|
|
|
[Kosovo].
Kosova Vilâyet haritasi. Manuscript map of Kosovo Vilayet. [Kosovo, late 19th century].
20,5 x 31,5 cm. Original hand-coloured map. In Ottoman script. Western paper with watermark (posthorn in crowned shield). Rare manuscript map of Kosovo Vilayet, an Ottoman first-level administrative division, showing the borders of the sanjaks in red and marking cities including Üsküp, as well as rivers and railway lines. It includes the Novi Pazar Sanjak, which was set up in 1865 as a result of the abolition of the Bosnian state and the establishment of the Ottoman Empire's Bosnia Province. With the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, the Novi Pazar Sanjak was separated from the Bosnian Province in 1879 and connected to the Province of Kosovo. The Taslica Sanjak was established in 1880 and consisted of Taslica and Prepol Kazas, with Austrian-Hungarian garrisons in the Priboy district. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War of 1912-13, this sanjak was shared between Serbia and Montenegro with the London Agreement in 1913. - With the personal seal of the cartographer Dervish Mustafa on verso. Somewhat brownstained and creased.
|
|
|
[Krusinski, Tadeusz Judasz?] / Lisasueta, Jacinto de (transl.).
Historia de Thamas Kouli-Kan, Sophi de Persia. Traducida del Frances en Castellano. Madrid, en la Officina de los Herederos de Juan de Ariztia, 1740.
Small 8vo. 2 vols. (16), 286 pp. (8), 195, (1) pp. Contemporary limp vellum (modern endpapers). Very rare first Spanish translation of this sensational account, which spurred numerous re-printings, piracies, and abridgements. A perfect ideal of the 'Oriental despot', the recent exploits of Nadir Shah (Tahmasp Quli Khan, 1698-1747) fascinated his European contemporaries as much as the shocking overthrow of the Ming Dynasty by the barbarian Manchus a century earlier. From humble beginnings as a shepherd-boy, Nadir's rapid conquest of much of Western Asia and his prowess as a military leader earned him (later) comparisons to Napoleon. - The present work, translated by Jacinto de Lisasueta, was based on the "Histoire de Thamas Kouli-Kan, Sophi De Perse" published at Amsterdam earlier that year. - Barbier mistakenly supposed the French original to have been authored by J. A. du Cerceau, but “this attribution is clearly incorrect, because the book deals with events up to 1739, while du Cerceau died on the 4th of July, 1730" (Lockhart, Nadir Shah, p. 315). Today, it is supposed that the Histoire was based instead on the accounts of the Jesuit missionary Kruzinski (1675-1756) who was active in the Safavid Empire between 1707 and 1728. - Light browning; occasional repaired edge flaws. Recently rebound in slightly differing vellum, with new endpapers. Vol. 2 bears the collection drystamp of Victor Arce Blanchard. Aguilar Piñal, 6, 684. OCLC 807763638. Not in Palau.
|
|
|
[Kufi, `Ali Ibn-Hamid al-] / Kalichbeg Fredunbeg, Mirza (transl.).
The Chachnamah, an Ancient History of Sind, Giving the Hindu Period down to the Arab Conquest [...]. Karachi, at the Commissioner's Press, 1900.
8vo. (4), XI, (1), 198 pp., 1 blank leaf, (199)-207, (1) pp. Original cloth-backed printed wrappers. First complete English edition. - One of the few written sources about the Arab conquest of Sindh (now in Pakistan) and the origins of Islam in India, translated from a 13th century Persian text by Ali, son of Muhammad Kufi, itself the translation of an undated Arabic manuscript. A chronicle of the Chacha dynasty, following the demise of the Rai dynasty and the ascent of Chach of Alor to the throne, down to the Arab conquest by Muhammad bin Qasim, it narrates the Arab inclusions into Sindh of the 7th to 8th centuries, concluding with an epilogue on the tragic end of the Arab commander Muhammad ibn al-Kasim and of the two daughters of Dahir, the defeated king of Sindh. Co-opted by various interest groups for centuries, the Chach Nama has significant implications for modern imaginings about the place of Islam in South Asia, that remain disputed to this day. - Handwritten ownership in ink to upper wrapper. Light foxing to covers and variously throughout. Altogether a good copy of a rare work; no copy in auction records. OCLC 315332365. Not in Ghani or Wilson. Cf. Asif, A Book of Conquest (2016); Friedmann, The origins and significance of the Chach Nama, in: Islam in Asia: South Asia (1984), pp. 23-37.
|
|
|
[Kuwait - Ministry of Guidance and Information].
[Taqrir shamil 'an al-hafriyat al-athariyah fi Jazirat Faylaka, 'am 1958-1963]. Archaeological Investigations in the Island of Failaka 1958-1964. [Kuwait], Kuwait Government Press, ca. 1970.
4to. 161, (3) pp. With numerous black-and-white illustrations in the text. Original printed wrappers. First edition. Report on the Danish archaeological expedition to Kuwait led by Peter Vilhelm Glob and Geoffrey Bibby. During five campaigns between 1958 and 1963 the tells on the south-western corner of Failaka Island became the focus of the expedition. The report describes and illustrates some of the major finds, including statues, pottery, lamps, coins, remnants of houses and temples, skeletons and weaponry. - Each campaign lasted 2½ to 3½ months, and the excavation teams consisted of between 5 and 14 Danes as well as 2 Kuwaitis from the Education Department, assisted by up to 185 labourers. At the end of each campaign the finds were packed down in large wooden crates and shipped to the museum in Aarhus for conservation and analysis. At that time there were no conservation and storing facilities in Kuwait, nor anywhere in the Arabian Gulf. - Wrappers have title in English and Arabic. The illustrations are captioned in English and Arabic as well; title-page and introductory text in Arabic only. - Occasional light foxing. OCLC 65798901.
|
|
|
[Kuwait - Ministry of Guidance and Information].
Kuwait Tourist Guide. Kuwait, Ministry of Guidance and Information, (1968).
4to. 144 pp. With numerous coloured and black-and-white photographic illustrations. Original printed wrappers. First edition of this rare illustrated guidebook to Kuwait. Aiming to encourage the tourist industry of Kuwait, it is packed with useful information on geography, history, education, infrastructure, museums, visa and residence regulations, currency, embassies and consulates, hotels, sports, banks, the climate, and other topics. It is particularly remarkable for the numerous photographs promoting life in Kuwait in the late 1960s, including portraits of Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah, the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Sheikh Jabir al-Ali al-Salim al-Sabah, Minister of Guidance and Information. - Two tiny tears to lower margin of wrappers. Several pages a little soiled; slightly toned in places. OCLC 121622.
|
|
|
[Kuwait - photo album].
[Photograph album of the Kuwait oil industry]. [Kuwait, 1950s-1970s].
180 x 305 mm. 48 chromogenic and 49 silver gelatin photographs, ranging from 80 x 80 mm to 19 x 126 mm, and housed in photo sleeves. Contemporary spiral-bound illustrated boards. An album of 97 vintage photographs and photographic postcards showing the construction works for the Kuwait oil industry, likely at the famous Burgan and Al Bahrah oil fields and refineries. During the early decades of oil production, the Kuwait Oil Company worked to develop the flowering industry, sometimes partnered with British oil company BP. Several photographs were likely taken by European engineers who moved to Kuwait to work in the oil industry; some of the early silver gelatin photographs were printed in Germany, while several other silver gelatin prints have the stamp of the Armenian-Syrian photographer Vartan Derounian (1888-1954) and/or the stamp K.E.W., that is of the Kuwait Engineering Works Ltd. Since oil was discovered in Kuwait at Burgan oil field in 1938, the petroleum industry has become the largest in the country, responsible for roughly half of Kuwait's GDP. This series of photographs, beginning in roughly the 1950s and with the latest photograph dated 1978, illustrates three decades of infrastructure development and expansion in the industry, including numerous detailed scenes of tanks, wells, and pipelines. - A few light signs of wear, altogether very well preserved.
|
|
|
[Kuwait - Saudi Arabia].
Final map of dividing line of the Kuwait - Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone. N. p., Pacific Aero Survey Co. Ltd., August 1968.
565 x 780 mm. Scale 1:250,000. Showing the future border, then the dividing line through the Saudi-Kuwaiti Neutral Zone, a 5,770 km² area between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that was left undefined when the border was established by in 1922. Partitioning negotiations finally commenced when the rulers of both countries met and decided, in October 1960, that the Neutral Zone should be divided. On 7 July 1965, the two governments signed an agreement, which took effect on 25 July 1966, to partition the Zone adjoining their respective territories. Ratification followed on 18 January 1970. "This map has been prepared from the results of the survey according to the agreement between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for the Neutral Zone Division on 7/4/1386 corresponding to 25/7/1966". The Gulf is labelled "Arabian Gulf". - An indistinct stamp on verso. A tear to one fold; lower edge irregular. Rare; not in OCLC.
|
|
|
[Kuwait Oil Company Ltd.].
The Story of Kuwait. London, Walter Pearce & Co. for Kuwait Oil Company Limited, 1957.
4to (185 x 248 mm). 80 pp. Illustrated throughout with photographs, diagrams, and maps. Original light blue printed wrappers. Pamphlet covering the history of Kuwait, the operations of the Kuwait Oil Company, and the "New Kuwait" of the 1950s. The Kuwait Oil Company was founded in 1934 and was heavily involved in the modernization of Kuwait, whose large petroleum and natural gas reserves were first tapped at Burgan Field in 1938, with production beginning in 1946. The pamphlet focuses on the changes brought to Kuwait by the oil industry in the first ten years since its inception: graphs and photographic illustrations show the rise in oil production, numerous scenes of the refineries, pipelines, workers' houses, mosques, and recreational scenes at Ahmadi, and an early gas station and new housing in Kuwait City. Also explained is the family history of the al Sabah rulers of Kuwait, with a family tree and portraits of previous and contemporary rulers, including Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah (1837-1915), Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (1885-1950), and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah (1895-1965), first Emir of Kuwait; one image depicts him ceremonially opening an oil well. - Wrappers slightly browned at extremities, quite well preserved. OCLC 21880314.
|
|
|
[Kuwait] - Iraqi Arts and Popular Culture Directorate.
Al-Kuwayt al-qatha al-iraqi al-salib [Kuwait, The Stolen Iraqi Province]. Baghdad, Matba'ah Al-Rabita, no date [but ca. 1961].
8vo. 35, (1) pp. Half-tone portrait frontispiece of Abd al-Karim Qasim, two other full-page half-tone illustrations and a double-page map of the Gulf. Original printed wrappers, stapled. First edition of a rare pamphlet outlining the Iraqi claim to Kuwait and opposing its independence. - Kuwait emerged as an independent state in June 1961, after 62 years as a British protectorate. With a new constitution, it held its first parliamentary elections in 1963, thereby becoming the first Arab state in the Gulf to establish a parliament. Such political developments, married with growing wealth and modernisations in health, culture and finance, helped to make Kuwait the most prosperous state in the Arabian Peninsula. - The Iraqi government argued that the move toward independence was a continuation of Kuwait's relationship with Britain, albeit under a new guise. Furthermore, they felt that the historical links between Iraq (specifically Basra Province) and Kuwait entitled the former to control over the latter and, one suspects, a share of its growing wealth. This position, argued in the pamphlet, led to a point of crisis, with Iraq threatening invasion. To the relief of Kuwait, the Iraqis were eventually deterred by the Arab League's promise of military opposition. - Extremities darkened, some scuffs and light stains to lower wrapper, otherwise very good. Seemingly unrecorded: no copies in Copac/Jisc or OCLC.
|
|
|
[Kuwait].
[Kharitah jiyulujiyah shamilah li-Dawlat al-Kuwayt]. Synoptic Geologic Map of the State of Kuwait. [Kuwait], Wizarat al-Tijarah wa-al-Sina`ah (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), 1966.
Colour-printed map, 1210 x 850 mm. Scale 1:250,000. Lambert conic projection. Folded. (Includes:) Explanatory Text to the Synoptic Geologic Map of Kuwait. Vienna & Kuwait, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 1968. 8vo. 87, (1) pp. With 2 folding plates in back pocket. Original printed wrappers. Geologic map of Kuwait in Arabic and English, compiled by the Geological Survey of Austria. Geological data prepared by H. F. Holzer, T. E. Gattinger, and W. Fuchs, based on fieldwork conducted in 1965/66. Includes accompanying text volume with bibliographical references and two sheets of tables in back pocket. - In perfect condition. OCLC 9684913, 69621. LoC G7601.C5 1966.
|
|
|
[Kuwait].
Arab sail-makers at work, Koweit. Bombay, The Times Press, [ca. 1910].
Half-tone photographic postcard. A beautiful image of sail-makers labouring over a large sheet of sailcloth, stretched out before a picturesque backdrop of beach, dhows and ocean. The Times Press, alongside the main business of printing newspapers, issued a number of postcards of Western India and Mesopotamia in the first decades of the 20th century. The present postcard is one of the few illustrated with photographs of Kuwait. - Very light rounding to corners, otherwise very good.
|
|
|
[La Haye, Jean de].
Peristromata Turcica, sive dissertatio emblematica, praesentem Europae statum ingeniosis coloribus repraesentans. [Nürnberg, Wolfgang Endter] (ad 1 with a false colophon: Paris, Toussaint du Bray), 1641-1642.
(2) [Harsdörffer, Georg Philipp]. Germania deplorata, sive relatio, qua pragmatica momenta belli pacisque expenduntur. (3) [Milag, Martin]. Aulaea Romana, contra Peristromata Turcica expansa: sive dissertatio emblematica, concordiae Christianae omen repraesentans. (4) [Anonymous French critic of Cardinal Richelieu]. Gallia deplorata, sive relatio, de luctuoso bello, quod rex Christianissimus contra vicinos populos molitur. 4 editions published together in 1 volume. 4to. With 2 engraved title-plates plus 12 full-page engraved emblematic illustrations, all on integral leaves, each with a small plate nested in a larger plate (7 in the Peristromata with a varying plate black and the same outer plate of a Persian carpet in orange). Gold-tooled light brown calf (ca. 1820?) by Charles Murton in London. Rare first and only Latin editions (probably the first and only early editions in any language) of four closely related polemical pamphlets on European policy toward the Ottoman Empire. The publication was instigated by the prominent Nuremberg poet and jurist Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607-58), who somehow found access to the French manuscripts of the pro-Richelieu "Peristromata Turcica" (Turkish carpets), and the anti-Richelieu "Gallia deplorata", translated them into Latin, edited them for publication and added what is believed to be his own anti-French Latin rebuttal of the former, "Germania deplorata". On 26 November 1641 he sent all three to the Calvinist Prince Ludwig of Anhalt-Köthen, founding president of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft in Weimar, who found the "Peristromata Turcica" shocking and dangerous, not only for its content but also because its remarkable and "seductive" graphic form. At a spring 1642 meeting of the society Ludwig initiated the writing and production of an emblematic rebuttal, the "Aulaea Romana" (Roman tapestries). Besides the political importance of these pamphlets as records of differing European attitudes toward the Ottoman Empire, they are remarkable graphic and typographic artefacts, early examples of colour printing and important emblemata. In 1536 Francois I had formed an alliance with the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent, and for a century Franco-Ottoman relations swung between extremes. Around 1626 Cardinal Richelieu began to encourage noblemen to strengthen France's economy by expanding its maritime trade in the Middle East, Near East and beyond. But with its great maritime power, the Ottoman Empire was not only a potentially valuable trading partner but also a fierce competitor and even a military threat to Europe's trade in those regions. Richelieu therefore attempted to form a Catholic union with the Holy Roman Empire and others to fight against the Ottomans. With owner's inscription of the lawyer and diplomat Georg Achatz Heher (1601-67) and bookplate of Robert Hoe (1839-1909), one of the greatest book collectors of all time. With the last quires (E-H) of the "Aulaea Romana" misbound following the last quire (G) of Gallia. A small marginal worm hole in the first work and the first leaves of the second, and an occasional small marginal chip or tear, but still in good condition. The binding with cracks in the hinges and some wear at the extremities, but otherwise good. Although these four editions were clearly designed to be published together, only about a dozen complete sets are known to survive, nearly all in Germany, Austria and Poland. Faber de Faur 497-500. Praz 448f. M. Reinhart, "Georg Philipp Harsdörffer and the Emblematic Pamphlets of 1641-42", in: Emblemata XX (2013), pp. 313-376 & XXI (2014), pp. 277-375. Stijnman & Savage, p. 46 (ad 1). Not in Atabey or Blackmer.
|
|
|
[Lawrence of Arabia (film)].
[Lawrence of Arabia: a production-used shooting script and collection of original film stills]. No place, Columbia Pictures, 1962 and 1971.
8vo mimeographed typescript. Approx. 122 pp. Original black wrappers. Together with: 3 colour stills on board (364 x 281 mm), 12 colour stills (241 x 185 mm) issued for the press, 10 silver gelatin print stills (278 x 210 mm), colour poster, and 14 behind the scenes and costume test silver gelatin prints (ranging from 158 x 105 mm to 290 x 290 mm), with further costume test photographs tucked into the script. Fascinating and significant collection of material relating to one of the most famous British films of all time, Sir David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962). The collection includes a unique production-used script, the title-page annotated "2nd Unit, Abbey", with various test photographs inserted into the script at different points and annotations and added tabs towards the end of the script. Includes four large black and white behind-the-scenes photos of the film's then-unknown star, Peter O'Toole (1932-2013), on camelback taken by famous stills photographer Ken Danvers (1911-80). Various additional costume reference photographs are present, including three for 'Lawrence', one featuring Peter O'Toole, in costume, smoking next to a set trailer. Also present are a set of twelve front of house stills for the film, an American one-sheet poster from the 1971 re-release, and other photographic stills relating to the production including three large colour film stills on board, which round out an impressive collection. Also included are 11 photographic references of T. E. Lawrence used by the costume design team to style Peter O'Toole. - "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) was O'Toole's film debut, for which he received international acclaim. The film itself was selected in 1999 as the third best British film of the 20th century, and won seven of an impressive ten Oscar nominations. It is generally considered one of the most important films to come out of the 1960s, and has been selected for preservation in America's National Film Registry in acknowledgment of its cultural significance. - Occasional light wear to photographs, generally in the form of subtle pinpricks to corners. In general, exceptionally well preserved. - Provenance: Acquired by an employee of the film's producer, Sam Spiegel (1901-85). Spiegel was financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th century, and was the first independent Hollywood producer to work on films that won the Academy Award for "Best Picture" three times. One of those films was, of course, "Lawrence of Arabia".
|
|
|
[Lawrence, Thomas Edward]. Pirie-Gordon, Harry (ed.).
A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under the Command of General Sir Edmund H.H. Allenby. July 1917 to October 1918. Compiled from Official Sources and Published by the Palestine News. Cairo, Government Press and Survey of Egypt, 1919.
Small folio (227 x 294 mm). (6), 113, (1) pp. With Allenby's portrait frontispiece on cloth and 56 coloured maps (facing explanatory texts printed on versos). Original printed wrappers with printed cloth spine. First edition, edited by Harry Pirie-Gordon as a souvenir album: an account of the 1917-19 campaign in the Middle East. Contains two reports written by T. E. Lawrence, "Sherifian Co-Operation in September" and "Story of the Arab Movement", in which he details the Ashraf contribution to the War effort and narrates his own involvement in a third-person report. - Rubbed and stained, with occasional edge flaws. Endpapers have pencil ownership of O. A. Holstius, attached to Headquarters, 19th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Loosely inserted is a typed extract from "The Honourable Artillery Company in the Great War, 1914-1919" by George Goold Walker (1930), detailing living conditions in the Jordan Valley during the Great War (torn and frayed at edges). O'Brien A011.
|
|
|
[Libya].
Original press photo (vintage). London, 1949.
150 x 205 mm. AP press photo showing Sayid Idris al-Senussi in London shaking hands with Eric de Candole, British Administrator of Cyrenaica, and his wife. Captioned on the reverse: "Senussi leader arrives in London. The Emir Sayid Idris el Senussi, head of the state of Cyrenaica, photographed on arrival in London last night July 15. He is shaking hands with Mr. E. A. V. Candole, British Chief Administrator of Cyrenaica. At centre is Mrs. Candole. The Emir travelled from Derna to Marseilles in the battleship 'Vanguard' and thence across France. It is the Emir's first visit to England. While here he will have talks with Mr. Bevin on the future of Cyrenaica". Well preserved.
|
|
|
[Limes arabicus].
15 fragments of a Roman military diploma for an equestrian soldier named Bithus of the ala praetoria singularium. [Roman Syria, 7 Nov. 88 CE].
Varying sizes (ca. 60 x 55 mm to 20 x 14 mm). Engraved bronze. Set within a modern frame (36,4 x 30,4 cm). Rare document of the Roman presence on the Arabian Peninsula, comprising 15 fragments in good condition. The diploma was issued for an equestrian named Bithus of the ala praetoria singularium, an auxiliary cavalry unit stationed in Syria, under the command of Aulus Furius Saturninus during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96). It can be dated with a high degree of certainty, as Aulus Furius Saturninus is only traceable to military diplomas issued as part of an imperial military constitution for 5 alae and 2 cohorts in Syria from 8 November 88. The name Bithus is probably of Thracian origin. - The ala praetoria singularium was one of 14 alae and 33 cohorts stationed in the province of Syria between 88 and 157. These troops built and defended the almost 1500 kilometre Limes Arabicus, a system of streets, watchtowers, and forts that had its origin in the Roman conquest of Syria in 64 BCE and reached its greatest extent in the second century. Palmyra and Damascus were among the fortified cities along the Limes Arabicus. - From the German collection of Peter Weiß, acquired before 1980. Published: P. Holder, Roman Military Diplomas V (London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 2006), p. 771 f., no. 330. P. Weiß, Neue Militärdiplome, in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 117 (1997), pp. 229-231.
|
|
|
[Limes arabicus].
Fragment of a Roman military diploma for a member of the ala praetoria singularium. [Roman Syria, 7 Nov. 88 CE].
Ca. 72 x 83 mm. Engraved bronze. Rare and exceptionally well-preserved document of the Roman presence on the Arabian Peninsula. This diploma was issued for a member of the ala praetoria singularium, an auxiliary cavalry unit stationed in Syria, under the command of Aulus Furius Saturninus during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96). It can be dated with a high degree of certainty, as Aulus Furius Saturninus is only traceable to military diplomas issued as part of an imperial military constitution for 5 alae and 2 cohorts in Syria from 8 November 88. - The ala praetoria singularium was one of 14 alae and 33 cohorts stationed in the province of Syria between 88 and 157. These troops built and defended the almost 1500 kilometre Limes Arabicus, a system of streets, watchtowers, and forts that had its origin in the Roman conquest of Syria in 64 BCE and reached its greatest extent in the second century. Palmyra and Damascus were among the fortified cities along the Limes Arabicus. - From the German collection of Peter Weiß, acquired before 1980. Published: P. Holder, Roman Military Diplomas V (London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 2006). P. Weiß, Neue Militärdiplome, in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 117 (1997), pp. 227-268.
|
|
|
[Litany].
Litaniae, et preces recitandae ad divinam opem contra Turcas implorandam, & pro aliis ecclesiae necessitatibus. Rome, ex typographia Rev. Cam. Apostolicae, 1687.
4to. (8) pp. With woodcut Papal arms and the Saints Peter and Paul on the title-page. Modern wrappers. Rare pamphlet of litanies and prayers invoking Divine assistance against the Ottoman threat during the Great Turkish War of 1683 to 1699. Previously issued in 1683, and again in 1716, during the Ottoman-Venetian War. OCLC lists a single copy at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma. - A waterstain throughout, else fine. OCLC 954866405.
|
|
|
[Loubet, Émile].
Voyage présidentiel. M. E. Loubet en Algérie et Tunisie. 15 Avril 1903. [Algeria and Tunisia, 1903].
4to. (2), 750 pp. French manuscript on paper. Contemporary gilt and blindstamped full green cloth with giltstamped title to spine and cover. Appealing, unpublished handwritten travelogue commemorating the French president Émile Loubet's tour of Algeria and Tunisia. Each page is enclosed within blue, white and red borders, with chapter titles and first initials also in tricolour. Apparently a presentation manuscript prepared for Michele Modica, vice-consul of Italy in Algeria, whose name is giltstamped on the front cover, it is signed - and probably written - by the prefecture's huissier Roche. In very neat handwriting, the account describes Loubet's two-week tour of French North Africa from Algiers to Oran, on to Tunisia and back to Marseille, mentioning visits to palaces, hospitals and race tracks, local delegations received by the president, as well as feasts and banquets held in his honour. - Extremities lightly scuffed. Ink corrosion along the left vertical blue border affecting the final 20 pages; slightly foxed in places. - An exceptional manuscript befitting the high rank of its recipient.
|
|
|
[Louis XIV].
Relation succinte de ce qui s'est passé en la rade de la ville d'Alger en Afrique, depuis l'arrivée du Sieur Marquis de Martel, Lieutnant Général des Armées Navales de Sa Majesté, avec l'escadre des vaisseaux qu'il commandoit. Paris, Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1670.
4to (198 x 247 mm). 8 pp. With armorial woodcut vignette on title, headpiece and initial. Unbound as issued. Rare official account of the French diplomatic expedition to Algiers undertaken in January 1666 by lieutenant general Damien Martel to re-establish the peace between Louis XIV and the Barbary Coast. - To protect the French merchant fleet from North African corsairs, but also inspired by the mercantilist theories of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who strove to expand French commercial capacities abroad, the King had in 1664 sent an expedition under the Duke of Beaufort to Djidjelli in north-eastern Algeria. There, the French had sunk several corsair ships, seized the city and begun expanding the port into a permanent naval base. Algerian pirate commandos, however, soon retook the city, destroyed the French works and sold the surviving Frenchmen into slavery. Indeed, the Djidjelli expedition had achieved nothing for France but to serve as a convenient excuse for the Ottomans to charge Louis XIV with having breached the peace. While the Porte declared that they would not hinder the French in pursuing the corsairs, it was made clear that the Sultan would not permit Louis to take possession of the coastal cities and ports of Barbary. The French did not attempt to re-establish themselves in Africa; rather, they sent punitive expeditions throughout the Mediterranean to rout whatever corsair ships they could find, thus finally driving the Pasha of Algiers to accept a new peace treaty. In early 1666, Martel was dispatched with a fleet of 17 ships (including three "brûlots", or fireships); the pamphlet discusses his self-assured entrance to Algiers and the subsequent delicate negotiations that renewed the diplomatic accord between two nations. - An uncommon work; we have located copies only at the Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève in Paris, the University of Oxford, British National Archives, and Bibliothèque Nationale, the latter two with title spelling 'Succincte'. Some duststaining, especially to the wide, untrimmed margins, but still a well-preserved copy. Playfair, Handbook for Travellers in Algeria and Tunis, pp. 44f. OCLC 57055024. Not in Playfair, Bibliography of Algeria: From the Expedition of Charles V in 1541 to 1887.
|
|
|
[Luna, Miguel de].
The life of the most illustrious monarch Almanzor. And of the several revolutions of the mighty empire of the caliphs, and of the African kingdoms. Together with the history of the conquest of Spain by the Moors [...]. London, Daniel Browne & Isaac Cleave, 1693.
8vo. (26), 237 pp., final blank. Title within double-ruled border. 19th century half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine and spine label. Marbled endpapers. Very scarce English translation of this popular chronicle of the 8th-century Moorish invasion of Spain, purportedly translated from an Arabic manuscript that the Moorish apologist and interpreter Miguel de Luna claimed to have found in the Escorial library, but in fact a work of historical fiction of his own composition. Originally issued as "La verdadera hystoria del Rey Don Rodrigo" in two parts (in 1592 and 1600), the present edition, which encompasses only the first part (a second volume announced in the publisher's letter "To the reader" was never published), is the third one in English, following that of Robert Ashley in 1627 and the slightly more common edition published by Leach in 1687. Further translations appeared in French and Italian. It was not until almost a century after its publication that de Luna's book was discovered to be a literary forgery, and even today it remains important as a sympathetic account of the Moorish conquest of Spain. - Binding insignificantly rubbed. Occasional very light foxing; title-page slightly trimmed at foot affecting border. A tiny rust-hole to I5 and a larger tear to K8. Provenance: Handwritten ownership of the Revd. Thomas Watkins (1761-1829), F.R.S., of Pennoyre, Breconshire (dated 1806) to p. 1. Later in the library of the art collectors Howard and Linda Knohl at Fox Pointe Manor, California, with their bookplate to front pastedown. Rare; a single copy in auction records. Palau 144.080. Wing L3484C.
|
|
|
[Maghreb travel].
Photo album. [Libya and Tunisia as well as Italy, ca. 1930].
Oblong 4to (280 x 204 mm). 112 vintage black-and-white photographs (ca. 13 x 18 cm), frequently captioned in German in white ink, on 56 black paper leaves (plus two blank leaves at the end). Contemporary green card boards, block-bound with string. A fine album of excellent original travel photographs, assembled by a party of young men from Germany, Austria and Hungary travelling through Northern Africa in the late 1920s or very early 1930s. A total of 36 photos show scenes from Libya: the cave dwellings in the jebels, the Arab and especially Jewish population, a Bedouin tent, Italian officers in Aziziya, but also a group portrait of the travellers leaning on their motorcar. A few pictures show the European tourists laughingly taunting the local children with cigarettes for which they let the youngsters grapple. The strong focus on the fairly large Jewish community (then constituting nearly 4% of the Libyan population, as compared to less than 0.8% in Germany) is poignant before the background of the increasingly virulent antisemitism in the visitors' central European homeland, apparently revealing a particular fascination with the "otherness" of the Jews who are here shown and described as a people living as they supposedly did in Biblical times. - Via Malta (6 photos, some depicting warships in the harbour) the party sailed on to Tunis, where no fewer than 32 photographs cover the port, the Al-Zaytuna Mosque, Spahis and French officers on horseback, and a wealth of street scenes: the old town with its souks, Bab Souika square, gypsies, veiled women, water salesmen, men in coffee houses, and a Christian butchery. The remainder of the album shows scenes from the return journey through Italy: Cagliari and Sardinia (6), Civitavecchia (3), Livorno (5), Genoa (1), and Milan (23, including many from the Cimitero Monumentale and some showing off then-modern architecture). - A well-preserved ensemble of amateur travel photographs from a region more frequently captured in military photography but rarely visited at the time by affluent European tourists with high-quality cameras.
|
|
|
[Magic lantern slides].
Large collection of more than 400 glass positives. Probably Scandinavia, early 20th century.
More than 400 glass slides depicting various motifs of coal mining, chemical processes, astronomy and topographical motifs from Asia, Africa, China, Europe and America. Housed in original wooden boxes. Includes 2 original projectors and 1 camera. Remarkable, encompassing collection of turn-of-the-century Magic Lantern slides. Several of the slides show cavalry horses: the "Krigen, 1848-1864" set includes (no. 45) an equestrian portrait of General Bülow, victor of the 1849 Battle of Fredericia, painted by Aug. Jerndorff; (no. 29) Friedrich von Schleppegrell riding at the battle of Isted; (no. 26) General Krogh on horseback (all V. Richter, Kopenhagen); no. 20. captioned "Pferdeablieferung" (horse delivery). A box labelled "København" includes: (no. 21) Brandmajoren rykker ud; (no. 20) a fire at the time of Frederik VI. Other slides show workhorses in Denmark and Sweden during haying-time or spreading manure, as well as works of the Danish painter Otto Bache: the Coronation of Christian IV in 1596; the conspirators escaping from Finderup on horseback after having murdered Eric V of Denmark. The collection also contains copies of paintings by various artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Rembrandt. Among the remaining slides, we find astronomic illustrations and pictures of observatories (Greenwich, Delhi, Potsdam, etc.); as well as numerous photographs and paintings of landscapes, people and architecture in Africa, Asia, Europe, China and America.
|
|
|
[Manuzio, Antonio, ed.].
Viaggi fatti da Vinetia, alla Tana, in Persia, in India, et in Costantinopoli: con la descrittione particolare di città, luoghi, siti, costumi, & della porta del gran Turco: & di tutte le intrate, spese, & modo di governo suo, & della ultima impresa contra Portoghesi. Venice, sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545.
8vo. 163 ff. (without final leaf, blank except for anchor on verso). Aldine anchor device on title page. 18th-century English polished calf. Second edition (first published in 1543) of this collection of Venetian voyages to the Near and Middle East, edited by Antonio Manuzio, son of Aldus. "Tana was the name which the Genoese gave to their factory at Azov at the mouth of the river Don. This volume contains voyages by Giosafat Barbaro (Tana in 1436, Persia 1471), Ambrogio Contarini (Persia 1473-77), and Luigi Roncinotto (Ethiopia 1532, Persia and India in 1529). It also includes Benedetto Ramberti's account of the Turkish Sultan's campaign against the Portuguese settlement of Diu in northern India in 1538" (Atabey). "This appears to be one of the very few travel books from the Aldine press" (Blackmer). - Extremities rubbed and bumped, short cracks in joints. Light dampstain to first few leaves. Contemp. ink ownership to title page, further ownership trimmed away at lower edge (remargined without loss); further contemp. ownership "Gioseppe Custodi" under the colophon. Modern ownership inscription "J. W. S. M. / Caius. / Cambridge. / Jan. 1899" on front pastedown - very likely the Caius-educated English entomologist John William Scott Macfie (1879-1948). Later himself a traveller to the East, he served as director of the Medical Research Institute in Accra between 1914 and 1923, having undertaken the same responsibilities in an acting capacity at Lagos in 1913. Adams V 624. Blackmer 1071. Göllner 861. Renouard 134 (noting that of the two editions the present is "bien mieux imprimée"). Cf. Atabey 761 (first edition).
|
|
|
[Map - Arabian Gulf].
Aeronautical chart and information center. Persian Gulf | ONC-H-6/7. St. Louis, Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, United States Air Force, 1967.
Map (1030 x 785 mm), colour-printed on two sides. Scale 1:1,000,000. Rayon pilot's map of the Arabian Gulf region focusing on the Trucial States (modern UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia, including main oil installations. Items of specific interest to aircraft, such as airfields and even seaplane bases, are particularly listed. Warnings to stay within the specific flying routes while in Iran are placed on multiple locations. - Slightly frayed at the edges. In very good condition.
|
|
|
[Map - Arabian Gulf].
Persian Gulf. ONC-H-6/7. Operational navigation chart. St. Louis, Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, U.S. Air Force, 1969.
Two copies of two folding maps colour printed on both sides of a sheet of silk (103 x 78.5 cm) on a scale of ca. 1:1,000,000. The two maps (ONC-H-6 & ONC-H-7) show one continuous area. Rayon pilot's map of the Arabian Gulf region focusing on the Trucial States (modern United Arab Emirates), Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia, including the main oil installations. Items of specific interest to aircraft, such as airfields and even seaplane bases, are particularly listed. Warnings to stay within the specific flying routes while in Iran are placed on multiple locations. While the map depicts a continuous area on both sides of one sheet, it actually consists of two maps, originally published separately. We here include two copies so the whole area can be displayed at once. The maps are reproduced after the third and fourth edition. - In very good condition.
|
|
|
[Map - Asia - Middle East]. National Geographic Society.
Southwest Asia, India, Pakistan, and Northeast Africa. Washington, DC, National Geographic Society, 1952.
Colour printed map, 685 x 905 mm. Scale 1:7,500,000. With an inset map of "the Moslem World; percentage of Moslems in total population". Large map of Asia and the Middle East in 1952, published for the National Geographic Magazine. The map clearly shows the unresolved nature of several borders due to the waning colonial power of France and Great Britain. Notations mention that the "boundaries between India and Pakistan are not finally fixed", the borders between Saudi Arabia and Jordan are "undefined". Almost the complete Arabian Peninsula is without any border markings with only the single mention near Saudi Arabia and Trucial Oman (the future UAE) of "coastal sovereignty undefined". Showing the world before the oil boom in the Middle East, it is noteworthy that the only significant airport in Trucial Oman is that of Sharjah. - With two stamps of the University of Chicago library (including one withdrawal stamp) on the back. A few small repaired tears and some discolouring at the edges; in very good condition.
|
|
|
[Map - Iran - Iraq]. Philip & Son.
Iran (Persia) and Iraq. London, George Philip & sons, [1930s].
Colour printed map, 540 x 680 mm, with yellow covers (195 x 110 mm). Map of Iran, Iraq and parts of the surrounding countries, including modern Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, in the 1930s, published in the series "Philips' authentic imperial maps for tourists & travellers". Published in the early years of the discovery of oil in the Middle East, the map shows roads and railways, but also caravan routes, submarine cables and oil pipelines. - Slightly soiled, in very good condition.
|
|
|
[Map - Middle East]. Geographical Publishing Company.
Arabia and near bordering countries. Includes: Palestine, Iran (Persia) and surrounding territories. Chicago, Geographical publishing company, ca. 1936-1941.
Colour printed map, 540 x 400 mm. Map of the Arabian Peninsula and parts of the USSR, Turkey, Iran and the British, French and Italian colonies in Africa, possibly coming form an edition of the "Commercial atlas of the world". Printed in yellow are oil fields and pipelines, including the legendary Kirkuk-Haifa/Tripoli oil pipeline. Detailed maps of Iran and of British controlled Palestine are printed on the other side. - With a few small holes near the inner margin.
|
|
|
[Map - Middle East]. Musil, Alois.
Northern Arabia according to the original investigations of Alois Musil [...]. New York, American Geographical Society, 1926.
Four maps (600 x 620 mm) printed in black and brown, kept folded in a grey cloth pocket. Map of modern Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in four parts, illustrating the travels of Alois Musil in 1908-1915 and published as part of a series of books and maps by Musil. Musil "mapped the topography, collected a large number of plants and in 1911 helped make observations that led to the first general sequence of the Phanerozoic geological succession of north-west Arabia". An inset in the map shows terrain elevations for several parts of the region. - Alois Musil (1868-1944) was a Czech orientalist and explorer and professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Prague. The collection of works which includes this map was published by the American Geographical Society with funding by the American industrialist and Arabist Charles R. Crane (1858-1939). - In very good condition. Vincent, Saudi Arabia: an environmental overview, p. 9. Cf. Wright, "Northern Arabia: the explorations of Alois Musil", in: Geographical review XVII, 2 (April 1927), pp. 177-206.
|
|
|
[Map - Saudi Arabia - Jordan].
USAF aeronautical chart and information service. World aeronautical chart (446) Wadi Sirhan. Washington, DC, USAF aeronautical chart and information service, 1958.
Colour-printed map, 560 x 735 mm, with a legend printed on the back. Scale 1:1,000,000. Pilot's map of Wadi Sirhan in the border region of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The map shows the concave and zigzagging border between Saudi Arabia and Jordan before its revision in 1965. The indefinite nature of the borders is clearly visible on the map in the changed and crossed-out borderlines and the notations "boundary approximate". Several areas are marked as "danger area" or "prohibited area". - Stamped "obsolete for use in aviation", otherwise in excellent condition.
|
|
|
[Map - Saudi Arabia]. Aramco.
Saudi Arabian Road map. Dammam, Mutawa Press, [early 1980s].
Colour-printed map, 590 x 855 mm. Bilingual road map of the Arabian Peninsula for Aramco employees. Focused on Saudi Arabia, the map shows the main roads, as well as surfaced roads, trails, roads under constructions and even proposed roads. A list titled "hints for survival" mentions extremely logical traffic rules such as "come to a complete stop at stop signs and observe stop-and-go signals" and "observe speed laws in the community where you live as well as on the highway". Placing common traffic rules under the header "hints for survival" makes one fear the worst for Saudi Arabian traffic in this period. The Arabic side of the map contains the same "hints" as well as a list of road signs in Arabic and English. - In very good condition.
|
|
|
[Map of Iran].
Iran. Spravochnaia karta. B-2005. Moskva, glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii pri sovete ministrov SSSR, 1976.
Scale 1:2,500,000. Equal-area conic projection (ravnougol'naia konicheskaia proektsiia). Relief shown by gradient tints, shading, and spot heights. Depths shown by soundings. 89 x 77.5 cm. In original printed sleeve. Third edition of the Soviet 1:2,500,000 reference map of Iran (Persia), edited by Z. P. Pekhova. Includes insets: "Karta narodov" and "Ekonomicheskaia karta" (1:7,500,000). Index printed on reverse. - Title repeated with ballpoint in Latvian on sleeve's spine. In excellent condition. OCLC 255529903.
|
|
|
[Map of Iraq].
Irak. Spravochnaia karta. B-1795. Moskva, glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii pri sovete ministrov SSSR, 1974.
Scale 1:1,500,000. Equal-area conic projection (ravnougol'naia konicheskaia proektsiia). Relief shown by gradient tints, shading, and spot heights. Depths shown by soundings. 68.5 x 87.5 cm. Accompanied by text and index by E. A. Shukin (13 pp.). Stored in original printed sleeve. Third edition of the Soviet 1:1,500,000 reference map of Iraq, edited by Z. P. Pekhova. Includes insets: "Ekonomicheskaia karta" (1:5,000,000), "Karta plotnosti naseleniia" and "Karta narodov" (1:10,000,000). The accompanying text contains a capsule geographical account of the country. - Title repeated with ballpoint in Latvian on sleeve's spine. In excellent condition. OCLC 5448870.
|
|
|
[Map of the Arabian Peninsula].
Aravijskij poluostrov. B-2118. Moskva, glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii pri sovete ministrov SSSR, 1977.
Scale 1:4,000,000. Equal-area conic projection (ravnougol'naia konicheskaia proektsiia). Relief shown by gradient tints, shading, and spot heights. Depths shown by gradient tints and soundings. 77 x 65.5 cm. Index printed on verso. Stored in original printed sleeve. Re-issued third edition of the Soviet 1:4,000,000 reference map of the Arabian Peninsula, edited by N. I. Arep'ev with O. L. Kuznechov and K. D. Volkov. Includes insets (in 1:15,000,000 scale): "Ekonomicheskaia karta", "Karta plotnosti naseleniia i razmeshcheniia arabskikh plemen". - Old reference label "2" pasted to sleeve's cover. In excellent condition. Rare.
|
|
|
[Marbach Stud]. Hofacker, [Caesar Paul] von.
Das Königl[ich] Württemberg[ische] Haupt- und Landgestüt. Marbach, no printer, 1875.
24 vintage photographs (albumen prints) by Ch. Schmid, Reutlingen, mounted on cardboard with printed captions (c. 487 x 320 mm; images c. 270 x 210 mm to 190 x 137 mm). With 4 pp of letterpress text (folio, green papered spine). In custom-made green half morocco solander. Fine set of original photographs showing the Royal Wuerttemberg Stud in Marbach and its famous horses. Owned by Wilhelm, King of Württemberg, Marbach was the first Arabian stud in Europe. From 1852 to 1871 it was directed by Baron Julius von Hügel, who purchased valuable stock from the Egyptian stud of Abbas Pasha, "thus raising it to the highest standard of excellence" (W. R. Brown, The Horse of the Desert, p. 161/166). Hügel was succeeded by Cäsar Paul von Hofacker (1831-96), who issued the present photo series and also composed the accompanying text: the latter discusses the history of the Stud and its horses, including the stallion Sanspareil, son of the Arabian Bajan and bred in 1816; in 1860 another pure-bred Arabian was acquired from the Wuerttemberg Weil Stud. Among the photoportraits are the pure-bred Arabian Zarif, his daughter Zinka, and the stallion Shah. Well-preserved.
|
|
|
[Marbod of Rennes]. Evax, King of Arabia / Heinrich von Rantzau (ed.).
De gemmis, scriptum Evacis regis Arabum. Leipzig, Georg Deffner, 1585.
4to. (108) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 7 woodcuts in the text (one full-page). Modern calf using the remains of a 16th century binding with blindstamped rules and roll-tools. Edges red. Rare 16th century edition of this poem on gemstones, ascribed to the legendary Evax, king of Arabia, and sometimes entered in bibliographies accordingly (cf. BM-STC or Thorndike I, 776), though in fact written by Marbod, the bishop of Rennes, in the late 11th century. The book, which survives in more than sixty manuscripts, was first printed in Vienna in 1511 as "Libellus de lapidibus pretiosis"; the present Leipzig edition is only the third to attribute authorship to King Evax on the title-page. Sources include Pliny, Isidore of Seville, Origines, Orpheus, and Solinus. "In short, Marbod's work briefly describes 60 gemstones, which number includes several that are not now considered to be in that category, and gives for each their magical and medicinal virtues" (Sinkankas, p. 665). They include mythical stones, mineral species such as emeralds, onyx, magnets, carbuncles, hematite, asbestos, etc., with numerous varieties of quartz, stones coming from the body of an animal, and several other hard substances that are not really minerals at all, among which is coral, described as "a stone that lives in the ocean, forming branches like wicker" (E3v). - "One of the questions connected with this work is whether it is by Marbodus or by an Arab called Evax. It has arisen because the poem opens with an allusion to a person of that name. Lessing does not see why Evax should not have written a work on precious stones, or why Marbod should have said that his poem was extracted from Evax's work, if it were not so. Reinesius thinks Marbodus made himself the interpreter of Evax" (Ferguson). Today, all scholars "agree that Marbod was the true author and Evax an invention" (Sinkankas). The present editor, the German humanist Henrik Rantzau (1526-98), was an associate of Tycho Brahe. At the end of the book he includes an illustrated genealogy of his own family. He "states that the poems of Marbod are here issued completely for the first time 'as far as he knows', although this is not the case" (ibid.). - Rather severely browned throughout; several 17th century underlinings and marginal annotations. Gutter repaired and completely rebound in the 20th century with modern endpapers but using old material for the covers. VD 16, M 935 (R 878). BM-STC German 291. Sinkankas 4179. Ferguson II, 74. Not in Adams.
|
|
|
[Marcel, Jean-Joseph?
Islamic coins and medals. Paris?, ca. 1791-1817?].
Mostly folio (315 x 210 mm). A manuscript compilation of loose leaves and bifolia, with about 104 drawings (some in ink; some in coloured gouaches, many including gold, silver and other metallic colours) and about 53 engravings (some black on white; some white on black), each drawing and engraving showing the obverse and reverse of an Islamic coin or medal (except for about 3 that show only one side). Most of the drawings and engravings are on slips attached to leaves with notes in Arabic and French. An extensive study of Islamic coins, medals, and seals prepared on loose leaves and bifolia, with about 104 drawings (in ink or coloured gouaches, many with gold and/or silver and occasionally copper or metallic blue) and about 53 engravings, most drawings and engravings with manuscript notes in Arabic and French. Nearly every drawing and engraving shows both the obverse and the reverse of the coin or medal, some shown at the original size and some enlarged, so the diameter of the coins in the drawings ranges from about 1½ cms to about 10 cms, though even some of the larger ones note that they are drawn at the original size. Some of the ink drawings were made directly on the leaves, but nearly all of the colour drawings and engravings are on separate slips mounted on the leaves (some pasted, some with sealing wax, some with pins). The notes on these leaves usually give the dates of the coins (whether or not the coins themselves are dated) following the Islamic Hijri calendar and sometimes also following the Christian calendar. They often give a transcription of the inscriptions in a naskh Arabic hand (though they appear on the coins in several styles of Arabic script, including Kufic). A few include longer notes in French. The coins come from Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia, Tripoli and elsewhere. - The dates given for the coins range from at least AH 93 to at least AH 1203 and probably to AH 1219 (712-1788 CE and probably to 1804/05 CE). The compilation of these drawings, engravings and notes probably began in the 1790s and may have spanned two or three decades. A few of the leaves (including some with drawings made directly on the leaves) show a paper stock with a watermark date "1791", and many leaves show a distinctive kind of watermark that was used in 1805. They frequently include abbreviated references to Jacob Georg Christian Adler, Museum Cuficum Borgianum velitris, Rome, 1782; Denis Samuel-Bernard, Mémoire sur les monnaies d'Egypte, Paris, 1809; and Description de l'Égypte ... État moderne, plates vol. II, Paris, 1817 (plates h-k show 127, 123 and 178 coins and medals), the last giving the earliest possible date for the completion of the compilation. Many of the engravings in the present compilation are taken from these three sources, and there is even what may be a proof of an unfinished plate from Bernard. One leaf has a mounted letterpress fragment with a biography of Ahmed ben Mohammed Khan, clipped from p. 67 of the 1776 Maastricht edition of Barthelemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, Bibliotheque orientale. - Although the manuscript nowhere names its compiler(s), Jean Joseph Marcel (1776-1854), grandnephew of the Consul Général in Egypt, was a brilliant student at the University of Paris, where he received many prizes in 1790 and 1791 and began his study of oriental languages. He came into contact with the orientalist Louis-Mathieu Langlés, who arranged for him to accompany Napoleon on his 1798 Egyptian Campaign (1798-1801), where he took charge of the Campaign's printing office (printing an Arabic type specimen in 1798), made the first steps toward deciphering the Rosetta Stone, and collected medals, manuscripts and inscriptions. Back in Paris he became director of the Imprimerie Impérial, a post he held until 1815. He wrote, compiled or translated numerous works concerning Arabic and other oriental languages. He may have planned to produce a publication based on the present compilation, but no such publication appeared. The compilation in any case shows Europe's new interest in Islamic studies after Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, with Paris as its most important centre. - About 3 small drawings appear to have been made on oiled paper, probably in order to trace coins or engravings of coins, and a few are drawn on tissue paper. Many of the larger drawings are in colour, and a few are enlarged copies of the smaller drawings or engravings. Some leaves are tattered along the edges and a few have had their corners cut off, none of this affecting the illustrations or text. In a very small number the ink has corroded in the paper, more severely in 2 leaves, and one of the drawings on oiled paper has been cut up with 3 (of 4?) pieces surviving, but most of the leaves remain in good condition. A remarkable record of Islamic coins and medals, compiled ca. 1791-1817, with about 157 illustrations. For Marcel: Alain Messaoudi, Les Arabisants et la France coloniale (2015), pp. 239-240.
|
|
|
[Marghinani, `Ali ibn Abi Bakr] / Hamilton, Charles (transl.).
The Hedàya, or Guide; A Commentary on the Mussulman Laws: Translated by the Order of the Governor-General and Council of Bengal. London, T. Bensley, 1791.
Small folio (220 x 273 mm). 4 vols. (2), LXXXIX, (1), XII, 561, (3) pp. VIII, 727, (3) pp. VIII, 609, (3) pp. VIII, 574, (54) pp. Errata leaf in rear of each volume. Expertly bound to style in half calf over period marbled paper covered boards, flat spine divided into six compartments with gilt roll tools, black morocco lettering piece in the second, the others with a repeat arabesque decoration in gilt. First English edition of "al-Hidayah", the authoritative guide to Islamic jurisprudence, printed in a small number of copies only (cf. Brunet). The understanding of Islamic law was critical to the colonial administration of India, and in particular of Bengal with its large Muslim population, and this work was intended to enable English officials to understand local proceedings. - Commonly referred to as al-Hidayah or The Guidance, this work originated as a 12th-century Hanafi work by Sheikh al-Islam Burhan al-Din al-Farghani al-Marghinani (1135-97) and is considered an authoritative guide to Islamic law among Muslims throughout the world. The Hidayah presents a legal tradition developed over many centuries and represents the corpus of Hanafi law in its approved and preferred form. The primary reason for its popularity is the reliability of its statements and the soundness of its legal reasoning. It is arguably the most popular and important work in fiqh literature. - Hamilton's English translation is based on a Persian translation by Ghulam Ya Khan from the original Arabic. Intended for a British audience, chapters relating to rituals were omitted, while his coverage of contracts, torts, and criminal law is more complete. Hamilton explains in his preface: "The permanence of any foreign dominion (and indeed, the justification of holding such a dominion) requires that a strict attention be paid to ease and advantage, not only of the governors, but of the governed; and to this great end nothing can so effectually contribute as preserving to the latter their ancient established practices, civil and religious and protecting them in the exercise in their own institutes [...] they must be infinitely more acceptable than anything we could offer; since they are supported by the accumulated prejudice of ages, and, in the opinion of their followers, derive their origin from the Divinity himself" (Preliminary Discourse). A second edition of Hamilton's translation was published in 1870, though the first edition is rare. - Light browning throughout with occasional brownstains, but generally a very finely preserved copy in an appealing modern binding. Brunet III, 75. OCLC 10111750.
|
|
|
[Maritime History - States General].
Recuëil van alle de placaten, ordonnantien, resolutien, instructien, lysten en waarschouwingen, betreffende de admiraliteyten, convoyen, licenten, en verdere zee-saaken. The Hague, Jacob, Paul & Isaac Scheltus, 1701-1773.
4to. 11 volumes. With a folding table in vol. 8. Contemporary vellum, numbered in manuscript on the spine, red sprinkled edges. Complete set of a compilation of all resolutions, ordinances, treaties and other statements and motions by the States General of the Dutch Republic, regarding all maritime matters. The collection starts in 1597 with the establishment of the five admiralties in the Dutch Republic and ends in 1771, although a few resolutions from the period of Habsburg rule (the oldest from 1487) have been included. Most of the resolutions concern trade, including the trade with the Baltic, East and West Indies, North Africa and the Turkish Empire, but also fishery, the equipage of battleships and the administration of the colonies in the West Indies, including slavery. Several tables give interesting information regarding the costs of the building and outfitting of ships and the formation of regiments for the colonies. One very large table presents the tariffs for all sorts of products, including numerous types of wood, glass, porcelain, fish and furs. - A collection of resolutions had been previously published in two volumes in 1689 and 1694. In 1701 an expanded volume 2, present in the current collection, was published, with volume 3 following in 1721. Interestingly, a new and much expanded volume 1 was published in 1730. The present set, published during a course of over 70 years, includes these expanded editions of volumes 1 and 2. All indexes have been bound in the corresponding volume, instead of in a separate index volume. - With the bookplates of the collector Jan Willem Six de Vromade (1874-1936), a descendant of the politically and culturally significant Six family, in the first volume, and of the Dutch politician and historian Leonard de Gou (1916-2000) in all volumes. Bindings slightly smudged. Somewhat browned and stained throughout, most notably volume 8, and with a small tear in the front flyleaf of volume 6. A very good set of an important source for Dutch maritime history. Elliott, Maritime History in the John Carter Brown Library (revised ed.) 1093.
|
|
|
[Martin, F(redrick) R(obert)].
F. R. Martins Sammlungen aus dem Orient in der allgemeinen Kunst- und Industrieausstellung zu Stockholm 1897. Stockholm, Königl. Buchdruckerei P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1897.
Folio (248 x 318 mm). 8 pp. With 8 phototypes (all with tissue guards). Original printed wrappers. Fine catalogue of Martin's collection of oriental artefacts as shown at the Swedish Industrial and Art Exhibition, mainly with Persian, Turkish and Egyptian provenance. Inscribed to the Swedish naturalist Professor G. Retsius. Slight nick to lower corner near end of volume, otherwise a fine, spotless copy. Rare. OCLC 7923951.
|
|
|
[Martin, F(redrick) R(obert)].
Morgenländische Stoffe in der Sammlung F. R. Martin. Stockholm, Gustaf Chelius, 1897.
Folio (280 x 374 mm). 12 pp. With 15 phototypes. Printed original boards. Fine, beautifully illustrated and extensively annotated catalogue of Martin's collection of Islamic textiles, including the fragment of a 19th century Kiswah: the elaborately embroidered cloth curtain that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, replaced every year. Translated from Swedish by C. O. Nordgren. A perfect copy. Rare. OCLC 9140858.
|
|
|
[Masud, Ahmad ibn Ali ibn / Taftazani].
Anthological manuscript on Arabic morphology. (Ottoman Turkey), [1621 AD] = 1031 H.
8vo. Arabic manuscript on paper. 86 ff. 13 lines, per extensum, written in clear and thick Turkish naskh in black ink; single words marking the various textual sections are marked in red. Modern green half calf. A miscellany of works belonging to the genre of "nahw", or essays on grammatical topics, mainly focusing on the nominal and verbal morphology of Arabic. Contains parts of the "Marah al-Arwah" ("Abode of the Spirits") by the 14th century grammarian Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Masud (ff. 1-31) as well as "Sharh az Zanjani" (or "Serh ul Izzi fi't-Tasrîf", ff. 32-43) by Taftazani, a grammatical treatise (ff. 43-56); further, a treatise on the conjugation of the verb (ff. 56-66), and various forms of the verb with explanations, beginning with perfect, imperfect and infinitive of Nasara (ff. 66-86). - A detailed list of grammatical contents is given throughout, subdivided into seven sections (aqsam), each dealing extensively with (mostly) verbal morphology and derivation. The first work is dated AH [10]31 (= AD 1621/22) in the first colophon. Both on the front endpaper and immediately after this first colophon, respectively, are a short introduction and several notes in Ottoman Turkish, suggesting the manuscript’s provenance. - Some worming, browning and brownstaining. Cf. GAL II, 21 (for Masud); GAL I, 283 (for Taftazani).
|
|
|
[Mathematical manuscript].
A collection of six treatises. No place, probably 19th century.
4to (150 x 206 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 102 (but: 99) numbered pages (pp. 75-77 skipped). Black and red ink, 15 lines, per extensum, with a few ink diagrams in the margins. Half leather over papered boards. A collection of six treatises on sections, chronology, and astronomy, indexed on a cover label and, in pencil, on the inside front cover. Text in black ink with extensive commentary in red throughout the margins. - Binding loosened, gutters reinforced. Paper browned and brittle, but on the whole well-preserved with only very minor edge chipping.
|
|
|
[McMahon-Hussein Correspondence].
Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon, His Majesty’s High Commissioner at Cairo and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, July 1915-March 1916. Miscellaneous series No. 3 (1939). London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939.
8vo. 18 pp. With a colour-printed folding map. Wrappers stapled as issued. First official publication of the famous exchange of letters written between 1915 and 1916, between the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, concerning the future political status of the lands under the Ottoman Empire. A special controversy concerned Palestine: Great Britain's pledged support for Arab independence in the region was not to be realized, and the correspondence went on to haunt Anglo-Arab relations for many decades thereafter. Unofficial excerpts from the letters had been circulated in the press as early as 1923; excerpts appeared in the 1937 Peel Commission Report, and the correspondence was unofficially published in George Antonius's 1938 book "The Arab Awakening". - A few slight edge flaws; corner loss to lower wrapper, but still very good copy. Cmd. 5957.
|
|
|
[Mecca - Kubašta, Vojtech].
Al-Hajar al-Aswad (The Black Stone of Mecca). Prague, Artia, 1977.
Tabletop pop-up display. Printed in four colours; lower cover showing six photographic views of the holy sites and the Hajj. Green cloth spine. Folio (230 x 325 mm). Charming pop-up display designed by the Czech illustrator Vojtech Kubašta for the Iranian children's market. "In 1977, the Artia Foreign Trade Corporation exported nine Kubašta titles in the Farsi language to Iran. Kubašta's panoramic books [were] protected by a Czech patent. Using the Panascopic format but without text, and for the first time combining photographs and illustration, Kubašta designed a pop-up book celebrating Mecca, its pilgrims, and surrounding areas" (E. Rubin, The Life and Art of Vojtech Kubašta). - Corners and extremeties slightly bumped.
|
|
|
[Mecca].
Mecca. Asia North F-37. [London], War Office, 1941.
808:640 mm. Scale: 1:1,000,000. Folded. First edition. Map of the western coast of Saudi Arabia from Abu Shaibana in the north to Rakah in the south, and from Rabigh and Jeddah in the west to Turbah in the interior. Including parts of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Egypt. Compiled by W. O. 1939, drawn and heliographed by O. S. 1940. With 2 printed straight lines giving degrees of longitude dated December 1943. - Inscribed "Mecca 5" by a former collector near lower margin. - A few small tears and creases.
|
|
|
[Mecca].
Mecca. Asia North F-37. [London], War Office, 1941.
808:640 mm. Scale: 1:1,000,000. First edition. Map of the western coast of Saudi Arabia from Abu Shaibana in the north to Rakah in the south, and from Rabigh and Jeddah in the west to Turbah in the interior. Including parts of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and Egypt. Compiled by W.O. 1939, drawn and heliographed by O.S. 1940. With 2 printed straight lines giving degrees of longitude dated December 1943. - In excellent condition.
|
|
|
[Mecca].
Mecca. Asia North F-37. [London], War Office, 1944/1945.
825:620 mm. Scale: 1:1,000,000. First edition, with air information. Map of the western coast of Saudi Arabia from Abu Shaytanah in the north to Lith in the south, and from the Sudanese coast in the west to Turubah in the Arabian interior. Reproduced in 1944 and reprinted in 1945 "from W. O. Pulls 1st Edition 1941". - In excellent condition.
|
|
|
[Mecca].
Photograph of the Kaaba. [Mecca, ca. 1885].
Black-and-white photograph, 235 x 175 mm. On cardboard backing. An early photograph of the Hajj showing pilgrims around the Kaaba in Makkah. - Some fading and staining.
|
|
|
?????????
?????PDF???
RSS feed
??
