Vogüé, Count Melchior de: Les eglises de la Terre Saint. University of Toronto Press, 1973. Reprint of the Paris 1860 edition, with introduction by Joshua Prawer. vi, 481pp. Cloth. Text in French.
Text in French
Paris, J. Baudry, 1868 - 1877. Large 4to. In contemporary full blue cloth with two red title-labels to spines. Wear to extremities, corner's bumped, scratches to boards and parts of the title-label missing. Underlinings and marginal annotations in pencil. Plates brownspotted, primarily in margin, and dampstain to inner margin of plate 16-38. (8), 164 pp. + 38 plates.
Second expanded edition of this landmark work on semitic inscriptions “In which he revealed, for the first time, the great richness of late antique architecture to be found in the interior of Syria” (Kennedy, Crusader Castles) - here with the added part of the ""inscriptions sabéennes"", found in the region south east of Damascus in Syria, not present in the first edition. The first part is identical to first edition from 1868 but here also with the must sought after ""inscriptions sabéennes"". It focuses on the central region of Syria and provides a comprehensive analysis and translation of the inscriptions found in this area. The author, Charles Jean Melchior de Vogüé, was a renowned scholar and archaeologist dedicated to the study of ancient Semitic languages and scripts. Vogüé's book offers valuable insights into the historical and cultural significance of the region through its meticulous translation and commentary on the inscriptions. ""De Vogüé travelled with William Waddington in 1853 and 1854, exploring the area from Aleppo to Damascus, Palmyra and Basra. It was an important expedition and much new material was uncovered. The author became ambassador to the Porte in 1871"" (Blackmer). Blackmer 174