View near Bulgose in the Yemen Coffee Mountains, Antique Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate LXIII of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's account of his travels in Arabia, a folding plate. The caption reads Gezigt by het Dorp Bulgôse, op het Koffy Gebergte. in Dutch and Vûe près de Village de Bulgôse, sur les Montagnes, qui produisent le Caffé. in French, meaning "View near the village of Bulgose, in the mountains that produce coffee".

A steep mountainside fills the sheet, rising from the lower right to a high ridge at the upper left, with a clouded sky at the right. Tall square tower houses stand high on the slope at the upper left, with further buildings perched along the ridge and on a ledge at the right. Below them the hillside is cut into terraces, with a long flight of steps climbing between rows of trees and a sheer rock face. In the foreground stands a block of squared stone with a dark doorway in which a figure can be seen, and further figures move at the lower left and lower center, one on the steps above. Trees cover much of the slope down to the lower edge.

The lower margin is lettered Baurenfeind, del. at the left and O. de Vries, sculp. at the right. The plate number Tab: LXIII. 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 expedition's artist, Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind, died at sea in 1763.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Folding plate, original center fold as issued. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners.

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