8vo. Volume I: 568 pp., 1 folding frontispiece plan of the Temple of Mount Gerizim, Samaria, Volime II: 658 pp., frontispiece folding map of the Coasts of the Dead Sea and the Land of Moab, dated 1853, small tape to map at back seam not affecting text, illustration, contemporary full calf, slightly rubbed round edges, title gilt on decorated & raised spine, gilt upper edges, marbled end papers, bookplate of F. Thorpe Lawrence verso front covers and stamps of the same on front and on back end papers, few pencil annotations and underlining, fly leaves lightly soiled, otherwise set in good condition, Richard Bentley, London, first English edition, 1853.

Synopsis

First published in French in 1853. De Saulcy was a numismatist and archaeologist especially interested in oriental epigraphy. In the winter of 1850-51 he travelled to Palestine with Eduard Delessert , J.H. Michon and the artists Leon Belly and (_) Loysel. Gustave de Rothschild, a friend of Delessert,joined the group in Jerusalem with his retinue. De Saulcy’s main object was to explore the shores of the Dead Sea; he was one of the first to study with method the historical geography of this area. De Saulcy believed he had found the tombs of the Kings of Israel and offered a sarcophagus which he called that of ‘David’ to the Louvre. He travelled from Beirut through parts of Syria to Jerusalem and around the Dead Sea area, including Massada, Jericho, Sodom, Zoar, through the deserts, etc. He describes the peoples, ruins, archaeology, nature, scenery, cities, etc, in detail.
Bibliographic references: Blackmer 266; Tobler p. 180; Hage Chahine 4333 (I-IV); this edition not in Hilmy; Nissen, ZBI 499 (II); Horn-Sch. 17868 (IV).