The third in the series of Giovanni Bonello’s volumes of photos from the past, this volume is dedicated to the work of one of the best-known Maltese photographers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, S.L. (Salvatore Lorenzo) Cassar. In his biographical study of the photographer, Bonello shows that Cassar, born in Birgu in 1855, learned the art and science of photography and started practicing in Tripoli, Libya, but after 1888 he was back in Malta where he soon became a very prominent professional in the field, his studio being in Strada San Giovanni, Valletta.
Handsomely produced like its predecessors, the volume includes a large number of photographs arranged by category: places, people, events, and a miscellaneous section including photos of British warships and beautifully sharp photos of monuments inside St John’s Co-Cathedral. The Places section includes splendid views of Valletta, Floriana and the Three Cities, as well as what are now the towns of Mosta and Zebbug., while the Events section includes King Edward VII’s visits to Malta in 1903 and 1909, the proclamation of self-government in 1921, religious feasts and carnival foolery.
On many readers, the People section will exercise a special fascination with images of young and not so young people photographed in all their splendour and vanity, and striking images of important personalities like Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, father of President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, and Fra Diegu Bonanno, the saintly friar whose statue dominates a square at Hamrun.
Nostalgias of Malta, published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, is being launched on 10th June at 12 noon, Knights Room, Hotel Phoenicia, Floriana, the guest speaker being Mr Kennith Zammit Tabona.
Nostalgias of Malta will retail at all leading bookstores for the price of €45.40 for the hard bound version and €33.75 for the limp bound version.