Photo archive of Iranian life - William Percival Coldrick - Bauman Rare Books

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Bauman Rare Books

Photo archive of Iranian life

William Percival COLDRICK

Item#: 73163 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Photo archive of Iranian life

EXTENSIVE PHOTO ARCHIVE OF LIFE IN ABADAN, IRAN, 1947-1950

COLDRICK, William Percival. Large photo archive of Iranian life, with emphasis on British oil interests. Abadan: 1947-50. Over 400 original silver gelatin prints in various sizes, with original manuscript notebook, seven maps and plans, and 22 contemporary publications relating to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Includes some duplicate images, some mounted and some displayed in an album.

Large archive of over 400 vintage photographs of life in Abadan, taken by W.P. Coldrick, British chemist and lecturer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, together with a collection of internal publications and company pamphlets.

“We must look at the parts played by certain foreign countries in [Mideast] affairs… Iraq and the countries to the south have been for many years the particular province of the British, who adopted from the beginning a closed door policy towards all other foreign powers mixing in the political affairs of the area” (Petroleum Times, June 1948). This magnificent photographic archive of Iranian daily life, taken by employees of the leading British oil company near and around its refinery at Abadan, includes striking portraits of tribesmen, local people, and a number of architectural and landscape views. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was at the time one of the largest oil companies in the world, with its principal site of production in Iran and with secondary sources in Iraq and Kuwait. The collection includes publications connected with the company’s refinery and its related Technical Institute, where the primary photographer W.P. Coldrick was employed as a full-time lecturer in chemistry. He also served as secretary of the company’s amateur “Photographic Society.” Many images are identified and dated in pencil on the versos.

Unmounted photographs somewhat curled. A fascinating collection of candid images of 1950s Iranians.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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