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[Qur'an - Surah 36, Ya-Sin].
Illuminated devotional manuscript. Probably Anatolia, late 18th or early 19th century [ca. 1800].
12mo. 139 pp. on 70 ff. of smooth wove paper. Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. With a double-page 'unwan headpiece in colours and gilt. Text enclosed throughout within gilt borders and blue rules; 9 full-page colour illuminations with circular text compartments. Blue marbled pastedowns. Contemporary blindstamped dark brown calf with inlaid light brown borders and centrepiece and fore-edge flap. Prettily bound pocket-sized Ottoman devotional manuscript on the 36th surah of the Qur'an, "Ya-Sin", written in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. The splendidly illumnated first double-page (containing verses 1 to 6) is written in an exquisitely refined variety of Turkish naskh calligraphy, typical for Quranic manuscripts. The surah "Ya-Sin" is considered the heart of the Qur'an by many pious Muslims, as it presents the core tenets of Muslim religion.
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[Qur'an - Swedish].
Koran öfversatt från arabiska originalet, jemte en historisk inledning af Fredrik Crusenstolpe, konsulat-sekreterare vid kongl. konsulatet i Marocko. Stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & söner, 1843.
8vo. V, (1), 158, 783, (1), 26, (2) pp. Near contemporary green half calf over marbled boards, flat spine elaborately gilt. First Swedish edition: the pioneering, first complete version of the Holy Qur'an in any Scandinavian language. The translator Fredrik Crusenstolpe (1801-82) was secretary to the Swedish consul in Tanger and a philhellene who had fought against the Ottomans in the Greek War of Independence. - The publication was privately funded by the translator himself: Crusenstolpe, who detected in the Swedish mentality an ignorance and tendency toward superstition which he resented, "felt personally compelled to furnish the Swedish audience with material to rectify some of the misconceptions about the Prophet Muhammad in Swedish popular imagination [...] He described the Prophet as a rational 'Arabic founder of law' (p. iii), in compliance with a common imagery of the Prophet which emerged in the European Enlightenment" (N. S. Eggen, "On the Periphery: Translations of the Our'an in Sweden, Denmark and Norway", in: The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Translation, ed. Sameh Hanna et al.). - Covers a little rubbed, corners slightly bumped. Some browning and occasional foxing throughout. From the library of Swedish linguist Hans Hultqvist (1943-2019) with his discrete shelf mark in pencil to title-page. Very rare: OCLC lists only four holding libraries (NY Public Library, Library of Congress, Cleveland Public Library, Ohio State University). Chauvin X, 238. OCLC 2011410.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' X. China, [ca. 1790 - later 18th century CE].
8vo (200 x 288 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 50 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within red double rules, punctuation in red, gold rosette verse markers outlined in black, surah headers in gold, gold and polychrome marginal decoration, opening bifolium with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. Restored 18th century red leather with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in blind. Beautifully illuminated Qur'an Juz' (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in 18th century China. Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. The section of the Qu'ran copied here is the tenth Juz', which comprises surah 8, al-Anfal ("The Spoils") and surah 9, al-Tawbah ("The Repentance"). These two surahs form a set, and are best read as a pair. Both give an account of battles: al-Anfal describes the Battle of Badr, while al-Tawbah describes the Battle of Tabuk. - Covers fully rebacked, with some mild warping; some paper repair and reinforcement. Altogether a fine example of the Chinese Muslim manuscript tradition. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XII. China, ca. 1800 CE.
Small folio (230 x 295 mm). Arabic manuscript on cream-coloured paper. 58 ff. (plus 2 flyleaves), 5 lines per extensum, written in crisp Sini script in black ink. Text within red double rules, verses separated by gilt roundels, surah heading in gold outlined in red. Opening bifolio with brightly coloured and gilt quasi-geometric illumination, final bifolio with gold and polychrome Central Asian floral and tendril motifs in the borders. Contemporary blind-tooled brown leather binding with fore-edge flap. Indigo blue cotton endpapers. Prettily illuminated Qur'an Juz' (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in late 18th or early 19th century China. Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. The section of the Qu'ran copied here is the twelfth Juz', which comprises surah 11 (Hud), aya 6, to surah 12 (Yusuf), aya 52, named after the prophets Hud and Joseph. - Fingerstaining to lower corner and margin; a few leaves loose. An attractively illuminated example of the Chinese Muslim manuscript tradition.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XIX. China, [April 1546 CE =] Safar 953 H.
4to (188 x 254 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 51 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within red rules, vowel markers in black and corrections in red, surah headers in red, illuminated double-page frontispiece 'Unwan decorated with geometrical and floral designs in gold and colours in a typical Yunnan style of mainly gold on a red ground highlighted with green and blue. 16th century full brown leather with fore-edge flap, prettily ruled and stamped in blind with Islamic and Chinese-influenced designs. Very early Qur'an Juz (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in 16th century China. - Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing, boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. Juz' 19 begins with surah 25, al-Furqan (The Criterion), contains in full surah 26, ash-Shu'ara (The Poets), and closes with the beginning of surah 27, an-Naml (The Ant). - The colophon in red script on the recto of the last leaf states that the manuscript was "copied by Shams al-Din ibn Musa al-Sini in the month of Safar of the year 953 AH in the city of Yunnan, one of the Chinese cities which has been honoured and blessed by Islam". - Binding rebacked and spine and endpapers professionally replaced; subtle paper repairs. An excellent example of the Islamic Chinese style of Qur'anic calligraphy and illumination. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XXIX. China, [ca. 1780 - 18th century CE].
8vo (180 x 252 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 58 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within double red rules, punctuation in red, black outlined gold rosettes between verses, headers in gold text on red ground, opening bifolium with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. 18th century full red leather with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in blind. Handsomely illuminated Qur'an Juz (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in 18th century China. - Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing, boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. Juz' 29, the penultimate Juz' of the Qu'ran shown here, begins with surah 67, al-Mulk (The Sovereignty), and closes with the fifty lines of surah 77, al-Mursalat (The Emissaries). - Binding rebacked and spine and endpapers professionally replaced; subtle paper repairs; some later pagination marks. Altogether a beautiful example of the Chinese Muslim manuscript tradition. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XXX. Xi'an, China, [Oct/Nov. 1594 CE =] Safar 1003 H.
4to (163 x 220 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 56 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within double red rules, punctuation in red, surah heading in red, opening and closing bifolio with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. Early full calf with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in gilt. A finely illuminated Qur'an Juz', written in China in the 16th century by Abd Allah bin Yunus al-Sini, in the city of Xi'an. - Xi'an has a long history of Muslim culture, stretching back to the Tang dynasty. Indeed, Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Xi'an itself boasts a well-known Muslim quarter; by the time this Juz' was written in the Ming Dynasty, Da Xuexi Street and the Huajue Great Mosque were well-established parts of the thriving Muslim district. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show the Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. - This thirtieth and final Juz' is also the most commonly memorized. It begins with surah 78, al-Naba’ (The Tidings), and concludes with the 114th and final surah of the Qu'ran, al-Nas (Mankind). The themes are generally apocalyptic, contrasting the moment of judgment with the beauty of Allah's creation. The Surah al-Nas, a brief six lines, is one of the most famous and best beloved. - Binding professionally rebacked, some subtle paper repairs; altogether a striking manuscript. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an studies]. Happel, Justus Helfrich / May, Johann Heinrich (praes.).
Brevis institutio linguae Arabicae. D. Joh. Henr. Maji Hebraicae, Chaldaicae, Syriacae, Samaritanae ac Aethiopicae harmonica. Accedit glossarium arabicum cum reliquis orientis linguis harmonicum, in IV Geneseos capita priora et tres praecipuas Alcorani suratas. Frankfurt, Johann Philipp Andreae, 1707.
4to. (2), (8), (3)-75, (1) pp. With 1 folding table. Contemporary marbled brown boards, spine reinforced with later brown cloth. An orientalist dissertation by the Hessian scholar Happel, incorporating a grammar of the Arabic language and a glossary harmonising Hebrew terms from the first four books of Genesis with Arabic words from three Qur'an suras, namely sura 1 (Al-Fatiha), 12 (Yusuf), and 64 (At-Taghabun), previously edited by Erpenius. - Some browning throughout due to paper. Lacks free endpapers; front hinge reinforced. 19th and 20th century ownerships to pastedown. Schnurrer 87. GV (1700) 56, 6. OCLC 31311242. Not in Fück.
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[Qur'an].
A fine illuminated Qur'an manuscript. Probably modern Afghanistan or Pakistan, ca. 1830s (first half of the 19th century CE).
8vo (ca. 110 x 160 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 260 ff. with 3 double-page 'Unwan headpieces in colours and gilt. 17 lines in meticulous black ink Naskhi, text within black, blue and gilt rules, verse divisions marked by black-bordered gold discs, red orthoepic markers and diacritics, sura beginnings in red on gilt background, line separators in black and gilt, marginal medallions (Juz' and Hizb markers) in colours and gilt, marginalia in red. Contemporary lacquer binding, covers elaborately painted with floral designs on outsides and insides. Later black morocco spine with stamped title. Stored in contemporary giltstamped leather slipcase with flap. An exceptionally pretty early 19th century Qur'an manuscript probably written in the Pashtunistan or Balochistan region of British India. Occasional insignificant edge flaws or various instances of light browning, but generally a very clean and well-preserved example in a pretty floral lacquer binding (corners bumped, spine repaired in more recent times). Slipcase a little rubbed and worn along extremeties.
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[Qur'an].
A splendid illuminated Qur'an manuscript. Iran, [1783 CE] = 1204 H.
8vo (148 x 90 mm). Illuminated Arabic manuscript on paper, 243 leaves plus 2 fly-leaves, complete. 19 lines per page, written in a neat Naskhi script in black ink with diacritics in red, margins ruled in gold and colours. Gold discs or florets between verses, sura headings written in white within gilt cartouches flanked by panels with alternating floral motifs in gold and various colours. Brown morocco with flap and giltstamped borders and central ornaments. Splendid pocket-size Qur'an. Marginal section markers in white naskh on gold ground within polychrome flower blossom, opening double-page frontispiece richly illuminated in lapis lazuli blue, green, red, pink, and gold, the text within cloud bands in gold. - Hinge tender between the first two pages, some light marginal fingering, otherwise in perfect condition. From the library of the scientists and collectors Crawford Fairbanks Failey (1900-81) and Gertrude Van Wagenen (1893-1978), who performed research at Yale and Johns Hopkins in the fields of medical chemistry and biology.
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[Qur'an].
Al-Coranus s. lex islamitica Muhammedis, filii Abdallae pseudoprophetae [...]. Hamburg, Gottfried Schultze & Benjamin Schiller, 1694.
4to. (90), 560 [but p. 255f. repeated], (10) pp. Latin title printed in red and black; one Latin and two Arabic (woodcut) half-titles. Preface in Latin, text in vocalized Arabic throughout. Contemporary half calf with marbled covers and giltstamped label to sparsely gilt spine. The famous "Hamburg Koran": while not actually (as it was long considered) the first printed Qur'an ever, the first accessible printed edition of the Arabic text. Only in 1987 was a unique copy of Paganino de Paganinis's Venetian edition (c. 1538) rediscovered, a work whose press run either was destroyed immediately or was limited to the sole surviving specimen, apparently a proof copy (cf. A. Nuovo, "Il Corano arabo ritrovato", in: Bibliofilia LXXX, IX, 1987). Four years after the present edition, in 1698, Lodovico Marracci produced his own Qur'an, but its two big tomes were anything but easy to consult - hence, the Hamburg Koran remained "the only available and handleable" (Smitskamp) edition until the early 19th century. - Abraham Hinckelmann (1652-95), a Hamburg theologian, studied at Wittenberg and collected many Oriental manuscripts. He compiled a Quranic lexicon in manuscript and planned a Latin translation of the Koran, but this was never realised. - Some browning throughout, as common due to paper; slight waterstaining near end. Ms. ownership of Joseph Venturi in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin ("emit Romae An. 1789") on Latin title (his quotation from Brunet on first Arabic title), with early 19th c. ownership of Blasius Milani. This is the uncommon variant with two different woodcut Arabic titles. Schnurrer 376. Smitskamp, PO 360. Fück 94. Le Livre et le Liban 135f. Woolworth 279. Hamilton, Europe and the Arab World 33. Brunet III, 1306. H. Bobzin, From Venice to Cairo, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution (2002), p. 151-176, at p.160f., with 2 illustrations (figs. VI and 74). The Heritage Library: Treasures of Islamic and Arabic Heritage (Qatar 2006), s. v. "Religion", with illustration.
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[Qur'an].
An Ottoman Qur'an manuscript. [Ottoman Empire, [1810 CE =] 1225 H.
8vo (105 x 149 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 306 ff., 2 flyleaves, 15 lines to the page. Written in fine Naskh script in black ink, verses separated by small gold roundels pointed in red, illuminated floral marginal devices throughout surah headings written in white thuluth script within gold-ground floral panels. Double-page illuminated 'unwan frontispiece elaborately decorated with interlacing polychrome flowers against a punched gold ground. Contemporary full gilt leather with fore-edge flap and gilt floral designs to covers. Endpapers covered with cornflower-blue, relief-stamped floral paper. Edges mottled in red. Stored in matching leather slipcase with flap and bellows-style cloth sides. A beautiful Qur'an manuscript from the early years of the era of Sultan Mahmud II, written in modern-day Turkey by Omar Al-Shawqi, student of Ismael Shawqi. - A small hole in the text of the second leaf, sewing a little loosened in places, otherwise a very attractively preserved example of a pocket-sized Qur'an.
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[Qur'an].
Illuminated Qur'an manuscript. [Ottoman Empire], [1807 CE] = 1222 H.
8vo (165 x 105 mm). Illuminated Arabic ms. on paper. 312 ff., 15 lines, Naskh script. Black ink on polished paper. Double-page 'unwan on first two pages shows elaborate gilt ornamentation; ornamental colophon. Borders in red, black and gold. Gold discs between verses, sura headings written in gold. Blindstamped and gilt calf. Signed by a copyist named Hafez 'Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-ma'ruf, "Ahmad the Hafez" (respect title bestowed on those who have proved to know the entire Quran by heart), son of the renowned ‘Ahmad’, as quoted (underlined) in the colophon: Kataba hada-l mushaf as-sarif adafu ibad-‘Allah al-Kabir al-Mutaal Hafez ‘Ahmad, ibn ‘Ahmad almaruf,ba-yawwab-e (?) halifa-zade Hamidu-llah Taala [...] (literally, ‘he who wrote this noble Qur'an is a very foolish slave of God the Greatest, the Exalted, named Hafez ‘Ahmad, son of the renowned Ahmad, servant (?) of Hamidu-llah Taala, offspring of the Caliph […]’), etc. - Binding partially restored, in good condition.
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[Qur'an].
Illuminated, complete Qur'an manuscript. [Ottoman Empire], ca. 1770 / 18th century.
8vo (208 x 150 mm). Contemporary blind- and goldstamped calf with fore-edge flap, decorated with corner stamps. Illuminated Arabic ms. on paper, 305 ff., single 15-line column, Naskh script on polished paper. Double-page 'unwan on first two pages shows elaborate gilt and coloured ornamentation. Text framed by three parallel golden and black lines. Gold discs between verses, sura headings written in gold.
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[Qur'an].
Kashmiri Qur'an manuscript. [Kashmir, ca. 1800].
Folio (205 x 312 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 53 ff., 33 lines to the page written in minute ghubar script in black ink, verse separated by a gold roundel, surah heading in red thuluth on gold background, margins illuminated with gilt discs or lozenges inscribed in red and enclosed within ornamental borders dotted in blue; fols. 1b-2a with a double-page illuminated frontispiece, lavishly coloured and gilt. Contemporary blindstamped and gilt black leather binding; spine rebacked. Marbled pastedowns. A fine, complete Qur'an manuscript, written in meticulous ghubar script and with pretty illumination, originating from the Kashmir region in the late 18th century. The characteristic calligraphy is known as "ghubar", or "dust script", for the minuscule size of its rounded letter forms. Created around the 10th century, it was first used for information and commands conveyed by carrier pigeon. Even the present, more generous form fits the entire Holy Qur'an into a slim folio of only fifty-odd pages. - Edges occasionally very slightly chipped but generally very fine. Binding well preserved with modern spine. The central compartment of the pretty binding shows a Qur'anic verse (Surah 56, verse 79: "to be touched only by the purified") stamped in blind three times on both covers.
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[Qur'an].
Manuscript Qur'an commentary. Sultanate of Delhi, [ca. 1490 CE, or 15th century].
Folio (244 x 345 mm). Arabic manuscript, Bihari script on paper. 287 (instead of 292) ff., foliated 364-655 (lacking 550-551 and 622-624). Surah headings in gilt and colours, verse divisions marked by gold and black ink rosettes, numerous circular and tear-shaped markers in the margins, elaborately ornamented in gold and colours. Bound in modern oriental-style full leather with fore-edge flap and recessed cover decorations. Part four of a pre-Mughal Qur'an commentary, treating the text from Surah XXI, Al-Anbya (The Prophets) to Surah LXXV, Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection). - Lacks five leaves according to the foliation; some dampstaining; several edge flaws (more severe near the end of the volume), often remargined. Traces of dust in the gutter throughout. In all a fine example of an early Qur'anic manuscript. - Provenance: 1950s private ownership stamp of the "Mohd. Halim Salimi Library", Kandahar, Afghanistan, on fol. 490v. Mohammed Halim Salimi of Kandahar worked in an administrative capacity for the USA's International Cooperation Administration (ICA) Mission to Afghanistan in 1959. In 1960 Salimi applied to the ICA for reimbursement of a lost sum of $123.88; the application was refused on the grounds that Salimi was not in fact an ICA employee but was sub-contracted by the agent Herman Klee (see report B-144148-O.M., 1 Nov 1960). Acquired from Hampel Auctions, Munich. Cf. S. A. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh 2006), pp. 386-390; Qur‘an, exhibition catalogue (Istanbul 2010), pp. 350f., no. 92.
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[Qur'an].
Separate leaf from a Kufic manuscript on vellum. Abbasidic (Near East), ca. 850 CE / 9th century.
187 x 276 mm. With a rosette gilt and in gouache colour. Diacritical marks added later in black ink, vocalization marks in red (as well as one in green and one in blue). 5 lines. Well-preserved leaf in monumental Kufic script (line height c. 30 mm), written in dark brown ink. The text is from the middle part of verse 109 of the second Quran sura. The script style belongs to group D (according to Déroche's classification, subtype D.III). Similar examples are usually dated to the 9th century C.E. (cf. François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, London 1992. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. I, nos. 25 [p. 76] and 34/35 [p. 84]). The polychromatic rosette shows an inscribed number: The red dots are vocalisation marks; the diacritics (in the form of small slashes) were added later in black ink. - Some browning and staining. Brittle in places due to ink corrosion (minor defects to vellum). Verso rubbed, but still legible. Cf. Fingernagel (ÖNB 2010), p. 33.
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[Qur'an].
Separate leaf from a Kufic manuscript on vellum. Abbasidic (Near East or Northern Africa), ca. 850 CE / 9th century.
170 x 263 mm. With gilt rosette and numerous gilt floral ornaments between the letters and in the margins. Vocalisation marks (dots) in red. 5 lines. Illuminated leaf from a once-magnificent Quran manuscript with fine gilt flower and leaf illustrations as space fillers and ornamental border around the large Kufic script written in black ink (line height ca. 25-30 mm). The ornamentation mainly consists in leaf designs with the occasional blossom. Illumination of this type is exceedingly rarely encountered among the preserved Abbasid Kufic manuscripts pre-dating the year 1000. The script style belongs to subgroup D.I, according to Déroche's classification. Manuscripts in this style are normally dated to the 9th century CE (cf. François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, London 1992. The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. I, nos. 19-23, pp. 67-71). The red dots are vocalisation marks: diacritic marks were not used until later. - Some browning and staining. Brittle in places due to ink corrosion (slight loss to individual letters). Verso rubbed, but still legible. Cf. Fingernagel (ÖNB 2010), p. 33.
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[Qur'an]. Beck, Matthias Friedrich.
Specimen arabicum, hoc est, Bina capitula Alcorani XXX de Roma & XLIIX de Victoria [...]. Augsburg, Jakob Koppmayer for Lorenz Kroniger & Gottlieb Goebel's heirs, 1688.
4to. (12), 66, 41, (1) pp. Title-page printed in red and black. With a coin engraving in the text. 19th c. wrappers. Only edition thus: the 30th and the 48th sura (Ar-Rum and Al-Fath) in the original Arabic and with Latin parallel translation. An early and scholarly specimen of Qur'an translation in the West, with extensive commentary. The Arabic text is rendered in Hebrew letters, as Arabic types were unavailable to the printer. M. F. Beck (1649-1701) had studied history and oriental literature at Jena. In 1677 he settled in Ausgburg as a preacher, but kept his focus on the oriental languages. His linguistic proficiency ultimately earned him a pension from the King of Prussia (cf. ADB II, 218). - Some browning; title insignificantly dust- and waterstained, but altogether well preserved. VD 17, 12:128711C. Schnurrer 374. OCLC 13610797.
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[Qur'an]. Lydis, Mariette.
42 Miniaturen zum Koran. Berlin, Brandussche Verlagsbuchhandlung, (1924).
Oblong 8vo. (4), 42 mounted colour printed plates, some of which heightened in gold, (4) pp. Each plate matted with the corresponding letterpress Qur'an verse with red border to versos opposite. Title-page printed in red and black. Contemporary green full calf with giltstamped title to cover and spine. Top edge gilt. Original stapled plain card slipcase. Only edition. A collection of 42 exquisite illustrations for selected suras from the Qur'an inspired by Persian miniatures. One of the earliest works by the Austrian-born painter and illustrator Lydis (1887-1970), a self-taught artist influenced by Islamic art as well as by the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita. Lydis settled in Paris in 1926 and escaped the Nazis during the occupation, living briefly in England before emigrating to Buenos Aires. Today she is best known for her illustrations in de luxe editions of Boccaccio, Louÿs, Baudelaire, Mirbeau and Valéry. - The plates, in colours and gold, were printed by Ganymed in Berlin, the text by Proeschel & Trepte in Leipzig. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Interior in mint condition. Vollmer III, 278. OCLC 187048571.
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[Quran - Dutch]. Ryer, André du.
Mahomets Alkoran, door du Ryer uit d'Arabische in de Fransche en door I. H. Glazemaker in de Nederlantsche taal vertaalt. Amsterdam, Timotheus ten Hoorn, 1696.
8vo. (10), 547, (1) pp. With additional engraved title page and 6 engraved plates. Contemporary vellum with handwritten spine title. Uncommon Dutch edition of du Ryer's version, in a translation by J. H. Glasemaker (previously published in 1658), with a Life of the Prophet and numerous engravings by Caspar Luyken (1672-1708). Du Ryer's 1647 French version served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an (including English, German, and Russian), and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. - Block somewhat loosened, but still a good copy. Chauvin X, p. 129 (phi). Cf. Schnurrer 428.
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[Quran - French]. Ryer, André du.
L'Alcoran de Mahomet. Translaté d'Arabe en François. Paris, Antoine de Sommaville, 1647.
4to. (10), 648 [but: 598], (4) pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine. Rare first edition of "the oldest complete translation of the Qur'an into a European vernacular" (Encylopedia of the Qur'an). Du Ryer's work served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an into English, German, Dutch, and Russian, and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. Du Ryer was a celebrated linguist and had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he studied classical Arabic. His introduction briefly summarizes the Muslim religion for Christian readers, noting customs such as Ramadan, circumcision, the practice of having as many as four wives, the significance of Mecca and Medina, Sufi brotherhoods and wandering ascetics, and finally the Islamic recognition of Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God. A prayer printed in Arabic is included on the verso of leaf e2. - "Du Ryer's translation of the Qur'an [...] became an unparalleled literary success [...] The easy availability of the Qur'an accompanied a newfound interest in the Orient; additionally, du Ryer's translation lacked the polemical tone of previous editions, an orientation which arose mainly in ecclesiastical contexts. Du Ryer used Islamic commentaries such as al-Bayawi's Anwar al-tanzil, the Tafsir al-Jalalayan by al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyu i (d. 911/1505), or an excerpt from al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) great commentary made by al-Raghi al-Tunisi (d. 715/1315) entitled al-Tanwir fi l-tafsir, quite casually in his translation, merely noting them in the margins. The deprecatory tone present in the introductory chapter, 'Sommaire de la religion des Turcs,' can be understood as an attempt at camouflage (cf. Hamilton and Richard, André du Ryer, 94f)" (Encyclopedia of the Qur'an). - Some waterstaining throughout; occasional worming; more pronounced edge damage near end. Provenance: 1714 ms. ownership (partly stricken out) of the Castelnaudary Capuchins, dissolved in 1789; acquired by the notary J. L. E. Bauzit of Castelnaudary (his ownership on title and flyleaf). Chauvin X, p. 126. Schnurrer 427. Fück 74. Brunet III, 1309. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an V, 347.
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[Quran - German]. Boysen, Friedrich Eberhard (ed.).
Der Koran, oder Das Gesetz für die Moslemer, durch Muhammed den Sohn Abdall. Nebst einigen feyerlichen koranischen Gebeten, unmittelbar aus dem Arabischen übersetzt [...]. Halle, J. J. Gebauers Wwe. und Johann Jakob Gebauer, 1775.
8vo. 42 (but: 40), 678 pp. With engraved frontispiece. Near-contemporary half calf with giltstamped red spine label. All edges red. Second edition of this German Qur'an translation, previously issued in 1773. Following Megerlin's ill-received effort of 1772, this is the second German translation to have been based immediately on the Arabic original. - Pagination of preliminaries agrees with NUC, with pp. 15f. skipped. Includes the frequently lacking engraved frontispiece depicting a Muslim in prayer. Contemporary ownership to flyleaf. Slightly browned as usual; a good, tighly bound copy. Zenker I, 1400. Schnurrer, p. 431. Graesse IV, 44. Woolworth 285. VD 18, 90017838. Not in Enay.
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[R.G.S.].
Rub' al Khali from Dhufar to Doha. London, 1931.
Colour-printed map (56 x 40 cm). The route of Bertram Thomas’s epic traverse of the Empty Quarter from Dhufar to Doha. Al-Qasimi 286.
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[RAF - Middle East Force].
Air Route books for pilots flying from Cairo to Karachi. Navigation Branch H.Q. 216 Group. No place, 1944.
Two 4to files of ca. 30 leaves each, including distress signal code tables, tips for forced landings, colour-printed route maps, radio beacon maps, emergency airfield maps (folded), and double-sided airfield leaves dedicated to single airfields along the designated route. Original printed wrappers. Perforated and handbound with cords. Two air route books for pilots of the Royal Air Force flying from Cairo to Karachi during World War II, "designed to help [them] to execute flights vital to our fronts in all theatres of war. The information which [they] contain is therefore also of use to the enemy, and must be safeguarded at all times" (p. 1). - The books are in fact useful guides to airports along the way, the plans depicting airfields in Egypt (Cairo West, Almaza, Payne, Heliopolis, Lydda and Luxor), as well as in Bahrein, Sharjah, Jiwani, Karachi, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum, Sheikh Othman, Khormaksar, Riyan and other places. For each airfield general information like coordinates, the length of the runways, the nature of ground signals, existing hangars, repair and fuel facilities, expectable weather conditions, distances to other places, radio aids, and local currency, as well as timetables of morning and evening twilight are given. The folding plans show emergency airfields in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, Iraq, Persia, and the Arabian Gulf area, as well as the routes between the Middle East and India. - Further, the booklets include instructions on what to do after a forced landing in unknown territory, advising to ration water and attract attention of rescue aircraft through a spread-out parachute or fires, including the order: "Don't drink the compass alcohol". - There is no standard collation for the books, as they were added to with monthly supplements. With the handwritten note "Compiled 21.2.45" as well as a signature to inner covers. The "from" and "to" fields on the title-pages (i.e., the front covers) are filled out by the same hand. - Covers show some small creases and edge tears; a few small ruststains, but on the whole well-preserved specimens from wartime Royal Air Force use.
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[Ras Tanura - Protestant Fellowship].
4 typed programmes. Ras Tanura, 1957-1961.
Small 4to. Together 15 pp. In stapled wrappers with handdrawn cover designs showing two angels, a shepherd with a lamb, and Bethlehem's star. Programmes of the Ras Tanura Protestant Fellowship, an organisation frequented by Aramco employees. The set includes schedules of the Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Christmas service. - Occasional small marginal flaws to wrappers.
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[Ras Tanura - Thomas, Velma].
5 membership cards for country clubs and women's groups, one golf score card, and a programme of the Aramco Golf Banquet. Ras Tanura and Abqaiq, 1949-1962.
(Oblong) 12mo to small 4to. Together 14 pp. on 6 bifolia and 2 single sheets. The programme of the golf banquet stapled. Small archive of Velma Thomas, a golf enthusiast and wife of the Aramco engineer Orlin Orace Thomas, based at Ras Tanura. The programme of the 1953 golf banquet lists the members of the Aramco golf team of Ras Tanura, including team captain and Aramco administrator Karl Deloian. The other items document Velma Thomas's membership in the Rahimah Hollow Country Club of the Ras Tanura Golf Association, the Ras Tanura Women's Group of the Federation of American Women's Clubs overseas, and the Ain Nakhl country club in Abqaiq. - Small marginal flaws; occasional light brownstaining. Interesting collection documenting the thriving expat golf scene of Saudi Arabia.
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[Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al- (Rhazes)] / Giachini, Leonardo.
In nonum librum Rasis Arabis medici ad Almansorem regem, de partium morbis eruditißima commentaria. Basel, Peter Perna, 1563 - (1 Feb.) 1564.
4to. 2 parts in 1 volume. (24), 454, 134 pp., (1 blank leaf), (72) pp. Woodcut initials; printer's woodcut device in two sizes to title and last page. Contemporary limp vellum (spine and edges renewed). Author's name inked on lower edge of text block. First edition of this detailed commentary on the famous ninth book of the "Kitab al-tibb al-Mansuri", a treatise dedicated by al-Razi (also known as Rhazes; 850-923 or 932) to Almansor, the Prince of Chorosan. "The manual, known as 'Nonus Almansoris', was popular among mediaeval physicians" (cf. GAL S I, p. 419). The work discusses special pathology but excludes pyrology and was one of the most popular textbooks at medical schools and faculties well into the Middle Ages (cf. Hirsch/H. I, 171). Rhazes is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna; he also conducted alchemical experiments. According to his biographer al-Gildaki, he was blinded for refusing to share his secrets of chemistry. - The Italian physician Leonardo Giacchini (1501-47), who composed this commentary, practised at Lucca until 1543 and later taught at the University of Pisa. His other works are collected in part two of the volume, with its own title-page, dated 1563. - Vellum rippled, spine replaced, edges rebacked. Some light dampstaining, inkstains, and general soiling to interior; edges of some marginal notes have been trimmed. - From the library of the Italian physician Giambattista Giovanetto Morello from Tavagnasco (Piedmont), whose doctoral dissertation was published at Turin in 1779 (a single copy known, in the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria Torino); his autograph ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, "Joanettus medicus a Tavagnasco", is dated 10 February 1780. Numerous marginal notes throughout in two hands, one belonging to the 17th century, the other apparently that of Giovanetto. VD 16, G 1940. BM-STC German 359. Adams G 581 (part 2 only). Wellcome 2823. Durling 2094.
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[Red Sea - Hunter, Frederick Fraser].
Arabia and the Persian Gulf. N.W. Section, S.W. Section. [Map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf with additions and corrections to 1916]. Dehra Dun, Survey of India Offices, published under the direction of Colonel Sir S. G. Burrard, Surveyor General of India, 1916.
Large folding heliozincographed colour map, 2 (of 4) sheets, each measuring 940 x 700 mm (lacking the eastern sections). Both sections with original printed covers. Two sections of Hunter's large and extremely detailed map of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf, showing the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia with the 'Asir, Hejaz and Nejd regions, as well as most of Yemen, with Kuwait and Southern Iraq. The two eastern sections, which covered Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and part of eastern Saudi Arabia, are not present. - The Canadian-born Hunter later became a major figure in British India's Intelligence Service. He initially compiled the map between 1905 and 1908, to accompany J. G. Lorimer's "Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf". As the author recalls in his 1919 "Reminiscences", "a great deal of the information on the map was from sources considered secret at the time" (p. 357). Special surveys of the country's interior areas were carried out to achieve a hitherto unprecedented degree of accuracy: "The map was a distinct advance on anything which existed, as in 1908 no general map of Arabia on such a large scale existed" (p. 360). The "Hunter" map was used (and praised) by St John Philby during his journey across Arabia. - Such was the detail of Hunter's map that the Survey of India reissued it, with corrections, several times during the First World War and interwar period. As the maps were issued in parts and used on active service it is not unusual for sections to be missing. Many of the surviving copies show signs of official use; this issue bears a flight route, sketched out in red ink, along the southern Gulf coast to Baghdad. - Some light browning, several small tears to folds, otherwise very good. - Scarce. OCLC locates complete copies at the Library of Congress, University of Wisconsin, National Library of Israel and the BNF. Cf. Macro 1228.
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[Red Sea Algae Specimen Album]. Husson, Anne Henry, French naturalist (1814-1855).
Algae from the Red Sea. [Red Sea, ca. 1844-1845].
Album of 18 well-preserved algal specimens carefully mounted on individual sheets of white wove paper, each approximately 330 x 155 mm. Loosely laid in to folding portfolio, housed in a marble clamshell box. A rare and early ensemble of algae specimens collected from the Red Sea, from different areas between Suez and Yemen, including one specimen from Alexandria. All items identified with the Latin name and details of the location around the Red Sea and date of collection written in French on the mounts, e.g., "Caulerpa prolifera: très commune dans toute la mèr rouge á la prodondeur de 1½ mètre à 2 [...] Avril 1844", or "Mer rouge dans le Golfe de l'Acaba, Juillet 1844". - The French botanist A. H. Husson, a native of Nancy, was also a pioneer of early photography. He lived in Egypt, where he worked as the director of the botanical garden and conservator for the Museum of Natural History for the Qasr Al-Ainy, the Cairo University's Faculty of Medicine. - "The Red sea has been a region of natural history exploration by European scientists from about 240 years. The first record of marine algae in the Red Sea was by Strand (a pupil of Linnaeus's), who in his thesis on the flora of Palestine listed three species. The first person to collect marine algae from the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coast was the Danish botanist and explorer Forsskal in the 18th century who, in the month of November 1762, made a collection of seaweeds from the Sea of Jeddah [...] In the early years of the 19th century a British admiral Viscount Valentia made collections of algae from the Red Sea [...] Several other workers, including medical doctors and amateurs, collected marine algae from the Red Sea during the rest of the 19th century" (Beni-Suef Univ. Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, Vol. 3/4 [Dec. 2014], pp. 278-285). - Includes the offprint of a short biography of Husson: Christian Debize, "L'album photographique d'Anne-Henry Husson. Regards d'un colon nancéien dur l'Egypte moderne", Annales de l'Est (1985), no. 4, pp. 261-299. Stab-sewn in wrappers. - A most exceptional and scarce collection of preserved algal specimens from the Red Sea. Provenance: from the property of the botanist Dr. Eugene L. Vigil (b. 1941), of Lynden, Washington, USA.
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[Red Sea] - British Admiralty.
Perim Island (or Meyún) and Bab-El-Mandeb Small Strait Surveyed by Lieutt. F. J. Gray, R.N., and the Officers of H.M.S. Nassau, 1874. London, Admiralty, 1874 (1919).
Engraved map. 860 x 690 mm. Extremely detailed chart of Perim Island (also called Mayyun in Arabic) in the Strait of Mandeb, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. - Perim is a small but geopolitically important island at the entrance to the Red Sea. With the beginning of the French-backed Suez Canal project in the 1850s, the United Kingdom became convinced of the need to offset French power along the route. A number of options were undertaken to counter the French, including the occupation of Perim in 1856. The island was occupied by the Governor of Bombay, under the justification that it had been claimed by the East India Company in 1799 and was therefore already a dependency of India. Perim's inner harbour, as illustrated on the map, could accommodate very large vessels. It was consequently thought a good place for a coaling station, which was established in the 1880s. Water for the steam engine condensers was also provided on Perim (as labeled on the map). Shortly before this map was printed, during World War I, Ottoman forces landed on the island from Aden to attempt to take it and cut British communication through the Red Sea. The invasion was fought back and troops landed by the Royal Navy at Aden ended any future threat to the island. In 1967, the British attempted to have the island internationalized, to ensure the long-term security of the Red Sea-Suez route, but this was refused. In that year the island was handed over to the People's Republic of South Yemen. In 2008 the island was to be a component in the so-called Bridge of Horns, which was to link Yemen and Djibouti and be the largest bridge in the world. The Dubai-backed project did not proceed beyond the planning stage. The island was the site of a battle during the Yemeni Civil War, in which previously displaced Perim natives took the island back from Houthis with the aid of UAE forces.
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[Reflections on Mohammedism].
Reflections on Mohammedism, and the conduct of Mohammed. Occasioned by a late learned translation and exposition of the Koran or Al Koran. London, J. Roberts, 1735.
8vo. (2), 54 pp. (wanting half title). - (Bound with) II: Henley, John. The Lord, He is God: or, The Atheist Tormented, by Sure Prognosticks of Hell Fire [...]. London, J. Roberts, 1730. 29, (1) pp. - (Bound with) III: [Lewis, Thomas. The nature of hell, the reality of hell-fire, and the eternity of hell-torments, explain'd and vindicated. London, J. Hooke & T. Bickerton, 1720]. 38 pp., (2 pp. of ads), wanting 4 pp. of prelimns including the title. - (Bound with) IV: [Oakes, Abraham]. The doctrine of hell-torments distinctly and impartially discussed. London, J. Noon, 1738. 72 pp. - (Bound with) V: [Fludger, John]. The absolute and proper eternity of hell torments fully proved from scripture, from reason, and from the natural attributes of God. London, T. Gardner, 1739. (2), 36 pp. - (Bound with) VI: Phileleutherus Dubliniensis [i.e., Patrick Delany]. Reflections upon polygamy, and the encouragement given to that practice in the scriptures of the Old Testament. London, J. Roberts, 1737. (2), 188 pp. - (Bound with) VII: [Booth, George, Earl of Warrington]. Considerations upon the institution of marriage. With some thoughts concerning the force and obligation of the matrimonial contract. Wherein is considered, how far divorces may, or ought to be allowed. London, John Whiston, 1739. VI, 154 pp. - (Bound with) VIII: [Clarke, Alured]. An essay towards the character of her late majesty Caroline, queen-consort of Great Britain, &c. London, J. & P. Knapton, 1738. (2), 46 pp. - (Bound with) IX: [Hildrop, John]. A letter to a member of Parliament, containing a proposal for bringing in a bill to revise, amend or repeal certain obsolete statutes, commonly called the ten commandments. London, R. Minors, 1738. (2), 61, (1) pp. Contemporary full calf, gilt. Only edition; rare: an apology of Islam and its Prophet, influenced by the writings of Pococke and Reland, and published a year after George Sale's "Koran", the first English Quran to be translated directly from the Arabic. The anonymous author counts among those "interested in revising 'imposture' theories by recasting Mahomet in a positive, Greco-Roman republican mold - a wise 'Arabian legislator' [...]. [This work,] occasioned by Sale's translation of the Qur'an, suggests that Islam anticipates the Protestant Reformation: Mahomet 'laid the foundations of a general and thorough Reformation, Conversion, and Re-Union in ages to come'" (H. Garcia, Islam and the English Enlightenment, 1670-1840 [2011], p. 256). From the beginning the author cautions that "no disputes ought to be conducted with more temper and moderation than those about religion, but, unluckily, none have been managed with such warmth, bitterness, and inequality" (p. 1); he defends the Prophet against unjust accusations levelled against him by his Christian detractors and closes with the admonition that young British scholars of theology would do well "to apply themselves, among their other exercises, to the study of the oriental tongues, which, upon an impartial survey of the present state of religion, seems to claim much of their attention" (p. 53f.). - Bound with this are eight other English theological works (all first or only editions) concerned with hell-fire and heresies, several written with a decidedly free-thinking slant. Binding severely rubbed and bumped; hinges cracked. Variously browned throughout with occasional staining; contemporary handwritten table of contents on loose flyleaf; second flyleaf clipped with a handwritten title "A Vol. of scarce & curious Tracts" on verso; first title page has 19th century ownership stamp "R. Blackwell". ESTC T91614. Chauvin XI, 680 (note).
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[Reinaud, (Joseph-Toussaint)].
Extraits des historiens arabes, relatifs aux guerres des croisades, ouvrage formant, d'après les écrivains musulmans, un récit suivi des guerres saintes, nouvelle édition, entièrement refondue et considérablement augmentée. [Paris], Imprimerie royale, 1829.
8vo. XLVIII, 582 pp. Contemporary dark green half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine, marbled endpapers. First edition of a work on Islamic texts about the Christian crusades, by the French orientalist Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795-1867). It gives a French translation of numerous texts and extracts relating to the crusades originally written in Arabic from the 11th to the 15th century by Arab historians, with occasionally some passages in Arabic in the notes. Most of the texts deal with major battles and sieges, Saladin, and victories and deaths of important leaders. The preliminaries include brief biographies of some of the major authors, including Ali ibn al-Athir, Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani, Ibn al-Adim and many more. The texts are arranged into different chapters, each devoted to a different stage of the crusades. - The book is in fact the publication of a part of the extensive manuscript by Georges-François Berthereau (1732-94), who collected numerous Arab texts on the crusades, but the publication was prohibited during years following the French Revolution. The book was published as a part of the Biblithèque des croisades, as an addition to the well-known Histoire des croisades, written by Joseph François Michaud (1767-1839). - With a stain on the half-title and some staining throughout, otherwise in very good condition. Hage Chahine 3963. Not in Blackmer.
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[Reinegg, Jacob]
Tabula Itineraria a Sues usque ad Dsjabbel el Mokatteb et Montem Sinai. [Bildinschrift: Báhhr el Kolsum s. Báhhr es Sues; Báhhr el Akaba]. Kupferstichkarte mit Titelkartusche, Windrose u. 2 Meilenzeigern.
Kopenhagen, André Philippe de Pretot, 1772. Blattmaß 28 x 40 cm; Bildmaß 18 x 28,5 cm.
Riferimento per il libraio : 78798
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[Request for horses].
Letter signed by the Government commissioner of Clichy (France). Clichy, "25 pluviose", c. 1795 (thus, 13 or 14 February).
Folio. 2 pp. Clichy provides 25 horses in fulfilment of a mandate issued on September 4, concerning the requisition of 40,000 horses. - Somewhat spotty and browned.
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[Roobacker, Cornelis Cornelisz.] A. Hotz (ed.).
Cornelis Cornelisz Roobacker's scheepsjournaal Gamron-Basra (1645); de eerste reis der Nederlanders door de Perzische Golf. Uitgegeven, met inleiding en noten, door A. Hotz. In: Beekman, A.A. etc. (eds.), Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap gevestigd te Amsterdam. Tweede serie Deel XXIV. No. 3 (15 Mei). Leiden, Brill, 1907.
8vo. 289-405 [= 117] pp. One folding table and 3 folding maps (1 belonging to another article in the journal). Brown paper wrappers, with title information of the journal on the front and spine, and the contents on the back wrapper. This issue of the journal of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society contains the first and only publication of the original text of the primary logbook documenting the first Dutch expedition to the Arabian Gulf in 1645. This logbook was kept by the leader of the expedition, Captain Cornelis Cornelisz Roobacker, and it is one of three logbooks to have survived the journey. They are kept at the National Archives of the Netherlands as part of the collection of the VOC official Wollebrand Geleynssen de Jongh (1594-1647). - Roobacker's logbook was the only one of the three to have been selected for publication; it was edited by Albert Paulus Hermanus Hotz (1855-1930), a Dutch businessman in Iran and consul in Beirut. Hotz also wrote other articles on Dutch activities in the Gulf region and formed a large collection of Arabic manuscripts, early photographs and books on the Middle East. - "In the year 1645, two small Dutch ships, the Delfshaven and the Schelvis, set out from Bandar Abbas [on the coast of Iran] on their first trading mission to Basra [Iraq]. Only small ships could be used to reach Basra. [...] As was the custom for shipping to Basra, the Dutch ships took a local pilot on board on Kharg island. The pilot took the ships directly to the Shatt al Arab, but there trouble began. The Shatt al Arab was very shallow at that time [...]" (Slot, Kuwait). In his logbook, Roobacker gives a detailed description of the expedition, including the various problems and navigational errors they faced due to the size of the two Dutch ships and - according to Roobacker - the inaccuracy of the English nautical charts that were used on board the ships. He ended up drawing his own charts of the region, which survived among the papers of VOC official Artus Gijsels (1577-1647) and are now kept at the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe. The illustration of a chart Hotz added to his publication of Roobacker is one of a different Dutch nautical chart that was made during the second half of the 17th century, since Hotz did not know about the original in Karlsruhe. Regardless of what chart Hotz used, it is a useful addition to illustrate the locations in the Arabian Gulf region, mentioned in the text of Roobacker's logbook of the expedition. - Very slight foxing throughout, 2 of the 3 maps at the end of the work are loose, overall in very good condition. Slot, The Arabs of the Gulf, p. 11. Slot, The Origins of Kuwait, pp. 18-19.
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[Roux, Joseph] / Allezard, Jean Joseph.
Recueil de 163 principaux plans des ports et rades de la Mediterranée. Leghorn, Giacopo Aliprandi, 1817.
Oblong 4to. Coloured engraving of flags (civil and war ensigns) as frontispiece, engraved title page and 163 engaved maps (some lightly coloured). With 2 letterpress pp. of index at the end and a folding engr. plan of the harbor of Odessa (not belonging to this work). Contemprary half calf. Pocket-size atlas of the principal harbour installations and bays of the Mediterranean, many of which at the time were still in Ottoman possession. They include numerous ports on the Barbary Coast (Tanger, Oran, Algiers, Tunis, Monastir, Sfax, Tripoli, Bengasi, Essaouira), the Greek islands, and the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean (Beirut, Tyre). - Long the principal route for merchants and travellers between Europe and the East, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between the many peoples of the region, the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean from the late 15th century onwards made possible the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe and diminished the importance of the Mediterranean route. Only in the second half of the 19th century would it once more become an important passageway for goods and travellers: after the opening of the Suez Canal half a century after the present publication, it enabled ships to reach the Eastern world in record time, with dramatic effects on world trade. - Binding slightly rubbed; handwritten ownership "L. Falciola" on flyleaf. A good, clean copy, formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Scheepvaart Mus. 62. OCLC 560616922. Cf. Phillips 196, 3974 & 5172; Zacharakis 1967-2040 (other eds.).
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[Royal & Ancient Golf of St. Andrews]
OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Un ouvrage de 180 pages, format 155 x 240 mm, illustré, broché couverture couleurs, publié en 1990, bon état
Riferimento per il libraio : LFA-126741433
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[Royal Air Force - Middle East].
Report on flight from Baghdad to Egypt. RAF 31st Wing Headquarters, Baghdad, 22. III. 1919.
Folio (210 x 340 mm). 4 pp. Typescript. Lively report of an eventful flight taken by Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), Civil Commissioner of Mesopotamia, aboard one of two RAF aircraft leaving Baghdad on 25 February 1919 bound for Cairo. Bad weather conditions and repeated engine trouble resulted in several emergency landings and delayed the journey, which Wilson eventually had to complete by train. - The first day of the trip involved heavy wind and a failing petrol pump causing the pilots Boyd, Nuttall and Lapraik to land and fix the pump near Tadmur before carrying on to Damascus, where they remained for three days of heavy rain. Upon continuing the journey on 28 February, one of the engines failed and the planes were forced to land in "difficult country". As repair seemed hopeless, Boyd decided to fly Wilson on to Ramleh and then return for Nuttall and Lapraik: "The taking off proved a difficult undertaking as the machine was firmly bogged, and the engine fall out would not move it. The Arabs however rendered enthusiastic assistance. About 200 of them surrounded the machine, and in spite of the fact that most of them pulled in different directions [...] after an hour's work and much shouting, succeeded in moving it to a comparatively firm piece of ground, from which it was possible to take off [...]". - When the aircraft got hopelessely bogged again near Tulkarm, Wilson continued his journey by train. In the meantime, Nuttall and Lapraik, who "were hospitably entertained by the Arabs", succeeded in a makeshift repair of the first plane's engine and picked up Boyd. The return flight to Baghdad with two substitute aircraft proved much smoother, involving only minor repairs and no emergency landings off the runway. The 500 mile distance between Damascus and Baghdad was completed in a non-stop flight of 4 hours 10 minutes "which probably constitutes a World's Record". - Slightly dampstained near right margins; a little foxed and creased. Traces of a rusty paper pin. A rare survival.
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[Royal Air Force].
Air Route Book. Cairo to Karachi via North Arabia and Persian Gulf (Cairo to Karachi via Habbaniya). [Cairo, Navigation Branch H.Q. 216 Group], The Printing and Stationery Services, MEF, 1943.
Small folio (208 x 284 mm). (2), 115, (1) pp. With 2 folding charts, 1 full-page sketch map, 84 small sketch maps and 48 b/w half-tone photo illustrations. Original black cloth printed with purple type. First edition. A confidential air route book, compiled for the use of pilots flying from Cairo to Karachi during WWII, covering the main air route of the time that passed through the Arabian Gulf at staging posts in Palestine, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Sharjah, and India. - The handbook covers all aspects for flying within the Middle East including distress signal code tables, tips for forced landings, colour-printed route maps, radio beacon maps, emergency airfield maps, and double-sided airfield leaves dedicated to single airfields along the designated route. Inserted stapled updates and small corrections show the importance of up-to-date information for navigation within the shifting sands of the country where the pilots were operating. - It is presumed that these hardbound versions were either used for office reference or as early print runs. Later, cord-bound copies were created for pilots' use in active service, presumably to minimise costs of production and tailor the information to strictly which flight the pilot was completing. - This edition is stamped number 498, suggesting a limited print-run. Boards a little water-stained and warped, two white stains to front board, otherwise good. Interior exceptionally clean and fresh. Institutionally rare: LibraryHub locates just a single holding at the IWM.
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[Royal Geographical Society].
The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. London, John Murray, 1831-1880[-1881].
56 volumes (vols. I-L in 51 volumes and 5 volumes of indices). Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (With:) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London: Edward Stanford, 1857-1878. Vols. I-XXII. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography. London: Edward Stanford, 1879-1892. Vols. I-XIV. Title to first volume torn and laid down, map and facing p. 664 of text damaged. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) Supplementary Papers of the Royal Geographical Society. London: John Murray, 1886-1890. Vols. I-IV. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) The Geographical Journal including the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London: R.G.S., 1893-1948. Vols. I-CXII only (in 109 volumes). Vols. 1-28: contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt; vols. 29-112: original blue cloth, or contemporary cloth, gilt. Institutional bookplates to some pastedowns; blindstamps to some title-pages; ink stamps to some plates and maps. Complete set of all periodical publications of the Royal Geographical Society 1831 through 1948, comprising 203 volumes with thousands of plates and maps, many folding. - Founded in 1830, the Royal Geographical Society spearheaded efforts to accurately map and describe every corner of the known world. As lesser-known regions of the globe such as Africa and the Middle East began to emerge as major centres of global trade in the 19th century, the Society funded thousands of European expeditions to these areas in an effort to promote British commercial and scientific interests. Explorers of the Arabian Peninsula such as Henry St. John Philby (aka "Sheikh Abdullah"), Percy Cox, Theodore Bent, Gertrude Bell, Wilfred Thesiger (aka "Mubarak bin London"), and Bertram Thomas all reported directly to the Royal Geographical Society, and their accounts, often with accompanying maps, contributed enormously to the western interest in the economy and geography of these regions. Macro's "Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula" - the only major attempt to date to itemize the most important publications on the Arab World - draws heavily on the papers published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, especially for 19th century descriptions of the Arabian Gulf and its inhabitants. - Collected here is the entire run of publications issued by the Royal Geographical Society up to the mid-20th century - a full 203 volumes containing thousands of seminal articles, plates, and maps chronicling the modern mapping of the world. Its importance for the Arabian Peninsula is well-reflected in Macro's bibliography. Wilson's 1833 "Memorandum Respecting the Pearl Fisheries in the Persian Gulf", James Wellsted's "Observations on the Coast of Arabia between Rás Mohammed and Jiddah" (1836), and Felix Haig's "Memoirs of the Southeast Coast of Arabia" (1839) are among the earliest reports on those regions. Georg Wallin delivered a valuable report on the Hajj to the Society in 1854 in his "Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca"; William Palgrave is today regarded as one of the most important European explorers of the Peninsula, and his "Observations made in Central, Eastern and Southern Arabia, 1862-3" is found in the 1864 volume of the Journal. A lesser-known figure is Lewis Pelly, who in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society (1863) delivered a remarkably prescient lecture, "On the Geographical Capabilities of the Persian Gulf as an Area of Trade" - highlighting the future importance of the tribes and territories of the Gulf as global commercial centres, from Kuwait down to the coasts mainly controlled by "Arab pirates". He also contributed "A Visit to the Wahabee Capital, Central Arabia" (1865) - a fascinating, early account of Riyadh. - The 1890s saw a spurt of accounts of the Gulf in the Journal by Theodore Bent including "The Bahrein Islands, in the Persian Gulf" (1890), "Expedition to the Hadhramaut" (1894), and "Exploration of the Frankincense Country, Southern Arabia" (1895). Also of note was an important study of the historical importance of Gulf ports such as Bahrain, discussed in Arthur Stiffe's 1897 article "Ancient Trading Centres of the Persian Gulf". From this point on contributions on the Peninsula become too numerous to list: among them are Frank Clemow's "A Visit to the Rock-Tombs of Medain Salih and the Southern Section of the Hejaz Railway" (1913); Sir Percy Cox's "Overland Journey to Maskat from the Persian Gulf" (1902) and his fascinating account of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, "The Wahabi King" (1928); Gertrude Bell's "A Journey in Northern Arabia" (1914); Lees's "The Physical Geography of Southeastern Arabia" (1928); Holt's "The Future of the North Arabian Desert" (1923); Harry St. John Philby's "Account of Explorations in the Great South Desert of Arabia" (1933); Cheesman's description of the Arabian coastline between Qatar and Bahrain, "From Oqair [Al Uqair] to the ruins of Salwa" (1923); Bertram Thomas's "A Journey into the Rub' al-Khali" (1931) and "The Southeastern Borderlands of the Rub' al-Khali" (1929); Lees's "The Physical Geography of Southeastern Arabia" (1928); and Cochrane's early aerial surveys of Southern Arabia ("Air Reconaissance of the Hadhramaut", 1931). We also find several papers by R. E. Leachman - "the second Lawrence", murdered in Iraq in 1920 - including his "Journey Across Arabia" (1913) and "A Journey through Central Arabia" (1914). Wilfred Thesiger, who drew attention to the borderlands between present day UAE and Oman, contributed "A New Journey in Southern Arabia" (1946); "Journey through the Tihama, the Asir and the Hijaz Mountains" (1948); and "Across the Empty Quarter" (1948) to the Journal, and we also find K. C. Jordan's "adjustments" to Thesiger's map of Southeastern Arabia in Vol. 111 (1948).
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[Rycaut, Paul].
(Histoire de l'Etat Présent de l'Empire Ottoman.) Histoire de l'Empire Ottoman: Contenant les maximes Politiques des Turcs; Les principaux points de la Religion Mahometane [...]. Par Monsieur Briot. Amsterdam, David Mortier, 1714.
12mo. 498, (6) pp. Title page printed in red and black. With separate engr. title page (counted in the pagination), engr. title vignette, 18 folding engr. plates and one engraving in the text. Contemporary full morocco, covers and spine gilt with giltstamped green spine label. Leading edges gilt, gilt inner dentelle, marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Beautiful French edition of Sir Paul Rycaut‘s famous Turkish chronicle: a page-for-page reprint of the - probably pirated - third edition in French, which had appeared at Amsterdam (under the imprint of Abraham Wolfgangk) in 1670. The 1714 edition, not noted in the relevant bibliographies, omits Rycaut's name, citing only that of the translator, but without the words "traduit de l'Anglois", thus falsely suggesting that the translator Briot is the author. "This work is regarded as one of the best of its kind with respect to the religious and military state of Turkey" (Cox). "[Rycaut's] most important work [...] presents an animated and, on the whole, faithful picture of Turkish manners" (DNB). "Provides an account of the society and political system of the Ottoman Empire with unprecedented thoroughness" (cf. Osterhammel, Die Entzauberung Asiens, 32). "An extremely important and influential work, which provides the fullest account of Ottoman affairs during the 17th century [...] Rycaut was appointed consul in Smyrna, where he resided for eleven years. His information on the Ottoman Empire was taken from several sources: original records, and from a Polish resident of some nineteen years at the Ottoman court" (Blackmer). The attractive engravings depict dignitaries and persons of various ranks in their costumes (several on Arabian horses), also including the illustration of a turban (in the letterpress on p. 115). A beautifully bound copy of a rare and appealingly produced edition. Provenance: removed from the library of the Talhouët family at the Château de la Lambardais in Brittany (armorial stamp to front flyleaf). OCLC 69067803. Cf. Weber II, 330f. Aboussouan 806f. Atabey 1069. Blackmer 1464. Brunet IV, 1275. Graesse VI/1, 108. Lipperheide Lb 19. Hiler 770. Howgego R 92. Cox I, 210. Not in Colas.
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[Sahara].
Halte d'Arabes a l'Entrée du Sahara. [Paris, 1844].
Steel engraving (Henit del. / Lechard sculp.). Image size 134 x 91 mm, plate size 228 x 170 mm, leaf size 262 x 176 mm. From Gabriel de Lurcy's "Voyages autour du Monde et Naufrages célèbres". - Clean and well-preserveed.
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[Sanusi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf].
Kitab al-sughra fi’ al-tawhid. [The Smaller Tract on the Principles of Faith, or, The Lesser Creed]. North Africa, [1780 CE =] 1194 H.
4to (152 x 210 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 57 ff. Leaves have been numbered in pencil, though incorrectly. Brown and red ink with occasional blue and yellow, ruled in red, gilt pointer in the margin marking the beginning, and ending with the name of the Prophet Muhammad written in yellow and black. Marginal notes in a modern red ink. Modern brown morocco with fore-edge flap. Modern endpapers. A theological treatise more commonly known as "Al-Sanusiyyah Al-Sughra" (The Short Version of As-Sanusiyyah) or as "Umm al-Barahin" (The Mother of All Proofs). Mohamed ibn Youssef Sanoussi (1435/36-1490) was a North African theologian who lived as a mystic in Tlemcen, Algeria. Unlike Averroes or al-Ghazali, Sanusi espoused a democratic and rational conception of theology that appealed not to the elite but to any man endowed with reason. He sought to establish practical faith through logical proof. - As stated in the colophon, the present manuscript was copied by one Ahmad ibn Ali. Recto of first leaf somewhat soiled, with later ink notes and paper repairs; the beginning of the text on the verso is only slightly affected. Light soiling and inkblots throughout, with a few marginal wormholes and dampstains. Later marginal notes; verso of f. 56 has text which is not contained in ruled margins and has thus been trimmed slightly along fore-edge. Cf. GAL II, 8.7.4.
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[Saudi Arabia - Camels].
Collection of 17 photographs of camels. Saudi Arabia, 1960s.
Spiral-bound album with 6 large and 11 smaller photographs (1 image included in a duplicate print). The present album of black-and-white photographs, all taken by G. F. Larsen, later Vice President of General Services at Aramco, shows camels in the Arabian desert and the locals whom they accompany. - Occasional slight staining; well-preserved in general.
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[Saudi Arabia - Freemasonry].
Arabian Shrine Club. [Saudi Arabia, 1960s/1970s].
13 original colour photographs (87 x 109 mm) and 6 original black-and-white photographs (75 x 104 mm), the latter captioned in English on verso. The bulk mounted on cardboard carriers. Inserted in protective sleeves in a green synthetic folder. Rare images of a Masonic society: private collection of photographs from a meeting of the Arabian Shriners in Saudi Arabia. The Shriners are seen in group pictures, alone or alongside their wives. Other pictures show the premises of the venue as well as the celebratory banquet. - In addition, the set comprises 6 black-and-white photographs, including group pictures of Westerners wearing Arabian attire, an image of the walls of the royal palace in Riyadh, a picture of the outskirts of Jeddah, and a view of the desert. - A unique survival.
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[Saudi Arabia - Mineral Resources Bulletins].
Collection of 18 Mineral Resources Bulletins. Includes Professional Papers Nos. PP-1-3. Jeddah, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, 1968-1984 and 1982-1989.
Mineral Resources Bulletins Nos. 1, 4, 7-9, 12-18, 22-26, 28. Includes maps and diagrams. Professional Papers Nos. PP-1-3. All in their original printed green wrappers or full cloth bindings. Extensive collection of rare geologic Bulletins issued by the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (Directorate General of Mineral Resources; after 1980: Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources), centering on the 1970s. Includes the "Professional Papers" periodical published from 1982 onwards (all three issues published). Bulletin No. 1 ("A Guide for Investment and Development") is the second printing (1968). - Occasional stamps of former holding libraries and handwritten ownerships, altogether very well preserved.
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[Saudi Arabia - Mineral Resources Bulletins].
Collection of 23 Mineral Resources Bulletins. Includes Professional Papers Nos. PP-1-3 and Mineral Resources Research 1967-68. Jeddah, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, 1965-1984 and 1982-1989.
Mineral Resources Bulletins Nos. 1, 4, 7-9, 12-29. Includes maps and diagrams. Professional Papers Nos. PP-1-3. Mineral Resources Research 1967-68. All in their original printed green wrappers or full cloth bindings. Extensive collection of rare geologic Bulletins issued by the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (Directorate General of Mineral Resources; after 1980: Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources), spanning two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Wants merely issue 5/6 and the slim issues 10-11, as well a a final vol. of bibliography (no. 3 was never published). Includes the "Professional Papers" periodical published from 1982 onwards (all three issues published) and the "Mineral Resources Research" volume for 1967/68. - Very clean and well-preserved throughout.
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[Saudi Arabia - Ministry of Agriculture].
Annual report 1382-1383. Jeddah, Asfahany, [1964 CE = 1383 H].
8vo. With portraits of His Majesty King Saud Ben Abdulaziz and Prince Faisal Ben Abdulaziz, and 10 maps, including 2 folding. Original publisher’s decorated wrappers. The annual report of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the fiscal year 1382–1383 AH, with text in Arabic and English. The most important topic is hydrology, including the Abha Dam project, the related Wadi Jizan and Irrigation project and the Al-Qatif water drainage project. Other topics covered include locust control, fertilizers, soil quality etc. The results of many tests are displayed on 10 maps. - With library stamps. Some minor stains and a small tear to the wrappers, but internally in very good condition.
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[Saudi Arabia - Oil exploration].
Erdölgebiet in der Wüste Saudi-Arabiens. Kempen, Dr. te Neues & Co., [ca. 1950s].
635 x 910 mm (image); 680 x 990 mm (sheet). Colour-printed poster mounted on cloth with wooden rods for hanging. German teaching material on Saudi Arabia, stereotyping the symbiotic simultaneity of modern oil exploration and the traditional bedouin lifestyle. Prepared for introducing students to the economic value of desert landscapes for oil exploration, this large poster depicts an utterly idyllic scence with a resting caravan watering their camels near a pipeline and three oil rigs. Another caravan on the move, as well as two bedouin tents and an oasis are displayed in the background. - Chart number 7 from the series "Dr. te Neues Geographische Bilder" after a work by the German painter Michael Mathias Kiefer (1902-80), bearing his reproduced signature. - Vertical tear near upper margin (measuring ca. 9 cm); margins occasionally slightly waterstained, not affecting image.
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