Further Rock Inscriptions of the Sinai Road, Antique Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate L of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption below the image reads Opschriften aan den Weg van Sués naar den Berg Sinaï. in Dutch and Inscriptions sur le Chemin de Sués, vers la Montagne de Sinaï. in French, meaning inscriptions on the road from Suez to Mount Sinai.

The upright plate is divided into three compartments, keyed F, O and P, continuing the series of the preceding plate. F, at the top, gives five lines of the same cursive script, interrupted by large patches of stippling that mark worn or broken areas of the rock. O, in the middle, gives two long lines of script in a bolder hand. P, the largest compartment, shows a whole block of stone drawn with shaded, broken edges. Its face carries outline carvings of animals and no writing: two animals with long horns curving back over their bodies, one small and one large, a smaller animal with a long tail facing one of them, and an animal with a single upright hump on its back.

No artist's or engraver's name is lettered on the plate. The plate number Tab. L. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht. 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.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and top edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Several larger brown marks.

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