Narrative of A Yacht Voyage In The Mediterranean 1849-1850 + Photographic Sketches From The Shores of The Mediterranean (TWO VOLUMES IN A SLIP CASE)

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Volume I: Narrative of a Yacht Voyage In The Mediterranean 1849-1850: 253 pp., original hand written text by Wheelhouse on endpapers, index/ Volume II: Photographic Sketches From The Shores of The Mediterranean?, 204 pp., frontispiece + 79 duo-tone calotypes by Wheelhouse of which 3 are folding, edited with an introduction and a commentary by BADR EL-HAGE. Both volumes fitted in a cloth book case. JUST PUBLISHED. Set in mint condition. New. ISBN: 1901059456 Narrative of a Yacht Voyage in the Mediterranean, 1849-1850 is a detailed eyewitness account of the Scottish, pioneer, calotypist Claudius Galen Wheelhouse (1826-1909) in the form of daily entries of the areas visited by him and the British expedition lead by Earl of Lincoln, afterwards fifth Duke of Newcastle and War Minister (in 1854). This previously unknown and unique manuscript is printed here for the first time. Wheelhouse divides his account into three major parts. The first covers the journey from Portsmouth to Portugal, Spain, the Italian Coast, Malta, Greece, Istanbul and Rhodes. The second covers the trip through Egypt from Alexandria in the North to the Nile Cataracts in the south, while the third is entitled: 'Arabia and Palestine', which covers Sinai, Petra, Palestine, and Syria. The first entry is dated 20 September 1849, and the last 8 August 1850. The second volume ?Photographic Sketches From The Shores of The Mediterranean? is the only surviving photographic album of that expedition. It is an early visual documentation of the major archaeological, religious sites and cities of the Mediterranean basin. Wheelhouse describes the circumstances in which he took these photographs by saying: " These photographs were taken by me in the years 1849-50 when in medical charge of a yachting party the photographs were taken by what was then called the Talbot-Type process, a process only recently introduced by Mr. Fox Talbot, and a first endeavor to obtain "negative" pictures, on paper, from which "positive" ones could be printed at will, and as often as desired. They were taken on simple paper, no glass plates or films having, at that time, been invented, and, when completed were made as transparent as possible by being saturated with white wax, with the aid of a warm flat iron and blotting paper, by which means they were also made tough and durable. On the completion of the tour these negatives were given to Lord Lincoln, and were all unhappily, destroyed by a fire by which blumbler, his Lordship?s seat in the Dutieries, was nearly burned down in 1879". The calotypes cover, Lisbon (1), Cadiz (1), Seville (3), Malta, Valetta (2), Greece (21), Egypt and Nubia (31), Sinai (4), Petra (2), Jerusalem (7), Damascus (2), and Baalbeck (7). This account is a highly important document written by an early pioneer calotypist, it contains, besides the description and comments on the areas visited, many entries detailing how he photographed specific sites, and the angles from which they were taken. After approximately 160 years since it was written, it is published here as a testimony to an amateur photographer whose journey to the East became a landmark in the history of photography in the Mediterranean. [Please note that THE BOOKS ARE HEAVY. THEY WEIGH 3300 GRAMS]. JUST PUBLISHED.