Lands of the Moslem: A Narrative of Oriental Travel

New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, No. 285 Broadway. Printed by Edward O. Jenkins, 114 Nassau Street, New York, 1851. 8vo. (9 1/4 x 6 inches). First edition. [1]-378 [4]. 382 pp. Engraved frontispiece of Mount Zion by Burt, Title with Latin epigraph, Deposit statement, Contents, Text, Appendix, Publisher's advertisements. Four engraved views including Jerusalem by Burt (p.262), the Mount of Olives by J. Bannister after the Rev. G. Fisk (p.273), and the Ruins of Tyre by O. Pelton after J. D. Harding from an original by Cassas (p.329). In-text woodcut illustrations throughout, including a print of hieroglyphic inscriptions (p.158). Contemporary ink manuscript signature in three locations. Publisher's brown embossed and grained cloth with arabesque pattern, gilt-lettering on spine.

A travel narrative of Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, and other parts of the Holy Land by a biblical scholar and future chancellor of New York University.

"Everywhere were running streams and fountains, by the side of which grew pomegranates, magnolias, figs, olives, oranges, and apricots, in the greatest luxuriance and profusion." - Crosby, describing the Palestinian city of Nablus (p.295). Lands of the Moslems is a Middle-East travelogue with a scholarly approach, including descriptions of Islamic antiquities and theological reflections on Islam, narrating Rev. Crosby's sixteen-month journey from 1848 to 1849. Chapter titles herein include "The Nile," "Thebes," "Deserts of Suez and Shur," "Judea," "Samaria and Galilee," and other locales expected to interest an American reverend of means in the nineteenth century. It is an important work in Tourism Studies, and it stands with Volney's and Robinson's accounts as essential to understanding the perspective of the West toward the Middle East and Muslims in the mid-1800s. Crosby, a Presbyterian preacher and academic from a prominent family, was educated in New York City before sojourning in the Middle East between 1849 and 1851. Upon returning to the United States, Crosby became a professor of Greek, teaching at New York University and Rutgers University, and served as Chancellor of New York University from 1870 to 1881, then known as the University of the City of New York, and as president of the American Philogical Association in 1871. Besides Lands of the Moslem, the author published several theological works on early Christianity such as Jesus: His Life and Works (1871), and True Temperance Reform (1879), and, interestingly, an American translation of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex. Crosby was influential in New York politics as the first president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, and he pleaded for better management of Indian affairs and international copyright.