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Swedish account of a journey through Arabia

WALLIN, Georg August (Yrjö Aukusti).
Första Resa fran Cairo till Arabiska Öknen i April 1845. Fragment. ... Med en karta.
Helsinki, (S. Baranovskij for) J. Simelius, 1853. 8vo. With lithographed map at the end; printed music for a Bedouin melody in the text. Green half calf, contemporary marbled boards, title in gold on rebacked spine. VII, [1], 126, [2 blank] pp.
€ 8,500
First edition, published posthumously in the original Swedish, of an account of Wallins principal journey through Arabia, unknown to most bibliographers: "It was not until two years after his death", writes Henze, "that the report of his first (and most important) journey (performed in 1845, a year before the appearance of the first volume of Carl Ritters Arabia) was published". This refers to the English "Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca", which was printed in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1854. In fact, an extensive account of the first leg of this highly significant journey was first given to the world in December 1853, only a little more than a year after the authors death. In contrast with the later JRGS publication, the present work includes an appendix rendering Arabic terms and phrases that occur throughout the text in the original language and script. It is not clear to us whether Wallin left it incomplete or whether the publisher chose to abridge it, but the title-page calls it a "fragment".
"In 1845, proceeding southeast across the wastelands of the Nafud Desert, he reached Hail then continued by force of circumstances southward to Medina and Mecca. From there he returned to Egypt" (Howgego). More precisely, he "moved eastwards from Wadi al-Araba, first touching upon the upper regions of Wadi Sirhan, then on to the oasis of Djuf (Algawf) and crossed the central regions of Shammar, via Djobbah (Gubbi), the Great Nefud (Nufood), and Hail ... Of Shammar and its inhabitants he provided the fullest account, unsurpassed by later travellers in its scholarly precision" (Henze).
Owners stamp "L. L. Cygnaeus, Helsingfors" on flyleaf. Quite unusually, this copy shows little browning and is further in fine condition. K.-E. Henriksson, "A Wallin Bibliography", in: Studia orientalia 17 (1952), pp. 13-16, at p. 13; WorldCat 551923531; cf. Macro 2262; Howgego (1800-50), W12, p. 627; Henze V, 452 (all citing only the 1854 JRGS publication); Fück 198 (mentioning the journey); not in Gay; Ibrahim-Hilmy.
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Related Subjects:

Cartography & exploration  >  Voyages & Travel
Early printing & manuscripts  >  Asia & Middle East
Middle east & islamic world  >  Africa | Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States | Cartography & Exploration