The Natural History of Aleppo, published first as a single volume in 1756 and as a two-volume edition in 1794, by Scottish physicians to the British Levant Company in Aleppo, Alexander and Patrick Russell, was a landmark in European knowledge of the Arab world. It was the first detailed study by a European of an Arab city, with a description of the topography, the inhabitants and the plant, and animal life in the neighbourhood. Maurits van den Boogert assesses the Russells' botanical and zoological discoveries and analyses the Natural History in the context of medical practices of the time both in Europe and the Ottoman Empire. He reconstructs their stay in Aleppo, their life in Britain, Patrick Russell's experiences in India, and their broader connections, as respected members of the Royal Society, with the world of learning at large.

"Like previous publications from the Arcadian Library, Aleppo Observed is a beautifully and lavishly illustrated book that will be a joy for the connoisseur and a treasure for the scholar. Maurits H. van den Boogert's scholarship is impeccable" - Gerald Maclean, Times Literary Supplement

"Although aspects of [the Russells'] work have been explored before ... a full length biography has been notably missing for some time. Boogert's elegantly written and informative book admirably fills this gap. Like previous Arcadian Library publications, the study is richly complemented by numerous illustrations from the Russells and their contemporaries." - Simon Mills, British Journal for the History of Science

"lavishly illustrated with images from a wide range of sources, will no doubt serve as a standard reference work for those who research the history of Ottoman medicine, natural history and anthropology." - Matthew Daniel Eddy, Archives of Natural History

"Van den Boogert's research has been revived in a beautiful [volume] ... It includes fine reprodcutions of the Russells' handwritten letters" - Rory Stewart, London Review of Books