Mecca, Medina & Damascus.- 2 manuscript plans of Mecca and El Medinah and a map of Damascus, 3 highly detailed pen and ink drawings with 3pp. of manuscript notes, [late 19th century].

Mecca, Medina & Damascus.- 2 manuscript plans of Mecca and El Medinah and a map of Damascus, 3 highly detailed pen and ink drawings with 3pp. of manuscript notes, together 6pp., all folding, ?removed from an album, 380 x 230mm. & 262 x 200mm., [probably late 19th century].

⁂ Plans of Mecca and Medina of this period are particularly rare and it is unclear whether they are first-hand accounts or copies from existing maps, although pencil under-drawing and the numerous annotations would suggest the former. These holy places were forbidden to non-Muslims and very few Europeans had made the journey and lived. Both J.L. Burckhardt and Richard Burton made the journey and left detailed accounts of their visits. There appears to be no details of the construction of the Hejaz Railway, which ran between Damascus and Medina and opened in 1908.