Heading: (Paris Peace Converence 1919)
Author: Harris, George W. & Martha Ewing
Title: The Peace Conference - Portraits by Harris & Ewing (cover title)
Place Published: Washington, D.C.
Publisher:Harris & Ewing
Date Published: 1920
Description:

73 original silver photograph portraits on sensitized paper, of attendees at the Paris Peace Conference, each with facsimile signature of the subject; plus one photograph of the conference room, with key to where the delegates sat. Each photograph blindstamp imprint of Harris & Ewing. 41.5x29.5 cm (16 ¼x11¾"), period (original?) full calf.

Rare gathering of portraits of the delegates attending one of the most consequential international conferences of the twentieth century, following the First World War, where representatives of some 27 nations met to decide the terms of peace, colonial make-up of the post-war world, and the reparations to be exacted from Germany. The lauded but eventually inconsequential League of Nations was founded, and the seeds of World War Two sewn. Among those attending, and whose portraits are present, were U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, with Col. House and General Bliss, Britain's Lloyd George joined by Robert Cecil and others, Georges Clemenceau of France, with Marshall Foch and friends, Generals Smuts and Botha from South Africa, plus representatives from Serbia, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Peru, Belgium, Greece, China, Japan, Italy, and other countries large and small. Missing, of course, were Germany, and the communist Soviet Union, abhorrent to the western capitalist powers despite Russia's contribution to the war effort. The photographers, Harris & Ewing, were a well-respected Washington firm founded in 1905, with strong connections to the political moves and shakers. The volume is very rare - OCLC/WorldCat lists only one copy, at the University of Texas Austin.

Some scuffing and extremity wear to covers, very good, internally fine.