Athens and Its Immediate Environs.

'the Olympic Games Baedeker'

'This reprint from the second edition of Baedeker's Handbook to Greece (1894) is intended for sale solely within the kingdom of Greece.'

This title is the one of the rarest English editions. It was published for visitors to the first modern day Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. It is not just a reprint - it has been updated with corrections and amendments to 1896. Few copies survive as many were discarded after use.

Pierre de Courbetin, founder of the modern day Olympic Games, had originally intended to hold the games in Paris but after the Panathenaic Stadium was excavated in 1869 he decided to hold it in Athens, the birthplace of the Olympics and asked Baedeker to publish a special guide for the occasion.

This copy was issued May 1896.

Very Rare.

Small 8vo (15 x 11 cm), 80pp, 2 folding maps, some pencilling inside on rear endpapers, front map crumpled; restored preserving all of the original publisher's printed boards, some creasing to the boards, red cloth spine; a very good copy.

Hinrichsen E238