Middle East - RENOÜARD DE BUSSIERRE (Léon). Letters on the O - Lot 239

Middle East - RENOÜARD DE BUSSIERRE (Léon). Letters on the Orient written during the years 1827 and 1828. ATLAS. Paris, Levrault, 1829. In ff. folio, printed green delivery cover (worn). [2] ff. title and table (light spotting and foxing) and 32 beautiful lithographed plates (on Chine monté) by Engelmann after the author's drawings (a few marginal foxing marks sparing the engravings) depicting views of Therapia (Tarabya in Istanbul), Constantinople, Scutari, Brousse (Bursa), Mount Olympus, Tenedos, Metelin (Mytilene), Gizeh, Syouth, Karnak, Qournah, Philæ... Very rare first-edition atlas (without the 2 separate volumes of text) for this account of an embassy secretary's journey from Central Europe to the far reaches of the Orient; the itinerary leads from Krakow to the shores of the Black Sea and the Bosphorus, crosses Anatolia and the Aegean Sea, traverses the Greek archipelago and Crete, before reaching Egypt: Alexandria, Cairo and the Nile valley to Nubia. The voyage ends with a crossing of Sinai and a return to the Mediterranean, via Suez and Alexandria to Toulon. Expert: Madame Elvire POULAIN-MARQUIS