important work on Palestinian heritage

Scarce. Canaan (1882-1964) was one of the outstanding Palestinian scholars of his time and Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries is his finest work. A doctor by profession, Canaan became interested in Palestinian history and heritage. He was an outspoken opponent of Jewish settlements in Palestine and his active protests led to his imprisonment in 1939.

Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine is his most outstanding contribution to the ethnography of Arab Palestine and to the annals of his country. In the introduction to the book, Canaan makes explicit his urgent motivation to document ancient, still practiced Palestinian traditions & beliefs threatened by Western influence and the spread of European educational models: 'The primitive features of Palestine are disappearing so quickly that before long most of them will be forgotten'.

Also covered in this work are therapeutic bathing rituals people undertook to cure diseases and ailments, with descriptions of the specific water sources perceived to be especially holy or effective.

First edition; 8vo, viii, 321 pp., original green cloth gilt, spine rubbed, gilt faded, a very good copy.