Photo album of the rally "Bruxelles-Château d'Ardenne-Spa" (1898).

20 photos, 22,5 x 16,5 cm, pasted in (paper spotted, superficial cuts in the photos).

Quarter black shagreen (sl. rubbed & soiled), decor. dark silky cloth on boards. Good condition.

Very interesting album with 20 large photos mostly documenting "Bruxelles-Château d'Ardenne-Spa", the first automobile rally in Belgium held in 1898. The rally consisted of 2 stages, and was won by Baron Pierre de Crawhez (Gosselies 1874-1925 Brussels) in a French Panhard & Levassor, with an average speed of 26 km/h. The - most probably unique - album contains a.o. 5 photos of horses with or without rider, 7 photos showing the automobiles being prepared for the race, 1 photo of Pierre de Crawhez in his Panhard named "Devastation" with which he won the race, the nicely dressed crowd and the automobiles in front of the impressive Château Royal d'Ardenne (luxury hotel in Houyet since 1898; it burned down in 1969) and 1 photo of a sports pitch with 8 tennis courts and noblemen and women in "sports outfits". Pierre de Crawhez was a pioneering Belgian racing driver and organiser. He was the president of the "Automobile club de Belgique" (1896) and organised the Circuit des Ardennes (1902). His brother Joseph was, as mayor of Spa, one of the founders of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.