8vo. xii, [1], 466 pp., frontispiece portrait, 1 large colour folding map, 2 folding plans / [1], 398 pp, 2 folding plans, half-titles, contemporary half calf with marbled boards, title gilt on morocco labels on raised spine, gilt top edges, marbled end paper, index, Bookplate of Steve Fossett verso front covers, otherwise copy clean & in very good condition, Macmillan & Co., London, first edition, 1865.

Synopsis

Palgrave (1826-1888) was a former member of the 8th Bombay Infantry,who left the army to become a Roman Catholic missionary. After being ordained by the Jesuits in Madras,he ministered in Southern India and Syria,before embarking on his journey through Arabia. “For many years Arabia had remained closed to Europeans. Palgrave now undertook an adventurous journey across Central Arabia,which he accomplished in 1862 and 1863. His object was to ascertain how far missionary enterprise was possible among pure Arabs,but he also accepted a mission from Napoleon III,who furnished funds for the journey,for the purpose of reporting on the attitude of the Arabs towards France,and on the possibility of obtaining pure Arabian blood-stock for breeding purposes in Europe. Passing as a Syrian Christian doctor and merchant,he found his best protection in his intimate acquaintance with Arabian manners. But he carried his life in his hands; for in the midst of the Wahabi fanatics of Central Arabia,detection would certainly have been his ruin. The result of his journey he embodied in one of the most fascinating of modern books of travel,his `Narrative of a Year’s Journey.,’ published in 1865” — DNB.