Small 8vo. 236 pp., 34 illustrations after photographs by the author including a frontispiece and a folding panorama of Makkah, half title, new modern leather binding with title gilt on spine, preserving publisher’s original wrappers with very light shelf wear, light toning to pages, occasional spotting, otherwise copy in very good condition, Librairie Hachette, Paris, first edition, 1896.

Synopsis

Jules Gervais-Courtellemont travelled in 1894 for the first time to Hijaz. A convert to Islam, Gervais-Courtellemont was one of the very few Western visitors to Mecca during the last half of the 19th and early 20th century. His classic account of his pilgrimage is of special interest for the numerous illustrations engraved after photographs by the author. Many of the buildings and sites thus documented have since changed significantly. He describes in this book his experiences and observations in Jeddah and Mecca. He also travelled to Hijaz in 1901 at the invitation of the Ottoman authorities to photograph the inauguration of the Hijaz railway.
Bibliographic references: “Christians at Mecca”, pp. 244-260; Macro: Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1016; Howgego III, G10. OCLC 23429140.