G., C. A Fortnight's Tour amongst the Arabs on Mount Lebanon, including a Visit to Damascus, Ba'albek, the Cedars, Natural Bridge, etc. London, James Nisbet and Co., 1876.
Small square 8vo. Original blue cloth with Arabic calligraphy on front cover, spine lettered in gilt; pp. xii, 163; four mounted albumen photographs including the frontispiece of "An Arab Gentleman of Damascus" and three others from paintings; light wear to extremities and spine, a little offsetting and spotting to and from frontispiece, a few filled insect holes to the gutters at the end, else a very good copy with John Brinton's contemporary bookplate inside front cover, late 19th-century stamp of the Church Library, Madeira, on initial blank.
Very rare first and only edition. The author of the present work is identified only by her initials on the title-page, but refers to herself in the preface as an authoress. She based the book on letters written from Lebanon to her invalid sister at home. She relates her travels, often on horseback, from Bhamdoon to Damascus, and on to the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Occasional references are made to Biblical subjects, but her journal is refreshing in its depiction of the local people and their lives. She devotes several paragraphs to Arab breadmaking.
Röhricht p. 588; not in Blackmer or Atabey.
#2113670