Marié de L'Isle

I’ve mentioned the French photographer Henri Manuel a couple of times here. Today I came across this lovely portrait of the French mezzo soprano Célestine Galli-Marié known as Marié de l’Isle, it was taken by him. I haven’t managed to find out much about her at all. She was born in 1840, married a sculptor called Galli and died in 1905.

Tomorrow we’re off to an auction in another town. I wonder what treasures we’ll find.

Two Lovers

1. I’ll lay the world at your feet. 2. Your every wish is my command. 3. You must believe in my ‘star’



4. Close to you I am but mere man. 5. As my son resembles you…

One of the nicest parts of what I do is finding treasures like this little set of postcards. The lovers were photographed by Henri Manuel, a famous French photographer. Sent in the spring of 1911, I was disappointed to find that they weren’t love letters at all, but family correspondence.
click on the images to get a better view

Les Reines de la Mode

I spent a long time trying to find out who this young lady was. Perhaps a Can Can dancer around 1907 at the Moulin Rouge? Anyway, she was beautiful enough to be photographed by Henri Manuel. Here is another of his postcards and a brief biography

Lady with hat and umbrella

I always enjoy looking at how people were dressed, so I was pleased to find this card amongst a lot we bought at auction. I noticed the signature under the chair when I was scanning the card and looked it up. The photographer was Henri Manuel (1874-1947) who was famous for his work and you can still buy posters today. I haven’t been able to find a biography of him though.

On Saturday we’re off to another auction in la Rochelle. I can’t wait to see what interesting cards we come home with.