Palestine and Syria with the Chief Routes through Mesopotamia and Babylonia. 4th edition, remodelled and augmented

1906

Special Collections DS103 B351 1906

Leipzig: Karl Baedeker

In 1876, the Leipzig firm of Baedeker published their Palestine and Syria guidebook, which offered a description of the conditions in a region where travel was mainly by horse and camel. Publication of these guides were not without problems. In the 2nd edition, some disparaging remarks were made about some hotels owned by a Mr Howard. A legal case followed. This particular edition has the rare note tipped in which is often missing: ‘The excessive zeal of the Turkish censorship sometimes even extends to the confiscation of guide-books. The traveller is therefore advised to place this volume in his pocket before crossing the Turkish frontier or entering a Turkish port.’ Here is a 1906 engraving of Hebron, a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank.