2 volumes, 8vo (220 x 139 mm). Half-titles, folding lithographic map with water printed in blue, 6 chromolithographic plates, 10 wood-engraved plates, numerous engraved or lithographic illustrations. (Some minor staining and slight toning, some marginal chipping not affecting text, half-title in vol. I with 1 ¼ x 3 3/8-in. strip of upper margin excised.) Original ochre cloth decorated in pictorial black and gilt-lettered, beveled edges, top edge uncut, by Burn & Co with their ticket (hinges and spines cracked, some minor soiling and light wear to extremities). Provenance: Dr. James Micklewright [?] (presentation inscription).

FIRST EDITION, one of only 1,000 copies printed. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY BURTON to Micklewright on the title-page: “Dr. James Micklewright [?] with the best thanks of the author IAB.” Burton's 1877-78 second expedition into the Midian, which, like his first in 1877, was financed by the Khedive in Cairo as a search for gold. He mapped a 600-mile route through the northern and southern Midian recording its ruined ancient cities. For the Khedive in Cairo, he brought back 25 tons of minerals to be assayed. For himself, he seriously considered forming a company to exploit the oil resources of the Midian, but nothing came of it. Penzer, pp. 96-97; Spink 61.