LABORDE (Léon de); LINANT (Adolphe). Voyage de l'Arabie Pétr - Lot 114

LABORDE (Léon de); LINANT (Adolphe). Voyage de l'Arabie Pétrée. Paris, Giard, 1830. Large folio, [4] f. (faux-titre, title, dedication, preface), 87 p., 68 (of 69) plates, Empire green Russian half-leather, smooth spine, gilt title and large rocaille irons (spines rubbed, 2 corners worn, without the map of Arabie Pétré; occasional heavy foxing). Unquestionably one of the finest works ever produced on Petra Arabia, a territory named after an ancient Roman province, which now extends over the southern part of Israel, Jordan and northeastern Egypt; it is distinguished in particular by its very rich unpublished iconography. First edition. The engraved title is illustrated with a large lithograph by V. Adam, and the dedication to William II is adorned with his arms lithographed by Engelmann after G. Muller. The explanation of the plates, on pages 37 to 72, is illustrated with numerous woodcut vignettes, most of them drawn and/or engraved by Léon de Laborde. The first plate is lithographed by Achille Deveria; one zoological plate is in color. Printed on large wove paper. First edition with a large title vignette, 68 lithographed plates and numerous in-text woodcut illustrations. The large map of Arabia Petra is missing. (Brunet III, 714; Gay 3647; Atabey 643, English ed.).