BURT, George, Sheriff of London and Middlesex Notes of a Three Months' Trip to Egypt, Greece, Constantinople, and the Eastern Shores of the Mediterranean Sea, etc., etc. London, Marchant Singer & Co., 1878.
Small 4to. Original blind-panelled maroon cloth with bevelled edges, lettered in gilt; pp. [iv], 47; binding a little darkened, light spotting to title-page, else a very good copy, this inscribed to the title "With the Authors kind Regards to Mr A. Robertson 20/01/86".
First and only edition of a scarce item, not listed in any of the relevant bibliographies. Burt's brief diary of a journey made for health reasons appears to be his only publication. Descriptions of the cities and monuments visited are inevitably somewhat curtailed, but as Burt himself writes in his Preface, "Should others, like myself, in search of health and mental relaxation, find the details narrated practically useful, irrespective of their homely qualities, my object will be more than realized." George Burt was one of the most eminent civil works contractors of London in the last third of the 19th century. He presented this volume to Andrew Roberson, Clark of Works for London County Council, and clearly had some association with George Burt. As a civil engineer Burt admires the construction and workings of the Suez Canal, and he and his family enjoy an ascent of the Great Pyramid, the construction of which he assesses as a professional. Intersting for the history of tourism in Egypt is the first appendix, which gives the full text of the agreement between Burt and the Egyptian dragoman. The second appendix is on Cleopatra's Needle, the obelisk erected on the embankment of the Thames and transported with great difficulty and ingenuity from Egypt to London the year this book was published.
#2119704