Shrine Buildings, Medallions and Plan of Mesched Ali, Niebuhr Print, 1780

An original antique copper engraving, published in 1780, a large folding plate gathering several subjects keyed by letter. No title is engraved in the margin; the inset plan at the upper right is lettered Mesched Ali.

C, at the lower left, shows a great walled court seen from above, its inner walls lined with arches, with a domed building flanked by small minarets set behind a long, many paned front with awnings and a tall single minaret rising beside it. A, at the bottom center, is a domed building between two minarets, seen from the front with steps leading up to its doorway. H, at the lower right, is a larger building with two onion domes, a third smaller dome and a minaret. B is a ground plan of an enclosure with numbered points and a scale lettered Dub: Schreed.. D and E are round medallions bearing bands of Arabic inscription, D around a plain ring and E around a many pointed star, and G is a lobed medallion filled with inscription. F is a sword with a curved blade split into two points. The inset plan shows the walled town of Mesched Ali with numbered features, hills around it, a compass rose, the words Báhhr Nedsjef at the upper right and a scale in Dubbele Schreeden.

The plate number Tab: XLII. is engraved at the upper right, and below the lower right corner is lettered C. J. de Huyser Direx 1778., Latin for "C. J. de Huyser directed it, 1778".

The plate comes from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, Tome Second, the French translation printed at Amsterdam by S. J. Baalde and at Utrecht by Barthelemy Wild, with the title page dated MDCCLXXX. 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 right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Folding plate, original folds as issued. Slight wear at the top left corner. Nicks along the right edge.

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