A collection of late 19th and early 20th century Egyptian Menus.
[Egypt: various dates, 1896-1903].
Various sizes. Twenty-nine printed menus with specific offerings printed or in manuscript. On various papers, some with chromolithograph illustrations; some with embossed, debossed or die-cut elements; some with edges beveled and gilt. Texts in Arabic, French, German, and English. An unusual group of Egyptian menus from a moment when the British, Germans, and Austro-Hungarians were jockeying for Power in the region, and the last of the Khedive rulers was in power. The collection includes menus from Palais Ismaïlia; Palais D’Abdine; Savoy Hotel, Cairo; Ziftah Barrage; Hotel Angst; Unter den Belten bei den Chalifen-Gräbern, Kairo (under the straights at the Khalifa Tombs, Cairo); and Ghésireh Palace Hotel. ~ Four of the menus are from the Palais D'Abdine in November and December of 1902, and bear the coat of arms of Abbas Helmi II, Khedive of Egypt, the last to serve as King of Egypt before being deposed by the British in 1914. One of these menus is labeled for S.E. El-Lewn F. Thurneyssen Pacha, ecuyer (riding instructor) to the King, and one of many Austro-Hungarians close the Khedive court (much to the consternation of the British). A second menu from this group is labeled in Arabic, which we have been unable to translate. Additionally, two menus hail from the Palais Ismaila and record dinners on consecutive evenings, March 3 and March 4, 1903. Each of bears the hand-lettered names of the guests: Moustapha Fehmi Pasha, who had served as 7th Prime Minster of Egypt; and Hr. Van der Does de Villebois, the Dutch Consul General later posted to Constantinople. Perhaps some light soiling or a bumped corner to a few menus, otherwise condition throughout is very good.
Price: $2,500.00