1809 Salt (1 results)
- More images
- Map
Seller: Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
Contact seller4-star sellerVery good. Edge trimmed unevenly. Sporadic spots of discoloration. Size 17.5 x 23.5 Inches. A lovely aquatint view of the village of Dixan, near the present border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, encountered by Henry Salt on his travels through Abyssinia (Ethiopia). A Closer Look A charming scene displaying groups of men in the foregro…und, engaged in conversation, herding animals, and otherwise going about their daily business. On a hilltop in the background is a group of buildings, the town of Dixan, in which the peaked roof building near center may be a church. More hills can be seen further in the background. Locating Dixan The town seen here does not clearly match the name and location of any modern town, but its location can be approximated, based on the accounts of Salt and his associates, to be on the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea in Tigray, near Aksum and Shire, in the vicinity of the town of Rama. This is confirmed by the map included with Salt's account (also sold by us, as Abyssinia-salt-1814), where Dixan is found some fifty to sixty miles southwest of the modern village of Arafali (known to him as Zulla) at the bottom of the Gulf of Zula (known to him as Annesley Bay). Salt, among the first modern Europeans to travel in Ethiopia, was the assistant and artist for George Annesley, Viscount Valentia, during his (1805 - 1806) trip to Ethiopia, part of a longer voyage, which was chronicled in Voyages and travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt, in the years 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806 . Salt sketched the (uncolored) plates for that book (including one of a view of mountains from Dixan), as well as for a separate book of hand-colored plates Twenty-four Views in St. Helena, The Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt that was published concurrently. Salt describes Dixan as being west of a mountain he referred to as Taranta, possibly Emba Soira, the highest mountain in Eritrea, or in any event in its vicinity. Salt developed a deep admiration for the Baharnegash Yasous, the local ruler or chief at Dixan, who aided Valentia's party after it was caught in a downpour and had to leave behind its baggage and most of its food. On his return to Ethiopia in 1809, Salt deliberately charted a course through Dixan and was not disappointed; the Baharnegash Yasous gave considerable assistance (including protection) to Salt and his companions. Baharnegash Yasous was one of several figures sketched by Salt and included in Valentia's published account of his voyage. Publication History and Census This view was drawn by Henry Salt, engraved by Daniel Havell, and published by William Miller as plate No. XVII in Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, Abyssinia and Egypt . The entire work is well represented in in institutional collections, appearing in the collections of some thirty institutions in the OCLC, but is scarce to market. This view is only independently cataloged in the OCLC with the British Library (mislabeled as Plate No. XV). It is also recorded in the holdings of the Victoria and Albert Museum. References: OCLC 850335918. Victoria and Albert Museum Accession Number SP.537:1. Annesley, G., Voyages and travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt, in the years 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806 (London: Printed for William Miller by W. Bulmer and Co., 1809). Salt, H., A Voyage to Abyssinia and Travels into the Interior of that Country, Executed under the Orders of the British Government, in the Years 1809 and 1810. (London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1814).
