Palestine, lavishly illustrated

Messmer, Joseph Anton. Das Heilige Land und die heiligen Stätten. Ein Pilgerbuch in ausgewählten Bildern mit erläuterndem Text [...].

Munich, Vogel'sche Verlagshandlung, 1860.

4to. IX, (1), 356 pp. With steel-engraved title-page, 79 engraved plates (of which 24 are coloured steel-engravings, 54 tinted woodcuts, and one a tinted lithograph), and one steel-engraved folding map of Palestine in original hand colour. Contemporary giltstamped and blindstamped full cloth with title to cover and spine. All edges gilt.

 950,00

First edition. Lavishly illustrated work on the Holy Land by the professor of archaeology and later conservator at the Bavarian National Museum, Messmer (1829-79), featuring the same illustrations as Friedrich Adolph Strauss in his 1861 work "Die Länder und Stätten der heiligen Schrift". However, Messmer's work greatly differs in the text, which is "preferable [to that of Strauss] as it discusses the element of architecture much more thoroughly" (cf. Tobler). It is sometimes inaccurately described as an extract or abbridgement of another publication by Strauss, entitled "Sinai und Golgatha", first published in 1847. The steel-engraved illustrations include views of Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Damascus, the interior and exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, views of Mount Olivet, the Temple Mount, the Jericho desert, and Mount Sinai, as well as archaeological sites like Abu Simbel, and a violent scene showing the assassination of a Maronite priest and the kidnapping of women by Druzes and Bedouins. The woodcut plates include views of Beirut, Gaza, Hebron, Jericho and Sidon.

Hinges somewhat chafed. Several pages show traces of one or two horizontal folds starting from right margin (most prominent in pp. 151-175); occasional light brownstaining; small flaw to lower corner of p. 221f., no loss to text. Otherwise very well preserved.

Literatur

Tobler 171f. (note). Röhricht 2093 (note). OCLC 174874595.