– 66 – N e w A c q u i s i t i o n s Wilson’s Holy Land And Egypt, With 39 Fine Full-Page Engravings, A Splendid Copy 76. WILSON, Colonel Charles. Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt. New York, 1881-83. Two volumes. Folio, original deluxe full brown morocco gilt. $3900. First edition, American issue, of this handsome pictorial survey of the Holy Land and Egypt, with lovely additional engraved title pages, 39 fine full-page steel engravings and over 600 in-text wood-engravings, in original publisher’s deluxe morocco-gilt. “Sir Charles Wilson had many interests in life outside his military and political duties, and probably did more than any other man to increase the knowledge of the geography and archaeology of Asia Minor, Palestine, and the adjacent countries” (Watson). Wilson’s was the first official survey of Jerusalem (1864-65), the brainchild of Angela Burdett-Coutts of the wealthy banking family, who wished to provide Jerusalem with an improved water system. In the course of the survey, Wilson’s team was given permission to make images of Muslim sacred areas, including the Dome of the Rock (pictured in Volume I, 49-66), from which Christians had been previously barred. The views in this monumental visual history depict Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee, Damascus, Palestine and the great ruins of Egypt— the Pyramids at Giza, Luxor, and the Great Temple of Karnak. The plates and wood-engravings were prepared from drawings by Harry Fenn and J.D. Woodward. Fenn illustrated Whittier’s Snow Bound (1867) and Ballads of New England (1870), the first illustrated gift books of their kind in the United States. He was also a founding member of the American Watercolor Society. Fine condition. Comprehensive Signed Limited Edition Of Yeats’ Poems 77. YEATS, William Butler. The Variorum Edition of the Poems of W.B. Yeats. New York, 1957. Large thick octavo, original red and tan cloth, slipcase. $3800. Signed limited first edition, one of 825 copies signed by Yeats. Few poets revised as frequently or extensively as did Yeats. This volume contains variant wordings from a wide range of published sources, from the first appearance of individual poems to their final appearance in various collections, each footnoted with Yeats’ emendations. With an appendix containing Yeats’ own notes regarding the poems. As was occasionally the case with popular authors, Yeats signed his name to a number of specially printed sheets to be tipped into publications after his death. Without original acetate. Book very nearly fine, mild toning and stray mark to slipcase. A handsome signed copy.
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