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THOMSON, WILLIAM M. The Land and the Book; or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land. New York: Harper & Brothers. Popular Edition. Two volumes of the three-volume set: Southern Palestine and Jerusalem and Lebanon, Damascus, and Beyond Jordan.
Substantial illustrated nineteenth-century account of the Holy Land by American missionary and traveler William M. Thomson, who spent some forty-five years in Syria and Palestine. Combining travel narrative, geography, archaeology, local customs, biblical history, and observations gathered during extensive journeys throughout the region, The Land and the Book became one of the most influential American works on Palestine and the Near East of its era.
These two volumes cover Southern Palestine and Jerusalem, together with Lebanon, Damascus, Coelesyria, Anti-Lebanon, Bashan, and the lands beyond the Jordan. Profusely illustrated throughout with engravings depicting landscapes, cities, ruins, architecture, archaeological remains, local inhabitants, and scenes of travel. The title pages call for 140 illustrations and maps in Southern Palestine and Jerusalem and 147 illustrations and maps in Lebanon, Damascus, and Beyond Jordan. The latter retains its impressive folding Map of Lebanon, Coelesyria and Anti-Lebanon.
Publisher’s red pictorial cloth, with striking black-stamped scenes of Jerusalem and a camel traveler to the upper boards and gilt lettering to the spines. Both volumes bear the decorative bookplate of Gurdon Corning Ortoby.
Condition: Good. Bindings remain attractive overall, with rubbing, fading, scattered marks, and wear to extremities; corners and spine ends rubbed and frayed in places. Hinges cracked and weakened, with exposed binding material, particularly at the rear of the 3rd volume, though the text blocks remain present. Pages generally clean and well preserved with expected age toning and occasional minor wear. Folding map remains present and attractive. Please refer closely to photographs for condition.
NOTE: An incomplete set, comprising Volumes I and III only. The second volume, Central Palestine and Phoenicia, is not present. An appealing pair from Thomson’s extensively illustrated Popular Edition, particularly desirable for its wealth of nineteenth-century Holy Land imagery and its combination of biblical scholarship with firsthand travel and exploration.
