American University of Beirut

Photographs & Postcards Archives & Special Collections
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​​​Our photo collection includes around 100,000 photos that cover from the late 19th century until today. It documents the political, historical, cultural, social, as well as military scenes in the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. It is available in different formats, starting with albumen print, Gelatin Silver Prints, etc. until digital photography. The collection includes several significant sub-collections, arranged chronologically:

  • E.W. Blatchford Photograph ​Collection​, late 19th, early 20th century: The collection is comprised of 801 albumen print photographs of the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.
  • Issa Iskandar al Ma'luf Collection​, 1890s-1950s: The collection covers around 900 mainly black and white photographs related to 'Īsá's family and acquaintances in Lebanon and diaspora, primarily Latin America.
  • Moore Photograph Collection​, 1892-1902: Around 106 black and white photos of the AUB campus, Lebanon and the region.
  • WWI album around 117 photos and 2 albums from the British War Museum of WWI and WWII (1914-1918; 1939-1945).
  • Saeb Salam Collection, 1890s-early 21st century: The collection of around 25,000 photos documents the political, social, and academic life in Lebanon during the 20th century.
  • Abdallah El-Yafi Collection, 1900s-1980s: This collection of around two thousand photos portrays the official, political, and social activities of Prime Minister Abdallah El-Yafi during his tenure as Lebanese Prime Minister as well as a member of the Parliament.
  • The Manoug Photo Collection​: 463 black and white photographs as well as 20,000 negatives of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Armenia, etc. The collection mainly documents Lebanon between the 1940st o 1970s.
  • Egyptian Theater Albums, 1913-1950s: 477 Black and white photographs in 20 albums.
  • Finnie Collection, 1951: 52 black and white photographs, featuring cities, landscapes, factories, antiquities, etc.
  • A​ida Kanafani Zahar Photo Collection (86 photos from 1984; 142 photos from 1998).
  • AUB Events Photos, 1866-present: 50,000 photos of AUB community, activities, conferences and lectures.
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Postcard Collection:

The collection of postcards offers images from different countries that spread across most continents. The Levant portion of the collection, i.e., Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, was digitized and is available through the Postcard collection portal. The collection covers archeological sites, scenes of cities, villages, and towns along with urban and rural life. The collection includes both color and black-and-white imagery. The postcards date ranges between early to mid-20th century.
  • AUB Campus postcard Collection of early 20th centrury, (e.g. Sarrafian).
  • Issa Iskandar Al Ma’luf po​stcard Collection around 700 postcards that document the Levant and other parts of the World during early to mid 20th century.
  • May Habib postcard Collection, mid 20th century collection.


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