Travels In The Trans-Caucasian Provinces Of Russia And Along The Southern Shores Of The Lakes Of Van And Urumiah In The Autumn And Winter Of 1837 Wilbraham, Captain Richard Turkey, The Caucasus And Middle East

First edition. Octavo (5½ x 8½ inches). Complete with xvii + 477 pages, 5 tinted lithograph plates including the frontis, a folding map of Persia and the Caucasus to the West of the Caspian Sea, and errata slip. Scarce. Not in Atabey's generally comprehensive collection on the Ottoman empire. Very good plus antiquarian condition. Full green contemporary morocco binding, elaborately decorated in gilt and blind stamping the front and rear covers, the spine in 5 compartments also titled and decorated in gilt. All page edges gilt. Internally some foxing and toning to the map and endpapers although most pages generally clean. Wilbrahim, a captain in the Seventh Royal Fusiliers, was assigned to Persia (present day Iran) in the lead up to the siege on the Afghan city of Herat by the Qajar dynasty. The book covers his assignment, including a detailed description of Tehran and Persian society, an audience with the Shah, and his travels through present day Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Kurdistan, and Russia. The plates include views of Mount Ararat, the plain of Tehran, the summer palace at Sultaniah, the pass at Dariel, and a Mosque near Tehran.