Badia y Leblich | Travels of Ali Bey in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. 1816, 2 volumes

[Badia y Leblich, Domingo]

Travels of Ali Bey in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, between the years 1803 and 1807. Written by himself. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1816

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, 2 volumes, 4to (271 x 208mm.), half-titles, frontispiece portrait, 4 folding engraved maps of Morocco, Northern Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, engraved Arabic text on p.1, 85 engraved plates (3 double-page, 6 folding), letterpress sheet of Greek printing between pp.304-305, advertisement leaf at the end of volume 2, diced calf, spine decorated in gilt and blind, occasional light foxing, bindings rubbed, new endpapers

The first English edition of Badia y Leblich's account of his travels across the Muslim world, from Morocco to Mecca, disguised as an a Arab called Ali Bey el Abbassi. His disguise (he was even circumcised) enabled him to access places forbidden to non-believers, including Mecca, though his real identity was suspected by the time he reached Constantinople. His expedition was supported by the Spanish authorities, to whom he made reports on his travels.

LITERATURE:

Blackmer 62