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Al-Akkad, Abbas Mahmoud.
The Arab's Impact on European Civilisation. Cairo, S.O.P. Press (Ministry of Waqfs), [1961].
8vo. 175, (1) pp. With a portrait frontispiece of Gamal Abdel Nasser. Original printed and illustrated wrappers. Second edition, revised by Shawki Sukkary. Abbas al-Aqqad (1889-1964) remains well known in Egypt as a versatile journalist, poet and literary critic. Translated from the Arabic original ("Athar al-`Arab fi al-hadarah al-Awrubbiyah") by Ismail Cashmiry and Muhammad al-Hadi and published under the auspices of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. Chapters include Arabic beliefs, life, writing, trade, science, arts, music, philosophy, state's organisation, religious movements, nationalism, the press, etc. "To sum up the situation of the Arab world today", al-Aqqad writes: "It is a situation in which the future looks as good as the past, and pride in our fathers is not divorced from hope for our sons". - Binding slightly duststained and chipped in places, but still a good copy. OCLC 16771175.
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(Bonfils, Félix).
Jerusalem. (Palestine, 1880s).
Oblong album (445 x 315 mm) with 71 large albumen photographic prints, mostly ca. 22 x 28 cm, signed and captioned in the negative (in French and English), mounted on both sides of the album's leaves. Includes a three-part folding panorama of Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, measuring 82 x 21 cms. Ornamental endpapers printed in gilt. Original auburn morocco with gilt upper cover. All edges gilt. A rare and unusually massive Palestine souvenir album containing 71 photographs by the renowned studio of Félix Bonfils (1831-85), the French-born photographer who had come to the Levant with General d'Hautpoul in 1860 and remained active in the East. Based in Beirut, Bonfils produced thousands of photographs depicting Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Greece and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of western tourism to the Middle East, his works soon became popular as souvenirs. The photographs were available both separately and as individually arranged albums, but sets of this scope were uncommon, very few exceeding fifty images. The sumptuous binding which the owner chose underlines that this was a luxury souvenir for a more than ordinarily wealthy traveller. It features landscapes and city views, famous sights such as Jaffa Gate (Bab el-Khalil), sites sacred to the three religions (Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of the Flagellation, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Mosque of Omar, Wailing Wall), but also sights outside Jerusalem, including Hebron, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, the River Jordan, Jericho, Wadi el-Kelt, Khan-el-Ahmar, Bethany, Nazareth, and Emmaus. - The photographs occasionally show some insignificant loss of contrast, but are altogether in good condition. A few edge flaws to the cardboard leaves, including a chafe mark across the lower edge where the paper has buckled. Binding in good condition, with occasional scuffing (more obvious on lower cover). A fine album of photographs of Palestine.
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[Catechism in Arabic].
Al-Ta`lim al-masihi. Jerusalem, Franciscan Order, 1853.
Small 8vo. 51, (1) pp. Contemporary yellow wrappers. Catholic catechism (Talim) published by the Fransciscans of Jerusalem, printed in Arabic throughout except for colophon "Reimprimatur + J. Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus". Rare; a single copy (with variant ending) recorded in library catalogues (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, shelfmark A. or. 1771 - "gift from Jerusalem"). OCLC 163278889.
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Dulac, Antonio Maximino.
Genuina exposição do tremendo marasmo politico em que cahio Portugal, com desenganada indicação dos unicos remedios apropriados a' sua cura radical [...]. Tomo I [& II]. Lisbon, Imprensa Nacional, 1834.
4to. 2 volumes bound as 1. With lithographed frontispiece and with a small woodcut Portuguese royal coat of arms on title-page of both parts. Contemporary half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. Rare first and only edition of a monograph on Portugal's political and economical decline, consisting of the two parts, by Antonio Maximino Dulac (1768-1850). The author examines the historical, political, agricultural and economic background of Portugal, comparing it to other European countries and trying to find "remedies" to "cure" the Portuguese state. In the first part Dulac deals at great length with France, whereas the second part deals, among other aspects, with ancient Egypt and the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula. He examines the Umayyad dynasty, especially the reign of Abdullah (855-912) and Abd-ar-Rahman III (889-961). - Some marginal (water)stains and some pages somewhat thumbed. Binding worn along the extremities, especially at the bottom of the spine. Overall in good condition. Porbase (5 copies). WorldCat (4 copies).
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Fludd, Robert / Henri de Pisis / Alfakini.
Fasciculus geomanticus, in quo varia variorum opera geomantica continentur. "Verona" [= Frankfurt am Main], 1687.
647, (1) pp. 197, (1) pp. With title-page printed in red and black, 5 (of 6) large folding letterpress tables, 1 double-page engraved folding plate with 2 engraved illustrations, and some woodcut illustrations and numerous letterpress geomantic figures in text. With (2): Tabulae geomanticae, seu liber singularis de tribus ultimis ex antiquo manuscripto de anno MDXXXV. Iam primo luci datus, annexis duabus tabellis huic studio mirè inservientibus, caeteroquin utilibus & jucundis. Frankfurt am Main, Johann David Zunner, 1693. With 2 letterpress folding tables following text, and nearly 200 pages of letterpress tables with geomantic figures. 2 works in 1 volume, bound in reverse order. 8vo. Contemporary vellum. First edition of a collection of three texts on geomancy, a divination system with Arabian origins. Geomancy comes from the Ancient Greek "geômanteía", a translation of the Arabic term "'ilm al-raml", the "science of the sand". It includes texts by the English physician and astrologer Robert Fludd (1574-1637), the French physician Henri de Pisis and the Arab Alfakini. It is preceded by its separately published supplement Tabulae geomanticae, together forming "the standard printed Latin source for the rules of geomantic practice [...] a handbook and compendium not since rivalled for clarity and completeness" (Skinner). - Fludd's treatise "De Animae intellectualis Scientia seu geomantia" was first published in his magnum opus "Utriusque Cosmi maioris salicet et minoris metaphysica" (1617-19), and appeared slightly altered in the present work. "Fludd [...] tried to present [geomancy] as a science of intellectual soul in which intellectual rays emanated from the mind to mundane affairs and then returned to the center with tidings of the future [...] He discusses how the geomancer should so dispose himself that the intentions of his mind are clearly emitted [...] Fludd's treatise is immediately followed by a longer geomancy by H. de Pisis [first published in 1638]. The work is divided into three parts devoted respectively to the theory, practice and questions taken from previous authors. The theory is largely astrological. Instead of jotting down four rows of dots at random, a wheel with sixteen projections is spun or whirled in order to obtain one of the sixteen geomantic figures. Fludd is cited more than once, also Arabic authors like Geber and Aomar" (Thorndike). The last treatise contains the geomantic questions of the Arab Alfakini, son of Abizarch, based on a manuscript from 1535 and published here for the first time. The manuscript was a Latin translation by Plato of Tivoli (fl. first half of the 12th century), known for his translations of Arabic texts. A supplement to this last text, containing almost 200 pages of tables, is bound first. It opens with a series of 25 numbered questions, the answers to these questions can be found in the tables of the matching geomantic figure. - With a crude drawing of a head on pastedown. Lacking one letterpress folding table in the main work. Browned throughout, as usual, some occasional smudges, a few tears along the folds of the folding tables, and some wormholes in the first two leaves, resulting in a small hole in the gutter of the title-page, otherwise internally still good. Binding soiled and with crudely restored spine. VD 17, 7:692678X & 39:120436C. Caillet 4035. Thorndike VIII, 481f. S. Skinner, Terrestrial Astrology: Divination by Geomancy (1980).
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Hamaker, Hendrik Arent.
Specimen catalogi codicum mss. orientalium bibliothecae academiae Lugduno-Batavae [...]. Leiden, S. & J. Luchtmans, 1820.
Large 4to (220 x 261 mm). (4), VIII, 264, (2) pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped red spine label and sparsely gilt spine. Edges lightly sprinkled in red. Only edition. - Pioneering specimen of a catalogue of oriental manuscripts in the Leiden library, with extensive extracts in Arabic, produced by H. A. Hamaker (1789-1835). "Ce spécimen ne contient que douze articles" (Brunet). "The descriptions of a mere twelve items on 238 pages illustrate the diligence with which the author attends to each and every title. Indeed, the final MS, the 'Qamus al-Muhit' of Firuzabadi, is discussed on no fewer than 60 pages. Each author is provided with extensive biographical excerpts with Latin translations, to which are added extremely detailed discussions of scholarly literature. Had Hamaker kept up this method for all the oriental MSS in Leiden, estimated at a number of some ten thousand, he should have wanted about 25,000 pages, not to mention hundreds of pages of indices. It is thus questionable whether Hamaker intended more with his 'Specimen' than to provide an example of an ideality which was to promote his planned catalogue [...]. And yet, had he been able to realize this ideal with the help of other scholars, this would have given to the world a source-based work of reference which would have preserved its value to this day, not superseded either by Brockelmann's 'Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur' nor by Sezgin's 'Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums'" (cf. B. Liebrenz, Arabische, persische und türkische Handschriften in Leipzig [Leipzig 2008], p. 73). - Some creases to paper; binding rubbed and chafed in places. A good copy from the library of the Dutch theologian Christiaan Jacobus van der Vlis (1813-42) with his handwritten ownership on the front pastedown. Besterman 4352. Brunet III, 26f. & VI, 31385. Cf. Fück 181 (for Hamaker).
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Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von.
Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen. Stuttgart & Tübingen, J. G. Cotta, 1818.
8vo. VIII, 341, (3) pp. Contemporary half calf with gilt spine and labels in red and black; covers and edges marbled. First edition. - The first extensive history of the medieval Muslim sect of the Assassins, a radical group from whose name the English term for a political or religious killer is derived. A fanatical branch of the Ismaili Muslims who viewed themselves as martyrs, the Assassins specialised in political murder (usually carried out with a dagger), often conducted in broad daylight and in full view of the public, so as to instill terror in their foes. Contemporaries found it incomprehensible that they entirely accepted the fact of their own death as a consequence, as they made no attempt to escape and exposed themselves to the revenge of the victim's followers. Acting from a strong ideological conviction, the Assassins aimed to re-establish a theocracy, the basic Islamic order bequeathed by the Prophet, as they felt their contemporary world order to be usurped by tyrants. Most of their victims were Sunni Muslims, especially the Seljuk rulers of the 12th and 13 centuries. - For this history, Hammer-Purgstall draws from a wide variety of mainly oriental sources (Ibn Khaldun, Jihannuma, Abulfeda, Persian and Turkish chronicles, with a small number of western studies included), all of which he lists at the beginning, and ultimately compares the mediaeval sect to the modern fanatics of his own day, particularly the Jacobin party of the French Revolution. Among the goals which he wishes to have achieved with his book, he writes, is to have "given a vivid account of the pernicious influence of secret societies under weak governments, and of the hideous abuse of religion for purposes of committing atrocities of unscrupulous ambition and unfettered despotism". - Slight browning, but a good, finely bound copy. Provenance: from the Thun-Hohenstein library in Decín (Tetschen) with their armorial stamp "Tetschner Bibliothek" on the reverse of the title page. When the castle was requisitioned by the Czechoslovakian army in 1933, the library was transferred to Prague and dispersed to the trade. Goedeke VII, 762, 47. Wurzbach VII, 274, I B 1. FRA 70 (1940), p. 572. Cf. Atabey 556; Blackmer 787 (English ed.).
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Horn, George.
Arca Noae. Sive historia imperiorum ex regnorum à condito orbe ad nostra tempora. Leiden & Rotterdam, Petrus Hackius, 1666.
(32), 545, (44) pp. With engraved title-page by Wingendorp. Contemporary sheepskin parchment. One of the two first editions published simultaneously of a historical work written by the German historian Georgius Hornius (1620-70). "In the dusk of his life, he moved to universal history, an endeavor that culminated with his Arca Noae, which comprised the chronicles of Europe, alongside descriptions of the cultures of China, Egypt, Assyria, ancient Greece, Rome, and pre-Columbian America, and surveys of their religion, art and literature" (Kowner). Entitled "Noah's Ark", it contains the history of the world starting at its creation up to the 17th century. It successively deals with all the great empires and kingdoms and their important founders and rulers. It contains narratives about the founding of Damascus, the founding of Arab kingdoms by Ishmael and Isaac, the caliphates, and the Turks. Beside sections dealing with the Middle East, the book deals with Chinese and American history as well, struggling with sources that predated the biblical sources. Hornius identified biblical figures with characters mentioned in early Chinese annals, suggesting that Cain's offspring had settled in China. Nevertheless, he rejected the possibility that some Chinese sources predated the flood for which Noah built his ark. - Born in Germany, Hornius later became a professor of history at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He mainly dealt with the topic of chronology, discussing how (world) history was to be divided into periods. Among others the compared the difference in biblical, classical and oriental chronologies, and wrote many works on history, theology, geography, and chronology. - With old shelfmark on spine and library stamp on flyleaf. Browned with some small spots throughout, engraved title-page slightly thumbed, a waterstain on leaf *2 and a small tear in leaf *3, and frequent wormholes, slightly affecting the text near the end of the book. Book block only loosely attached to binding. Otherwise a good copy. Sabin 33013. European Americana 666/75. R. Kowner, From white to yellow (2014), 9.
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Martire d'Anghiera, Pietro.
Relationi del signor Pietro Martire milanese. Delle cose notabili della provincia dell'Egitto [...]. Venice, Giorgio de' Cavalli [for Nicolò Bevilacqua], 1564.
Small 8vo. (8) ff. (last blank), 71, (6) ff. (lacking errata). With woodcut printer's device to title page, a headpiece and 3 initials. Contemporary limp vellum with handwritten spine title. Early Italian translation of the account of the diplomatic mission to Egypt which Martyr d'Anghiera (1455-1526) undertook in 1501 on behalf of the Spanish court "with the intention of persuading the Sultan to adopt a policy of clemency towards the Christians of Egypt and Palestine following the defeat of the Moors in Spain. The outcome of his visit was successful; Martyr received the title of 'maestro de los caballeros', and in 1504 became Papal protonotary and prior of Granada" (Howgego I, p. 689). The author would achieve fame through his chronicles of the early Spanish expeditions to the New World, an important collection of sources on America. - Title page rather wrinkled and stained; old Italian ownership in ink to reverse. The errata ("Errori fatti nello stamparsi") in this edition sometimes comprise a single leaf (with a final blank), sometimes three leaves (resulting in a total of 9 uncounted leaves at the end), but the present copy wants the errata altogether. Edit 16, CNCE 1888. BM-STC Italian 30. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 37. Sabin 1559. Streit XV, 1787. Cf. Gay 2500. Not in Adams.
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Montfaucon, Bernard de (ed.).
Collectio nova patrum et scriptorum Graecorum, Eusebii Caesariensis, Athanasii, & Cosmae Aegyptii. Paris, Claude Rigaud, 1707.
2 volumes. Folio. With 4 engraved plates, and 3 woodcut illustrations in the text. Each volume with an engraved headpiece, the first incorporating the coat of arms of Pope Clement XI, and the second that of Jean-Paul Bignon. Contemporary calf, richly gold-tooled spine and binding edges. First edition, second issue, of a monumental collection of Greek voyages, often overlooked in the literature, including the first complete edition of Cosmas of Alexandria's celebrated "Christiana Topographia". Cosmas, a merchant from Alexandria, sailed in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf and visited Ethiopia ca. 530. Though he was known as "Indicopleustes", or Indian Voyager, it is doubtful whether he actually visited India. In his "Christiana Topographia" Cosmas aimed to show that the earth was flat and the cosmos shaped like rectangular vaulted box. Several of the engravings in the present volume, reproduced from a manuscript, illustrates this view. In one of them the earth is shown as a rectangle with three notches, one of them representing the Arabian Gulf, and the whole surrounded by a an ocean, with in the east another rectangle representing Paradise, out of which four rivers flow into the inhabited world. Slightly browned, with some occasional minor foxing or thumbing, and some faint stains, otherwise in very good condition. Binding also very good, only slightly rubbed and the spine of the second volume slightly damaged at the top. Howgego, to 1800, C199. Cf. Dilke, “Cartography in the Byzantine Empire”, in: Harley & Woodward (eds.), The history of cartography I, pp. 261-263.
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[Petea] (?), Michiel.
Letter signed, to Nicolò Caragiani in Venice, concerning the trading conditions in Cairo for various woolen and silk fabrics. Cairo, 22. X. 1732.
Manuscript letter in Italian, opening with a duplicate of an earlier letter, in a different hand, dated 26 September 1732, written in ink on one page of a bifolium originally folded 4 more times for sending (to 8.5 x 14 cm) with the address on one side and traces of a red wax on the other. Letter in Italian concerning the cloth trade in the capital of Egypt during the last months of 1732. The letter is addressed to the Italian merchant Nicolò Caragiani in Venice, who actively traded with the Levant and correspondence with several other merchants survives. The present letter informs Caragiani on the demand in certain types of cloth, which prizes are expected to rise during the approach of Ramadan. It mentions various fabrics including silks, damask and wools and also includes the prices of coffee and pepper. The letter opens with a copy of an earlier letter, followed by the actual letter in a different hand, signed by one Michiel whose last name is unclear, but could read something like Petea or Retea. - With some faint foxing, and a tiny hole and a tear along a fold on the address side, otherwise in very good condition.
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Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph.
A history of Egyptian mummies, and an account of the worship and embalming of the sacred animals by the Egyptians; with remarks on the funeral ceremonies of different nations, and observations on the mummies of the Canary islands, of the ancient Peruvians, Burman priests, &c. London, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman (back of title-page and colophon: printed by P.P. Thoms), 1834.
4to. With 13 numbered lithographed plates (the first used as frontispiece), including 3 fully and 1 partially coloured by a contemporary hand, of which 2 highlighted in gold. Contemporary half calf, restored and rebacked with parts of the original backstrip laid down, with new tooling and title-label on spine, cloth sides, later endpapers. First edition of "the historic cornerstone of the study [of mummification] in English. For the time at which it appeared, the work was a monumental undertaking. Based on scholarly research and practical experience, Pettigrew's work was a summation of almost all that was known concerning Egyptian funerary practices. He compiled all the ancient sources and commented on them, as well as discussing many examples of mummified remains investigated by or known to him. The work is illustrated by [...] Georges Cruikshank (better known for his satirical drawings) that are the product of careful observation" (Peck). - With the bookplate of the British lawyer and politician Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge (1851-1927). Some foxing on the title-page and some spots and marginal waterstains on the plates, touching the last three illustrations, otherwise in good condition. Binding rebacked and restored. Brunet IV, 581. Gay 1565. W. H. Peck, "Mummies of ancient Egypt" in: Mummies, disease and ancient cultures (1998), p. 15.
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Sadiq Bey, Muhammad / Snouck Hurgronje, Christian / Al-Sayyid 'Abd al-Ghaffar.
[5 photographic lantern slides of Mecca and Medina (silver gelatin glass positives), taken in the years 1880 to 1889]. Stuttgart, Lichtbilderverlag Theodor Benzinger, [ca. 1910].
5 glass positive lantern slides (85 × 100 mm), each with a black paper mask, paper tape around the edges, a letterpress slip at the foot giving the publisher's name and city, and a slip at the head with the manuscript title. Stored in a contemporary purpose-made wooden box with brass fittings, with the word "Mekka" on the top of the hinged lid. Five of the earliest and best photographs of Mecca and Medina, beautifully preserved as silver gelatin glass plates, including the first photograph of the Ka'ba in Mecca's Masjid al-Haram (Great Mosque). Two of the photographs were taken by the first person to photograph Mecca and Medina, the Egyptian Colonel Muhammad Sadiq Bey (1832-1902), who made them in 1880 for the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II. The others were taken by the first European to photograph Mecca, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, and Al-Sayyid 'Abd al-Ghaffâr, who worked closely with him. Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936), one of the greatest pioneering Dutch Arabists, converted to Islam and lived in Mecca from January to about July 1885. The photographs by these three men are best known and most frequently reproduced from the published collotype facsimiles, while the rare surviving early albumen prints are usually faded or otherwise in bad condition. The present five plates, sold as lantern slides for magic lantern presentations, are therefore of the greatest importance as well-preserved high quality specimens of these famous photographs, providing the best early images of the mosques of Mecca and Medina. - All five slides are in very good condition, with only a bit of dust and the occasional smudge on the glass. They show: 1) The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca (the Great Mosque); 2) a closer view of the Ka'ba in Mecca; 3) the portrait of an unidentified Mu'ezzin in Mecca; 4) a portrait of an unidentified East Indian pilgrim; 5) the al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina (the Prophet's Mosque). Cf. D. v.d. Wal, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (2011); J. J. Witkam, new introduction to the 2007 reprint of the 1931 English translation of Hurgronje, Mekka.
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Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (1902-1969).
Portrait photograph. London, 1935.
Albumen print (vintage), hand-coloured and raised in gilt and opaque white. Matted (ca. 280 x 360 mm) and framed (ca. 530 x 640 mm). Signed "Lafayette" on the mat. His Royal Highness Saud of Saudi Arabia, second son of and immediate successor to Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, as a young prince. A fine, splendidly hand-coloured portrait by Lafayette Studios, Photographers Royal and among the world's most prestigious studios of the early 20th century. - In immaculate condition.
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Sinbad the Sailor.
Cartoon Slides. No place or date, [but 1950s].
Oblong 4to. 20 pp. on 20 ff. The story of Sinbad (Sindbad) comes from the "Arabian Nights", where he is as-Sindbad al-bahri" in Arabic.' The present group comprises twenty hand-coloured cartoon slides of Sinbad's adventures, telling the story very nicely with captions in English. - In excellent condition. - From the Collection of John Herzog.
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[Alf layla wa-layla - French]. Machuel, L[ouis] (ed.).
Les Voyages de Sindebad le Marin. Texte arabe extrait des Mille et une nuits. Algiers, Adolphe Jourdan, 1884.
8vo. 2 parts in 1 volume. (8), 119, (1) pp. (4), 158, (2) pp. Publisher's original printed auburn cloth with gilt spine. Second edition of the original Arabic text, revised and corrected; first published in 1874. "Chaque page entourée d'un double filet vermillon" (Chauvin). The text and vocabulary, lithographed throughout, are hand-drawn by E. Ducret, "Diplomé de première classe". A clean copy. Chauvin VII, p. 3. NYPL Arabia Coll. 187. OCLC 4433368.
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[Arabian cartography]. Rapkin, John.
Asia. London, Edinburgh & Dublin, J. & F. Tallis, [ca. 1851].
Steel-engraved map by J. Rapkin (27 x 35 cm), with engraved illustrations by J.B. Allen after designs by J. Marchant, outlined in colour. Decorative map with Asia including the Arabian Peninsula, with vignettes of ‘Tartars’, ‘Russian peasants’, ‘The walrus’, ‘Sun birds’ and ‘Petra’. Also published in ‘Tallis’s illustrated atlas and modern history of the world’ (London, New York, R.M. Martin, 1851). - Some minor fraying at the top of the map, some browning. In good condition. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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[Arabian Gulf].
Persian Gulf and adjacent countries. London, War Office, Topographical Section, 1908.
Coloured map (72 x 57 cm). Scale 1:4,055,040. Map of the Arabian Gulf. “It must have been drawn to show the zones of influence of Russia and Great Britain in Persia, as defined by the Anglo-Russian convention on 31st of august 1907” (Alai). Alai, General maps E.354. OCLC 221059917. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Blaeu, Willem Janszoon.
Persia Sive Sophorum Regnum. Amsterdam, 1642.
Engraved map (38 x 49,5 cm), contemporarily hand-coloured. Scale 1:9,000,000. 17th century map of Persia stretching from the Caucasus to Afghanistan and from the Arabian Desert to the Indus River, published in the monumental Blaeu Atlas. Koeman Bl 18a.
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Brisson, Barnabé.
De regio Persarum principatu libri tres. Editio altera [ed. Sylburg]. [Heidelberg], Hieronymus Commelinus, 1595.
8vo. (12), 378 pp., final blank f. - (Bound with): Sylburg, Friedrich. Saracenica, sive Moamethica. Ibid., 1595. (8), 152 pp. Both works have printer's woodcut device to title page. Contemporary blindstamped vellum. I: An uncommon edition. The book was first published by Prevosteau in Paris in 1590 from the author's notes ("ex adversariis"). Essentially the sources drawn on are purely those of ancient writers, both Greek and Latin, from whom there is extensive quotation. Book I is concerned with the Persian rulers and their history, book II with religious and social life, and book III with military organisation and prowess, both ancient and modern. Brisson (1531-91) was a distinguished jurist and author of important works, notably the legal code of Henri III, but no traveller. He was hanged by the "Ligueurs" on 15 Nov. 1591. The "Typographus lectori" makes it very clear how difficult were the circumstances in which Brisson found himself, the very walls of the city being shaken by bombardment, and the shadow of death being seen everywhere, and the very opening paragraph of the text, in which Brisson speaks of "Regii nominis decus, imperii maiestatem, totumque regni statum", has contemporary resonance. Friedrich Sylburg, who acted as editor and proof-reader for the Commelin atelier, has added just a few notes at the end, the preface to these claiming that the original Paris edition of 1590 had been full of errors of transcription and editing. - II: Bound with this is the first edition of Sylburg's "Saracenica", a "theological compilation with many magical deliberations" (cf. Göllner 1878) providing a German Protestant apology against Islam based on works of the Oriental church. Contains extracts from the Panoplia of Zigabenus, a treatise against the "false prophet" Muhammad, the catechism for Saracene converts to Christianity, as well as extracts from Eutychius, Theophanes and Anastasius, printed in Greek and Latin parallel text. The "1591" edition cited by Göllner 1878 (a single supposed copy in Braunschweig) is a ghost, based on a misreading of the indistinct final digit of the imprint. - Binding stained; interior somewhat browned as common due to paper. Provenance: 1) Collection of the German historian Franz Dominikus Häberlin (1720-87) with his engr. bookplate on pastedown and monogrammed stamp on t. p. 2) Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842), German orientalist (his lithogr. bookplate on pastedown, with his acquisition note: "bought from D. Katsch [?] for 7 Silbergroschen"). 3) Franz Karl Movers (1806-56), German orientalist (his stamp on t. p.). 4) Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, Berlin (stamp on reverse of title-page; dispersed in 1942). 5) Swedish trade. Two additional 18th and 19th century ownerships ("C.S." and "Dr. Levin"). I: VD 16, B 8335. Adams B 2851. BM-STC German 154. OCLC 23620760. - II: VD 16, S 10353. Adams S 2137. BM-STC German 846. Göllner 2068 & cf. 1878. Smitskamp, PO 48. OCLC 17199693.
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Brué, Adrien-Hubert.
Carte Generale de la Turquie d'Asie, de la Perse, de l'Arabie, du Caboul et du Turkestan Independant. Paris, Adrien-Hubert Brué, 1826.
Engraved map (680 x 535 mm), coloured in outline colour. This very detailed map gives an surprisingly precise overview of the regions surrounding Arabia and the cities located on Arabian Gulf. Alai, General maps E.139 (note). Al-Qasimi 231.
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Cary, John.
A New Map of Persia, from the Latest Authorities. London, 1811.
Hand-coloured engraved map (515 x 470 mm). A highly detailed late 18th Century map of Persia, from an early edition of Cary's atlas. Offers extraordinary detail regarding cities, trade routes and physical geography. In some cases Cary offers annotations on important battle sites and on the ruins of ancient Mesopotamian cities. - A near fine example in beautiful wash color. Al-Qasimi 217.
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Cassini, Giovanni Maria.
L'Arabia delineata sulle Ultime Osservazioni. Rome, 1797.
Engraved map (35 x 49 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Rare map of Arabia, from the “Nuovo Atlante Geografico Universale”, with a decorative title cartouche showing a nomadic camp. Al Ankary 227.
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Colton, Joseph Hutchins.
Persia Arabia &c. New York, 1858.
Hand-coloured engraved map (435 x 375 mm). Striking map of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, showing fine detail. Colton was one of the pre-eminent American map publishing firms in the mid-19th Century. Not in Tibbets, Al Ankary or Al-Qasimi.
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D’Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourgignon.
A New Map of Arabia, Divided Into Its Several Regions and Districts. London, Laurie & Whittle, 1794.
Hand-coloured engraved map (61 x 46 cm). Detailed map of the Middle East, published by Laurie & Whittle in London. Includes interesting annotations, including a note about the Barren Desert in the interior of the peninsula. Al-Qasimi 211. Not in Tibbetts. Cf. Al Ankary 382.
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D’Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourgignon.
A New Map of Arabia, Divided Into Its Several Regions and Districts from Mon. D. Anville Geographer to the most Christian King with Additions and Improvements of M. Niebuhr. London, Laurie & Whittle, 1794.
Engraved map, outline colour (725 x 542 mm). Detailed map of the Middle East, published by Laurie & Whittle in London. Includes interesting annotations, including a note about the Barren Desert in the interior of the peninsula. - Minor soling and spotting near centerfold. Al-Qasimi 211. Not in Tibbetts. Cf. Al Ankary 382.
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D’Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourgignon.
A New Map of The Empire of Persia from Mon. D. Anville, Geographer to the most Christian King, with Additions and Emendations. London, Laurie & Whittle, 1794.
Engraved map, outline colour (725 x 542 mm). Decorative large format 18th Century map of the Persian Empire, by one of England's leading map publishing firms of the late 18th Century. - Minor soiling and offsetting. Al-Qasimi 212. Not in Tibbetts, Al Ankary.
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Daussy, Pierre.
Carte des Cotes d'Arabie et de Perse. Paris, 1840.
Engraved chart (87 x 59 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Chart of the Arabian Sea. From Eastern Arabia, the Gulf, the coast of Beluchistan to the Western coast of India. Alai, Special maps E.294. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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[Dromedarus].
Dromedarus, Arabisch post. - Il Dromedario, il corriere in Arabie. - Dromedar, Arabische Post. - Le Dromedare, Post en Arabie. - Dromedary, Arabian - Post. Mainz, Joseph Scholz, ca. 1880.
Lithographic plate. 432 x 345 mm. A fine popular print depicting a dromedary running through the desert, mounted by an Arab.
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Haines, Stafford Bettesworth.
Survey of Part of the South East Coast of Arabia. London, The Royal Geographical Society, 1845.
Engraved map (36 x 30 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Southern coast of Arabia from Ras Fartak to Ras el Hadd.
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Holt, A. L.
Motor and Camel Surveys in the North Arabian Desert. London, The Royal Geographical Society, 1923.
Map (117 x 102 cm). Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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[Hydrographic Office].
Persian Gulf. Shatt Al Arab [5 sheets]. London, published at the Admiralty, 1932.
Sheet 1: 1030 x 700 mm; sheet 2: 1220 x 710 mm; sheet 3: 1030 x 700 mm; sheet 4: 1030 x 700 mm; sheet 5: 1220 x 710 mm. Scale 1:25,000. Nautical chart of Shatt Al Arab on 5 sheets: sheet 1 showing the "Entrance to Shatt Al Arab", sheet 2 showing the "Inner Bar to Kabda Point", sheet 3 showing "Kabda Point to Abadan" with an inset map of Abadan, sheet 4 showing "Abadan to Tuwaila Island" with an inset map of Mohammerah Bar, and sheet 5 showing "Tuwaila Island to Coal Island" with an inset map of Basra and Ma'qil. Engraved chart, including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, lighthouses and beacons picked out in yellow and red, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1907, revised in 1932. Signs of contemporary use, with several pencil markings. Folded.
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[Iran].
Naqshah-i mufassal-i kishvar-i Iran. Istanbul, Husayn, mudir-i Kitabkhanah-i Iqbal, 1930.
Coloured folding map (81 x 110 cm). Scale 1:2,000,000. Original printed wrappers, with portrait of Reza Shah Pahlavi. (Constant ratio linear horizontal scale). The first-ever official map of modern Iran, printed in Farsi but by a Turkish publisher. Insignificant browning to spine; occasional slight paper damage in folds; altogether very well preserved. OCLC 422500836. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Johnson & Browning.
Johnson's Turkey in Asia, Persia, Arabia, &c. New York, 1861.
Hand-coloured engraved map (456 x 345 mm). Decorative map of Turkey, Persia, Arabia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan and contiguous regins., with large inset views of Smyrna, Trebisond and Muscat. Shows excellent detail, including towns, rivers, mountains, deserts, roads, etc. Al-Qasimi 270.
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Marchtaler, Veit.
Rerum a Sigismundo illustrissimo et fortissimo Transylvaniae principe contra Turcas gestarum brevis enarratio. [Prague, V. Maryn z Jencic], 1595.
4to. (48) pp. With woodcut title border. Modern full calf with blindstamped cover rules. Rare first edition of this account of Prince Sigismund Báthory's 1594 campaign against the Ottomans. At the time, Báthory's military successes against the Turkish forces attracted much notice in Europe. "The little book is quite jauntily written, providing a capsule history of the country up to Báthory's accession, then an account of the difficulties and hardships of the first years, the suppression of the 1594 conspiracy, naturally glorifying the Prince at the same time, and then gives a rather extensive account of the events of the campaign up to October 26. The numerous geographical names in the narrative are spelled correctly throughout" (cf. Apponyi). "Marchtaler knew Transylvania from a previous visit. The author did not himself participate in the campaigns against the Turks" (cf. Göllner). Although Apponyi speculated that the book might be an unknown publication by the Viennese printer Leonhard Nassinger, the Bohemian printer was conclusively identified by Ulrich Kopp of the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel. - Some browning and brownstaining; ink pagination added by a contemporary hand. A good copy. VD 16, M 942 (cf. 943). BNHCat M 219. Göllner II, 2050. Hubay 360. Jügelt 47. Apponyi 562 ("apparently very rare").
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[Collection of treaties relating to commercial transactions of subjects of the Austrian state in the Ottoman Empire].
Avusturya devleti tebaasinin Memalik-i Osmaniyede ticaretlerine ait mevadd-i ahdiyye mecmuasidir. Vienna, Dar tiba' al-imberaturiyy (k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei), 1846.
Large 8vo. 88 pp. Printed in black with red headings, within printed gilt rules. Illuminated head-piece and 'unwan printed in three colours and gilt, in imitation of manuscript illumination. Gilt tail-piece. Contemporary green morocco binding with fore-edge flap, covers giltstamped with an oriental design. All edges gilt. The full text of 19 trade treaties, in Ottoman Turkish throughout, closed between the Roman/Austrian and the Ottoman Empire between 1110/1699 (Peace of Karlovac) and 1259/1844. An Italian-language edition had appeared in 1844 ("Raccolta dei Trattati e delle principali convenzioni concernanti il commercio e la navigazione dei sudditi Austriaci negli Stati della Porta Ottomana"). - Occasional insignificant foxing; altogether very well preserved. A splendid copy bound for the Austrian Imperial printing office. Zenker, BO II, 805.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
Routes Between Riyadh and Wadi Dawasir. London, The Royal Geographical Society, 1920.
Colour-printed map (30 x 44 cm). Map showing Philby’s route. Inset of Central Arabia. Not in Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
Routes in South West Arabia. From surveys made by J. B. Philby. London, 1938.
Colour-printed map (56 x 36 cm). Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Pinkerton, John.
Arabia. London, Cadell & Davies, 1813.
Engraved map (56 x 77 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Scale 1: 4,300,000. A rather large English map of the Arabian peninsula, with detail starting to appear in the interior, especially around Oman. Al-Qasimi 222. Cf. Alai, General maps E.260 (1811 ed.).
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Pinkerton, John.
Arabia. London, 1813.
Hand-coloured engraved map (775 x 554 mm). Stunning large format map of Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and vicinity. The map is dominated by the Great Desert and Province of Neged. Marvelous detail of the mountains, rivers etc. Highly detailed regional map, one of the best regional maps of the area to appear in an English Atlas during the period. Pinkerton's now rare elephant folio atlas is one of the best engraved works of the period. While lesser known than the more common atlases by Cary & Thomson, it is a superior work, especially in the detail of the maps. Not in Tibbets, Al-Qasimi and Al Ankary.
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Playfair, James.
Arabia, Drawn and engraved for Dr Playfair's Atlas. Edinburgh, MacReadie, Skelly & Co., 1821.
Engraved map (30 x 48 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Scottish map of the Arabian Peninsula. Old library ink stamp on verso. Al-Qasimi 232.
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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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Reichard, Christian Gottlieb.
Persien nach seinem neuesten Zustande in das Oestliche und Westliche Reich eingeteilt. Weimar, Geographisches Institut, 1804.
Hand-coloured engraved map (740 x 555 mm). A fascinating 1804 map of Persia by Christian Gottlieb Reichard. It covers from the Black Sea south as far as the Gulf and east as far as Punjab in India, including the modern day nations of Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The map identifies numerous towns, villages, deserts, mountain ranges, river systems and a host of other topographical features. The map is color coded according to territories and boundaries. The map curiously divides the country, as the title suggests, into the Eastern and Western Empire, suggesting suspicious political evidence. Furthermore, the islands in the Gulf are also erroneously shown as independent territories, suggesting political aspirations of the time. The map represents Persia under the Qajar Dynasty. In 1794, Aga Muhammad Khan of the Qajar Dynasty overthrew Loft Ali Khan, the last Shah of the Zand Dynasty, and relocated the capital to the new city of Tehran. The subsequent era, the Qajar Dynasty, witnessed numerous military conflicts with the rising powers of Imperial Russia and the loss of much of Persia's territory. Al-Qasimi 218. Not in Tibbetts, Al Ankary.
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Ruscelli, Girolamo.
Arabia Felice nuova tavola. Venice, Vincenzo Valgrisi, c. 1561.
190 x 260 mm. Ruscelli's modern map of Arabia from his 'La Geographi di Claudio Tolomeo'. A feature of this first state is that no map has a platemark at top: two maps were engraved on the same plate and the resulting sheet halved. Tibbetts 27.
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Sanson, Nicolas.
Estats de L'Empire du Grand Seigneur des Turqs ou Sultan des Ottomans en Asie, en Afrique, et en Europe. Paris, 1654.
Engraved map (42 x 56 cm), coloured in outline. Map of the Turkish Empire, showing Ottoman possessions in the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Arabia and marking topography and settlements. Al Ankary 59. Al-Qasimi 60. Tibbetts 99.
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Stanford, Edward.
Countries between Constantinople & Calcutta including Turkey in Asia, Persia, Afghanistan & Turkestan. London, 1885.
Large folding map (64 x 86 cm), hand-coloured and mounted on linen. Scale 1:6,969,000. Alai, General maps E.323. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Tallis, John.
Persia. London, Rogers, 1851.
Hand-coloured engraved map (272 x 370 mm). Attractive full color example of this decorative map of Persia. Includes decorative vignettes of the Ispahan, Kurds, a Bactian Camel and a Persian on Horseback. Engraved for R. Montgomery Martin's Illustrated Atlas. Tallis was one of the last great decorative map makers. His maps are prized for the wonderful vignettes of indigenous scenes, people, etc. Al-Qasimi 260. Not in Tibbets and Al Ankary.
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[Kitab alf laylah wa-laylah - German].
Tausend und Eine Nacht. Arabische Erzählungen. Zum erstenmal aus einer Tunesischen Handschrift ergänzt und vollständig übersetzt von Max. Habicht, F. H. van der Hagen und Karl Schall. Breslau, Josef Max, 1825.
Small 8vo. 15 vols., uniformly bound in near-contemporary half calf with gilt spine and red spine labels. First printing of this German edition, based on a complete translation prepared by Antoine Galland (1646-1715). The so-called "Galland ms." which he had bought in 1701 is the oldest Arabic text extant (dating from 1450 or later). Maximilian Habicht (1775-1839) lived in Paris for a decade as a member of the Prussian delegation. He knew vernacular Arabic well and separately published an edition of the Arabic text of the "Nights" (cf. Fück). - Slightly browned; bookplates of the Viennese collector Rudolf Jelinek on pastedowns; collector's stamps to titles. Chauvin IV, 248. Hayn/Gotendorf V, 276. Cf. Fück 157.
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Teesdale, Henry.
Persia and Arabia. London, 1847.
Engraved map (41 x 33 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Al-Qasimi 243.
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Thesiger, W.
Southern Arabia. A Journey Through Southern Rub el Khali. October 1945 to February 1946. London, 1946.
Colour-printed map (66 x 46 cm). Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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