Yesterday I sent out the latest edition of the BiblePlaces Newsletter, complete with a “scoop” on how to get the digital maps from the New Moody Atlas of the Bible as well as a set of photos of the Israelite capital of Samaria. You can read the newsletter here and you can subscribe here.
In the newsletter I also noted that in conjunction with a complete overhaul of the BiblePlaces webstore, we were offering a big discount for a brief time. Today and tomorrow only you can purchase the complete four-volume electronic edition of Picturesque Palestine for $20, including free shipping in the US.
Picturesque Palestine was published in four large volumes in 1881 and it was an immediate success.
But there were many travel type books 
published in the 19th century that are no longer of much interest. What makes Picturesque Palestine still valuable is that it was written by the best scholars of the day. If you’ve done much research about the Holy Land, you’ll be familiar with names like Charles Wilson, Henry B. Tristram, Claude Conder, Mary Eliza Rogers, Charles Warren, Edward Palmer, and others.
The work is also outstanding because of the hundreds of beautiful illustrations. Color photographs have their value, but I love to study old engravings like this one. Altogether the collection has 600 engravings, all identified in the filename. When this set was published about five years ago, we didn’t have programs like Picasa that allowed quick and easy access to photos by searching. Today you can copy all of these images to your computer and find what you are looking for instantaneously.
I love this collection. I love to read the stories and to enjoy the illustrations. It took a lot of work to digitize the whole, but my hope is that it not only made the work available to a much wider audience (than the limited print editions that cost around $500), but also that it is much more useful than the originals are.
To get the discounted price, use this link. The collection will be in your cart with the discount applied when you are ready to checkout. The offer ends on Thursday, 9/16 at 11:59 pm.
9 thoughts on “Picturesque Palestine Special Offer”
Thanks for this generous offer. I couldn't pass it up.
I agree. I had to take advantage of the offer — one you cannot refuse!
Thank you!
It's not working for me. Just takes me to a place to order other things.
dhrknss – the intention of the special offer was to show readers the new webstore. So while we could have issued a link that took the viewer directly to the shopping cart, we instead created a link that (1) put the item in the shopping cart while (2) giving the viewer the opportunity "look around." After "looking around" (however much or little or not at all that is), when the viewer clicks on "checkout," he will find the item and the applied discount in the cart. I hope this explanation helps.
This just perpetuates the lie that Palestine was an actual country. It was only a territory. In the 2nd century, the Roman Emperor Hadrian named the area 'Palastina'. I always have to laugh at the "educated" people who write history books, especially so-called Christian authors, who write about the nation of Israel going from Egypt to 'Palestine'. First, there never was a country called 'Palestine', second that land was called Cana'an when the Israelites left Egypt.
Lee – what perpetuates the lie? A sale on a book published in electronic format? This book was written at a time (1880s) when everyone in the world called this land Palestine. The Jews who lived there called themselves Palestinians.
I agree with you that it is anachronistic to speak of the Israelites going from Egypt to Palestine (and it bugs me to no end). But it is just as anachronistic to not call it Palestine during the 19th century. Nothing in this book or its title says anything about Palestine being a country. If you had any knowledge of this work, this would be clear to you. But perhaps you are just a troll looking to start a fight without regard for truth.
First of all, I'm not "a troll looking to start a fight without regard for truth". That's a bit heavy for my having only posted one comment but, oh well ….
Anyway, it's not so much the book I'm speaking of. I have nothing against books about Palestine, when it was the actual territory of Palestine. I just think a note in your review of the book regarding that would help advance the facts, which is all I am interested in. It's just that most people aren't very discerning and think that when a Bible-related site endorses something like this, they don't look at the details of the book, they just see that Egypt and Palestine are connected, and they subconsciously don't make the distinction with the facts of the present day. Because people do read history books written by people with no regards for the facts, that speak of Palestine in the time of David or Jesus, I believe it is always necessary to help educate them. Then, they can be led to the truth, to articles that explain the facts. That's my only concern. I just happen to be very passionate about it. I write a weekly news letter of news regarding Israel and constantly fight the battle of trying to help people understand there is no such thing as the 'Palestinian people' nor was there ever a nation called 'Palestine'.
I didn't mean to get anyone stirred up.
Lee – thanks for the clarification. We're obviously both sensitive to this issue, and it is good to educate people. I apologize for over-reacting.
No problem, Todd. I should have been a bit clearer myself. It's good to see we're on the same page. Keep up the great work!