First edition. Magnificent large folio volume (33 x 47 cm) complete with 102 pages of text and 48 hand coloured aquatint plates. Three quarter calf over marbled boards. Front hinge held by single tie and tissue. Heavy foxing and toning to the title page, one plate (head of the colossal Sphinx) and the text from pages 61 to 68. Otherwise generally light foxing and toning to other plates and text. Mayer (1755-1803) was financed by the British Ambassador to Constantinople, Sir Robert Ainslie, to produce a series of views in what was then the Ottoman Empire. As well as this initial volume on Egypt, Mayer also published views of Anatolia and Caramania in Turkey (1803), and Palestine (1804). Plates include a View of the Nilometer; the pyramids of Geeza (Giza); a view from the great pyramid to Cairo; passages at the great pyramid; the chamber that contains the sarcophagus; the head of the colossal sphinx; the entrance to the sepulchral chamber; a subterranean chamber with bas reliefs; an ancient basalt sarcophagus placed under the steps of a mosque; interior view of the catacombs of Alexandria; the obelisks of Alexandria; an ancient obelisk at Heliopolis; Pompey's pillar; the baths of Cleopatra; ruins of the gymnasium; granite pillars of the portico of Canopus; ruins of the Ptolomean library; a mosque near the Rosetta gate; exterior view of Alexandria with Cleopatra's needle; fort and harbour of Aboukeer; the city of Rashid; sepulchres of Arabian saints; the mosque of Abou Mandour; the town of Foua on the Nile; one of the gates of Grand Cairo; Mourad Bey's palace; the mosque of four hundred pillars; the lovers' fountain; ruins in the castle of Cairo near Joseph's hall; Egyptian antiquities including a mummy in a stone coffin; an Arabian summerhouse; the city of Menouf; Mamlukes exercising; Mamlukes in proper dress on horseback; an Arabian shiek; an Egyptian fair at Kafr Raduan; a ferryboat on the Nile; an Egyptian Bey in formal dress; costume of a lady of Cairo and her slaves; dancing girls; an Egyptian peasant and family; a Bedouin man and woman; the new city of Alexandria and the Pharos; and a bridge over the canal at Alexandria.
