The Holy Land and the Bible: a Book of Scripture Illustrations Gathered in Palestine

Quarto. xii, 948 [2], 8pp. Original green cloth with gilt-stamped and black illustration and gilt lettering on cover and spine. Historiated head and endpieces. Decorative initials. Comprehensive work on Palestine by the Scottish minister John Cunningham Geikie, who, according to Charles Spurgeon, was "one of the best religious writers of the age. "In fifty-four chapters the author covers many biblical places and offers captivating stories. The author visited Palestine ". with the intention of gathering illustrations of the sacred writings from its hills and valleys, its rivers and lakes, its plains and uplands, its plants and animals, its skies, its soil, and, above all, from the pictures of ancient times still presented on every side in the daily life of its people. Nothing is more instructive or can be more charming, when reading Scripture, than the illumination of its texts from such sources, throwing light upon its constantly recurring Oriental imagery and local allusions, and revealing the exact meaning of words and phrases which otherwise could not be adequately understood. Its simple narratives, its divine poetry, its prophetic visions, its varied teachings, alike catch additional vividness and force when read with the aid of such knowledge. The Land is, in fact, a natural commentary on the sacred writings which it has given to us, and we study them as it were amidst the life, the scenery, and the local peculiarities which surrounded those to whom the Scriptures were first addressed." Profusely illustrated with full-page and in-text b/w drawings by H. A. Harper, rendered in lithography. With index and list of scripture and apocryphal references at rear. Two pages with "The Quiver Magazine" announcements of publications, and eight pages of a classified catalogue of Cassell & Company's Publications at rear. Very light wear along edges of binding and block lightly age-toned.…