Fouad Debbas "Beirut Our Memory, An Illustrated Tour in the Old City
from 1880 to 1930", (c) 1986 Naufal Group, Beirut, Lebanon, (c) 1986,
Cesar Debbas & Fils, Beirut, Lebanon.

Also entitled; "Beirut Our Memory, A guided tour illustrated with
postcards from the collection of Fouad Debbas"

It is a wonderful treasure trove of images from beirut of the late
1800's and the first part of this century. It describes the postcard
trade of Beirut and covers Beirut, district by district through the
images preserved on postcards from various periods. It also includes a
brief political history of the city as seen through the postcards of
the time.

The book also includes some wonderful pictures of the heart of the
city demolished by the Turks in 1915 - which once again is the subject
of rebuilding. (See also my pictures from Saida in another directory
here.)

                   

                   A book  for all who love the city.

I have been asked about details of the book as it is not readily
available at libraries. This is the information I have:

  On the dust cover:

  Beirut - Our Memory
  An illustrated tour in the old city from 1880 to 1930
  Fuad Debbas
  Naufal Group

  On the title page:

  Beirut - Our Memory
  A Guided tour illsutrated 

  with postcards from the collection of 

  Fuad Debbas
  Naufal Group

  The copyright page:

  (c) 1986, Naufal Group, Beirut, Lebanon
  (c) 1986, Cesar Debbas & Fils, Beirut, Lebanon.
   All rights reserved for all countries, including the USSR.

  The last page:

  Printed in France
  February 1986
  on the presses of the Imprimerie Carbonnel, Paris
  for Naufal Group
  P O Box 11-2161 Beirut, Lebanon
  Depot legal 1st trimester 1986

  Photo-engraving: Image Photogravure, Sarlat, France
  Conception and Execution: Enterrise, Paris, France

And that's it. Unfortunately no ISBN.

The book is 24.5 * 32.5 cm and 256 pages with excellent quality
reproductions of the postcards. Apparently it was done to celebrate
the 75th anniversary of the "family firm" (the Naufal Group?) by Cesar
D. Debbas.

There's also a very interesting but sparsely documented bibliography
at the back.

I bought mine when I was at the Harvard Semitic Museum last summer.
They may be able to help you with an address from where to request a
copy. They apparently also have fairly regular contact with Fouad
Debbas. Their address is:

    Harvard Semitic Museum
    6 Divinity Avenue
    Cambridge, MA 02138

    Telephone is (617) 495-4631
    Fax number is (617) 496-8904

They have (had) no email address, but replied my fax promptly. The
person who helped me was Mary Ellen Taylor, who was very friendly and
helpful. She indicated that she might not be there for very much
longer, but I'm not sure.


- Barre Ludvigsen <borrel@dhhalden.no>