Books in the Cambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor series

John Lewis Burckhardt (1784-1817) was a Swiss explorer who explored Arabia and the Middle East in the guise of a Muslim. First published in 1830, these volumes contain Burckhardt's description of Bedouin society and history of the Wahhabi Islamic sect. Volume 1 contains his description of the Bedouin.

Described as 'a man of sterling common sense', the naval officer Sir Adolphus Slade (1804-1877) was one of the most knowledgeable travel writers of his time. This 1832 account of his early travels in the Mediterranean and Turkey contains entertaining descriptions of fashions and superstitions, dignitaries, despots and pirates.

Sketches of Persia, although published anonymously in 1827, is attributed to Indian diplomat Sir John Malcolm (1769-1833). He was fluent in Persian and was posted to Persia for part of his career. In Volume 1 Malcolm starts his journey in Bombay and finishes in Persepolis.

Adventurous and unconventional, Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) left England to travel to the East in the early nineteenth century. This three-volume work, first published in 1846, was written by her physician Charles Meryon (1783-1877), who travelled with her for seven years before returning to England to complete his medical studies.

Later viceroy of India, George Curzon (1859-1925) published this highly regarded two-volume work on Persia in 1892, following his travels in the country. Convinced of the political importance of this region as a buffer against Russian influence, Curzon gives an overview of Persian history, society, geography and politics.

Ornithologist and clergyman H. B. Tristram's 1865 account of a journey through Palestine, is written with the aim of demonstrating that the Bible accurately describes the region. Tristram was also one of Darwin's earliest public supporters, making this book a fascinating document of the contemporary relationship between religion and the natural sciences.