Description

4to. 2 parts in one vol.: X, 376; (4), 340 pp. With 2 portrait frontispieces, 2 chromolithographed plates and one folding map of Syria. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped spine and spine label; giltstamped emblem of the Edinburgh Collegiate School to upper cover. Leading edges gilt. All edges marbled. Bound by Seton and Mackenzie of Edinburgh. First edition of Lady Isabel Burton's first book, detailing a journey made with her husband Sir Richard Francis Burton to Syria, Palestine and the Holy Land between 1869 and 1871. A remarkable work of travel literature from a female point of view, intending "to convey an idea of the life which an Englishwoman may make for herself in the East" (p. VII). It includes detailed descriptions of Damascus, the Hajj, Palmyra and Beirut, as well as dervish dances, a Muslim wedding, and a Turkish bath. With portraits of Isabel and Richard Francis Burton. - Extremities very slightly rubbed. A fine copy in an appealing binding. - Weber I, 724. Cf. Blackmer 246 (2nd ed.). Not in Atabey.