Photographic views of the city & neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro and of the tramways, gas, electric light & power and telephone installations operated by the company. . . .

[Toronto, Canada, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, New York, U.S.A., London, UK & Paris, France]: The Rio de Janeiro Tramway Light & Power Company Limited, [Jean Malvaux, Photographers], [ca. 1909]. Oblong folio. 14.5 x 9.5 in. 39 leaves (unnumbered). With photo plates throughout (1 large folding double-page panoramic), all w/ blue-tinted woodcut-engraved decorative borders, 2 colour maps. Contemporary textured lavender-coloured boards post-binder, gilt lettering stamped on front cover, brass posts at gutter margin (some wear, minor bumping, & rubbing head & foot of spine, minor soiling front cover, w/ some fading to lettering of a couple words), still a VG- copy. First edition of this exceedingly scarce souvenir album and sales prospectus for the Rio de Janeiro, Tramway, Light & Power Co., Ltd. (RJTL&P) issued just after they had purchased and absorbed the Vila Isabel, Sao Cristovao and Carris Urbanos tramway systems, as well as building the power plant at Ribeirao das Lajes. RJTL&P known as “A Light” by Brazilians. The company quickly began electrifying and converting horse-drawn tramway lines throughout Rio de Janeiro, with many of the photographs offering details of the construction, aggressively built power stations, substations, and transmission lines which are depicted here, and also purchased the Corcovado cog railway that climbs to the Christ statue overlooking the city. This album shows the line as it operated before electrification with note that it would be converted to electricity, featuring four locomotives ordered from Schweizerische Lokomotiv und Maschinenfabrik (SLM). Images within the album also show the dams under construction, the tramway power house, city streets converted and converting to electricity by RJTL&P, including Rua Carrioca, Rua Primeiro de Marco, Rua Uruguayana, Avenida Central, and more. Founded in 1904, by Canadian and U.S. industrialists, the company would continue to grow into World War II, when Brazil nationalized the power, light and traction companies, including RJTL&P into Brazilian Traction Light & Power Co., Ltd. Malvaux of Brussels was an active commercial photography firm who specialized as a photographic printer supplying line and half-tone sheets to illustrated magazines well into the 20th-century. No copies in Worldcat; See: Allen Morrison, Rio de Janeiro, 75 Photographs of Tramway History (2017); Palmquist, Directories of Photographers, an Annotated Bibliography (2000).