Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte pendant les années 1783, 1784 et 1785 [Travels through Egypt and Syria in the Years 1783, 1784 and 1785], by Constantin-François Volney. Paris: Desenne \ Volland, 1787. French. Second edition. Two volumes. Travelogue recounting the travels of Volney, the French orientalist, through Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine (visiting Jerusalem, Acre and Safed). With copious information regarding local geography, manners, customs, and government; five folding engraved plates: one map of Syria, one map of Egypt, and three plates depicting the Baalbek temple and the ruins of Palmyra. Second edition (printed the same year as the first edition). Elegant quarto with wide margins. Gilt edges. Constantin-François Chassebœuf de La Giraudais, comte de Volney (1757-1820), philosopher, orientalist and liberal French politician. Authored several works on his travels to the Levant and America, political philosophy and philosophy of history. During the French revolution, he was member of the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly, and had only barely escaped the guillotine at the time of the Reign of Terror. He was a member of the Académie Française, and played an important role in founding the discipline of Oriental studies in France. Vol. I : XVI, 383 pp. + [2] folding maps; Vol. II: VIII, 458 pp., [2] ff. + [3] folding plates, 26 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains (mostly clean). Minor tears to several pages and plates, not affecting text and prints. Inked stamps to title pages. Matching leather-covered bindings, gilt. Bindings slightly worn. Abrasions and tears to spines. Gilt edges.

Travels in Palestine through the countries of Bashan and Gilead, East of the River Jordan, by James Silk Buckingham. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821. English. First edition. First edition of a travelogue of Palestine by James Silk Buckingham. Accompanied by many in-text illustrations and nine plates: the author's portrait, a large map of Palestine (folding), two maps of Jerusalem ("Ancient Jerusalem" and "Modern Jerusalem"), map of Jerash, three architectural sketches of edifices and temples and copies of inscriptions on monuments and tombstones. James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), English writer, born in Flushing. In late 1815, he travelled to the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Lebanon, Acre, Nazareth, Caesarea, Jaffa, Ramla, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Jerash, and more. XXV, [1], 553, [1] pp. + [9] plates, 27 cm. Good condition. Stains (mainly to plates and margins of leaves). Some worming (not affecting text or prints). Small tears to first leaves. Two bookplates. Leather-covered boards, with gilt design. Abrasions and blemishes to binding. Loss to upper spine. Front board detached. Back board loose.

Travels in Turkey, Asia-Minor, Syria, and across the desert into Egypt during the years 1799, 1800 and 1801, in company with the Turkish army and the British military mission, by William Wittman. London: Richard Phillips, 1803. English. First edition. William Wittman's travelogue; Wittman, served as surgeon to the British Military Mission that allied with the Ottoman Army against Napoleon. The work is illustrated with twenty four plates: 21 aquatints, 16 of them hand-colored, depicting views and costumes in the Ottoman Empire: "The Capitan Bachi" (Grand admiral of the Ottoman navy Küçük Hüseyin Pasha), "The Governor of the Gates of the Seraglio and Chief of the White Eunuchs", "Member of the Ottoman Light Cavalry", "chief cook of the Janissaries", "Albanian soldier", "The Toutoun Bashii of the Grand Vezier or Chief of the Tobacco", and others; a folding map of the Mediterranean Basin (with the route of Wittman's journey), a hand-colored map of the tent camps surrounding Jaffa and a large engraving featuring an Ottoman ferman. Two engravings – Jaffa from the sea and the Julien Fort were made after drawings by Francis B. Spilsbury. xvi, 503, [4], 484-595, [1] pp. + [21] plates (16 hand-colored), [2] maps (one hand-colored) and [1] print of a Turkish ferman, approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor worming to margins. Minor tears to edges of some leaves (some open, not affecting text); tears to folding plates (affecting print), some repaired with paper. Handwriting in the margins of the title page. Bookplate on inside front board. Semi-leather binding, slightly blemished. The front board is loose.

The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia. From Drawings Made On The Spot By David Roberts. London: F.G. Moon, 1842-1845 (lithographed title pages are dated 1842-1843; some of the lithographs are dated 1844-1845). Three volumes bound in two. English. Early edition of David Roberts's monumental work, The Holy Land, with 123 lithographs. Folio. The lithographs, after drawings by Roberts, depict edifices, towns, landscapes and sites sacred to the various religions throughout Palestine and the Middle East, documentation of the journeys undertaken by Roberts during the years 1839-1840. The work was first published during the years 1842-1849. The first three volumes were published during the years 1842-1845, in 20 parts (divided into 18 portfolios), with lithographic title pages for the first and second volumes only. Later, the three additional volumes were published, as well as a lithographic title page for the third volume and a map. The present lot comprises the first three volumes, bound in two, with 123 lithographs – a portrait of Roberts, title pages for the first two parts and 120 additional lithographs (some full-page and some half-page). Bound at the end of the second volume is a list of subscribers (4 pp; rare ). The subscribers include Charles Dickens, William Morris and John Raskin. The Holy Land is considered one of the most important ventures of 19th century lithographic printing. The drawings were executed by Roberts during a journey to the Near East in 1839-1840; Roberts was accompanied by armed bodyguards in a caravan of camels. Some of these bodyguards served Roberts as models in his drawings. The lithographs based on the drawings were made by several important lithographers, including Louis Haghe, and their preparation, supervised by Roberts, took almost ten years. The lithographs were eventually published in two editions – one plain, one hand-colored, and became one of the most well-known printing projects of the 19th century. To fund the printing, more than 600 subscribers signed up in advance – including aristocrats and European rulers: Queen Victoria, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, the Austrian Emperor, the Russian Tzar, the kings of France and Prussia and others. Due to the success of the edition, a smaller edition, offered at a lower price, was published several years later (see item 300). Three volumes bound in two. With all the lithographs published in these volumes present (without the title page and map printed later) and text leaves, bound out of sequence. Without list of prints (as issued?); some text leaves possibly missing. Volume I : [29] lithographic plates, [27] plates with in-text lithographs and 40 pp. of text. Volume II : [34] lithographic plates, [33] plates with in-text lithographs and 4 pp. of text (list of subscribers). 60 cm. Good condition. Stains. Blemishes to margins. Several detached or partly detached leaves. Half leather bindings; wear and abrasions; losses to spines (spine of the second volumes almost completely missing, with strips of tape).