[OTTOMAN AFRICA / TRIPOLI / SAHARA] Afrika Sahra-yi Kebirinde seyahât. [i.e. Voyage across the Sahara].

Istanbul: Ikdam Matbaasi., [AH 1314], 1898. 1st Edition . Leather. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Modern full morocco in Ottoman traditional style. Roy. 8vo. (25 x 17 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 119 p., 15 unnumbered b/w plates, and 1 color double-paged map of Northwest Africa and the Sahara Desert. First and only edition of this exceedingly rare book of Sahara and other territories of North Africa, written by Sadik El-Müeyyed, including his surviving report and travel account written to be presented to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. It's a reference text that specifies the military and the political measures of the Sahara exploration, gives extensive information about the Benghazi region of Tripoli and about Muhammad al-Senusi, the leader of the Senûsî (Senussi) movement there, and his followers. With the impressive and enthusiastic expression of Sadik el-Müeyyed's descriptions, this work reveals not only the affairs of the Ottoman government but also the mysteries of the journeys that have taken months in the Sahara desert, uncovers the living standards of the desert peoples, and sheds light on an unknown aspect of the North African history. Özege 132.; Not in Kursun.