Some 220 undivided-back postcards featuring pictures of the Holy Land. Various publishers and printers, late 19th and early 20th century.
Large collection of postcards, some lithographed and some photographic, presenting the earliest images of the Holy Land to appear on postcards, including cities, figures in traditional garb, Zionist moshavot, landscapes, holy sites, and more. Many of them bear a printed greeting, at times in gilt ink, in German, French, or Hebrew ("Gruss aus…, " Souvenir de…, " "birkat tzion" ["Blessing from Zion"]). Some of the postcards were mailed.
The collection includes three postcards featuring a panoramic view of Jerusalem within a scroll, considered to be the earliest depiction of Palestine to appear on a postcard. These three postcards – in all likelihood printed successively – differ somewhat one from the other, showing a number of small changes over time in the appearance of the city, as follows: The first postcard shows Jerusalem nestling at the center of an arid mountainside with a number of trails; on the second, rows of trees have been added, and isolated new buildings appear outside the walls of the Old City; on the third, color is added to the picture (there is a copy of the first postcard bearing a letter dated 1892; the color postcard gives the details of the printer – Philipp Frey of Frankfurt).
In addition to these three postcards, the collection comprises numerous postcards printed by various early printers and publishers who were active in the Palestine and Europe during the late Ottoman period, including: an early postcard from Zikhron Ya'akov, with photos of the moshava adorned with grapes (Kutzner & Berger, mailed to Trieste, late 19th century); a souvenir postcard from the German Templar Colony of Sarona (Stehle & Friedel, mailed from Jaffa, 1908); a postcard bearing a photograph of the ship "Tirolia" docked at the Port of Jaffa (mailed from Jaffa, 1904; with the inked stamp of Jaffa's "Hôtel du Parc" – where Kaiser Wilhelm II stayed during his Holy Land visit – on the back); postcards printed by Dr. Heinrch Loewe (Jaffa), Lith. A.L. Monsohn (Jerusalem), the Schneller Hospital (Jerusalem), Boulos Meo (Jerusalem), Kalil Michel (Bethlehem), Struve & Beck (Haifa), J. Goldiner (Berlin), Carl Hirsch (Constance), and others.

Some 220 postcards, approx. 9X14 cm. Condition varies. Postcards arranged in album according to names of printers, in alphabetical order, along with handwritten notes, in a fashion that exposes the backs of postcards sent by mail.

Provenance: The Ralph Perry Collection.