Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

Title

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

Description

Decorative view of the city Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives in Israel.After the Scottish painter David Roberts, RA ( 1796 - 1864 London).

ca. 1880

Artist

Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. (1817-1865)

Cassell & Co is a British book publishing house, founded in 1848 by John Cassell (1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company.John Cassell was an English publisher, printer, writer and editor, who founded the firm Cassell & Co, famous for its educational books and periodicals, and which pioneered the serial publication of novels. He was also a well-known tea and coffee merchant and a general business entrepreneur. A fervent Christian, he campaigned throughout his life for the temperance movement in Britain, for the reduction of taxes on publishing, and was a social reformer who recognised the importance of education in improving the life of the working class, and whose many publications, both magazines and books, brought learning and culture to the masses. John Cassell was relegated to being a junior partner after becoming insolvent in 1858, the firm being known as Cassell, Petter & Galpin. With the arrival of a new partner, Robert Turner, in 1878, it became Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company. Galpin was the astute business manager. Cassell visited America in 1853 to attend the "World Temperance Convention" in New York, and again in 1854 and 1859 on publishing business. He met the author Harriet Beecher Stowe and arranged for the publication of an illustrated edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin in Britain - to great success. Cassell strongly supported the cause of the slavery abolitionists. In 1859, on his return from America, he went into full partnership with Petter & Galpin, the company becoming "Cassell, Petter & Galpin". The company was particularly successful in its production of illustrated editions of classic literature such as Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's travels, The Vicar of Wakefield and others.

Historical Description

One of the oldest cities in the world, Jerusalem was named as "Urusalima" on ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets, probably meaning "City of Shalem". During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCEIn 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarter. There is no evidence of a permanent settlement in the City of David area until the early Bronze Age . Many Jewish tombs from the Second Temple period have been rediscovered in Jerusalem. One example, discovered north of the Old City, contains human remains in an ossuary decorated with the Aramaic inscription "Simon the Temple Builder. In 1517, Jerusalem and environs fell to the Ottoman Turks, who generally remained in control until 1917 .Jerusalem enjoyed a prosperous period of renewal and peace under Suleiman the Magnificent – including the rebuilding of magnificent walls around the Old City. Throughout much of Ottoman rule, Jerusalem remained a provincial, if religiously important center, and did not straddle the main trade route between Damascus and Cairo. The English reference book Modern history or the present state of all nations, written in 1744, stated that "Jerusalem is still reckoned the capital city of Palestine, though much fallen from its ancient grandeaur". The Ottomans brought many innovations: modern postal systems run by the various consulates and regular stagecoach and carriage services were among the first signs of modernization in the city. In the mid 19th century, the Ottomans constructed the first paved road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and by 1892 the railroad had reached the city.