Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried, and Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich

17 original parts bound in 4 volumes, folio (455 x 325mm.), various letterpress part and volume titles (as called for), volume 1 with inserted small-format leaf with letterpress text, 156 plates (135 hand-coloured), including 74 lithographs (60 hand-coloured), 59 engravings (56 hand-coloured), 3 hand-coloured aquatints and 20 etchings (16 hand-coloured), recent blue half morocco by James Brockman with his ticket, original upper wrappers to 14 of the parts bound in, original lower wrappers to 13 parts bound in, in addition one pair of wrappers provided in facsimile and bound in, [BM(NH) II, p.515; Stafleu TL2 1636; Wood p.330]

the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
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Very rare complete set of these beautifully-illustrated results of the natural history researches of Ehrenberg and Hemprich during their travels in Africa and the Middle East. No complete sets have been sold at auction in the past thirty years. An online survey of library holdings suggests that there may be only eight complete copies in institutional holdings.

In 1820 the Berlin naturalists Hemprich and Ehrenberg were invited on a primarily archaeological expedition to Egypt, led by Prussian General von Minutoli. In March 1821 they separated from the main party and travelled up the river Nile to Dongola, the capital of Nubia. They spent the next two years studying the natural history of that part of Egypt. In 1823 they sailed across the Gulf of Suez to El Sur on the south-west coast of the Sinai peninsula, remaining there for nine months. During this time they visited Mount Sinai, and Ehrenberg became one of the first naturalists to study the marine life of the Red Sea. In 1824 they visited the Lebanon, travelling inland from Beirut to the summit of the Jebel Liban and making their base at Bsharri, and returning to Egypt in August.

In November they set off again along the coasts of the Red Sea, calling at various ports including Jidda. They eventually arrived in the Eritrean port of Massawa, their intention being to visit the highlands of Abyssinia. Unfortunately Hemprich died in Massawa of fever, and Ehrenberg buried him on the island of Toalul. Ehrenberg returned to Europe, and in 1828 began the publication of the present work. The specimens collected by the expedition were deposited at the Berlin Museum: they included 46,000 botanical specimens of 3,000 species and 34,000 animal specimens of 4,000 species.