Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia during the Years 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820. by PORTER, Robert Ker (1772-1842) - 1821

London:: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1821-1822., 1821. Two volumes. Large 4to. 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. xxiii, 720; [v]-xiv, [2], pp. Volume I: illustrated with 42 full-page plates, 4 full-page colored plates, 14 folding plates [60 total]; volume II: 23 full-page plates, 1 colored plate, 5 folding plates, and 1 large folding map [30 in total], index; some foxing to contents. Bound in full modern russet morocco, tooled and lettered in gilt; corners with gentle repairs. Handsome copy. Bookplate of Kimbolton Castle. Very good. First edition of this grand descriptive tour of Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, profusely illustrated with 90 plates (including 5 colored plates). Porter, knighted and married to a Russian princess, traveled through much of Persia in 1817. This detailed account of his travels includes visits to Persepolis and the tomb of Cyrus the Great wherein he recorded inscriptions, now lost, & much more worn with time passed. He was himself an artist and drew of these experiences and added important portraits of the Fatteh Ali Shah 1797-1834), as well as the Prince Royal of Persia, Abbas Mirza (1789-1833) (both becoming frontispieces of Porter's book). This was a particularly important period in Persian history as the Russian empire gained a vast amount of territory while Abbas Mirza was military commander during the Russo-Persian wars of 1804-13 and 1826-28. / "[Porter] was soon abroad again, and in August 1817 he started from St. Petersburg upon an extended course of travel, proceeding through the Caucasus to Teheran, thence southwards by Ispahan to the site of the ancient Persepolis, where he made many valuable drawings and transcribed a number of cuneiform inscriptions. After some stay at Shiraz, he retraced his steps to Ispahan, and proceeded to Ecbatana and Bagdad; and then, following the course of Xenophon's Katabasis, to Scutari. He published the records of this long journey in his ‘Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, 1817–1820,' 2 vols. 4to, 1821. This huge book, which is full of interest and is a great advance upon his previous volumes of travel, was illustrated by bold drawings of mountain scenery, of works of art, and antiquities. A large number of Porter's original sketches are now preserved in the British Museum, to which they were presented by the author's sister Jane. At Teheran Porter had an interview with the Persian monarch Futteh Ali Shah, whose portrait he drew, and from whose hands in 1819 he received the insignia of the order of the Lion and the Sun." [DNB, 1885-1900, Volume 46]. / Blackwood's Magazine published a scathing review of this work. The article is unsigned, but the writer is direct to his points of the failings of this work as well as its better points. The critic abhors inaccuracies and details some from the point of view of geography and information supplied from the Russian government (considered to be also inaccurate). The best section seems to be Porter's record of the archeological sites and the bas relief drawings. No better record exists to that time. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 16, pp. -158. / Sir Robert Ker Porter, KCH (1777–1842) was a Scottish artist, author, diplomat and traveler. Known today for his accounts of his travels in Russia, Spain, and Persia, he was one of the earliest panorama painters in Britain, was appointed historical painter to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and served as British consul in Venezuela. REFERENCES: Abbey, Travel 359; Atabey 976; Ghani p.304; Weber I, 104; Wilson p.177. Extra Postage will be required.