Fine Books and Manuscripts

A Description of the East, and Some other Countries. London: W. Bowyer, 1743-1785. 3 parts bound in 2 volumes, folio (402 x 243 mm). 3 title-pages with engraved vignettes, engraved dedication to vol.II, 179 engraved plates, plans, views and maps, some folding. Contemporary brown calf, spines gilt (old rebacking, hinges starting, some light wear).FIRST EDITION. "The quality and particularly the earliness of [Pococke's] observations and their recordin prose, maps, and diagrams make him one of the most important near eastern travellers, ranking with Frederik Ludvig Norden and Carsten Niebuhr, in stimulating an Egyptian revival in European art and Architecture, and recording much that has subsequently been lost" (DNB).