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[CHINA, SINGAPORE, PORT ARTHUR AND THE CAPTURE OF NANJING] [Album with 86 Original Gelatin Silver Photographs, Apparently Taken by a Naval Officer while Serving on S.M.S. “Scharnhorst,” the Flagship of the German East-Asia Squadron in 1909-1914, with the Views of Tsingtao/Quigdao, Hong Kong, Amoy/Xiamen, German Colonies in Samoa and New Guinea, Batavia, Singapore, Port Arthur, German Naval Ships and Commanders, and Scenes from the Second Chinese Revolution and the Capture of Nanjing in September 1913]

Item #543

Ca. 1912-1913. 33,5x23,5 cm. 36 album leaves (14 blank). With 86 original gelatin silver prints from ca. 12x17 cm to ca. 8x11 cm. Most images numbered in negative, all with period manuscript ink captions in German on the mounts, some also dated in ink. Later navy-blue half morocco with moire boards and gilt tooled title on the spine. The first leaf with tears on extremities, not affecting the image and neatly repaired, several images mildly faded, but overall a very good album.

Historically significant album with a large collection of well-preserved original photos depicting the service of S.M.S. “Scharnhorst” in 1912-1913, when it was the flagship of the German East-Asia Squadron stationed in Tsingtao (Quingdao, China). The photos illustrate S.M.S. “Scharnhorst’s” voyages to the Yellow Sea and former Russian naval base in Port Arthur, several Chinese ports in the Yellow Sea, Singapore, Batavia, Sumatra, and German colonies in the Pacific. Interesting images include six views of Batavia (with a view of a railway station and the arriving train); three views of a European-owned farm on the Labuan Island near Borneo, views of the Singapore waterfront (featuring the Savoy Hotel in the right), Hong Kong, Amoy (Xiamen, China), four interesting views of Port Arthur showing the destruction after the Russo-Japanese War and the decaying remnants of Russian naval ships, and others. There are also vivid portraits of a Chinese family, Chinese prisoners in Kaumi (Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory), a Chinese man dressed in a uniform of a sailor from S.M.S. “Scharnhorst,” natives from the Seeadler Harbour (Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea), natives in a canoe near the Rota Island (Marianas), native police parading in Apia (Samoa), a German sailor from S.M.S. “Scharnhorst” embracing a native girl in Sumatra, two daughters of a Samoan chief photographed on board S.M.S. “Scharnhorst,” four group portraits of sailors from S.M.S. “Scharnhorst” posing in front of a steam pinnace or on the rocks near Amoy, three vivid photo scenes depicting the celebration on board of S.M.S. “Scharnhorst” of the crossing the Equator near the Admiralty Islands (Bismarck Archipelago) &c.
The photos of German naval ships and commanders include several images of S.M.S. “Scharnhorst,” showing her in the dry dock in Tsingtao and in the open sea (while launching steam pinnaces); troop steamship “Patricia” arriving to Tsingtao (another scene shows sailors washing on board the “Patricia” in the open sea); torpedo boat “Taku,” constructed by Germany for the Chinese navy, but taken back after the suppression of the Boxer rebellion; and S.M.S. “Gneisenau” in the open sea. There are also three photos showing military exercise of German cavalry near Tsingtao, portraits of Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884-1948) and Prince Henry of Prussia (1862-1929) during their official visits to Tsingtao in 1912, and a portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Prince Henry of Prussia posing in the uniform of naval admirals.
Twenty-two photos in the back are an important historical source on the history of the early years of the Republic of China, depicting the events of the Second Revolution in the summer 1913. The photos show German roadblock during the unrest in Hankou, Chinese government troops in Shanghai and Nanjing, Chinese artillery firing during the capture of Nanjing, Chinese troops in action during the capture of Nanjing, execution of the rebels, destroyed building in Nanjing etc. Overall a very interesting historically significant album.

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