Syria, MOUNT AMANUS CASTLE OF BAKRAS KALESI RUINS ~ Old 1836 Art Print Engraving

Description: CASTLE IN MOUNT AMANUS Near the Khan Karamonti Artist: William Henry Bartlett ____________ Engraver: J. H. Le Keux Note: the title in the table above is printed below the engraving CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ANTIQUE VIEWS OF MIDDLE EASTERN SCENERY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEWS LIKE THIS ONE!! AN ANTIQUE STEEL ENGRAVING MADE IN THE LATE 1830s! VERY OLD WORLD! INCREDIBLE DETAIL! FROM THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: This ruined castle is situated in a defile of the mountain, on the way from Antioch to Beilan: its position, one of the wildest imaginable-on the summit of a cliff whose foot is bathed by a rapid stream; precipices are on every side. The mountain-road is here very ancient, and soon after passes through groves of flowering shrubs, among which, is the elegant form of the Italian pine. Looking back, the white lake beyond Antioch glittered in the sun. This castle is most probably of European construction. It was now noon; but had it been evening, the traveller would have been tempted to seek a home in its desolate chambers. When the fire was lighted on the floor, the group gathered round it, the coffee prepared, and the flame glancing on the gloomy walls; then was the hour for an Eastern story. The pleasure with which the Orientals listen to their story-tellers is inexhaustible; the repetition of the same piacisss day after day, does not weary their patience, or abate in the smallest degree the interes't they feel. This is probably one of the most primitive and ancient amusements in the .world: even in the patriarchal days of the Old Testament, the love of oral narratives, in which instruction was blended with imagination, prevailed among the Jews and other Eastern people. The Arabs, when halting at eve on their endless sands, delight to form a group, and call on one of their companions to tell a tale, either of his own invention, or from one of their celebrated poets. To a Turk, the inaction as well as routine of his life, that knows little change or excitement, render this luxury peculiarly welcome. He can command it at all times and seasons, and can pass from the bosom of his family to the favourite haunt of the story-teller in a few moments. Whether the rain falls heavily,.orthe snows cover the narrow streets, he wraps his robe closely about him, and hastens there. After being sated with love, that he has purchased perhaps with money, it is a relief to him to listen to an ideal picture of strong affection and domestic felicity. Even the man who just before, perhaps, embrued his sabre in the blood of a Greek, will melt with sorrow at the perils and distresses of the hero of the story. As there are no public amusements in the East-no theatres, balls, or drinking-parties-they repair to the scene of this loved amusement with the same feeling as the idle and luxurious incur own land take up a new novel, or go to see a favourite actor. Old men whose white beards hang on their breasts, and whose features prove that they have felt the real evils and trials of life, are seen to devour, these'' fictitious narrations with as much eagerness as the youths who sit beside them. The dervise, too, is there; his wild eyes fixed on the narrator, his very soul stirred by the tale, after he has spent the day in kindling the feelings of others by his own illusions, and drawing crowds about him with his revelations and lies. The badge also, just come from Mecca, after his painful pilgrimage, that has purged away his sins, and thrown a sacredness about his person even to the end of life, comes here to yield himself to the beautiful fictions of some wandering Arab, and forget the howling desert he has traversed, as well as the distant home, to which he is bound. In Damascus some of the best reciters are to be found; and the peculiar luxury and situation of its coffee-houses aid very much the effect of their narrations. In Cairo, the want of water, the burning heat, and the gloomy and dusty streets, are, as well as the desert that spreads on every side, great foes to the imagination. In Constantinople the beauty of the external scenery, of the Bosphorus and its enchanting shores, cannot be surpassed; but the scantiness of water in the interior of the city, diminishes very much the luxuries of its people, who love beyond every thing the sight and sound of falling water in their apartments. But in Damascus, almost all the coffee-houses have splendid fountains, that are thrown up, some of them to the height of six or seven feet; and it is delightful to recline on one of the soft seats near them, and listen to their ceaseless rush and fall. The abundance of water from the five streams that flow around the city is incredible. The Assyrians might well complain, in their inroads into the Promised Land, of the scarcity of its rivers, and boast that there was nothing like their own Abana and Pharpar.. In some of these houses of recreation, whose latticed windows, thrown open, admit the air, the wealthier people form dinner-parties, of men only. Seated in a circle on the carpet, with the various dishes on low tables before them, they eat slowly and carelessly, conversing at intervals, without any of the gout or joviality that wine inspires. Every good private dwelling in Damascus has its fountain, and this is invariably in the best apartment, it being a luxury, or rather a necessity, that few inhabitants care to do without; an Englishman would as soon live in an uncarpeted house. And round the marble basin, or in the divan just beyond it, the host at evening receives his friends; and they sit and smoke, and calmly converse the hours away: this is the time when the wealthier families sometimes send for a celebrated story-teller to amuse the party; and when the latter knows he is to be handsomely paid, it is a more recherche opportunity than the public companies afford. It is the sultry hour of noon, perhaps, when the burning rays are on the water, the trees, and green banks that surround the public cafe of Damascus: the light roof, supported by the slender pillars, casts a shade on the peopled floor, on which the well and variously dressed Turks recline, some in small wickered chairs, others on long and softer benches, covered and backed with carpets and cushions. These seats are placed close to the river's edge; and earth has nothing more indulgent than to sit here, in the cool of the day, or in the still hour of night, and listen to the rush of the waters, and gaze on the gloaming of the cataract; then put the amber-tipped and scented pipe to the lips, or turn to the throng of many nations around, all silently enjoying the hour. It is sweet to such a people to have their feelings violently excited, to have the monotony of their thoughts thus broken wildly by the vivid descriptions of the speaker. It is a pleasure so easily enjoyed also; the head need not be raised from its recumbent position, nor the eye turned from the faint twilight falling on the foaming river, nor the hand moved from its gentle grasp on the chibouque. The favourite story- teller watches his moment, and comes forward into the middle of the floor, and raises his hand: the lips of the Damascene, the Cairene, the Arab, and the Persian, that were before busy, perhaps conversing on the few themes that occupy an Oriental mind, are instantly hushed. The hands of those whose faces are turned towards the speaker are laid significantly on their flowing beards, or count their beads with unconscious and mechanical motion. The waiters, who replenish continually the often-drained coffee-cups, tread stealthily over the floor. If a guest enters, his eye detects instantly the nature of the scene, and he walks with quick steps to the nearest vacant seat, and signs to the attendant to bring him the refreshment he desires. Amidst the sound of the falling waters, the voice of the story-teller alone is heard; and each tone falls as distinct and clear as that of the angel who shall proclaim at the day of account the sins of the people. It is beautiful to see a proud and half-barbarous people thus chained by the power of imagination, listening, with the earnestness and simplicity of children, to the fictitious narration, melted at the tenderness of some of the passages, and their dark eyes kindling at the powerful painting of others. PRINT DATE: This lithograph was printed in the late 1830s; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: 7 inches by 10 inches including white border of apprpoximately one inch on each side (not shown in scan). PRINT CONDITION: Condition is fine. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. BIOGRAPHY OF ARTIST: William Henry Bartlett, (b London, 26 March 1809; died at sea off Malta, 13 Sept 1854) was an English draughtsman, active also in the Near East, Continental Europe and North America. He was a prolific artist and an intrepid traveller. His work became widely known through numerous engravings after his drawings published in his own and other writers' topographical books. His primary concern was to extract the picturesque aspects of a place and by means of established pictorial conventions to render 'lively impressions of actual sights', as he wrote in the preface to The Nile Boat (London, 1849). The background for his work on the Middle East and the Holy Land, of which the picture represented is one of his several hundred illustrations on the subject, is as follows: In the early 1800s, the middle east was a very popular subject. Between 1790, when James Bruce's "Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile" appeared, and 1818, when Edward Daniel Clarke's eight volumes on "Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa were published, more than twenty noteworthy travel books about the Near and Middle East were placed before the public. Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and his disastrous campaign in Syria had attracted considerable attention to the East even as Byron's travels and poetry, a decade later, stirred romantic imaginings about Turkey, Greece, and the Levant. The inter-relationships of Muhammed Ali, Sultan Mahmud, and Tsar Nicholas also guaranteed that, politically, western Europe had to remain alert to happenings at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. And, of course, the building of railways in France and the introduction of the steamship greatly facilitated travel to the Middle East. Though these were strong influences on western travellers, it is questionable, in Bartlett's case, if any affected him more than the religious one. His detailed knowledge of the scriptures and of biblical history is apparent throughout his writings. He wanted to see the lands of the Old and New Testament as much for his own sake as he did for the sketches he was commissioned to take from the London, England publishing firm of H. Fisher and Son. So Bartlett set out for the middle east on January second, 1834, accompanied by his wife. Mr. Bartlett proceeded directly to Paris; thence by the nearest route to Naples where the couple spent some time on those pleasant shores. From there, Mr Bartlett took leave of his wife, who returned reluctantly to England by herself, while he engaged passage to Malta, and from there to Alexandria and finally to Beirut Lebanon. From here he began his many excursions into the inland of Syria and neighboring areas. On leaving Beirut, Mr. Bartlett followed the sea shore to Tripoli, and then ascended the steeps of Lebanon and visited Baalbec. His intended visit to Jerusalem, the chief object of his journey, was defeated by the open war, in which the Holy City had been taken by Egyptian forces loyal to Mohammed Ali and his son Ibrahim Pasha, who wrested control of Palestine from the Ottomans for a 10-year period beginning in 1831. From Balbec, he therefore proceeded to Antioch and to Tarsus, along which part of this journey he was taken by a serious fever. Having completed his tour in syria, and taken sketches of all the biblical and classical scenes in his route, Bartlett returned to London in January, 1835, a full year after his departure. He had performed his engagements greatly to the satisfaction of his publisher, and immediately began to prepare sketches for the engravers. SHIPPING:Buyers to pay shipping/handling, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular mail. . We pack properly to protect your item! Please note: the terms used in our auctions for engraving, heliogravure, lithograph, print, plate, photogravure etc. are ALL prints on paper, NOT blocks of steel or wood. "ENGRAVINGS", the term commonly used for these paper prints, were the most common method in the 1700s and 1800s for illustrating old books, and these paper prints or "engravings" were inserted into the book with a tissue guard frontis, usually on much thicker quality rag stock paper, although many were also printed and issued as loose stand alone prints. So this auction is for an antique paper print(s), probably from an old book, of very high quality and usually on very thick rag stock paper. EXTREMELY RARE IN THIS EXCELLENT CONDITION!

Price: 7.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2025-01-21T15:56:29.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD