfth-century mosque of Sidi ben Fedhal and one of the ruins of the ancient casbah; a view of the oasis of El Kantara;
a view of the city of
Miliana; and three photographs of the city of Constantine, two of which show the city as it is situated on the dramatic gorges
of the Rummel river, and
one depicting the lower gallery of the palace of Ahmed Bey (Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Chérif), the last bey of Constantine. There
are two photographs of
medieval ruins in Tlemcen, Oran: one of the Aghadir Gate, and one of the Djemma El-Afra. There are also two photographs of
unidentified locales, one
showing an encampment of a desert tribe, and one of a village showing signs of recent construction and a large palm grove
on its outskirts.
Printed labels in French with identification and numbers are affixed to the lower right corner of most mounts. Unless otherwise
noted these have been
used as image titles.
Processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn; finding aid encoded by Holly Larson with grant funding from the Council on Library
and Information Resources
(CLIR). Finding aid revised by Guynn in 2021.
Félix Moulin views of Algeria, 1856-1857, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 93.R.24
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa93r24
Arranged in a single series: Series I. Félix Moulin views of Algeria, 1856-1857.
The French photographer, Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin was born in 1802. Little is known regarding his training as a photographer,
but by 1849 Moulin
was selling daguerreotypes of nudes from his Paris studio at 31 bis rue du Faubourg Montmartre. Purportedly created as academy
or nude studies for use
by artists, Moulin's images seemed to have had a wider audience and his sitters were often teenage girls. In 1851, his premises
along with those of
Jules Malacrida, an optician and dealer, and Mme. veuve René, another daguerreotypist, were raided. The three were tried together
for the possession and
sale of "obscene objects" in a closed-door session of the Cour d'assises de la Seine. Moulin was sentenced to a month in prison
and fined 100 francs.
After his release Moulin reopened his studio using another entrance that went through 23, rue Richer. Throughout his career
Moulin continued to produce
and exhibit female nudes, protercting himself by placing copies of them on legal deposit at the Bibliothèque Impériale, Paris.
Moulin's photographic output also included portraits, genre subjects, scenic views, and views of monuments. He also printed
the work of other
photographers, and in 1856 acquired the rights to Roger Fenton's photographs of the Crimean War.
In March 1856, Moulin made an eighteen-month trip to Algeria where he traveled across the provinces of Oran, Algiers, and
Constantine. Carrying a
letter of introduction from the French Minister of War to help facilitate travel in the country, and accompanied by Alexandre
Quinet, a distant
relative, Moulin used modestly-sized collodion glass negatives to produce the first extensive body of photographs of Algeria.
He recorded the Algerian
landscape, urban views, ancient sites, and the recent transformations to the country undertaken by the French, as well as
Algeria's diverse indigenous
population.
Moulin returned to Paris with more than 450 negatives, 300 of which he published in three volumes entitled
L'Algérie
photographiée
(1858). A further edition comprising 448 photographs and eight panoramas and for which no extant copies have been located
was
apparently published in 1859. Additionally, extensive excerpts from his letters from Algeria were published in
La Lumière
and some of his photographs were reproduced as engravings in
L'Illustration in 1858.
Having found favor with Napoléon III, as Moulin noted in his prospectus for the 1858 publication ("Cette publication destinée
à populariser l'Algérie,
a été accueillie avec faveur par S. M. Napoléon III, qui a bien voulu en accepter la dédicace") Moulin's photographs helped
to consolidate the territory
in the French colonial imagination. The newly created Ministry of Algeria under the emperor's cousin, Prince Napoléon-Jérôme,
fostered further interest
in Moulin's suite of photographs.
After 1858, Moulin continued to exhibit his photographs, but produced little new work. In 1862, he announced his retirement
and put his studio up for
sale. He died around 1875.
Sources consulted:
______. "Félix-Jacques-Antoine Moulin (1802 - après 1875)." http://expositions.bnf.fr/napol/grand/057.htm
Donald Rosenthal, "Moulin, Félix-Jacques-Antoine," In: John Hannavay, editor.
Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century
Photography
. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, vol. II, p.945-946.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library
Rights and Reproductions
.
Acquired in 1993.
The collection was digitized by the repository and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/93r24
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Albumen prints -- Algeria -- 19th century
Oran (Algeria) -- Description and travel
Algeria -- Description and travel
Constantine (Algeria) -- Description and travel
Algiers (Algeria) -- Description and travel
Félix Moulin views of Algeria, Series I. 1856-1857
Views of Algeria (digitized version)
box 1
Province of Algeria
box 1
box 1
Province of Constantine
box 1
box 1
Biskra
box 1
box 1
box 1
box 1
Milianah: Vue générale de Milianah 93.R.24-7
box 1
Constantine
box 1
box 1
box 1
box 1
Province of Oran
box 1
Tlemçin
box 1
box 1
box 1
Unidentified sites
box 1