Copenhague [Copenhagen], Nicolas Möller, 1773. Large, thick 4to (27.8 x 21.0 cm). Title page with engraved vignette; xlvi (including dedication leaf, dated 1772, with engraved vignette), 372; 25 engraved plates and maps, of which several larger, folded; the very large map of Arabia, and two other plates with original, additional hand-colouring; one large, folded table. Contemporary mottled calf. Spine with five raised bands; compartments with gilt floral corner-pieces and central vignette, and burgundy morocco label with gilt title. Boards with gilt-rolled decorative border. Patterned endpapers. All edges gilt.

First French edition - in a rare deluxe edition on papier vélin - of this seminal work on the Arabian Peninsula, including present-day Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Oman, and Yemen, and the Red Sea. This is the complete narrative by the German explorer Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) of his important Danish expedition to Arabia and Yemen during the years 1761 to 1767. Includes plates of the mosques in Mecca, and in Medina. With several large and detailed maps, including one covering the whole Red Sea. The Danish Arabia expedition (1761-1767), was initiated by King Frederick V of Denmark (1722-1766). 'The expedition sailed in January 1761 via Marseilles and Malta to Istanbul and Alexandria. Then the members of the expedition visited Cairo and Sinai, before traversing the Red Sea via Jiddah to Yemen, which was their main destination. In Mocha, on 25 May 1763, the expedition's philologist, Frederik Christian von Haven, died, and on 11 July 1763, on the way to Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, its naturalist, Peter Forsskål also died. In Sana'a the remaining members of the expedition had an audience with the Imam of Yemen al-Mahdi Abbas (1719-1775), but suffered from the climate and returned to Mocha. Niebuhr seems to have preserved his own life and restored his health by adopting native dress and eating native food. From Mocha the expedition continued to Bombay, the expedition's artist Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind died on the 29th of August and the expedition's servant Lars Berggren on the following day; both were buried at sea. The surgeon Christian C. Kramer (1732-1763) also died, soon after landing in Bombay. Niebuhr was the only surviving member. He stayed in Bombay for fourteen months and then returned home by way of Muscat, Bushire, Shiraz, and Persepolis' (Wikipedia). Boards somewhat rubbed along the edges; a few plates a bit toned, but mostly very clean. The paper is thicker, and of a better quality, than usual. Margins are generous, larger than usual. Brunet 4, p. 74 (not mentioning special paper editions); Gay 3589.