A VISIT TO THE SUEZ CANAL; With 10 Illustrations.
Day and Son, Ltd. 1866 London, 1st edn, 72pp, 10 tinted lithographed plates (including frontis), folding map, 1 plan in text. Original terracotta sand grain brown cloth boards, cloth of edges worn to the point were board is clearly showing, corners worn. New cloth spine with spine label. Item #004876
A rare and informative account of Lynch's inspection of the as-yet-unfinished Suez Canal in November, 1864. Under construction since 1859 but not officially opened until 1869, the Suez Canal was of considerable interest to the British, not only for the presumed damage it could inflict on British naval superiority, but for the highly objectionable use of forced labor by its builders. The book describes for its British audience the state of the canal as Lynch found it on a tour personally conducted by its champion, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps. In addition to detailed descriptions of the canal, excavation processes, engineering problems, the recently abolished forced labor system and its successful replacement, and de Lesseps's plans for completing the project, Lynch discusses the topography and peoples of the Suez region, Cairo and Alexandria. The tinted lithographs include views of Ismalia and Port Said, the fresh water canal at Suez, and a "Dredging-Machine as Applied to Dry-Land Excavation." Thomas Kerr Lynch (1818-1891) was born in Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. From 1837-1842 he took part in an expedition to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and was instrumental in bringing steam-powered vessels to Iraq. Lynch traveled widely in the Middle East and was for some years the Persian consul-general in London. Kalfatovic, Nile Notes of a Howadji 578. Not in Ibrahim-Hilmy, Literature of Egypt. Not in Blackmer. On Lynch, see Dictionary of National Biography (microprint) I, 1261. NUC: DLC.
Price: $1,250.00