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This collection of travel narratives, primarily from the nineteenth century, describes the topography, antiquities and inhabitants of the Middle East, from Turkey, Kurdistan and Persia to Mesopotamia, Syria, Jerusalem, Sinai, Egypt and Arabia. While some travellers came to study Christian sites and manuscripts, others were fascinated by Islamic culture and still others by the remains of ancient civilizations. Among the authors are several daring female explorers.

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87 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor

Page 2 of 5

Narrative of a Journey from Heraut to Khiva, Moscow, and St Petersburgh during the Late Russian Invasion of Khiva
  • With Some Account of the Court of Khiva and the Kingdom of Khaurism
  • Volume 2
  • James Abbott
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1843
  • This two-volume travelogue recounts the diplomatic mission through Central Asia and Russia undertaken by James Abbott (1807–96) in 1839. An officer in the Bengal Artillery, Abbott first travelled to Central Asia in 1838 and was soon drawn into the 'Great Game' between Russia and Britain as they struggled for influence in the region. When Russia launched an expedition against Khiva in 1839, ostensibly to free Russian slaves, Abbott was sent there to advise the Khan and then travelled to Russia to initiate mediation. While the Russian slaves were freed by Abbott's successor, Abbott believed he had succeeded and published this account in 1843. The work includes anecdotes of his experiences and observations on the cultures and landscapes he encountered. In Volume 2, he chronicles his journey to St Petersburg via Moscow and recounts his general impressions of Russia.

Ludolphi de itinere terrae sanctae liber
  • Nach alten handschriften berichtigt
  • Ludolf von Suchem
  • Edited by Ferdinand Deycks
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1851
  • Beyond the fact that he made a journey to the Holy Land between 1336 and 1341, very little is known about Ludolf von Suchem (whose first name may in fact have been Rudolf). However, his work has long been regarded as a major source of information about the eastern Mediterranean in the fourteenth century, owing to its high level of detail. Ludolf states his intention to describe the region, its buildings, towns, fortified places, people, customs, stories and legends, drawing on both his own observations, and on information from the 'kings, princes, nobles and lords' with whom he spent days and nights in conversation. Some stories are clearly travellers' tales, but others, like his account of the fall of Acre (1291), based on reports by eye-witnesses, are both full and convincing. This edition of the Latin text was published in 1851, with German annotation, by Ferdinand Deycks (1802–67).

Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz
  • What he Saw in the Turkish Metropolis, Constantinople; Experienced in his Captivity; And after his Happy Return to his Country, Committed to Writing in the Year of Our Lord 1599
  • Wenceslas Wratislaw
  • Translated by Albert Henry Wratislaw
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    21 February 2013
    First published in:
    1862
  • Of Czech ancestry, Albert Henry Wratislaw (1821–92) was educated at Rugby and Cambridge, and later became a prominent English public-school headmaster. At Cambridge he became interested in the literature and history of Bohemia and in 1849 he travelled there for the first time, quickly becoming proficient in the language. Upon his return home he began a lifetime of immersion in Czech literature. Published in 1862, this book was the first translation into English of a major Czech prose work. It is the vivid true story of a Bohemian nobleman's journey to, imprisonment in, and return from Constantinople in the late sixteenth century. Wratislaw's translation and brief introduction to Bohemian history proved popular and helped bring Czech literature and history to a wider audience.

Narrative of a Journey from Heraut to Khiva, Moscow, and St Petersburgh during the Late Russian Invasion of Khiva
  • With Some Account of the Court of Khiva and the Kingdom of Khaurism
  • Volume 1
  • James Abbott
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1843
  • This two-volume travelogue recounts the diplomatic mission through Central Asia and Russia undertaken by James Abbott (1807–96) in 1839. An officer in the Bengal Artillery, Abbott first travelled to Central Asia in 1838 and was soon drawn into the 'Great Game' between Russia and Britain as they struggled for influence in the region. When Russia launched an expedition against Khiva in 1839, ostensibly to free Russian slaves, Abbott was sent there to advise the Khan and then travelled to Russia to initiate mediation. While the Russian slaves were freed by Abbott's successor, Abbott believed he had succeeded and published this account in 1843. The work includes anecdotes of his experiences and observations on the cultures and landscapes he encountered. In Volume 1, he describes his journey from Herat to Khiva and the beginning of his journey to Russia.

The Holy City
  • Or Historical and Topographical Notices of Jerusalem with Some Account of its Antiquities and of its Present Condition
  • George Williams
  • Illustrated by W. F. Witts
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1845
  • Published in 1845, this work supports the traditional location of Calvary against the challenges of contemporary scholarship. Since the opening of Palestine to foreign travellers in the 1830s, there had been tremendous interest in locating places described in biblical narrative. The site of the Holy Sepulchre, established by Constantine in the fourth century, allowed no space for a centre of Protestant worship. Some met this challenge by using close study of the Bible and first-century texts alongside topographical evidence to try to dismiss the site's location as inaccurate. In 1841, George Williams (1814–78) had accompanied as chaplain the party of the first Anglican bishopric in Jerusalem, using his time there to gain unrivalled topographic knowledge of the region. In this well-illustrated work, he draws on both physical and literary evidence to conclude that the case for the traditional site is sound, while also surveying the great city's history and character.

An Englishwoman in a Turkish Harem
  • Grace Ellison
  • Introduction by Edward Granville Browne
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1915
  • Grace Ellison (d.1935) was a journalist and suffragette with a fascination for Turkish culture. This book, first published in 1915, is a collection of accounts originally written for the Daily Telegraph about her stay in the harem of a Turkish nobleman. Keen to dispel the sensationalist Western view of the harem, Ellison paints an intimate portrait of the luxurious but secluded life of women in their segregated portion of the household. Subjects covered include fashion, social events, polygamy and the bonds between family members. As well as describing life within the harem, the author provides an impassioned critical commentary on the lives and treatment of women in Turkey, attending a suffragette meeting and discussing the role of religion and nationalism in women's lives. Finishing as the First World War begins, this is a captivating snapshot of Turkish society in transition from the Ottoman era to becoming a modern republic.

Unexplored Syria
  • Visits to the Libanus, the Tulúl el Safá, the Anti-Libanus, the Northern Libanus, and the 'Aláh
  • Volume 2
  • Richard Francis Burton, Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1872
  • After his diplomatic sojourn in Syria as consul in Damascus, Richard Francis Burton (1821–90) published, in 1872, this two-volume account of nineteenth-century Syria. It is the result of collaboration with several partners with specific expertise, primarily Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake (1846–74) but also Burton's wife. Throughout his life Burton immersed himself in as many different cultures as possible. His natural aptitude for languages and disguise allowed him to frequently pass himself off as a native. The two years he was consul were eventful, including local uprisings, an assassination attempt and religious strife. This work reveals the unknown and extraordinary side of Syria. Volume 2, based on extensive travels through the northern highlands and the eastern edges of the country, explores the anthropology, ancient history, archaeology and geology of these regions.

Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope
  • As Related by Herself in Conversations with her Physician
  • Volume 1
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1845
  • Charles Lewis Meryon (1783–1877) was the personal physician to the unconventional and adventurous Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839), who left England in 1810 to travel to the Middle East. She eventually settled in Lebanon and by the time she died no longer had contact with any Europeans. Meryon's Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope (also reissued in this series) recounted her journey during the first seven years he spent with her before returning to England to complete his medical training. Over the next twenty years, they remained in contact and he stayed with her on two more occasions before she died. In this three-volume work, first published in 1845, Meryon presents letters he received from her and recounts their conversations, giving a remarkable insight into the woman he describes as 'out of humour with all mankind'. Volume 1 covers events between 1823 and 1837, beginning with her letters imploring him to visit.

Unexplored Syria
  • Visits to the Libanus, the Tulúl el Safá, the Anti-Libanus, the Northern Libanus, and the 'Aláh
  • Volume 1
  • Richard Francis Burton, Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1872
  • After his diplomatic sojourn in Syria as consul in Damascus, Richard Francis Burton (1821–90) published, in 1872, this two-volume account of nineteenth-century Syria. It is the result of collaboration with several partners with specific expertise, primarily Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake (1846–74) but also Burton's wife. Throughout his life Burton immersed himself in as many different cultures as possible. His natural aptitude for languages and disguise allowed him to frequently pass himself off as a native. The two years he was consul were eventful, including local uprisings, an assassination attempt and religious strife. This work reveals the unknown and extraordinary side of Syria. In Volume 1, Burton and Drake use their experiences of living and travelling in the country, and those of friends and colleagues, to explore the geography, natural history, politics and culture of remote provinces.

Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope
  • As Related by Herself in Conversations with her Physician
  • Volume 2
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1845
  • Charles Lewis Meryon (1783–1877) was the personal physician to the unconventional and adventurous Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839), who left England in 1810 to travel to the Middle East. She eventually settled in Lebanon and by the time she died no longer had contact with any Europeans. Meryon's Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope (also reissued in this series) recounted her journey during the first seven years he spent with her before returning to England to complete his medical training. Over the next twenty years, they remained in contact and he stayed with her on two more occasions before she died. In this three-volume work, first published in 1845, Meryon presents letters he received from her and recounts their conversations, giving a remarkable insight into the woman he describes as 'out of humour with all mankind'. Volume 2 looks back at Lady Hester's noble origins and her reasons for leaving England.

Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces on the Southern Banks of the Caspian Sea
  • With an Appendix Containing Short Notices of the Geology and Commerce of Persia
  • James Baillie Fraser
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    19 July 2012
    First published in:
    1826
  • Scottish explorer and author James Baillie Fraser (1783–1856) was already known for his narratives of travel in the East (his 1820 journal of a journey through the Himalayas being also reissued in this series) when in 1826 he published this account of his journey into the lesser known provinces of Persia. Though it includes an appendix containing information on geology and commerce, it dwells less on statistical and historical details than it does on the author's personal experiences and impressions. In his preface, Fraser summarily rejects factual material as 'insignificant', preferring to describe the manners of a people seldom encountered by Europeans. The work captures both the sights and sounds of bazaars and cities, and the characters of the people, from princes to peasant boys; and Fraser provides facts on topics ranging from rice cultivation to the architecture of ancient tombs and methods of cooling water.

Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope
  • As Related by Herself in Conversations with her Physician
  • Volume 3
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1845
  • Charles Lewis Meryon (1783–1877) was the personal physician to the unconventional and adventurous Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839), who left England in 1810 to travel to the Middle East. She eventually settled in Lebanon and by the time she died no longer had contact with any Europeans. Meryon's Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope (also reissued in this series) recounted her journey during the first seven years he spent with her before returning to England to complete his medical training. Over the next twenty years, they remained in contact and he stayed with her on two more occasions before she died. In this three-volume work, first published in 1845, Meryon presents letters he received from her and recounts their conversations, giving a remarkable insight into the woman he describes as 'out of humour with all mankind'. Volume 3 covers the period from 1838 until her death, including reflections on her isolated final months of life.

Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope
  • Forming the Completion of her Memoirs
  • Volume 1
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    22 March 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • The adventurous and unconventional Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839) set off to travel to the East in the early nineteenth century. She had been hostess to her uncle, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and after his death she received a government pension and decided to leave England. Her personal physician Charles Meryon (1783–1877) wrote this three-volume memoir of their travels, first published in 1846. She had a reputation as an eccentric, but thought of herself as the 'Queen of the desert' and indeed achieved considerable influence in the places she travelled to. Eventually she settled in the Lebanon, where she lived out the remainder of her life. Volume 1 describes travels in Greece, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, and an account of being shipwrecked near Rhodes. It concludes with the party's arrival in Damascus, where Lady Hester dressed in men's clothing and refused to wear a veil.

Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope
  • Forming the Completion of her Memoirs
  • Volume 3
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    22 March 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • The adventurous and unconventional Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839) set off to travel to the East in the early nineteenth century. She had been hostess to her uncle, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and after his death she received a government pension and decided to leave England. Her personal physician Charles Meryon (1783–1877) wrote this three-volume memoir of their travels, first published in 1846. She had a reputation as an eccentric, but thought of herself as the 'Queen of the desert' and indeed achieved considerable influence in the places she travelled to. Eventually she settled in the Lebanon, where she lived out the remainder of her life. Volume 3 includes Lady Hester's failed attempt to find hidden treasure among the ruins of Ascalon, and details of her actions after a French traveller was killed in the desert and she ordered the punishment of the offenders.

Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope
  • Forming the Completion of her Memoirs
  • Volume 2
  • Charles Lewis Meryon
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    22 March 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • The adventurous and unconventional Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839) set off to travel to the East in the early nineteenth century. She had been hostess to her uncle, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and after his death she received a government pension and decided to leave England. Her personal physician Charles Meryon (1783–1877) wrote this three-volume memoir of their travels, first published in 1846. She had a reputation as an eccentric, but thought of herself as the 'Queen of the desert' and indeed achieved considerable influence in the places she travelled to. Eventually she settled in the Lebanon, where she lived out the remainder of her life. Volume 2 begins in Damascus, and includes Lady Hester's dangerous trip to Palmyra, where she had been advised it would be impossible for a woman to go. It also includes accounts of plague in Syria, and of Bedouin life.

The Thousand and One Churches
  • William Mitchell Ramsay, Gertude L. Bell
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    19 January 2012
    First published in:
    1909
  • Written by two of the most eminent Anatolian experts of the day, this book on church history and architecture in Turkey was first published in 1909. Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (1851–1939), Scottish classical scholar and archaeologist, and Gertrude Bell (1868–1926), traveller, archaeologist and diplomatist, joined forces for an expedition investigating the Hittite and Byzantine site of Bin-Bir-Kilisse in Turkey in 1907. Bell was successful in establishing the chronology of Byzantine churches, and her findings constitute the middle two parts of the book, on buildings and ecclesiastical architecture. Ramsay contributed the first and last parts, on the historical and geographical details of the churches and an account of other notable monuments in the region. Ramsay was knighted in 1906 and both scholars were honoured by the Royal Geographical Society. In 1913 Bell became one of the first women to be elected a Fellow of the Society.

Journal d'Antoine Galland pendant son séjour à Constantinople, 1672–1673
  • Volume 2
  • Antoine Galland
  • Edited by Charles Schefer
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1881
  • The French orientalist Antoine Galland (1646–1715) held the chair of Arabic at the Collège de France from 1709 until his death. He was the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights, which he published between 1704 and 1717. A hugely influential work, it provided the basis for later translations in English and German. Between 1670 and 1675, Galland worked as a librarian and private secretary to the Marquis de Nointel, who had been appointed as the French ambassador in Istanbul. This book, first published in 1881, is the record of Galland's daily life at the embassy. It is a personal diary covering the period 1672–3 that includes details of Galland's research and of the manuscripts he purchased on behalf of the ambassador. An introduction by Charles Schefer (1820–98) provides details of the political and diplomatic relations between France and Turkey at the time.

Journal d'Antoine Galland pendant son séjour à Constantinople, 1672–1673
  • Volume 1
  • Antoine Galland
  • Edited by Charles Schefer
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1881
  • The French orientalist Antoine Galland (1646–1715) held the chair of Arabic at the Collège de France from 1709 until his death. He was the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights, which he published between 1704 and 1717. A hugely influential work, it provided the basis for later translations in English and German. Between 1670 and 1675, Galland worked as a librarian and private secretary to the Marquis de Nointel, who had been appointed as the French ambassador in Istanbul. This book, first published in 1881, is the record of Galland's daily life at the embassy. It is a personal diary covering the period 1672–3 that includes details of Galland's research and of the manuscripts he purchased on behalf of the ambassador. An introduction by Charles Schefer (1820–98) provides details of the political and diplomatic relations between France and Turkey at the time.

Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia
  • With Some Account of their Antiquities and Geology
  • Volume 1
  • William John Hamilton
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1842
  • The diplomat and M.P. William Hamilton (1805–67) was also a keen geologist and a protégé of Sir Roderick Murchison. In 1835 he set off with a companion for the eastern Mediterranean, visiting the Ionian Islands, the Bosphorus and the volcanic area called the Katakekaumene. Hamilton then continued alone on horseback through Armenia and Asia Minor before returning to Smyrna (Izmir). Having already published some of his notes as papers for the Geological Society, he published this two-volume account in 1842. The work was praised by Alexander von Humboldt, and in 1843 it won Hamilton the founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society (of which he was one of the secretaries from 1832 to 1854). Volume 1 describes Hamilton's outward journey to Smyrna, and the archaeological sites, geological features, landscapes and people he observed on a long series of excursions across Anatolia, as far as Trebizond and Erzurum.

Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah
  • Volume 3, Meccah
  • Richard Francis Burton
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1856
  • The British explorer Sir Richard F. Burton (1821–90) was a colourful and often controversial character. A talented linguist and keen ethnologist, he worked in India during the 1840s as an interpreter and intelligence officer for General Sir Charles Napier, and published several books about his experiences in 1851–2. He first gained celebrity, however, for his adventurous 1853 trip to Mecca, under the disguise of a pilgrim, which is described in this lively three-volume publication (1855–6). Few Europeans had ever visited the Muslim holy places; one of them was John Lewis Burckhardt, whose 1829 account is also reissued in this series. Volume 3 of Burton's book vividly describes the pilgrims' journey from Medina to Mecca, with catering including coffee, rice and 'occasionally … tough mutton and indigestible goat', crowded camp-sites and all-night prayers and singing. Finally he arrives at the Kaabah and witnesses the culminating ceremonies of the hajj.

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