Robert Wood | The Ruins of Palmyra, 1753, folio, contemporary mottled calf rebacked

Robert Wood

The Ruins of Palmyra, Otherwise Tedmor in the Desart. London, 1753

FIRST EDITION, folio (531 x 362 mm), 3 full-page engraved illustrations of inscriptions, 59 etched and engraved plates numbered I-LVII, plate 1 bound in three sheets forming a panoramic view, contemporary mottled calf, finely rebacked to style, some spotting and browning, small marginal tear to U1

An influential record of Wood's visit to Palmyra in 1751, during which he and his companions examined the remains of the buildings and recorded inscriptions from the classical era. He was accompanied by the draftsman Giovanni Battista Borra, who drew the illustrations used in the book. Tadmor is the name for Palmyra which was used by the local inhabitants at the time of his visit; the inscriptions in the city tended to use both names.

PROVENANCE:

John Waldie (1781-1862) of Hendersyde Park at Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland: armorial bookplate; Joseph Scott Esq.: armorial bookplate; Westbury Manor, Brackley: "Westbury" bookplate; Westbury Manor sale, Sotheby's, 24 November 1930 (property of the late Sir Edward H. Scott, Bt.), part lot 224, bought by Comins; Christie's New York, 7 December 2012, part lot 123

LITERATURE:

ESTC T137525; BAL RIBA 3707; Fowler 443