First edition. 8vo. 2 volumes. Vol. I: [8],[ii],490, [2]. Vol2: [8],[ii],511. Complete with a chromolithograph frontis portrait of the author, three wood engraved plates & three folding maps. Publisher’s original decorative green and red cloth. Gilt title to spine. The binding is in wonderful condition. What looks like a small ink mark to the central design of the front cover, some minor chipping to the head and tail caps of both volumes, otherwise nothing to mention. Near-fine. Similiaryly, internally the book is fantastic. As expected, some mild foxing, particularly to wood engraved plates and an unobtrusive seperation along one fold of Map of Khuzistan. Front endpapers of vol 1 cracked, slightly exposing hinge. Vol 2’s rear endpapers have suffered similar fate. Neat ink inscription on FFEP’s verso of both volumes. The binding is tight and the contents bright, clean and complete throughout. Near-fine. Archaeologist, adventurer and politician, Layard wrote the present title in 1887 as a recollection of his travels and works in and around the Middle-East, between the years 1839-1851.
