Beschreibung:

Egypt] - HAY, Robert - Illustrations of Cairo. Drawn on stone by J.C. Bourne , under the superintendence of Owen B. Carter, architect. London, Tilt, Bogue (printed by Moyes and Barclay), 1840, large folio, publ. quarter brown shagreen (corners somewhat rubbed and rounded, cloth covers locally discol.), gilt title label on upper cover, giltruled flat spine (sl. rubbed, sm. tear without loss to lower part), [6]-23 pp., [29] pl. (occasional foxing, with some pp. or pl. more affected). Good copy, plates generally fresh.
Beautiful lithographic album complete with additional decorative title, printed title, dedication and 30 tinted lithogr. on 29 plates captioned in the pictures, on thick vellum paper; descriptive text bound at the end. Picturesque animated views after drawings by R. Hay (6), O.B. Carter (18) and Ch. Laver on Islamic Cairo, representing i.a. the aquaduct of Cairo, public fountains, gateways, mosques and minarets, palaces, crowded streets, a slave market, the Bulaq area, etc. "Robert Hay (1799-1863) was part of a remarkable circle of young, British, independant scholar enthusiasts who came to "discover" and "record" Egypt. Between 1824 and 1834 he financed two expeditions to Egypt, and became a major figure in the systematic recording of pharaonic monuments (...) Paradoxally, however, it is for his "Illustrations of Cairo" (...) that he is best known today (...) These drawings are the first accurate documentation of Cairo's rich mix of people and documents" (C. Williams . Ref. Abbey Travel I, 270 (= Gay 2497, Ibrahim-Hilmy I, p. 292). C. Williams The visual image of the 19th c. Cairo in "Arab and Islamic studies in honor of Marsden Jones", 1997, p. 40. COPAC.