Charnay, Claude-Joseph Désiré (1828-1915). Autograph Letter Signed “Désiré Charnay” to “Mon cher ami” with the Latest News after his Arrival to Algiers for the Winter Season, the Letter is Decorated with a Printed Vignette Depicting Arab Camel Riders in a Desert. Algiers: 25 October 1891.

Octavo (ca. 18x11,5 cm). 2 pp. Violet ink on thick paper with a printed vignette depicting travellers on camels in a desert. Centrefold mark, otherwise a very good letter.

In a letter to his friend, noted French traveller and archaeologist D. Charnay describes his voyage to Algiers from France and his place of stay in the city: “Our place is 17 Rue Flatters, Alger, Belcourt, 20 minutes from town by train <….> The weather has been very good, 24 to 28 degrees, also my wife is all right, although coughing always a little bit. I’m expecting rain and cold which will be a hardship for her” (in translation). The letter is decorated with an attractive printed vignette reproducing a photo of two Arab camel riders in a desert.

“Claude-Joseph Désiré Charnay was a French traveller and archaeologist notable both for his explorations of Mexico and Central America, and for the pioneering use of photography to document his discoveries. In 1850, he became a teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana, and there became acquainted with John Lloyd Stephens's books of travel in Yucatan. He travelled in Mexico, under a commission from the French ministry of education, in 1857-1861; in Madagascar in 1863; in South America, particularly Chile and Argentina, in 1875; and in Java and Australia in 1878. In 1880-1883, he again visited the ruined cities of Mexico. Pierre Lorillard IV of New York City contributed to defray the expense of this expedition, and Charnay named a great ruined city near the Guatemalan boundary line "Ville Lorillard " in his honor; the name did not stick and the site is more commonly known as Yaxchilan. Charnay went to Yucatan in 1886” (Wikipedia).