Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, by the late John Lewis Burckhardt; published by the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa. London: John Murray, 1822. English and some Arabic.
Description of the travels of the Swiss orientalist and traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in Syria and Palestine. Includes seven plates - portrait of the author (lithograph facing title page) and six maps and plans (engravings). Including: a large (folded) map of Syria, Palestine and Egypt; a folded map of Hauran; plans of Jerash and Amman; and more.
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817) was renowned mainly for his rediscovery of the remains of Petra in Jordan. In ca. 1806 he received approval from the London-based Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa to embark on an investigative journey aiming to locate the sources of the Niger River (this is the institution that published the present book). In preparation for this journey, and since he intended to present himself as a Muslim during the research work, he studied Arabic and traveled to the East in order to learn and become familiar with Muslim customs. In 1809 he traveled to Syria, and while there embarked on a number of trips. While traveling he took a Muslim name - Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah - and attempted to integrate in the communities he visited. Burckhardt fell ill and died in Cairo before embarking on his journey in Africa, and was buried there in a Muslim cemetery.
[1] leaf, XXIII, [3], 668 pp, + [7] plates. 27 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Dark dampstains to some of the leaves (mostly in the beginning and end of the book). Small tears to the large folded map. One leaf (table of contents) is detached and torn at the margins. Worn, torn and detached binding (as a result, a number of leaves at the beginning and end of the book are detached). Pen inscription on the inner side of the front binding.