Photography. Portugal. EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE... Lot 56

[Photography]. [Portugal]. EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE de Paris 1878: Portugal. Photographic Album of the Regional Farm-School of Cintra. [Paris, 1878], oblong folio, 30 photographic prints [285 x 205 mm] including 2 panoramic prints, mounted on strong paper and mitered, contemporary red chagrin [Lisboa Company], smooth spine with triple gilt filleting, gilt title with coat of arms of the city of Paris on the front cover, interior lace, gilt edges, binding restored. Album produced for the 1878 Paris World's Fair for the Portugal section: it consists of a set of albumen prints showing the agricultural farm-school of Sintra (formerly Cintra). The "Model Farm" (Quinta exemplar) in Cintra, created in 1862 under the auspices of the Agricultural Institute, was the first school of its kind to be established in Portugal. It was equipped with important and innovative agricultural equipment, such as the adoption of the Fowler steam ploughing system and the centrifugal lifting of water. All livestock species were represented, with wheat and corn the main crops. A theoretical course was taught at the Lisbon Agricultural Institute, followed by a year-long practical course in residence at the farm school, which also boasted a precision instrument workshop and a meteorological observatory. This is most probably the only copy that was presented at the Exhibition (we have found no other for sale or in the library). It is quoted in a study on Portugal published at the time: "The magnificent and voluminous photographic album, exhibited in the Portuguese section, enabled us to study all the views and all the particular details of this model establishment" (J. Lemaire, Le Portugal en 1878, Paris, s.n., 1878, p. 115).