Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia &c during the years 1812 and 1813

This remarkable illustrated travel book was written by the author when in his early twenties, after he qualified as an MD at an unusually young age. He became a society doctor of note - being "physician extraordinary" to Queen Victoria and subsequently "physician ordinary" to both the Queen and her consort, Prince Albert. Throughout his long life (1788-1873: he died on his birthday, 27 October), which was filled with many honours, including a baronetcy, he limited his medical earnings to a total of five thousand pounds a year (then a princely sum) to give him time for writing and travel. Although he wrote a great deal - of medicine and travel - this early book on his travels to Greece and other countries during a period when Britain and France were at war remains his masterpiece, the more so as much of his manuscript was lost before he returned to England. (Information from Wikipedia and the Dictionary of National Biography.)

The heraldic bookplate of William Charles Henry is on the front paste-down, and in ink on this bookplate "Arthur W Blaxall, purchased at Chamdy's [?], Oxford, 7.11.24". Also in ink on the fly-leaf "Passed on to our good friends Jenny and Pagan [Hoare] . . . Florence & Arthur, Roodepoort 1963/4". The Rev Arthur Blaxall (1891-1970: Wikipedia) was an anti-apartheid campaigner charged in 1963 under the Suppression of Communism Act, given a suspended sentence and allowed to leave for Britain, where he published Suspended Sentence in 1965. The Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind and Deaf in Pietermaritzburg, which he founded in the 1930s, still exists and the proceeds from the sale of this volume will go to this school.

The images of the contents pages show the extent of Holland's travels and his wide interests, even as a young man.

Full bound in calf boards with gilt lettering to the spine. The strengthened binding includes tape to the original marbled endpapers. Engraved frontispiece map + xi + 551 pp of text and index + 11 inserted engraved plates of buildings and views.

CONDITION NOTES. Collated and complete. The original binding has been well repaired, with the attractive endpapers retained. The plates and leaves close to them as well as a few early and late leaves are foxed but the remainder of the text is clean. We have compared this copy with the copy presented by the executors of J N P May to the Ashmolean Museum Library in Oxford, which has been digitised by Google Books. The covers and endpapers of the Ashmolean copy are superior to the copy on auction, but the condition of the plates and the text leaves is about the same in both copies.