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German translation of an important work on North Africa and the Middle East

SHAW, Thomas.
Reisen oder Anmerkungen verschiedene Theile der Barbarey und der Levante betreffend.

17 folding and 15 full-page engraved plates, one signed by J.D. Philippius, geb. Sysangin, some woodcut illustrations in the text, engraved head pieces and initials.

Leipzig, Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf und Sohn, 1765. 2 parts in one vol. 4to. Contemporary three quarter calf, spine gilt in compartments. 17 folding and 15 full-page engraved plates, one signed by J.D. Philippius, geb. Sysangin, some woodcut illustrations in the text, engraved head pieces and initials. XX, 424, (22) pp.

First edition of the German translation of the considerably expanded second and best English edition of 1757 of a standard work on North Africa, first published by the Oxford University Press in 1738 as Travels, or Observations relating to several parts of Barbary and the Levant by Thomas Shaw (1692-1751). A French translation appeared in The Hague in 1743, a Dutch translation by Pieter Boddaert in 1773.
Shaw was an English scholar, natural historian and traveller, who, after receiving holy orders, was appointed chaplain to the English factory in Algiers in 1720. He held this post for twelve years, then travelled for three years across North Africa, passing through Algeria, Tunis, Libya and Egypt, and continuing into Palestine and Syria. He returned to England in 1734, and in the same year took the degree of D.D. and became a fellow of the Royal Society. He held the chair of regius professor of Greek at Oxford until his death in 1751.
In addition to the information Shaw imparts on the antiquities, geology and geography of the areas he visited, the work is also very important for the history of botany as Shaw describes in a supplement 600 plants which he had personally collected, 140 of which were previously unknown to botanists.
The first part is devoted primarily to North Africa (Barbary) with maps of Algeria, Lybya and Tunis, and plates of the town Algiers, birds, musical notations of Bedouin, Moorish, Turkish and other tunes (in European notation), Roman antiquities, etc.
The second part is primarily devoted to Egypt, including many chapters and plates on the Egyptian and Roman antiquities (including a 'facsimilé' of the famous mosaic of Palestrina, with further chapters on Syria and Palestine. It is especially valuable for its maps of the areas, including a map of Jerasalem and a 'facsimilé' of the Peutinger map.
Part 1 starts with the title, preface, and List of plates. The text on Algeria is on pp.1-62; on Tunesia: pp. 63-116, followed by the additions on the natural history of Algeria and Tunesia on pp. 117-224
Part 2: half-title, and the text on Syria, Egypt and Arabia (pp. 225-280), Notes on various parts of the Levant (pp. 283-390), 'Collectanea oder Sammlung von solchen Aussätzen, welche zur Erläuterung einiger von den verhergehenden Anmerkungen dienen (on botany and antiquities in north Africa; pp. 391-424); Indices.

Good copy.- (Binding rubbed, missing title label on spine).

Cox I, p. 377; Pritzel 8649; Gay 391; Nissen 3839.

Related Subjects: 18th Century Africa German Travel & Voyages Turkey

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