About This Image

Just a spectacular image. It may be a coated salt print. It appears to be from a paper negative. Title in black period ink. In 1855, Baron James de Rothschild, President of Chemin de Fer du Nord, commissioned Baldus to do a series of photographs to be used as part of an album that was to be a gift to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a souvenir of their visit to France that year. The lavishly bound album is still among the treasures of the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. Copies were also gifted to other VIPs at the ceremony or just after. Copies of this album or even portions and individual images are quite rare.This image is no. 45 in the Chemin de fer du Nord album, Vue du Port  de Boulogne.  The negative dates to August 1855 or earlier.  The print is likely from the mid-1850s.According to Baldus expert Malcolm Daniel, his research in 1990 showed that there were prints of this image in the Bibliotheque Nationale, George Eastman House, the Royal Library Archives, Canadian Centre for Architecture and at least one other private collection, although he notes that a few whole or partial Chemin de fer du Nord albums have since appeared on the market, including this image.  This photograph shows the Boulogne port as viewed from the "barrage éclusé", practically adjacent to the Boulogne railroad station. It also forms the right half of a panorama, when placed next to plate 50 in the album, "Bateaux à marré basse."Closed tear and light water stain on mount well away from the photograph.

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