Views in Palestine, from the original drawings of Luigi Mayer : with an historical and descriptive account of the country, and its remarkable places
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Date: 1804
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Work originally issued in 6 parts, with the volume originally published separately and subsequently issued as v. 2 of a 3 volume set, along with Mayer's "Views in Egypt" and "Views in the Ottoman empire, chiefly in Caramania", the whole issued in 1804 with collective t.p. "Views in Egypt, Palestine and others parts of the Ottoman Empire"
In addition to the magnificent views of cities and ruins, there are many plates of ethnographic interest depicting native costume. Diplomats were in an ideal position to contribute to the spread of knowledge about the countries they visited. Although he was in many respects an amateur, Sir Robert Ainslie compensated his lack of training with his enthusiasm as an orientalist. He was the English ambassador in Istanbul from 1776 to 1792 and became a particular favourite of the Sultan Ahmed IV.
He availed himself of his position to assemble a large collection of ancient coins from North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Near East, many of which were published by Domenico Sestini in Leghorn. Ainslie also employed a draughtsman, Luigi Mayer from Rome who had been a pupil of one of the greatest artists of his day, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. In 1792, before accompanying his patron back to England, Mayer toured Egypt, Caramania and Palestine and executed many of the fine drawings.
(447 x 320 mm), 47 pp., English and French text
Illustrated with 24 hand colored aquatints after drawings by Mayer. The aquatints were probably etched by W. Watts. Cf. Abbey. Plates have imprint: R. Bowyer, Historic Gallery, Pall Mall, 1803 [or] 1804.
References:
Abbey Travel 369; Atabey 788; Blackmer 1099; Brunet III, 1557; Colas 2020. Gay 2145. Rohricht p. 339; Weber 1, 1101.
Publisher: London : Printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer
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ISBN-10: N/A
Date Added: 2019-01-08
Ainslie, Robert, Mayer, Luigi, Views in Palestine. London : Printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer. 1804.
Ainslie, Robert, Mayer, Luigi, (1804) Views in Palestine. London : Printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer.
Ainslie, Robert, Mayer, Luigi, Views in Palestine. London : Printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer. 1804.