8vo. xx, 536 pp., half-title, 12 lithographed plates, 8 tinted and 4 chromolithographed, 4 maps & plans, of which 1 map is folding, 24 woodcuts in text, original gilt decorated red cloth, all edges gilt, index, glossary, spine professionally repaired, scattered foxing, previous owner’s inscriptions on front fly leaf, otherwise copy in good condition, Edward Stanford, London, first edition, 1879.

Synopsis

This travel diary covers territory in Syria and the rural Asian provinces of the Ottoman Empire, areas the author deems to be sadly unvisited by American tourists. The author made a special effort to avoid officials, instead spending time with ordinary people, towards whom he was sympathetic. He asserts that Christians were not especially oppressed by the government but rather both Muslims and Christians were misruled. The book was researched and written in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War and so the author includes discussion of the relative virtue of Russian rule as well as the impact of the war on the common people. Much of the account is taken up with describing the landscape and physical features of the territory rather than just cultural description and political commentary. The author includes a historical summary of the region and an analysis of the Muslim poor in separate sections at the end of the book.