Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Introduction

The paintings shown in this page are by Margaret Thomas (1842-1929) who was an English-born Australian travel writer, poet and artist. They were published in 1908 to illustrate From Damascus to Palmyra by John Kelman, one of the Black's Beautiful Books, a series of illustrated books published at the beginning of the XXth century by A. and C. Black, Soho Square, London W. The price of the books ranged from 5s. to 20s. The books were embellished with full-page illustrations, which at the time were reserved only to very expensive books. The books were dedicated to London and the British countryside, foreign countries, birds and a few contemporary painters.
Rev. John Kelman (1864-1929) was a minister, lecturer and author of the United Free Church of Scotland. In 1902 he wrote The Holy Land, another Black's Beautiful Book. In the preface to From Damascus to Palmyra he stated: The present volume arose out of a journey memorable for its delightfulness, both of incidents and of companions. The small margin of leisure which a busy life allows, has for two years been devoted to the recording of impressions then gained and noted, and to the interpreting of these by such study of history as I was able to give to the subject. (..) The objective of the book is Palmyra, but it reaches its destination by way of Beyrouth, Baalbek, and Damascus. Only a passing glimpse at these cities is allowed.
He never referred to Margaret Thomas or to the illustrations of the book, yet these can be easily associated with the text, exception made for those depicting people and street scenes. A number of illustrations of monuments of Lebanon and Syria are placed in the page where the monument is discussed, some of those related to people and street scenes are shown in this page.

Illustrations in other pages:
Beyrout, shewing Mount Sannin and the Lazaretto
At Beyrout
General View of the Cedars and Dehr el Kodib
The Bika with the Shrine of Douris
The Temple of Jupiter, Baalbek
Temple of Venus, Baalbek
The Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek, Interior
Tomb of Saladin, Damascus, Exterior and Interior
Return of the Haj from Mecca to Damascus
General View of the Colonnade, Palmyra
Temple of the Sun, Palmyra
Mortuary Towers, Palmyra

Lebanon: Druse bride, girl and sheikh (see a page on Deir al-Qamar, a Druse town in the Chouff Mountains)

Lebanon: Bridge over the Litany, Jisr el Kardeli; the caption of the book might be wrong because the bridge resembles that on the Nahr el-Kalb very much

(left) Lebanon: Outdoor Restaurant Beirut; (right) Syria: Cafe on the Barada River Damascus

Camels and Drivers outside Damascus

Arab Encampment between Homs and Palmyra

Group of Syrians

Damascus: (left) Ottoman street fountain; (right) Water Seller

(left) In the Fruit Bazaar, Damascus; (right) A Merchant, Grand Bazaar, Damascus

Damascus: (left) Sweet Seller; (right) Cobbler

A Damascene Interior (with Mount Qassyoun in the background)

(left) "Iwan" of a Damascene House; (right) Court of a Damascene House

Sections of this website with pages on Beirut, Baalbek, Damascus and Palmyra:
Pococke, Burckhardt and Turner's Lebanon
Basic Damascus
Bride of the Desert (Palmyra)

Other pages with illustrations from Black's Beautiful Books: Rome, Pompeii, Sicily, Tunisia and Algeria and Constantinople.