The Holy Land and the Bible: A Book of Scripture Illustrations gathered in Palestine

London: Cassell & Company, 1891. Later printing. Hardcover. g to vg. 4to. xii, 948, 8pp. Original brown cloth with gold-stamped illustration and lettering on cover and spine. All gilt edges. Frontispiece color fold-out map of "The Holy Land." Comprehensive work on Palestine by Scottish minister, John Cunningham Geikie, who according to Charles Spurgeon was "one of the best religious writer of the age." In fifty-five chapters the author covers many biblical places and 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. Head and tail of spine and corners slightly bumped. Wear to bottom corners. Slight water staining to rear board and lower fore-edge of free front endpaper. Slight foxing on title-page. Small closed tear on frontispiece repaired with tape, slight creasing on top left corner of frontis. Binding in overall good, interior in very good condition. (Inventory #: 30637)