Yemen

65883 — Yemen 1950s-1960s. 84 large-format gelatin silver prints 17.5 x 23.5cm or the reverse all with typescript caption slips in Arabic mounted to versos several captions also including series-titles e.g. 'Judges of Yemen' 'The king crown prince and Yemeni personalities' many with additional manuscript captions in Spanish. Excellent condition. An extensive visual record of the people and places of Yemen during the final years of the short-lived Mutawakkilite kingdom the majority apparently the work of a single studio based in the Arabic-speaking world and perhaps intended as an official record of Yemeni life. The Mutawakkilite regime was established after the end of Ottoman power in 1918 and lasted until 1962 when Muhammad al-Badr was deposed in a republican coup a week after succeeding his father Ahmad bin Yahya as king and imam leading to an eight-year civil war which ended in victory for the republican side. Subjects comprise: 1 Muhammad al-Badr 1926-1996 last king and imam of Yemen r.1962 5 portraits as crown prince of Yemen including one as foreign minister seated at his desk one with his uncle Sayf al-Islam 'Ali minister of science 2 during a horseback procession into Sana'a 2 photographs and one with his father Imam Ahmad this an enlarged photograph of an earlier photograph. 2 Yemeni notables 9 in total: Judge 'Abd al-Rahman al-Siyaghi minister of finance; Judge Ahmad al-Hafrani 'a man of letters of great insight and one of the greatest reciters of poetry and history'; Muhammad al-Shami minister of state and commander of the Sana'a brigade of the Yemeni army; Hasan Ibrahim minister of state and deputy foreign minister; Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Shami director of broadcasting and publications; Judge 'Abdullah al-Shawkani vice-president of the sharia council; Muhyi bin Muhammad al-Mutawakkil president of the court of appeal with assistants; Muhammad Abdullah al-Ghimizah commander of the Yemeni defence force; commander of the royal guard. 3 Daily life professions and dress 25 in total including: soldiers posed portraits and soldiers on the march; children in Ta'iz and Sana'a; teachers; tribal costume; a Yemeni 'mafraj' club or lounge; a Yemeni qaylula siesta; tennis in Sana'a; roadworks; agriculture including a coffee plantation; a student protest in support of Egypt; etc. 4 Buildings and places 21 in total including: hospitals Sana'a and Ta'iz; government ministries; mosques Janad Sana'a; palaces Ta'iz 'Dar al-Wusul'; Ta'iz airstrip; Sana'a general library; Sana'a cityscape 2 views; etc. Together with 23 further photographs: 6 of Muhammad al-Badr 9 x 14cm to 18 x 36cm depicting al-Badr addressing an open-air press conference on his arrival in Moscow 2 versions including an original large-format version on two conjoined sheets and a reduced version with typescript caption in Russian on verso attending 2 diplomatic meetings possibly in the USSR one attendee resembling Nikita Khrushchev and meeting Gamal Abdel Nasser with an informal portrait Associated Press ink-stamp and caption verso; 5 of Ahmad bin Yahya 1891-1962 King and Imam of Yemen 4 of which approx. 10 x 14.5cm 3 of these with manuscript Arabic captions on verso one depicting Ahmad and Gamal Abdel Nasser with ink-stamp and caption of Oscar Kersenbaum Argentina verso and a larger photograph 20.5 x 15cm showing Ahmad seated with Muhammad al-Badr at a victory parade Associated Press ink-stamp and caption; and 12 similar including other Yemeni notables various dimensions. Yemen, 1950s-1960s. unknown