Unique photographs of Georgia and the Caucasus made public

The New York Public Library has published hundreds of previously unseen photographs of Georgia and the Caucasus as part of its latest digitisation effort.

A collection of 348 photographs by late American traveller and photographer George Kennan (1845-1924) was published by the Library and illustrated cities, views and people of the region.

The photographs within the collection Caucasus: An Album of Photographs were dated back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

A view of the 19th Century Tbilisi as captured by American photographer George Kennan, from the New York Public Library collection Caucasus: An Album of Photographs.

The works featured such iconic locations and venues as the Imperial Theatre - now the Opera and Ballet State Theatre - in Tbilisi and the Georgian Military Road passing over the Caucasus range of mountains.

Other locations included the Georgian seaside city Batumi, the country's eastern region Kakheti, capital Tbilisi's Botanical Garden and landscapes of the contemporary North Caucasian Republic of Daghestan.

Kennan travelled the Caucasus starting in 1870, documenting life and customs of local populations as well as photographing prominent public figures.

A portrait of a local from the mountainous Georgian region Khevureti as captured by American photographer George Kennan, from the New York Public Library collection Caucasus: An Album of Photographs.

The travels followed his earlier work Tent Life in Siberia in which he narrated about his experiences while employed by the Russian-American Telegraph Company for the project of a trans-Siberian telegraph line.

Kennan also authored works on other parts of the world including Cuba and subjects such as American politics.

The full collection of Kennan's photographs of Georgia and the Caucasus can be viewed here.