Album of Drawings – Souvenir from Soldiers of the Jewish Legion – 1918-1919

Album of Drawings – Souvenir from Soldiers of the Jewish Legion – 1918-1919
Portrait of Herzl, British Army Caricatures, a Drawing of Soldiers Storming the Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and More
An album of drawings and dedications, a gift to a company quartermaster sergeant from soldiers of the Jewish Legion. Cairo, Rafah, the Jordan River, Jerusalem and elsewhere in Egypt and Palestine, 1918-1919. English.
The album holds twenty six drawings by soldiers of the Jewish Legion and eight leaves with handwritten dedications (English). Most of the drawings were made with pencil (three of them with color pencils and three with watercolors) and they are hand-signed and dated by the soldiers to the years 1918-1919 – the period during which the Jewish Legion fought in Egypt and Palestine.
Drawings include: a color drawing of the pyramids on the Nile, several portraits of soldiers, a portrait of Theodor Herzl above a seven-branched Menorah, a drawing of a group of worshippers at the Western Wall, several caricatures (the German Emperor Wilhelm II near a noose, a quartermaster on a crate of soap, a comb after several months in the desert) and more. One of the drawings, titled "The inspiration of the Jewish battalions in the Palestine campaign during 1917-1919", depicts the soldiers of the Legion storming the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, with Theodor Herzl standing on their right, pointing the way. Next to Herzl is a scroll which reads "Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine" (the Basel Program).
One of the drawings is dedicated to Private P. Sobovinky (presumably, Philip Sobovinsky, a soldier of the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, who was killed in battle in October 1918).
Several dedications mention the surname and rank of the addressee: C.Q.M.S (company quartermaster sergeant) Shuter, "The man who clothed us, fed us and paid us" (from one of the dedications).
The leaves of the album are detached one from the other and from the binding. A total of 26 leaves with illustrations and 8 leaves with dedications. Approx. 16X20 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes. Wear and scuffs to binding. An Egyptian postage stamp on one of the dedication leaves.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.