Félix Bonfils, Bas-relief dans le temple de Bacchus (Grèce), ca. 1870, albumen print View Full Record

Assembled by Gary Edwards, a former diplomat, photo historian, and photograph dealer based in Washington, D.C., this collection of photographs of Greece offers an important visual resource for classical architecture, the progress of excavations and conservation, and the changing urban context in which the monuments are situated. Views of buildings and architectural elements illustrate the monuments at an early stage of preservation and, in some instances, they record details that have been subsequently altered. These little-known images contribute substantially to the history of photography in Greece and the role of photography in the reception of Greek culture by European and American audiences. In its entirety, the Gary Edwards collection consists of over 1,000 photographs, stereographs, cartes-de-visite, glass lantern slides, and photographically-illustrated books. Among the earliest images are a number of calotypes and salted-paper prints created before 1859, pre-1860 stereographs, and nearly 250 albumen prints made before 1870. The collection is notable for the rarity of many of its large-format photographs and for its comprehensive representation of photographers active in Greece in the 19th century.

Images from various smaller collections held by the Research Library will be added in the future.