Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte, pendant les années 1783, 1784 & 1785 [...].

2 vol., 8vo: xvi-383, [1-1 bl.]-458-[4] pp.; 5 fold. pl. (errors in pagination in vol. 1, prelim. complete, some browning and spotting, some dampstaining at the end of the 2nd vol.).

Quarter calf, marbled paper on covers, flat spines (joints splitting), marbled endpapers, red speckled edges.

First edition (the 2nd revised and corr. ed in the same year and according to Atabey 4to-sized) of this important work and one of the best on Syria and Egypt by the French philosopher, abolitionist, writer, orientalist and politician, Constantin François de Chasseboeuf, count of Volney (1757-1820). Ill. with 2 double-page maps of Egypt and Syria and 3 engr. pl. by J.B. Guibert showing the plan of the temple of the sun in Baalbek, a view of the square courtyard of the temple and a view of the ruins of Palmyra in the desert of Syria. Volney travelled in Egypt and Syria, 1783-1785, for a great deal of the time on foot. He accompanied Louis-François Cassas (1756-1827), French landscape painter, to Syria. His work influenced many historians, writers and politicians. Napoleon used it to prepare his expedition to Egypt, Victor Hugo was inspired by it to write "Les Orientales" and more generally it was an inspiration for a large number of romantic authors such as Stendhal, Michelet and Mérimée.
Ref. Atabey 1302 (= Weber II:600). - Not in Blackmer. - BnF.
Prov. Stamp on titles.
Joined: Id. - Les ruines, ou Méditation sur les révolutions des empires. Seconde édition. Paris, Desenne, Volland, Plassan, 1792. 8vo: front.-xvi-392 pp.; 3 pl. (spotting and soiling throughout, one pl. with tear along the folding line, other with browning in bl. margin). Mod. brown leather, flat spine, mod. endpapers. Second edition published 6 months after the first in 1791. Famous work by the philosopher Volney in which personal memories, philosophy and reflections alternate. Described as a meditation on the vicissitude of empires and on the effects of despotism and superstition as he had observed them in the East. Ill. with a front. and two folding pl. showing a hemispherical and an astrological fold. plate. Besides the disappearance of empires the work tackles multiple themes such as the origins of religious cults, symbolism, the cult of the stars, etc. All in a lyrical and allegorical style. Ref. BnF. - COPAC. - Not in Atabey, Blackmer. (3 vol.)