Call Number:

Ms Coll 1674

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, and Polish

Preferred Citation:

Paola and Bertrand Lazard Holy Land postcard collection, 1904-1983, Ms Coll 1674, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1904-1983 (inclusive)

Creator:

Lazard, Paola and Lazard, Bertrand

Form:

Black-and-white photographs, Photographic postcards, Picture postcards, and Postcards

Abstract:

Paola and Bertrand Lazard are collectors of early printed books, postcards, maps, drawings and watercolors from the Holy Land. The collection consists of 1287 black and white and color postcards of major cities, archeological sites, religious sites and landscapes in Israel, dating from 1904 to 1983.

Paola and Bertrand Lazard are collectors of early printed books, postcards, maps, drawings and watercolors from the Holy Land.

Paola Lazard (née Cividalli) was born in Italy in 1925. In December of 1938, she moved with her family to Lausanne, Switzerland and then to Mandatory Palestine in 1939 to escape persecution. In 1944, she joined British forces in World War II. In 1955, Paola married Bertrand Lazard. Paola died in 2018.

Nothing is known about Bertrand Lazard except that he was born in France, a relation of the Lazard banking family, and was a physicist.

Works consulted:

"Gualtiero Cividalli (1899-1997)." Intellectuals Displaced from Fascist Italy, https://intellettualinfuga.com/en/Cividalli/Gualtiero/40. Accessed 18 July 2025.

"Holy Land Collections." Penn Libraries, https://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/notable/holy-land-collections. Accessed 18 July 2025.

Klein, Shira. Italy's Jews from Emancipation to Fascism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

The Paola and Bertrand Lazard Holy Land postcard collection consists of 1287 black and white and color postcards of major cities, archeological sites, religious sites and landscapes in Israel, dating from 1904 to 1983. Almost all of the postcards have captions printed on the front or back, written in languages such as Arabic, English, French, German, Italian and Polish. Of the over a thousand postcards in this collection, 101 of them are addressed and have notes on the back. The majority of the addressed postcards are in Italian for people in Florence, Italy. In box 2, there are 74 postcards with photographs by Shlomo Narinsky (items 1169 to 1243).

The cities and kibbutzim depicted in this collection include: Acre, Ashkelon, Abu Gosh, Bethlehem, Coral/Pharaoh's Island, Dead Sea, Eilat, Gaza City, Sea of Galilee, Golan Heights, Haifa, Mount Carmel, Hebron, Jaffa, Jericho, Nazareth, Ramla, Rehoboth, Safed, Tabgha, Tel-Aviv, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. With almost 300 postcards, Jerusalem is the city that is the most depicted in this collection.

The historical, cultural, archeological and religious landmarks depicted in this collection include: Church of the Crusaders in Abu Gosh, Jazzar's Mosque, Khan el Umdan, Mansion of Bahaullah, Avdat, Banyas, Elath, Tomb of Lazarus, Khirbet Kerak, Church of the Nativity, Chapel of the Shepherds' Field, Bethsaida, Beit She'arim necropolis, Kafr Bir'im, Monastery of Saint George of Choziba, Caesarea, Cana of Galilee, Capernaum, Chorazin, Castle of Saladin, Amram's Pillars, Ein Avdat, Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, Nachal-David stream, Church of the Visitation, Ekron, Elath, Ein Netafim, Mount Hermon, Technion, Al Ibrahimi Mosque (Hebron), St. Anthony's Church (Jaffa/Tel-Aviv), Hisham's Palace, Ein es-Sultan, Mount of Temptation (Jericho), Tze'elim Stream, Wedding Church at Cana, Magdala, Masada, Meron, Metzudat Koach, Mount Tabor, Nahal Amud, Basilica of the Annunciation, St. Joseph's Church (Nazareth), Christ Church (Nazareth), Greek Catholic Church of Nazareth, Red Canyon, Palmyra, Qumran, White Tower (Ramla), Rosh HaNikra, Ari Ashkenazi Synagogue, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter, Church of the Multiplication, Dan (ancient city), Tomb of Rabbi Meir, Wadi Qelt, Mount of Olives, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mosque of Omar (Jerusalem), Via Dolorosa, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Valley of Josaphat, Tower of David, Chapel of the Ascension, Abbey of the Dormition, Church of All Nations, Monastery of the Cross, Mea Shearim, Gabbatha, Church of Flagellation, Convent of the Sisters of Zion, Tomb of Absalom, Garden of Gethsemane, and Hezekiah's Pool.

Historical figures such as the goddess Nike, Pablo Casals, Eliezer Margolin, Sir Herbert Samuel, and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda are depicted in this collection.