Camp of the Mecca Pilgrims Before Departure, Antique Print, 1776
€ 260
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1776
Mapmaker / artist
Carsten Niebuhr; engraved by T. K.
Publisher
S. J. Baalde, Amsterdam, and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp., Utrecht
Technique
Copper engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
22 × 27 cm (8.7 × 10.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14407-1-14
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.
About this sheet
This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, a bird's eye plan of the camp of the pilgrims before they set out for Mecca. The caption reads in Dutch Légerplâats der Bédevaartreizigeren voor hun Vertrek naar Mékke. and in French Camp des Pélerins avant leur départ pour la Mekke., meaning camp of the pilgrims before their departure for Mecca.
A lake lettered Birket el hadsj curves along the top of the plate. Across the plain below, hundreds of small rectangles are set out in rows and clusters, the tents of the camp, with larger shaded rectangles among them and lines of open ground between. Letters A to F mark parts of the camp. A grove of palms fills the upper right corner, enclosed garden plots radiate from a point at the upper left beside the letter E, and more palms stand along the lower edge.
A compass sits at the lower left. The credit T. K. f. is lettered under the lower right corner, and the plate number Tab. XIV. is engraved upright along the right side of the border near the bottom.
The plate comes from the first volume of Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation of Carsten Niebuhr's account, its title page reading TOME PREMIER. Traduit de l'Allemand. A AMSTERDAM, chez S. J. BAALDE. A UTRECHT, chez J. VAN SCHOONHOVEN & COMP. MDCCLXXVI. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
