A House at Bir el Assab and the Castle of Jerim, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate LXVIII of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's account of his travels in Arabia, with two views, each captioned. The upper reads Gezigt van een Huis te Bîr el Assab, by Saná. and Vûe d'une Maison de Bîr el Assab, près de Saná., "View of a house at Bir el Assab, near Sana". The lower reads Gezigt van het Kasteel en van een Gedeelte der Stad Jerîm. and Vûe du Château et d'une Partie de la Ville de Jerîm., "View of the castle and part of the town of Jerim".

The upper view shows a single tall house standing on open ground with low hills behind. It rises in several stories to stepped, crenellated parapets, with a higher block at the top. Rows of small windows run across the lower floors, tall arched windows with round openings above them fill the main floor, and decorated bands and a projecting window box enliven the walls. A small door opens at the foot. The lower view shows Jerim: a castle on a rocky hill at the left, with the flat roofed houses of the town stepping down its slope and spreading across the plain, and a minaret at the right. Bare mountains rise behind under a clouded sky. In the foreground a man leads a camel, other figures cross the open ground, and an animal stands beside a walled enclosure at the right.

No draftsman or engraver is named on this sheet. The plate number Tab: LXVIII. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, Traduit de l'Allemand (translated from the German), published A Amsterdam, chez S. J. Baalde and A Utrecht, chez J. van Schoonhoven & Comp., with the date MDCCLXXVI (1776) on the title page. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom edge. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Several larger brown marks. All four corners are present.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.