A JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO JERUSALEM AT EASTER, A.D. 1697 (SECOND EDITION); "The Second Edition, in which the Corrections and Additions, which were sent by the Author after the Book was Printed off, are inserted in the Body of the Book in their proper places."
Oxford, England: Printed at the Theater, An. Dom. MDCCVII And Sold by Jonah Bowyer at the Rose in Ludgate-street near St. Paul's Church. 1707. Second Edition, Revised and Corrected. Leather-bound. Octavo, 7 1/2" x 4.50". [12] 145 [{7]. Brown diced calf -- most likely replacement boards -- ruled in rectangular frame of gilt, with interior border of alternating (right-side up and upside down) heart-shaped stamped tool. Decorative, elaborately tooled (un-hubbed) spine, double-ruled in gilt to each of six compartments, with gilt 1707 date to bottom-most compartment. Rubbing to extremities (corners, edges and spinecaps). Gilding and decorative stamping to edges. Evidence of past conservation to front hinge. Rubbing to extremities and corners bumped. Nine engraved plates of sites in/near Syria, five of them folding, and in-text drawings.
Dedication to previous owner, with date (To Professor _____ Smith, Easter, 1924) to front free endpaper. Several, small, blue, oval stamps of previous owner John Brymer's appear (Imprimatur page ("Heir-Loom, John Brymer. No. 1095" to Imprimatur page -- verso of Title Page), and "John Brymer, Islington House, Dorchester" to pp. 1, 149 & 152)
Essentially gleaned from Maundrell's travel diary of his Easter Pilgrimage in 1697. Chaplain to Aleppo. Quintessential (ostensibly) religious travel journal of the late fifteenth century.
The seven final pages contain letters from Maundrell to Daniel Osborn, "in answer to some questions propos'd by him". (ESTC: T186568), which lists twelve copies of this second edition, worldwide.
This copy bears (on the front pastedown), the beautifully, elaborate exlibris of William Thomas Parr Brymer, who was the Archdeacon of Bath, a senior ecclesiastical position in the Church of England which has existed since the Twelfth Century, and a later ex-libris stamp to imprimatur page, with inventory number written in, from John Brymer. Very Good. Item #84840
"[Maundrell] left Aleppo in February 1697 in a company of fifteen men. Their circuit took them across Syria to Latakia, down the Syrian and Lebanese coasts as far as Acre, which they found in ruinous state save for a khan (caravanserai) occupied by some French merchants, a mosque and a few poor cottages. Thence they proceeded inland to Jerusalem, where they attended Latin rite Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They returned to Aleppo via Damascus, Baalbek and Tripoli; they arrived 18 May. The descriptions constantly referred to relevant passages in the Bible, encounters with greedy local Ottoman officials at road blocks and checkpoints demanding payment of caphar and confirmed Maundrell in his distaste for the local inhabitants.("The Journey of Henry Maundrell." Saudi Aramco World, July/August 1964.)
Maundrell was an observant reporter with a passion for precise detail: It is concise in contents, plain and attractive in style, and precise in its natural exposition of facts, all of which make it interesting to read even to-day. When the diary, crammed with precise, factual information, began to circulate among his friends they quickly realised that here at last was one of the first factual accounts of the antiquities of the Middle East. Its impact was such that he was persuaded by his uncle and several of his acquaintances, to prepare it for publication.... (Wikipedia, quoting Mohamad Ali Hachicho).
Price: $950.00