Alphonse de. Souvenirs, impressions, pensées et paysages pendant un voyage en Orient, 1832-1833.

by LAMARTINE

£1,000 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

The first Novel in Arabic? LAMARTINE, Alphonse de. Souvenirs, impressions, pensées et paysages pendant un voyage en Orient, 1832-1833. Paris: Charles Gosselin, and Librairie de Furne. 1835. Four volumes, 8vo. Entirely uncut in the rarely seen original printed wrappers; pp. [2], xiii, [3], 340; [iv], 429; [iv]; 388; steel-engraved portrait, two folding engraved plates, one folding table of Arab tribes in French and Arabic; a little marking to wrappers, scattered foxing internally, otherwise very good. First edition , as always encountered half-titles lettered Œuvres complètes (this as well on the spines). Lamartine (1790-1869), one of the major figures of the Romantic movement had shot to fame in Europe after the publication of his Méditations poétiques of 1820. After an electoral defeat (he was a leftist liberal) he, his wife and the young daughter embarked on a trip to the Levant on a well equipped private yacht. "He travelled in the style of an Ottoman prince, presented costly gifts to his hosts, and was known in the East as 'l'émir français'. Lamartine left his family at Beirut and went on to the Holy Land alone. His daughter Julie died of consumption at Beirut, and Lamartine returned to France overland via Constantinople and the Danube valley. He spent 16 months in the Levant" (Blackmer). He visited the Druze emir Bechir (Bashir Shihab II) at Beit Eddine Palace, and was enthralled by the beauty of the scenery of Hammana (as well known as Lamartine valley). The folding tab

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.