162 - [Turkey]. HOMMAIRE DE HELL. LAURENS, Jules

[Turkey]. HOMMAIRE DE HELL. LAURENS, Jules Journey to Turkey and Persia undertaken by order of the French Government during the years 1846, 1847, and 1848... Historical and Scientific Atlas. Paris, P. Bertrand, 1859. Folio-sized atlas, (2) folios and 40 plates. Loose sheets in the publisher’s brown half-cloth folder, printed covers (folder worn with missing spine and laces, corners and edges heavily rubbed, soiling on the covers, a few foxing spots mainly in the margins, edges of the folios slightly discolored, 3 plates with a tear but no loss, some edges slightly creased). First edition. Historical and Scientific Atlas only. 40 plates from the superb atlas of the *Journey to Turkey and Persia* by Hommaire de Hell. The plates depict views, scenes, portraits, and monuments of Turkey and Persia, drawn by the Orientalist painter Jules Laurens and then lithographed in black on a tinted background. After an initial stay in Constantinople in 1835 and various trips as a civil engineer for Russia, Hommaire de Hell (1812–1848), a geologist and traveler, was commissioned by France in 1846 to undertake a geographical mission to Turkey and Persia. He explored the shores of the Caspian Sea and also visited Armenia and Persia, particularly Isfahan, Qom, and Tehran. The expedition brought him fame and launched the career of the Orientalist painter Jules Laurens (1825–1901), who accompanied the expedition and personally lithographed the album’s superb plates based on his sketches made on site. The text, which is missing here, was never completed due to the author’s death during the journey, in August 1848 in Isfahan. The four volumes were published by his wife, Adèle Hommaire de Hell, an author, companion, and co-editor of the journal of his expeditions. Atabey, 593. Hage-Chahine, 2214. Not listed in Blackmer.