Views in Palestine from the original Drawings of Luigi Mayer, With an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Country and Its Remarkable Places. London: printed by Thomas Bensley for R. Bowyer, 1804 (aquatints dated 1803-1804). English.
24 hand-colored aquatint plates, after Luigy Mayer's drawings of Palestine. Most of the aquatints depict Jerusalem and the vicinity (view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Pool of Siloam, Tomb of Absalom, Valley of Josaphat, Bethlehem and elsewhere), and local inhabitants. Plates watermarked "J. Whatman 1801".
The drawing were made by Mayer for British diplomat and orientalist Robert Ainsley (ca. 1730 – 1812), during the latter's tenure as British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Two more volumes with aquatint plates after Mayer's drawings – "Views in Egypt" (see previous item) and "Views of the Ottoman Empire" – were published around the same time. In 1804, the three volumes were put together and sold with the general title page "Views in Egypt, Palestine, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire".
[1] f., 47, [1] pp. + [24] plates, 46.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, including foxing (mostly to tissue guards and edges). Creases and minor tears to tissue guards. Two new tissue guards. Bookplate to inside front board. Half leather binding. Abrasions, blemishes and minor tears to binding. Front board somewhat loose.