Man of Mount Lebanon, Levantine Costume, Antique Hand-Colored Print, 1854

A man of Mount Lebanon, an original antique hand colored print of 1854, the coloring applied by hand over a printed outline. The caption below the figure reads BEWONER VAN DEN LIBANON., meaning Inhabitant of Lebanon.

The bearded man stands full length on a small shaded patch of ground, facing the viewer and pointing to the viewer's right with his outstretched left hand. A brown turban is wrapped over a long scarf striped in red, orange, yellow and green that covers the lower part of his face and falls over his shoulders. Over a striped vest and long striped robe he wears a wide white cloak with a yellow lining. A broad dark belt carries a large round ornament at the waist, and he wears full green trousers and red pointed slippers. In his right hand he holds a long spear with a dark tuft below the point.

No artist, lithographer or publisher is named on the plate, and there is no plate number above or below the image; the printed caption is the only lettering on the sheet.

The plate comes from the second volume, the Tweede Deel, of De Volken van den Aardbodem, the Dutch edition of Heinrich Berghaus's illustrated work on the peoples of the world, translated from the German by M. J. van Oven and published at Gorinchem by J. Noorduyn en Zoon in 1854. The title page of the volume announces 120 extra fine plates colored after nature. Berghaus was a German geographer, best known for his Physikalischer Atlas. Mount Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire when this book appeared.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Several larger brown marks.

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