Antiquities of Kertch, and researches in the Cimmerian Bosphorus; with remarks on the ethnological and physical history of the Crimea

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece depicting the site of the ancient city of Panticapaeum (now Kerch, in Crimea), a title-page vignette showing a view of the modern town, two maps (Greek colonies of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea; the Strait of Kerch, with Macpherson’s route), as well as 12 plates, 9 of them in colour (tumuli, vases, bronzes, oil lamps, statuettes, symbols, inscriptions and various objects recovered during excavations), and numerous wood-engravings in the text.

Cf. Abbey, Travel in aquatint and lithography, 243. Blackmer, 1055.

Publisher’s grey blind-stamped cloth, gilt title lettered lengthwise to the smooth spine, large gilt device blocked at the centre of the upper cover, decorative motifs stamped in blind on covers, gilt edges, brown endpapers and pastedowns, publisher’s binding signed Westleys & Co London.

Restorations to spine and covers, a few scattered foxing spots.

Situated in eastern Crimea, on the western shore of the strait linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, the city of Kerch was founded in the 7th century B.C. by Greek colonists from Miletus.

Built on the summit of Mount Mithridates, it stood at the intersection of trade routes between Asia and Europe.

It later passed under Byzantine, Khazar, Mongol, Genoese, Turkish and finally Russian rule. The text is divided into three parts: the first is devoted to Greek colonisation in Crimea and along the shores of the Black Sea; the second presents the results of the author’s researches; and the third contains physical and ethnological observations on Crimea. A military surgeon, Duncan Macpherson (1812-1867) served in the Indian Army, then in China, before taking part in the Crimean War, where he organised medical teams near the Strait of Kerch. Using his leisure hours to explore the region, he discovered Greek and Byzantine pottery, glass vessels, ornaments, jewellery, and other objects, reproduced in the present work.

"An example of the degree of technical virtuosity reached by this time in lithography, giving plates brilliant in effect, the equivalent of modern four-colour process work from photographs […]. The technique is really an extension of tinted lithography, with skilful modelling introduced in the tints. The inks are excellent, with some strong velvety blacks" (Abbey).