Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1856. Hardcover. INSCRIBED FIRST EDITION. Inscribed by Oliphant: “Royal Phelps from his sincere friend The Author London Febr 57.” Oliphant was a well known traveler, author, diplomat, and mystic who served as the private secretary to Lord Elgin in the mid 1800s among many other roles. Royal Phelps was a prominent New York merchant and trader in the West Indies. It is unclear where they might have met. This uncommon book is generally in very good condition in the original green cloth binding with faded gold title and gold stamped portrait on front cover. Neatly rebacked spine with most of the original spine intact; fading and spotting to front and rear covers; and bumping to corners. Interior is clean save for some foxing to illustrations and offsetting from them to facing pages, and light aging to page margins. Two nice foldout maps, five illustrations, and four woodcut vignettes. 234 pages plus 16 pages of ads. MIDEASTHIS/071508. Very Good. More