Oblong Folio. 14 pp, (List of Plates) + 90 lithograph plates of which 12 are folding including maps & plans, some are double page, engraved by Adam after the drawings of the author and Michallon, all plates numbered, edges of few pages browned, plates are clean, some worm holes affecting inner margins of few sheets, modern half-calf fitted in a slipcase, P. Didot l'aîné, Paris, first edition, 1814.

Synopsis

Ali Bey El Abbassi, whose original name was Badia Y Leblich was a Spanish traveller who disguised himself as an Arab. Some suggest that he was travelling as an agent for the Spanish government. Ali Bey’s history is still a mystery. No one seems to have ascertained the source of the funds which he spent with princely magnificence, though what purpose they had in so doing is not quite clear.
In 1803 he departed for Tangier and travelled through North Africa to Egypt, where he met Chateaubriand in Alexandria. He continued on to Cyprus, and reached Mecca by the beginning of 1807, returning to Spain via Jerusalem, Damascus and Constantinople the same year. He was the first Christian to describe, in some detail, Mecca and the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem, as well as some little known aspects of Islam.
After the publication of this work, he planned a second journey under the name of Ali Othman to Syria, but he died in Aleppo suddenly. It seems that his disguise was apparently uncovered.
The plates in this work are after original designs by Ali Bey, and include architectural studies, topographical views, as well as natural history subjects.
Bibliographic References: Ibrahim Hilmy I, 30; Palau 21683, Tobler 140; Brunet I, 182; Henze I, 138; not in Chadenat.