Burton, Sir Richard Francis

3 volumes, 8vo (9 x 6 in; 230 x 150 mm). 14 plates, comprising 5 chromolithographs, 8 tinted lithographs, and one uncolored wood-engraving; 4 maps and plans, 3 of them folding. Half-title in volume 3, as issued. Lacking errata leaf and advertisements in volume 1. Later half calf and cloth binding, spines gilt. Minor browning throughout. Joints rubbed with some minor shelf wear. 

Casada 49; Penzer 50

Travel to Mecca and Medina was, at that time, forbidden to Europeans on pain of death. Less than half a dozen Europeans were known to have made the dangerous pilgrimage to these Islamic holy cities. Burton journeyed at considerable risk, disguised as a Muslim native of the Middle East (as depicted in the frontispiece of volume two). During the several days that Burton spent in Mecca, he performed the associated rites of the pilgrimage such as circumambulating the Kaaba, drinking the Zemzem water and stoning the devil at Mount Arafat. The resulting book surpassed all preceding Western accounts of the holy cities. While he was not the first non-Muslim European to make the journey, Burton's pilgrimage is the most famous and the best documented of the time.