No Man's Land: Photography and the Great War

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NO MAN’S LAND PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE GREAT WAR PART ONE


Prices are in Canadian dollars. All items are subject to prior sale. All photographs are vintage gelatin silver prints, unless otherwise stated. Photographs may not be exactly as they appear in the digital or print format catalogues. Canadian customers will be charged 13% HST where applicable. Customers new to us are requested to send payment in advance. Institutional billing requirements will be accommodated. All items are guaranteed as catalogued. If not satisfied, returns will be accepted within 10 days of receipt. Advance notification is requested. We accept Canadian or U.S. dollar cheques, international money orders, and wire transfers. All items will be shipped surface unless otherwise advised. All packing, shipping, and insurance costs are the responsibility of the purchaser. This catalogue is available online at www.rarephotogallery.com. 41 Spadina Road, Suite One Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2S9 Please contact us by telephone: 416-535-9895 or email: rarephotoltd@gmail.com. We welcome visitors by appointment. We are always interested in purchasing individual items and collections. Design by Neil D. MacDonald and sol Legault. All rights reserved. Not intended for reproduction. Š2014.


No Man’s Land

Photography and The Great War: Part One A selection of photographs and ephemera illustrating the American, Canadian, British, French, German, and Russian perspectives. It was called The War to End All Wars, The Great War, The European War and The First World War; I have memories of my grandfather, recounting his service in the war in France… visions I could only relate to in black and white. With the birth of the tank and the use of the airplane and submarine, this was the first war to employ these deadly technologies on a large scale. Poison gas and psychological warfare also reared their ugly heads. Photographic developments made an impact in the daily news, and progress in picture publishing fueled both press and official war photographers. The fact that there were so few cameras brought into battle, considered unnecessary equipment, resulted in personal (i.e. private) Allied photographs from the front being very uncommon; instead official images were distributed through the ranks. By 1915, “corps” negatives were often pooled, with photographers’ names not generally noted. Aerial photography played an important new role as well, though in many cases it was still done by balloon, rather than by airplane. Panoramic photography became widely popular for regimental and troop portraits; it was also used at the front, for mapping enemy trench lines and positions. Postcard stock was popular at the time and widely available, many images on which now provide a unique document of times, people and places. The “going to war” portraits are particularly poignant, as many of them came to be the last record of a soldier alive. Whether by land, sea, or air, like a photo essay the images offered here flow through enlistment and training, camp life, going to war and actions at the front, the destruction, trenches and explosions, injury or capture, the horror and death.

Some images in this catalogue show the vivid truths of war, and should offend.

Neil David MacDonald

©2014 Rare Photo Gallery

This catalogue is dedicated to my uncle, Brigadier General Clayton E. Beattie (1928 – 2014), Commander of the Canadian Peacekeeping Contingent and hero of the Civil War in Cyprus in 1974.


1. Blakemore Studio, Toronto Camp Borden 1916 1916 20.3 x 97.8 cm $500

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2. Panoramic Camera Company of Canada Signal Training Depot, Rockcliffe Camp Ottawa, Sept. 15th, 1917; Lt.-Col. T. E. Powers, D.S.O., C.S.C., Commanding Officer 1917 30.4 x 129 cm (framed) $650

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3. Unknown [American infantry and cavalry on parade] c. 1917 – 18 photograph: 28.2 x 58.4 cm mount: 35.5 x 66.6 cm $450 7


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4. Unknown [Signal Corps training] c. 1914 – 18 photograph: 15.2 x 20.3; mount: 25.1 x 29.5 cm $150


5. International Film Service [N.Y.] Right Over the Top Like Hurdlers Go Our Boys c. 1917 – 18 20.3 x 25.6 cm; wear $150

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6. International Film Service [N.Y.] Fort Overcrowded, Recruits Sleep on Y.M.C.A. Billiard Tables two photographs c. 1917 – 18 20.1 x 25.2 cm; wear $950 10




7. (left) Unknown [Army camp barracks] c. 1914 – 18 25.7 x 31.6 cm $350

8. Unknown [Troops being transported through a village] c. 1914 – 18 8.9 x 14.4 cm $150

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9. International Film Service [N.Y.] British Tommies going forward to Somme trenches. c. 1914 – 18 20.4 x 25.6 cm $250

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10. [British] Press Bureau A Sign of Advance. Posieres is already ours. after August 7, 1916 15.1 x 25.4 cm $175


11. Unknown [Allied soldiers in trench, with bayonets] c. 1914 – 18 16.6 x 21.2 cm $250

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12. William Rider-Rider [Att.] No Man’s Land c. 1914 – 18 16.7 x 21.8 cm; chip $350

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13. “Topical” for [British] Press Bureau Watching a Boche Trench Through a Periscope. c. 1914 – 18 16.5 x 21.5 cm $300

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14. Kadel & Herbert [N.Y.] What No Man’s Land Looks Like. c. 1914 – 18 16.5 x 21.5 cm $300 18


15. Unknown [Four French soldiers inspecting artillery stockpile] gravure, c. 1914 – 18 photograph: 12.8 x 17.5 cm mount: 14.9 x 19.3 cm $200 19


Like a martian landscape...

16. Unknown Men in trenches [aerial view] c. 1914 – 18 11.2 x 16.1 cm $150

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17. Unknown [Human remains on the battlefield] two photographs c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13 cm $200

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18. Unknown [Bridge explosion] c. 1914 – 18 13.7 x 17.5 cm $150 22


19. (recto and verso) Associated Illustration Agencies, Ltd. [London] At one time a railway - now No Man’s Land. c. 1914 – 18 8.4 x 24.1 cm $850

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20. H. L. Schaid Horse blown into a tree by a shell c. 1914 – 18 14.6 x 10.4 cm $100

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Carnage in Baku 21. International Film Service [N.Y.] Baku Defences Taken by British Forces. August 16, 1918 21.6 x 16.4 cm $200

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(detail)


22. Unknown [Seven photographs on two album pages]: (page 1 recto) opposite, left, and opposite, right [detail]: The bombardment of Lowestoft by the German Fleet. (page 2 recto) above, left: A star-shell bursting near the British Lines. / A British Naval airship in flight. (page 2 verso) above, right: Scenes after a Zeppelin raid on Paris. c. 1914 – 18 mounts: 20.9 x 25.4 cm; photographs: 16.3 x 12.2 cm $950 27


23. H. L. Schaid [R]esult of a hit in Paris from the German 75 mile gun c. 1914 – 18 14.6 x 10.4 cm $150

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24. Unknown 246. - Métro défoncé par une bombe de Zeppelin [Subway hit by a bomb dropped from a zeppelin] c. 1914 – 18 11.4 x 8.6 cm $100

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25. Unknown [View of a smoking airplane crash in a field] c. 1914 – 18 8.2 x 13.9 cm $150

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26. Central News Agency; Canadian War Records A carriage of a German Red Cross train captured by Canadians. The shell hole was made by an enemy shell. c. 1914 – 18 21.4 x 16.6 cm; wear $150

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27. G. F. Clingan, Lieutenant Bosche 9.5 Howitzer Captured by Canadians at Vimy Ridge. At foot of Vimy Ridge about 200 yds from Vimy village. Turned around by Canadians and used against the Germans. Sergt. R. Grant D. C. M., Pte. E. Fisher, Taken by [G.] F. Clingan Lieut. April-May, 1917 14.6 x 10.4 cm $375

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28. Unknown [German tank with boy standing in hatch] c. 1916 13.1 x 17.9 cm $250

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29. Unknown [German tank in brush, with camouflage netting] November, 1918 11.2 x 15.2 cm $250

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30. F.H.M. 14th Roller, – Balancing Point. c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm $150

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31. Unknown [German cavalryman wearing gas mask, with horse wearing bag on its head] c. 1914 – 18 8.9 x 11.7 cm; wear $350

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32. Unknown 3479 Masque respiratoire [Respirator] c. 1914 – 18 8.5 x 16 cm $250

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33. Unknown 2705 Pour rÊsister au gaz et aux acides [To resist gas and acid] c. 1914 – 18 8.5 x 17 cm $150

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34. Unknown [German soldiers wearing gas masks, on horseback, pulling a cart laden with ammunition] (Swedish inscription on verso) c. 1914 – 18 11.8 x 16.3 cm $300 40


36. Unknown [Allied soldier wearing gas mask, standing on balcony] c. 1914 – 18 8.2 x 5.8 cm $125

35. Unknown [Four naval soldiers wearing gas masks, standing on the deck of a battle ship] RPPC, 1918 8.7 x 13.8 cm $150

37. Unknown [Allied soldier seated on a crate, wearing gas mask] c. 1914 – 18 11.2 x 6.9 cm $125

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All postcards are $150 each unless marked otherwise

POSTCARDS

POSTCARDS

POSTCARDS

38. Unknown [Display of labeled military paraphernalia] RPPC, c. 1918 8.7 x 13.3 cm


39. Unknown British Cruiser - “Camouflaged” RPPC, c. 1914 – 18 8.5 x 13.6 cm

40. Unknown [View of a surfaced submarine (possibly American L-1 #40)] RPPC, 1916 – 22 7.9 x 13.3 cm

41. (recto and verso) Unknown S. S. Lusitania, 787 Ft. Long. printed embossed postcard 1907 – 08 8.9 x 13.9 cm 43


42. (left) 58th Battalion [Canadian Expeditionary Force] Our Mascot 58th Battalion c. 1914 – 18 13.8 x 8.7 cm 43. (opposite, left) Unknown [Canadian] “The 4 Jolly Millers,” Parchim, Germany, May 21, 1919 May 21, 1919 13.9 x 8.9 cm 44. (opposite right, top) Unknown [Canadian] [Portrait of four Allied soldiers] c. 1914 – 18 8.2 x 13.6 cm 45. (opposite right, center) Unknown [12th Battalion Canadian Football Team] 12th Batt[alion] Canadian Football Team at Bournemouth, No 2, 1916, “Winners” 1916 8.9 x 13 cm 46. (opposite right, bottom) International News Service [N.Y.]; Underwood & Underwood [Printers] Canadian Cyclists leaving with picks and shovels for fatigue duty at Salisbury Plain, England. printed postcard c. 1914 – 18 8.4 x 13.4 cm 44


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Previous Spread (pages 46 - 47)

47. Unknown [Flamethrower projecting “liquid fire”] c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm

48. Unknown [Barbed wire fence with corpses scattered on the ground beyond it] c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.7 cm

49. Unknown [Forest floor littered with corpses] c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm

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50. Unknown A “Dud” Shell in a Tree, Argonne Forest c. 1918 13.9 x 8.6 cm

51. Unknown [Corpse lying against a tank] c. 1914 – 18 13.8 x 8.7 cm

52. Unknown [Top half of a corpse lying before a damaged tank] c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm

53. Unknown [Damaged British tank, and corpse] c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm

54. Unknown [Corpse of a machine gunner, at his post] c. 1914 – 18 8.9 x 13.6 cm


55. Unknown [Two Allied corpses with rifles and helmets] c. 1914 – 18 8.9 x 13.8 cm

56. Unknown Quatrecht 1914-15 1914 – 15 8.9 x 13.8 cm

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57. Bomb Squadron 3, German Air Service [Folding card with two photographs and textual insert: Opposite, below (card front): German airplane in flight; Spread, above (card interior): first German aerial photograph of London after bombing July 7, 1917, twelve o’clock noon] July 7, 1917 card: 14.8 x 20.9 cm (folded) photographs: 9.5 x 13.6 cm $650 51


58. Unknown Canadian Photographer [Canadian airplane decorated with a fleur-de-lys and the words “To Hell with the Kaiser”] RPPC, c. 1914 – 18 8.7 x 13.8 cm; crease $200

59. Unknown [Wreckage of an airplane crash] RPPC, c. 1914 – 18 8.6 x 13.9 cm $150

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60. E. Bidanlatte [Wreckage of an airplane crash in the Meurthe river] RPPC, 1916 8.9 x 13.9 cm $250

Le 23 --- 1916 Ma chère petite Gabrielle [...] je t’avais promit une carte de l’avion tombé dans la Meurthe, la voici, dans quelques jours, je t’en enverra une autre. Je viens de recevoir ta longue lettre du 20ième qui m’en fait plaisir je t’assure, tu as peur à écrire de ce changement que les permissions serait suspendues, non, elles ne le sait pas. Tu me demande le nom de l’ouvrier de chez Faget, il s’appelle Cavillan, et il n’est pas marié. Ce soir j’ai eu une grande correspondance, donc ta lettre du 20ième, une de [...], et celle de Leoticia. Je ne vais pas écrire à Marthe, car je dis, comme toi, si elle voulait, elle aurait le temps vue que moi je lui ai écrit plus qu’une fois depuis que je suis venue en permission. J’admet q’une lettre s’en vient demain pas toutes quand même, et demain une longue lettre reçois ma chère Gabrielle, tous mes plus [...] baisers, E. Bidanlatte.

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61. Unknown Canadian Photographer [Three photographs depicting military pilots and airplanes; one set in a factory interior] c. 1914 – 18 11.3 x 14.9 cm to 12 x 16.6 cm $500

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62. U. S. Army Air Corps, 5th Photo Section; U. S. Army Air Corps, 15th Photo Section Maneuvers Group of eight aviation-related photographs (three shown) 9.2 x 12 cm $550

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63. Unknown [Two photographs depicting airplane manufacture] c. 1914 – 18 approx. 15.9 x 20.3 cm $200


64. Unknown [Downed German airplane] c. 1914 – 18 17.9 x 13.2 cm $850

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65. Unknown Through a Bakery at Swindon c. 1914 – 18 photograph: 13.3 x 8.4 cm album page: 24.6 x 18.4 cm; mounted $150

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66. (this page, and page 60) Unknown [Five photographs depicting airplane crash wreckage] c. 1914 – 18 approx. 15.9 x 20.3 cm $1000

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(66.)

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67. (this page) Unknown Airplane, smashed into cotton rick, from the air two photographs c. 1914 – 18 20.6 x 16.2 cm $450


68. Unknown [Trench kitchen, interior] RPPC, c. 1917 – 18 8.9 x 13.8 cm $200

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69. Unknown “African Pool” c. 1917 – 18 15.5 x 22 cm $250 64


70. International Film Service [N.Y.] “Your Move” at a Y.M.C.A. Canteen. August 14, 1918 16.5 x 21.5 cm $250


71. Central News With the French Army. A suspect being brought through the French lines after having been discovered in a suspicious position near the French Artillery. His head is enveloped in a sack so that he may not see anything en route. c. 1914 – 18 18.6 x 21.5 cm; wear $350



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72. The Press Bureau; Alfieri Picture Service Battle of Menin Road - Three Dejected-Looking Boches - They Came Out of the Fight for Vampire Farm Terribly Shaken by the Tremendous British Artillery Barrage Between September 9 and 25, 1917 16.5 x 21.3 cm $300


73. Unknown [Group of prisoners] c. 1917 12 x 16 cm $250

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74. French War Office; Newspaper Illustrations Ltd. The French Capture Huns and Carefully Nurse and House Them. c. 1914 – 18 15.1 x 20.3 cm $250

75. Unknown [German prisoners led by Canadian soldiers, carrying a corpse] c. 1914 – 18 16.7 x 21.8 cm; wear $200 70


76. (pages 71-77) Imperial War Museum [London] [A group of nine press photographs sold together (seven shown), depicting troop movements, outposts, activities, progress relating to battles, etc.] approx. 20.9 x 15.9 cm; added paint, ink, and other imperfections $1200

Officers in reserve at lunch during the Battle of Festubert, May 1915.

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(76.) Q.1636. Interior of the ruined church at Hebuterne, 1916. 72


(76.) Q.37346. Palisades arranged to detonate mines, employed against advancing tanks. September 1918. Western Front. 73


(76.) [Q.51]503. French Cavalry on the march passing the 1st Cameronians in bivouacs, where, with the rest of the 19th Brigade, they lay hidden all day, marching by night. 5th October 1914.


(76.) Q.49219. Brigade Headquarters, 21st Infantry Brigade, 7th Division. Commanded by Brig.-General H.E. Watts, C.B., during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10th - 14th March 1915. 75


(76.) Q. 5182. A trench signboard showing the way to the reserve line and to Calonne south for down traffic only. On the signpost hangs a shell case to serve as a gas alarm. April 1917. 76


(76.) Q.26524. British troops detraining at a railway station on the Italian front.

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77. Unknown Lieut. F. Carpenter, Lieut. G. Madal, Survivors of [S.S. Carolina] c. 1918 25.3 x 20.3 cm $150

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A very early Canadian casualty

78. Unknown Canadian Photographer Harry P. Adshead. Killed in France March 9th, 1915. 10th Battalion under Col. Boyle. Left Calgary Aug. 2[5?]th 1914. c. 1914 15.2 x 10.8 cm $200


79. Unknown Telefon - Vermittlung M. T. R. 122., Twerdyn, [Dez?] 17 [Telephone - Exchange M. T. R. 122. / Twerdyn, [Ukraine][Dec.?]17.] RPPC, 1917 8.9 x 13.9 cm $150

80. (right) Brush Studio [Plattsburgh, N. Y.] [Two soldiers and one civilian at a field telephone/switchboard station] c. 1917 – 18 19.4 x 24.3 cm; mount wear $450 80




81. Unknown [Allied Soldier seated in a courtyard] c. 1914 – 18 27.9 x 37.5 cm; large exhibition print $275

82. Unknown [Group portrait of women in factory [?] uniform] c. 1914 – 18 19 x 24.1 cm; mount wear $225

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83. (this spread) Alvin [Unknown], to Jean Johnston of Bright, Ontario [Group of postcards, memorabilia, and related material from a Canadian soldier to his presumed sweetheart back home, to do with Hillingdon House, Uxbridge, Canadian War Hospital, at which he was a patient] c. 1918 varied dimensions; wear $350

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.

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84. International [N.Y.] Irvin [sic: Erwin] Bergdoll, draft evader, going to trial Brother Grover Bergdoll, was also a draft dodger c. 1920 - 21 21.6 x 16.4 cm $150 86


85. Unknown [Veteran’s Parade; injured soldiers playing musical instruments and being pushed along a boardwalk in wicker wheelchairs] c. 1914 – 18 14 x 8.8 cm $150

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86. (left) International Film Service Making Artificial Limbs for Crippled Soldiers of Our Allies. c. 1917 – 18 21.2 x 25.4 cm; wear $450 Typewritten caption on label: The greatest plant in the world for the manufacture of artificial limbs is located in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of “new” legs and arms are turned out daily for the use of the soldiers crippled on the battlefields of France. The plant is owned by the Hanger Artificial Limb Company which employs two hundred and fifty skilled workmen, many of them cripples, wearing artificial limbs turned out at the factory. The senior member of the firm lost a leg during the Civil War and made himself an artificial leg, thus starting the present big industry. The Hanger Company has been supplying the English, Canadian and French Governments since the start of the war. Second typewritten caption: 73091-A section of the stock room showing shins, thighs, and blocks ready for final shaping. Here are over fifty tiers containing stock enough to make ten thousand limbs.

87. International Film Service Steel Helmets Taken from the Germans. August 24, 1918 20.7 x 25.4 cm $350 Typewritten caption on label: A huge pile of German helmets which were taken by the Franco-American forces in the recent drive on the eastern front. [It sha]ll be noted that nearly every helmet [has b]een penetrated by bullets. Fast Mail and Bureaus 8/24/18

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88. Ministère de l’agriculture et du ravitaillement [France] [bread ration card] October, 1918 11.7 x 11.2 cm $50

Double sheet 89. U.S. Food Administration They Are Giving All, Will You Send Them Wheat? lithograph poster mounted to canvas c. 1917 – 18 95.3 x 147.3 cm; archival backed $1500 90


90. James Ernest Jefferies (below) Belgium pencil drawing June 1, 1916 16.8 x 23.5 cm; wear $200 [sold together]

(right) [group portrait with truck] photograph no date 4 x 6.3 cm; wear

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91. (above) Lieutenant Gitz Rice [Canadian] (music) John McCormack (sung by) Harold RobĂŠ (lyrics) G. Ricordi & Co., Inc. [N.Y.] (publisher) Dear Old Pal of Mine sheet music c. 1918 34.2 x 26.6 cm (right) Lieutenant Gitz Rice (music) Leo Feist, Inc. [N.Y.] (publisher) Songs by Lieutenant Gitz Rice sheet music after 1916 33.3 x 26 cm $100 [sold together]

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93. W. Hagelberg [Akt.] Company [Berlin] Ich wache und kämpfe für Dich, zeichne Du kriegsanleihe [I wake and fight for you, [buy] war bonds] printed postcard, c. 1917 12 x 8 cm $150

92. Marine-Vermessungs-Abteilung [German Marine Surveying Department] Achtung! Feind hört mit! [Attention! The enemy is listening!] lithographic broadside 1917 40 x 23.7 cm; restoration $375 93



95. Unknown [Allied Forces] A.P. 64. By Balloon / Dropped by Allies in German Lines, found. Oct 1918 leaflet dropped from a balloon October, 1918 28.6 x 19 cm $225 On poster in illustration: ATTENTION! No soldiers are released [hired?] as a result of war injury assumed here.

94. (opposite) Unknown Souvenir de Salonique 1916 printed handkerchief 1916 or later 33.5 x 31.7 cm $275 Caption on handkerchief: The skeleton of zeppelin LZ85, 135m long, defeated by the allies on May 5, 1916 and exhibited at the White Tower of Thessaloniki


96. (recto and verso) Unknown [Allied Forces] Gains Britanniques / Patriotes, ayez courage! / Dropped to encourage the French in German hands, found Oct 1918 Patriots, have courage! printed leaflet Official German communiquĂŠ, night of October, 1918 October 10, 1918. The enemy attacks have been 25.5 x 22.4 cm rebuffed along our new positions on the front East $150 of Cambrai and St. Quentin, as well as on the two banks of the Meuse. Turn this sheet and see the facts as they are.

British Gains (continued). Total captures from 27-9-18 to 3-10-18: Prisoners: 34,200 Canons: 350 Captures on 10-10-18: Prisoners: 12,000 Canons: 350


97. (recto and verso) Unknown [German] Le peuple Allemand offre la paix. / The German People Offers Peace. printed leaflet dropped in France by the Germans 1918 21.6 x 16 cm $150 97


98. (interior and cover) His Majesty’s Stationery Office [London] The Treaty of Peace Between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany The protocol annexed thereto, the Agreement respecting the military occupation of the territories of the Rhine and the Treaty between France and Great Britain respecting Assistance to France in the event of unprovoked aggression by Germany Signed at Versailles, June 28th, 1919 With Maps and Signatures in facsimile Treaty of Versailles June 28, 1919 35 x 21 x 3 cm $450

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99a. Unknown Canadian Photographer [Victory Parade] two photographs 1918 12.7 x 17.8 cm $200

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99b. (this spread, and back cover) Unknown Canadian Photographer Victory and Victory Loan Parade Floats, Nov. 11, 1918. seven photographs November 11, 1918 12.7 x 17.8 cm $650

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100. Unknown Canadian Photographer Thornbury [Ontario] Celebrates Proclamation of Peace, Nov. 11, 1918 November 11, 1918 19.6 x 24.3 cm (framed) $225

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(99b.)

PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE GREAT WAR: PART TWO Available November 2014 Be sure to reserve your copy.


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