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Details
POCOCKE, Richard (1704-1765). A Description of the East, and Some other Countries. London: W. Bowyer for the author, 1743-1745.
2 volumes, 2o (416 x 253 mm). Three titles with engraved vignettes, engraved dedication in Volume 2, and 178 engraved plates, plans, views, maps and charts, some folding (some offsetting, tear to plate 72 in volume one touching image). Later diced calf gilt (light rubbing, upper and lower hinges cracked in both volumes) Provenance: Earl Winserton, 1778 (ownership inscription); Chas. Bery. Caldwell (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of this work of "superior learning and dignity" (Edward Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 11, note 69). "The quality and particularly the earliness of his observations and their record in prose, maps, and diagrams make him one of the most important near eastern travellers, ranking with Frederik Ludvig Norden and Carsten Niebuhr, in stimulating an Egyptian revival in European art and architecture, and recording much that has subsequently been lost" (DNB). Pococke spent three years from 1737 travelling in the Mediterranean, visiting Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land. His work, illustrated after his original drawings, enjoyed great success within Pococke's lifetime, and was translated into French, German and Dutch. Blackmer 1323.
2 volumes, 2o (416 x 253 mm). Three titles with engraved vignettes, engraved dedication in Volume 2, and 178 engraved plates, plans, views, maps and charts, some folding (some offsetting, tear to plate 72 in volume one touching image). Later diced calf gilt (light rubbing, upper and lower hinges cracked in both volumes) Provenance: Earl Winserton, 1778 (ownership inscription); Chas. Bery. Caldwell (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of this work of "superior learning and dignity" (Edward Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 11, note 69). "The quality and particularly the earliness of his observations and their record in prose, maps, and diagrams make him one of the most important near eastern travellers, ranking with Frederik Ludvig Norden and Carsten Niebuhr, in stimulating an Egyptian revival in European art and architecture, and recording much that has subsequently been lost" (DNB). Pococke spent three years from 1737 travelling in the Mediterranean, visiting Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land. His work, illustrated after his original drawings, enjoyed great success within Pococke's lifetime, and was translated into French, German and Dutch. Blackmer 1323.