Category Archives: Lithographs

On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2

Islam and Christianity, Islamophobia, Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalist Images


A History of the Church, p. 95

One of the books owned by a great, great aunt of mine in Cleveland was A History of the Church, etc., published in 1833. In a previous post, I offered some excerpts from its coverage of “Mahometanism.” The author is a certain C. A. Goodrich, who is decidedly Protestant and as unfriendly to Roman Catholicism as he is to Islam and Hinduism. Near the end of the book is a section entitled “The Story of the World” by Josiah Conder, originally published in the Missionary Annual for 1833. Its comments on the various religions, including Islam, is quite fascinating, again as a reflection of a time when the United States was barely half a century old. Continue reading On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2 →

On Mahometanism, 1833 style

Islam and Christianity, Islamic Sects, Islamophobia, Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalism, Orientalist Images, Wahhabi


One of the books owned by a great, great aunt of mine in Cleveland was A History of the Church, etc., published in 1833. The bottom of the frontispiece is torn, so I do not know the publisher, although I suspect it was printed in Boston. It is a general history of Christianity with extended comments on other religions, including “Mahometanism.” The author is a certain C. A. Goodrich, who is decidedly Protestant and as unfriendly to Roman Catholicism as he is to Islam and Hinduism. Several parts of the text, which stretches a robust 504 pages, deal with Islam and are interesting for the biased perspective of the time. The history of the Church is according to periods, and Period V is labeled “The Rise of Mahometanism” (at the top of the pages of the chapter); the longer title is “The Period of the Rise of the Mahometan Imposture will extend from the establishment of the supremacy of the Roman Pontiffs, A.D. 606, to the first Crusade, A. D. 1095.” Period VI covers the Crusades, followed by the Reformation and then a very long chapter on the Puritans.

At the start of the section is a small lithograph of Muhammad, mounted on a steed with a sword in hand. Some of the information is descriptive; some even praises Muhammad, but it is clear that the author despises Islam as the excerpts below well show:


A History of the Church, 1833, p. 96

Continue reading On Mahometanism, 1833 style →

Aesop’s Fabulous Camels (and an Ass) #2

Animals, Books You Should Read, camels, Lithographs, Orientalism


Aesop’s Fables, 1888, p. 132

One of the joys of returning home to where I was born is going through the books that my grandmother once owned. In a previous post I mentioned an 1888 edition of Aesop’s Fables, translated by George Fyler Townsend. In leafing through the fables I found several that talk about camels and one that refers to an “Arab.”

In this post I provide three of the fables, Continue reading Aesop’s Fabulous Camels (and an Ass) #2 →

Aesop’s Fabulous Camels #1

Animals, Books You Should Read, Lithographs


One of the joys of returning home to where I was born is going through the books that my grandmother once owned. One of these is an 1888 edition of Aesop’s Fables, translated by George Fyler Townsend, as shown in the frontispiece above. The cover, which is dark brown, notes it is a “Caxton Edition” and includes a marvelous quote from Thomas Carlyle: “May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books.” I suppose today we must add: “And curses upon the creator of the Internet idea of an e-book.” As noted in the preface, not all of these tales date back to Aesop; some indeed were thought up by Christian monks in the Middle Ages. According to the same preface no book, apart from the Bible, had a wider circulation in the era just prior to the printing press.

After commenting that these fables have been translated into languages, East and West, the preface continues by saying that they “have been read, and will be read, for generations, alike by the Jew, Heathen, Mohammedan, and Christian” (p. xviii). In leafing through the fables I found several that talk about camels and one that refers to an “Arab.” Aesop might be surprised to find these, but since it is all Greek to me I am not sure how fluent he might have been with the unflappable ship of the desert.

In this post I provide two of the fables, with the rest to come in a future post. Continue reading Aesop’s Fabulous Camels #1 →

A Geography Lesson from 1879: #5: Turkey in Europe

Anthropology/Sociology, Lithographs, Orientalism, Ottoman Empire, Turkey


In a previous post I presented an account of the geography of Arabia and Turkey in an 1879 geography school text. Here is the discussion on the European part of the declining Ottoman Empire:

1. TURKEY, constituting the European dominion of the Ottoman Empire, comprises the middle portion of the great southeastern peninsula of Europe.
2. The Climate in some places is severe, but is healthful and favorable to the growth of all the common cereals.
3. The Soil is productive, yielding in abundance the useful grains, tobacco, and grapes, as well as the olive and mulberry. Much attention is given to the culture of plants yielding medicines and perfumes. Continue reading A Geography Lesson from 1879: #5: Turkey in Europe →

A Geography Lesson from 1879: #4: Arabia and Turkey

Anthropology/Sociology, Lithographs, Oman, Orientalism, Ottoman Empire, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Yemen


In a previous post I continued a thread from an 1879 school geography text. At the time much of the Arab World was under the control, nominal at times, of the Ottoman Empire. This text divided the Ottoman holdings into those in Asia, discussed below, and those in Europe, to be given in a separate post.

1. Arabia is a great plateau, abounding in deserts, and possessing but few fertile districts, except along the coast. Its area is about 1,000,000 square miles.
2. The Climate is the dryest in the world, rain seldom falling anywhere, and the heat being intense, especially in the lowlands and deserts.
Arabia has been divided into three parts: – ARABIA FELIX, happy or fertile; ARABIA PETRAE, stony; and ARABIA DESERTA, desert. The fist of these divisions borders on the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea; the second lies on the northeastern shore of the Red Sea; and the third includes all of the central portion of the country. The cultivated tracts are generally near the mountains, from which rivers descend in the rainy season and thus enrich the soil. Numerous oases re found in the desert regions. Continue reading A Geography Lesson from 1879: #4: Arabia and Turkey →

A Geography Lesson from 1879: #3: Racial as Facial

Anthropology/Sociology, Lithographs, Orientalism


In a previous post I provided an account of the five different states of civilization from an 1879 geography text once owned by my great, great aunt. Apparently the author was enamored with the number “five,” since he also divided the human race into five distinct races. Let’s face it, race at the time was a visual matter of face (and hair) and notice in the image above who was in the middle. Here is the breakdown:

“1. The people inhabiting the different regions of the globe have been divided into five varieties, or races; namely, the Caucasian, or European; the Mongolian, or Asiatic; the Ethiopian, or African; the Malay; and the American or Indian.
2. The Caucasians are distinguished for their light complexion and straight hair. They inhabit nearly the whole of Europe, southwestern Asia, and a large part of America. The comprise the most enlightened and civilized nations of the world. Continue reading A Geography Lesson from 1879: #3: Racial as Facial →

Ottoman Palestine

Architecture, Lithographs, Ottoman Empire, Palestine, Travel, Turkey


A friend recently brought my attention to an Arabic website with a fascinating collection of illustrations and photographs about Palestine under Ottoman rule. I also came across another site with illustrations of Jerusalem in the Ottoman era. I attach two examples here from the latter website, although the site does not specify the source or date of the images. Continue reading Ottoman Palestine →