The Bedouins of Egypt and Syria

• 3 volumes, in-12 full thick marbled calf, smooth spine richly decorated, p. title and tom. in red mar., tr. marbled. Complete with 24 out-of-text figures in color. Back of volume 2 redone identically, some restorations, galleries of worms in the interior margin in volumes 1 and 2. Tiny foxing. (ref. 62954)

Rare first edition of this early study of the Bedouins of Egypt and Syria, covering their civil and religious morals, laws and customs. Raphaël de Monachis (1759-1831), born in Cairo to a Syrian family, was a priest in the Greek community in Cairo, representative of the East in the first Institute of Egypt and first interpreter of the Diwan of Cairo. The work, edited by FJ Mayeux, provides an overview of the local tribes at the time of the French expedition. The first volume deals with the tribes of Egypt before and after Islam, the next two with the customs and traditions of the Bedouins of Syria, based on the author's personal observations. It is superbly illustrated with 24 compositions engraved in dotted lines by Charlin after F. Massart, finely watercolored at the time.