Nostalgias Of Malta – Images By Modiano From The 1900s By Giovanni Bonello

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The Nostalgias series of collected picture postcards featuring Maltese views and people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this volume presents what the author claims is a complete record of Malta postcards issued by the Milanese firm Modiano, which started its activities in the 1890s and published its extensive series of pictures of Malta in the first two decades of the 20th century. The cards, to quote the author, “constitute examples of fine quality printing in monochrome”. Some of the photographs used for the cards were taken by the well-known Richard Ellis, and a small number was taken by an unknown photographer whose surname was La Rosa

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Description

There is an abundance of pictures of towns and villages in Malta, with much emphasis on the harbours, a few pictures of Royal Navy ships and a good series of portraits of Maltese men and women. Whilst many of them depict classic views of Maltese sights, in some of them one finds the photographer taking pains to seek a different angle, as in the handsome photograph of St Paul’s Anglican cathedral, that of the fountain in Strada Reale subsequently replaced by Antonio Sciortino’s Great Siege monument, or that of an untidy-looking Ħaġar Qim. Giovanni Bonello’s introductory essay is, as usual, very informative, and provides interesting information about the Modianos and their other publishing activities, including the prestigious review published by the Touring Club Italiano, Le Vie d’Italia. Hardback. Published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti 2010