Mayer, Luigi (1755-1803) Vues en Egypte d'après les dessins originaux en la possession de Sir Robert Ainslie.
London: Thomas Bensley for R. Bowyer, 1802.
First edition in French, folio; illustrated with 48 full-page hand-colored aquatint plates; text printed on wove paper with Edmeads & Co.; E. & P.; and J. Whatman watermarks dated 1794 and 1801; bound in contemporary half morocco and marbled boards, gilt-ruled, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt (title browned, light foxing to text leaves, offsetting from plates; rebacked with original spine preserved, some scuffing); 18 1/4 x 12 1/2 in.
The fine illustrations in this volume include depictions of the great pyramids and the Sphinx, and costume plates of people from different regions and classes, including Bedouin and Egyptian families, dancing girls, and a striking image of a Mamluk soldier on horseback. The Mamluks were a powerful military class of knights originally enslaved mercenaries serving under Arab rulers. They went on to take control of territories in Egypt and Syria and ruled under a Mamluk Sultanate for centuries. Other subjects depicted in the plates include mosques, Egyptian antiquities, seascapes, and other notable landmarks.
