El-Khuds, the Holy; or, Glimpses in the Orient

Philadelphia: James Challen & Son, 1861. First edition. Hardcover. Very good condition. Quarto (9 1/2 x 6 1/2"). xii, 13-475, [5]pp., 10 plates, incl. frontispiece. Original brown leather with elaborate tooling and ruling on covers, gilt lettering, tooling and ruling on spine; raised bands. Gilt edges. Gilt dentelles. Yellow endpapers. Tissue guarded color frontispiece. Protected by modern mylar.

A native Virginian, William Mason Turner (1835-1877) attended Brown University, from which he received a Ph. B. degree in 1855. Following Brown, Turner enrolled in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for a three year course of study. After completing his studies in medicine, Turner made a tour of Europe and the Middle East with a group of fellow doctors. His travel journal, entitled El-Khuds, the Holy; Or, Glimpses in the Orient, relates his adventurous 2-month journey in the Middle East, and his coming back to Paris (February 14, 1859 to April 12, 1859).

This work is complete with its 16 striking lithographs on ten tissue guarded plates (including frontispiece) depicting the Mosque of Omar (Jerusalem), Valetta (Island of Malta), the Wailing Wall (Jerusalem), House of Simon the Tanner in Jaffa, Jaffa from the Steamer, the Tower of Ramleh, a view of Ramleh, Modern Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Tombs in the Valley of Josaphat, Bethlehem, Bethany, The Tomb of Rachel, Street of the Christians in Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Ecce Homo Arch.

Small chip of top layer of leather with slight loss of gilt decor. Some very light wear along edges of binding. Yellow front endpaper missing. Plates with damp-staining along edges, not or barely affecting images. (Inventory #: 55119)