An album of photographs taken by a wealthy young Frenchman in India in 1849 and 1850 will be sold by auction house Bonhams on 19 March for an estimated £40,000 to £60,000.
Alexis De La Grange’s album includes 49 architectural views, most of which are Mughal, taken in northern India.
On the morning of 4 August 1914 the garrison at Gemmenich, close to the border between Belgium and Germany, sent a message to General Leman, commanding the Belgian 3rd Division at nearby Liège. ‘Belgian territory has been invaded by German troops,’ it read.
The infiltrating soldiers reported by the outlying Belgian positions belonged to General Karl von Bulow’s 320,000-strong second army that was pouring into Belgium. Their initial target was Liège, which they hoped to storm before pushing on into France, cutting the two nations’ armies in two before their British allies could provide reinforcements.
