Large 8vo. vi, 446 pp., frontispiece portrait, 21 plates, of which 7 are double page, 1 folding plate of el-Abdur game, 1 large folding colour plan of Sanaa city, 1 folding panorama of Sanaa, 1 folding plate view of Aden, 2 folding maps and numerous woodcut illustrations in text, modern brown cloth binding, occasional light foxing, a very small tear to top corner of half-title page, otherwise copy in very good condition, Tipogragia, Eredi Botta, Rome, first edition, 1884.

Synopsis

Rare and richly illustrated account of Yemen, without doubt one of the fullest descriptions of life in San’a and Turkish-occupied North Yemen.
Renzo Manzoni (1852-1918), was an Italian explorer, grandson of Alessandro Manzoni. In his early twenties, he followed Giulio Adamoli on one of his expeditions to Morocco, supported by Senator Pietro Brambilla, his brother-in-law. During this period, Manzoni learned Arabic and carried out a vast photographic reportage of Morocco. In 1877, he undertook a journey to Yemen that lasted, with various vicissitudes, until 1880. The health conditions of the young Manzoni, in the meantime, had worsened, forcing him to return to Italy.