"A GREAT PALESTINE EXPLORER"

CONDER, CLAUDE REIGNIER. TENT WORK IN PALESTINE. A Record of Discovery and Adventure. London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1878. Two volumes. 8vo. Original dark green cloth, with gilt-stamped vignette on top covers. Half-titles. xxvi, 381 pages; viii, 352 pages. Engraved frontispieces and vignettes on titles, six plates, folding plan of ancient Jerusalem, sketch map of Palestine, engraved headpieces and tailpieces, illustrations in the text. Hinges cracked but sound, faded spot near foot of each spine. Otherwise, a bright, near fine copy.

FIRST EDITION of the first book by "a great Palestine explorer" (DNB), published two years before the official version of his Memoirs was issued by the Palestine Exploration Fund. Tent Work in Palestine is Conder's "popular account of the survey operations and of the customs of the inhabitants of Palestine, of various Bible sites, and the topography of Jerusalem" (Id.), illustrated from his own drawings. In 1872, Conder was selected to continue the survey of Palestine begun seven years earlier by the Palestine Exploration Fund. "In the course of three years the greater part of the country west of the Jordan had been surveyed and, in addition to actual mapping, a mass of information regarding the topography and archaeology of the country had been collected, while many places mentioned in the Bible and previously unknown had been identified. Conder also devoted himself to the languages of the country and to the decipherment of ancient inscriptions, to which he brought abundant ingenuity" (Id.). For his efforts, Conder was commended by the Palestine Exploration Fund: "'It may fairly be claimed,' wrote Sir Walter Besant [then Secretary of the Fund], 'that nothing has ever been done for the illustration and right understanding of the historical portions of the Old and New Testaments since the translations into the vulgar tongue which can be compared with this great work'" (Id.). Cf. Hand C303 (N. Y. edition of the same year). BT000059.

Provenance: Signature of Edward Atkinson, dated 1878, on each half-title.

$825

To contact us about this item, please go to our Orders & Inquiries Page.