Turkestan Album
Prints and Photographs Division
Collection digitized? Yes. See Access section below.
Introduction | Access | Obtaining
Reproductions | Permissions
and Credits | Related
Resources | Bibliography
Introduction
The Turkestanskii Al’bom (Turkestan
Album) provides a visual survey of
Central Asia from the perspective
of the Russian imperial government
that took control of the area in
the 1850s and 1860s. About 1,200
photographs, with some architectural
plans, watercolor drawings, and maps,
are arranged in four parts.
- The "Chast' Arkheologicheskaia"
(Archaeological Part) features
views of Islamic architecture,
chiefly in Samarkand. (2 volumes)
[view
description and images]
- The "Chast' Etnograficheskaia"
(Ethnographical Part) offers individual
portraits and daily life scenes
of Uzbeks, Tadzhiks, Kazakhs,
Kirghiz, and others. (2 volumes)
[view
description and images]
- The "Chast'
Promyslovaia" (Trades Part) shows
such occupations as textile production,
mining, and baking. (1 volume) [view
description and images]
- The "Chast' Istoricheskaia" (Historical
Part) focuses on Russian military
activities with battle maps and
portraits of soldiers involved
between 1853 and 1871. (1 volume)
[view
description and images]
![Lieutenant General and Adjutant General K.P. von Kaufman I](images/TA00002.jpg)
Lieutenant General and Adjutant-General
K.P. von Kaufman I, Turkestan Governor General and
Commander of the Troops in the Turkestan Military
Okrug.
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09957-00002 (digital
file from Part
4, pl. 4, no. 2) |
Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman
(1818-1882), the first governor general
of Russian Turkestan, commissioned
the albums to acquaint Russians and
Westerners with the region. The Russian
orientalist A.L. Kun (also spelled
Kuhn) compiled the first three parts,
and the albums were formerly referred
to as the Kun Collection. The other
compilers included M.T. Brodovskii,
M.A. Terentyev, N.V. Bogaevskii and
photographer N.N. Nekhoroshev.
The Military-Topographic Department,
Military District of Tashkent printed
the lithographic parts of each plate.
The production work was primarily
done in St. Petersburg and Tashkent
in 1871-72.
To read the compilers' characterization
of the project, view the foreword
(English translation by Heather S.
Sonntag) [PDF file, 29 kb., 2 p.]
( Download
Adobe Reader for PDFs ).
Physically, each large green leather-bound
volume is 45 x 60 cm. (17.7 x 23.6
in.) Following a printed title page,
textual introduction, and list of
captions, the visual plates appear
with lithographically printed running
headings, decorative borders, and
individual captions in Russian. Each
plate contains from one to eight
gold-toned albumen photographic prints,
with occasional watercolor drawings,
architectural plans, and battle maps.
The
Library of Congress purchased the albums in 1934
from New York City book dealer Israel Perlstein.
Other copies have survived in the
National Library of Uzbekistan and
the National Library of Russia.
Top
of Page Access
The album images are available
online in two viewing arrangements:
Grid view
|
Album view
|
The table below summarizes the contents
of each album and gives access to
each type of view.
|
Subjects: Photographs,
watercolor drawings, and architectural
plans showing Islamic architecture,
chiefly the "antiquities
of Samarkand" (plates
18-154), including mausoleums,
mosques, madrasas, ruins, inscriptions,
and decorative details.
Citation: Turkestanskii
al'bom. Po rasporiazheniiu
turkestanskago general-gubernatora
general-ad"iutanta K.
P. fon Kaufmana 1-go. Chast'
arkheologicheskaia. Sostavili
A. L. Kun i N. V. Bogaevskii.
1871-1872 g. Lit. Voenno-Topogr.
Otdiela Turkest. Voen. Okruga.
Translation: Turkestan
Album. By order of the Turkestan
Governor-General, Adjutant-General
K.P. von Kaufman I. The Archaeological
Part. Compiled by A.L. Kun
and N.V. Bogaevskii. 1871-1872.
Lit[hographed] by the Military
Topographical Department of
the Turkestan Military District. |
|
Subjects: Photographs
showing individuals representing
the Kyrgyz, Kazak, Uzbek, Sart,
Tajik, Iranian, Gypsy, Indian,
Afghan, Arab, and Jewish populations
(plates 1-33); daily life and rituals,
including weddings, horse racing,
religious activities, clothing
and dress, and occupational portraits
of musicians, street vendors, and
others (plates 34-91); views of
villages and cities, including
Samarkand and Tashkent, street
vendors, and other commercial activities
(plates 92-163).
Citation: Turkestanskii
al'bom. Po rasporiazheniiu turkestanskago
general-gubernatora general-ad"iutanta
K. P. fon Kaufmana 1-go. Chast'
etnograficheskaia tuzemnoe naselenie
v russkikh vladieniiakh Srednei
Azii. Sostavil A. L. Kun. 1871-1872
g. Lit. Voenno-Topogr. Otdiela
Turkest. Voen. Okruga.
Translation: Turkestan
Album. By order of the Turkestan
Governor-General, Adjutant-General
K.P. von Kaufman I. The Ethnographical
Part - Native populations in
the Russian possessions of Central
Asia. Compiled by A.L. Kun. 1871-1872.
Lithographed by the Military Topographical
Department of the Turkestan Military
District. |
|
Subjects: Photographs
showing crafts and occupations
such as textiles (plates 1-10);
metalwork and mining (plates 11-19);
timber and woodwork (plates 20-24);
leatherwork (plates 25-30); agriculture,
baking, and other products (plates
31-41); pottery making and other
small industries (plates 42-45).
Citation: Turkestanskii
al'bom. Po rasporiazheniiu turkestanskago
general-gubernatora general-ad"iutanta
K. P. fon Kaufmana 1-go. Chast'
promyslovaia u tuzemnago naseleniia v russkikh
vladieniiakh Srednei Azii. Sostavili A. L.
Kun i M. I. Brodovskii. 1871-1872 g. Lit.
A. Argamakova VO 9 l. No. 14.
Translation: Turkestan
Album. By order of the Turkestan
Governor-General, Adjutant-General
K.P. von Kaufman I. The Trades
Part and native populations in
the Russian possessions of Central
Asia. Compiled by A.L. Kun and
M.I. Brodovskii. 1871-1872. Lithographed
by A. Argamakov, Vasilevsky Island,
9th line, No. 14. |
|
Subjects: Photographs
showing individual and group
portraits of officials and military
personnel along with views and
maps of military installations,
sieges, and battles between 1853
and 1871. Most of the men received
awards such as the Cross of St.
George.
Citation: Turkestanskii
al'bom. Po rasporiazheniiu turkestanskago
general-gubernatora general-ad"iutanta
K. P. fon Kaufmana 1-go. Chast'
istoricheskaia. Sostavil M. A.
Terent'ev. 1871-1872 g. Lit. Voenno-Topogr.
Otdiela Turkest. Voen. Okruga.
Translation: Turkestan Album.
By order of the Turkestan Governor-General,
Adjutant-General K.P. von Kaufman
I. The Historical Part. Compiled
by M.A. Terentyev. 1871-1872. Lithographed
by the Military Topographical Department
of the Turkestan Military District. |
The two types of views above enable
researchers to examine the albums
as artifacts, as well as to explore
the visual content of individual
images in detail. To locate an individual
image in the grid and album views,
retrieve the catalog record for the
album (you can search the number
using the middle part of the identification
number) and browse to the image in
question. For example, to retrieve
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09951-00003, search
for ppmsca
09951 and go to
the third image.
Researchers can also find individual
catalog records for each image when
they search by subject matter, place
name, or caption keyword. These records
help researchers discover Turkestan
Album images alongside images from
other collections that feature similar
topics or geographic focus. To
look at catalog records created
for individual images, search for
the call number "DK854.T87" [view
individual catalog records].
The original albums are very fragile.
Researchers work with the digital
images instead of the original volumes
to help preserve these treasures.
A contractor, DataTrac, made the
digital images in 2006 for the Library
of Congress. A microfilm made in
1982 is also available in the Prints & Photographs
Reading Room by requesting LOT 11688
(M).
Top
of Page
Obtaining Reproductions
Users may download images themselves
or can order copies through the Library
of Congress Photoduplication Service.
Orders must include the reproduction
number of the desired image. Example:
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09947-00002.
Permissions and Credits
No restrictions
are known on publication or other
forms of distribution of the images
in the Turkestan Album. Please cite
the source of the image with the
credit line: Library
of Congress, Prints & Photographs
Division, [reproduction number, e.g.,
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09947-00002].
Related Resources
In the Prints & Photographs
Division
Atlas anthropologique des peuples
du Ferghanah / par Ch. E. De Ujfalvy
de Mezo-Kövesd ... Paris : Ernest
Leroux, 1879. Call number: GN635.T8
U5 (Case X)
À travers le Turkestan russe
: ouvrage illustré de deux cent-soixante-cinq
gravures d'après les clichés
de l'auteur et contenant une carte
en couleurs / Hugues Krafft. Paris
: Hachette et Cie, 1902. Call number:
DK854 .K89 (Case Y)
Prokudin-Gorskii,
Sergeii Mikhailovich. Views in Central
Asia, Russian Empire. Photographs,
1905-1915. Call number: LOT 10338
(H) [cite call number, even though
we don't serve?]. Available online: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/proka.0010a
Elsewhere in the Library
of Congress
Library of Congress, African
and Middle Eastern Division
URL: http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/
The online Near East illustrated
guide summarizes resources for the
study of Central
Asia resources.
Selected Bibliography
Parker, Brenda. “Turkestanskii
Al’bom: Portrait of
a Faraway Place and Another Time.” Quarterly
Journal of the Library of Congress 40
(Fall 1983): 284-341.
Sonntag, Heather S. "Re-viewing
a Portrait of Empire in Central Asia:
The 'Turkestan Album' Exposed." In
Abstracts of Papers Presented
at the Central Eurasian Studies Society,
6th Annual Conference, 2005. http://www.cess.muohio.edu/CESSpg_conf_abstracts2005.html.
Vanderbilt, Paul. "Kun
Collection." In Guide
to the Special Collections of Prints & Photographs
in the Library of Congress,
92. Washington, DC: Library of
Congress, 1955.
Wikipedia includes numerous
articles and maps related to the
history of Central Asia. A few representative
examples include:
Acknowledgment:
Heather S. Sonntag
transliterated and translated all
of the captions in 2005-2006, while
completing her doctoral thesis about
these albums. The Prints & Photographs
Division is very grateful for her
work. Harry Leich, Russian
Area Specialist, Library of Congress
European Division, provided editorial
guidance.
Prepared by: Helena
Zinkham, Prints & Photographs
Division, from the sources cited
in the bibliography. Last updated:
February 2007.
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