(Le Creusot, France): (1904-06).
Price: $4,500.00
Hardcover. A pair of photo albums containing a total of 98 glossy gelatin silver prints measuring 6½” x 4½” and 4¼” x 3”. Oblong octavos (9” x 6¼”). Bound in half dark green morocco and pebbled cloth over beveled boards, silk moiré endpapers, gilt lettering on the front covers. The 1904 album contains 32 prints neatly mounted on the rectos of smooth cardboard leaves with printed captions on the facing versos. The 1906 album contains 66 prints neatly mounted on the rectos and versos of smooth cardboard leaves, with a fold-out letterpress chart listing captions for each print at the front: “Materiel de Campagne de 75 mm A Tir Rapide.” Both volumes are in fine condition, with a tiny bump at the bottom of the spine back and light tarnishing on the gilt of the 1906 volume.
Messrs. Schneider & Co. was a historic iron and steel-mill which became the most important arms manufacturer in France up through World War II. The Canet guns were a series of weapon systems developed by the firm’s design engineer Gustave Canet. He is best known for the Schneider-Canet gun system for 75mm iron barrel mountain guns, artillery pieces designed for use in mountain warfare and rugged terrain where the usual wheeled transport is not possible.
This pair of albums features several models of 75mm mountain guns, including rapid-fire guns, shown in range practice carried out at the Harfleur range in the presence of a Bulgarian delegation from February – March, 1904; and a Serbian delegation in October, 1906. The high-quality images document everyone involved in the demonstration of the guns, including civilian laborers, soldiers responsible for operating the guns, and both Schneider Company officials and Commission members.
A remarkable, well-preserved pair of albums documenting the importance of the classic mountain guns used in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 and World War I.
Item #447714
