Views in Palestine / Views in the Ottoman Empire, after Paintings by Luigi Mayer. Two parts in one volume. London: Printed by Thomas Bensley for R. Bowyer, 1803-1804. English and French. Incomplete copy, with 26 out of 48 aquatints. Missing two leaves of text. "Views in Palestine" and "Views in the Ottoman Empire", bound together, with hand-colored aquatints after paintings by artist Luigi (Ludwig) Mayer (1755-1803). The paintings were created by Mayer for British diplomat and orientalist Robert Ainslie during the latter's term as British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The aquatints in "Views in Palestine" mostly depict Jerusalem and its environs (this copy includes 6 out of 24 prints, depicting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, priests, and more). "Views in the Ottoman Empire" focuses on several sites in the Ottoman Empire, particularly the environs of the Turkish city Karaman, and has two title pages (one in English and one in French). Sir Robert Ainslie (ca. 1730-1812), a British diplomat of Scottish origin, was a numismatist, Orientalist, and art collector. He served as Britain's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1776 and 1792. Luigi Mayer was commissioned by Ainslie to make paintings and drawings of the important sites in the Ottoman Empire, and engravings and lithographs were printed after his works. The works "Views in Palestine" (1804) and "Views in the Ottoman Empire" (1803), were first published individually. In 1804 they were put together (alongside a third volume – Views in Egypt, 1801) and sold with the general title page "Views in Egypt, Palestine, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire". [1] f., 1-36, 39-42, 45-47 pp. + [6] plates (missing 18 plates and two leaves of text: pp. 37-38 and 43-44); [2] ff., 40 pp. + [20] plates (missing four plates). 49 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears to edges (mostly minor). Strips of tape between the boards and body of the book. Boards with leather corners, worn and torn at edges. Cloth spine.