‎Middle east‎

‎Tholuck, Friedrich August Gottreu.‎

‎Ssufismus sive theosophia Persarum pantheistica quam e mss. Bibliothecae Regiae Berolinensis Persicis, Arabicis, Turcicis [...]. Berlin, Ferdinand Dümmler (typis Haynianis), 1821.‎

‎8vo. XII, 331, (1), 40 pp. (appendix printed in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish). Contemporary papered boards with ms. spine label. First edition. - Dissertation of the German theologian August Tholuck (1799-1877), a study of Sufism and oriental Pantheism composed because an illness prevented him at the time from accepting the chair of oriental languages and Old Testament exegesis at Dorpat. "Still worth reading" (Nicholson). While Schleiermacher criticised the work as untheological, the University of Jena accorded Tholuck an honorary doctorate in 1822 on the strength of his Persian studies. As professor of Old Testament studies in Berlin and Halle, Tholuck would go on to influence many American theologians, including the Methodist John Fletcher Hurst and Philip Schaff. - A contemporary inkstain to the first few pages. Inscribed by the author on the flyleaf: "Seinem innigst verehrten 'Nomodidaskalos en Kyrio' [Greek], der ihn zu Jesu wieß / der Vf." ("To his dearly beloved Instructor of Law in the Lord, who showed him the path to Jesus, from the author"). The recipient of this gift was likely the church historian Johann August Wilhelm Neander (1789-1850), in whose collection the volume was before the entire library was acquired by the American banker Roswell S. Burrows (1798-1884) for the Rochester Theological Seminary in New York (their printed shelfmark label of "Neander Library" on the front pastedown). A good copy. ADB 38, 55. Herzog/H. XIX, 697. Nicholson, the Mystics of Islam, p. 76. OCLC 7436665.‎

‎Zatta, Antonio.‎

‎Imperium Alexandri Magni. Venice, 1785.‎

‎Engraved map (38 x 47 cm), partly coloured in outline. Map of the Empire of Alexander the Great stretching from Greece, through Turkey and Persia and into North-West India. Alai, Special maps E.68. Al Ankary 228.‎

‎[Après de Mannevillette, Jean-Baptiste d'].‎

‎Carte du Golfe Persique, depuis Bassora jusqu'au Cap Rasalgate. [Paris & Brest, Demonville, 1775].‎

‎Engraved map, scale ca. 1:1 900,000. 714 x 529 mm. Original outline colour. Includes a smaller inset map: Plan des Isles Karak et Korgo et de la Baye de Bundereek. This fine, rare nautical map of the Arabian Gulf forms part of the famous "Neptune Oriental", a highly regarded collection of maps of the Middle and Far Eastern coasts which the author, the French hydrographer d’Après de Mannevillette (1707-80), had mapped during his time as captain for the French East India Company. The collection was first published in 1745, but redrawn and newly engraved by Guillaume-Nicolas Delahaye for the 1775 edition. The chart (plate 28 in the volume) is stated to be based on information collected by captain René Julien Le Floch de La Carriere and in many respects resembles the roughly contemporaneous works of William Herbert (Al Ankary no. 190) and d'Anville (Al Ankary no. 211). About the present map (in its 1745 version), Zoltán Biedermann writes, "It is interesting to note that, despite the fact that the shape of the Gulf is rooted in the Dutch tradition that we have come to name after Cornelis Roobacker, there are many new place names that were not there in the earlier decades. Like some other items from this period, this map is thus a precious document of the shifting commercial geography of Persia and the Persian Gulf" (Historical Atlas of the Persian Gulf, p. 290). Although the 1775 issue departs but little from its release three decades earlier, there are a number of differences: most notably, the new inset plan of the Kharg and Kharko Islands, and the inclusion of an island near Bahrain identified as "Deh-Rogn" - in fact, an early reference to Qatar; while "deh" means "village", "Rogn" signifies Ras Rakan at the northern tip of the Qatar peninsula, a prominent navigational landmark. - Evenly browned, with traces of insignificant waterstaining. A good copy. Cordier (Sinica) col. 134 ("superbe ouvrage"). OCLC 165808168. Cf. Tooley I, p. 40. Tibbetts no. 265. Historical Atlas of the Persian Gulf (Brepols 2006) no. 74 (the 1745 edition, unidentified, pictured in two sizes: p. 290 and pp. 292f.). Not in Al-Qasimi (2nd ed.). Not in Al Ankary (but cf. nos. 208f. for two other maps by Mannevillette - the Gulf of Aden and the port of Jeddah - hailed as "extremely accurate" and supplying "detailed information").‎

‎Benzelius, Erik & Celsius, Olof.‎

‎Catalogus centuriae librorum rarissimorum manuscript. & partim impressorum, Arabicorum, Persicorum, Turcicorum, Graecorum, Latinorum, &c. Uppsala, Sparvenfeld, 1706.‎

‎Small 4to. (6), 74 pp. With a woodcut garland of fruits, leaves and nuts on the title-page, 1 woodcut headpiece and 1 woodcut decorated initial. Set in roman, italic, Arabic and Greek type. Later paper wrapper. Catalogue of the collection of 126 Persian, Arabian, Turkish, Greek, Latin and other books and manuscripts donated to the Library of the University of Uppsala by the diplomat Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld (1655-1727). It was compiled by the Swedish scholars Eric Benzelius the younger (1670-1756) and Olaus Celsius the elder (1675-1743). The main series of manuscripts, described in great detail, includes 41 in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, 8 in Greek (one dating back to the eighth century) and 12 in Latin and modern European languages. These are followed by 42 printed books including 2 in Chinese, several in Arabic, the 1581 Ostrog Bible and several other exotic languages, including Irish (set in Anglo-Saxon type). A few more manuscripts (mostly Arabic) are added at the end, plus an unnumbered geographic manuscript in Chinese (3 volumes). This is the earliest catalogue of the Uppsala University Library's collections. The Arabic, Persian and Turkish titles are set in a large Arabic type cut for the physician and orientalist Peter Kirsten by the Swedish punchcutter Peter von Selow (who served his apprenticeship under Tycho Brahe) and first used at Breslau in 1608. Werner, printer to the university at Uppsala since 1701, seems to have been the first Swedish printer to use types by Nicolaus Kis, two of his italics and one roman appearing in the present book, though not the roman used for the main text. After finishing his studies at Uppsala, Sparwenfeld travelled throughout Europe and accompanied the Swedish ambassador to Moscow, where he took an interest in Slavonic languages. On his travels he collected many precious books and manuscripts. In 1687 he returned to Stockholm, where he carried out a study of manuscripts from the ancient Goths. He travelled to Holland, France and Spain, dealing with the Blaeu printing office and mediating in the production of Georgian type cut by Nicolaus Kis for the exiled King of Georgia. In 1691 he travelled to Egypt, Syria and Tunis. Though a Protestant, he presented the manuscript of his Slavonic lexicon to Pope Innocent XII, who granted him access to the Vatican library, a rare honour for a Protestant. He returned to Sweden in 1694. He continued to correspond with scholars throughout Europe even after he retired to his estate 1712. He wrote and spoke 14 languages. - In very good condition, with only occasional very slight foxing, wholly untrimmed, preserving the deckles and point holes and with the bolts unopened. A remarkable catalogue of an extraordinary library, especially rich in Arabic manuscripts. Almqvist, Sveriges bibliogr. litteratur 2838. Smitskamp 113 (note).‎

‎Danckerts, Cornelis.‎

‎Nova Persiae Armeniae Antoliae et Arabiae. [Amsterdam, 1690].‎

‎Oblong folio (590 x 500 mm). Engraved map in contemporary hand colour. Decorative cartouche, compass rose. Beautiful example of Cornelis Danckerts’ map showing the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, and the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Slightly brownstained; otherwise in fine condition. Al Ankary 77.‎

‎Griffith, John.‎

‎Neue Reise in Arabien, die europäische und asiatische Türkey. Nach dem Englischen für Deutsche bearbeitet von K.L.M. Müller. Leipzig, Hinrichs, 1814.‎

‎8vo. 2 volumes bound as one. (10), 125, (3) pp. (2), 154 pp. With an engraved folding frontispiece view (of Yedikule fortress in Istanbul) and 3 engraved maps (2 large folding), the view coloured, 1 map with the Ottoman-Persian border coloured in blue and red, and all three maps with the route coloured in red. Further with decorated rules on the title-pages. Set in fraktur types with incidental roman. Mid 19th-century boards covered with chemical-marbled paper, sewn on 3 recessed cords, with the arms of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia (crowned eagle, with the Order of the Golden Fleece) in gold on the front board, printed spine-label in sans-serif type. First and only German edition of Griffith's account of his journey (leaving England in 1785) from Smyrna (Izmir) through the Dardanelles to Constantinople (Istanbul) and back by ship, then from Smyrna overland through Turkey and (after crossing the corner of the Mediterranean) from Antioch via Aleppo and by caravan across the desert in what is now Syria and Iraq to Basra. On his return trip by ship he visited Muscat, which he also describes. For most of the journey he travelled disguised as a "poor Greek", allowing him to see people, especially in the poorer layers of society, with an intimacy not possible for most European visitors. Griffiths, a British (Edinburgh?) medical doctor, first published his account in English in 1805 as Travels in Europe, Asia Minor and Arabia. The author notes that he limits himself to "faithfully describing such things as he saw, the scenes in which he participated, and offering ... reflections which resulted from the impressions", avoiding second-hand accounts, speculations or borrowings from other publications. Although he in fact sometimes borrowed accounts of parts of Turkey published by his friend William Eton in 1798, much is reported first-hand, including his extensive travels in Anatolia and beyond. He is unabashedly critical of the Turks and the French (the English edition was published one year after Napoleon declared himself Emperor and while England and France were at war) but shows admiration for the Bedouins, noting their honesty, "liberality, kindness, and strict regard for their engagements". He describes the use of opium and tobacco, coffee houses, bazars, puppet shows, clothing of the men and women, cookery and the daily life of common people. At Muscat he saw beautiful Indian girls performing a nautch dance, which initially disgusted him, though he notes that more intimate acquaintance with the music and dance turned him into a nautch admirer. Part of the journey was made in the company of David Hays, English merchant and consul at Aleppo, his seven-year-old daughter Marianne (who spoke Arabic, Greek, French, Italian and English fluently) and an Armenian servant. Hays died during the journey around 1786 and Griffiths continued with Marianne to Basra where he arranged for her return to her mother in Aleppo, where she later married the British consul. The three maps show a detail of the Dardanelles, Asia minor, and the regions between the Mediterranean and the Gulf, each with Griffiths' route coloured in red and the last indicating with the boundary between the realms controlled by the Ottoman and Persian Empires (at this date running from the Gulf through Kurdistan) coloured blue on the Ottoman side and red on the Persian side. - With a contemporary black ink owner's stamp (oval with script "Beyer") at the head of the first text page and foot of last text page; arms on the binding of Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1795-1861), King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861; later 19th-century red ink stamp (round) of the Royal Library in Berlin on the back of each title-page; and a blue ink stamp (rectangular, in Russian) of the All-Union State Library of Foreign Literature in Moscow, established in 1921, on the back of the first title-page. With a small gap at the foot of the folding view running 2.5 cm into the image (1.5 mm wide at the edge of the image: fold shaved by the binder), a chip in the gutter margin of the second title-page and occasional minor stains, but otherwise in good condition. Binding somewhat rubbed, and spine damaged at the head and foot. Account of a 1780s journey through Turkey and the Middle East to the Gulf and back via Muscat. Cf. Atabey 530-531 (English & French eds.). Blackmer 755 (English ed.). Gay 3573 (English & French eds.). For Griffiths see also: R. Schiffer, Oriental Panorama: British Travellers in 19th Century Turkey (1999), pp. 376-377.‎

‎Ignatius a Jesus.‎

‎Grammatica linguae persicae. Auctore patre fratre Ignatio à Jesu carmelita discalcato missionario, & vicario residentiae Tripolis, & Montis Libani. Rome, typis Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1661.‎

‎Large 4to. (2), 60 pp., final blank leaf. Near-contemporary blue wrappers. Extremely rare first edition of this valuable Persian grammar printed in Rome on the presses of the "Propaganda Fide". The third work of this kind, preceded only by those of Louis de Dieu (Leiden 1639) and of Greaves (London 1649). Willems notes that G. B. Raimondi, as early as 1614, produced a grammar in Rome for the use of missionaries which remained virtually unknown in the west, but this existed only in manuscript. The grammars of Greaves and of the present author were both "largely based on De Dieu" (Smitskamp). - Ignazio di Gesù (Carlo Leonelli) was a 17th century Italian missionary. He "belonged to the Order of Discalced Carmelites, and preached the Gospel in Turkey, Asia Minor, Armenia, and Persia, where he stayed over a long period. He especially tried to convert to the Catholic faith the so-called sectarians of Saint John (in eastern Mendaï). He returned to Rome in 1650" (cf. Hoefer). An account of his travels was included in the collection of Thevenot. His present small work, though not the work of an orientalist nor indeed a scholar, is still a true grammar based on elements collected during the author's journeys. - Some browning as common, otherwise a very good, untrimmed, wide-margined copy as issued. Brunet III, 405. Schwab 863. Smitskamp 310 c.‎

‎Meurs, Jacob van.‎

‎Nova totius Arabiae Foelicis, Petraeae, et Desertae. Amsterdam, c. 1680.‎

‎Engraved map (30 x 35 cm), contemporarily hand-coloured. Matted. A copy of the De Witt map of Arabia, with fine cartouches. Al Ankary 79. Tibbetts 137.‎

‎Rodi, Antonio.‎

‎Caratteri stranieri, raccolti, scritti ed incisi da Antonio Rodi nell' anno 1836. Milano, Pagani Litografia, 1836.‎

‎Oblong 4to (327 x 154 mm). Dedication leaf and 10 engraved leaves of alphabet specimens, lithographed throughout. In the publisher's original lithographed wrappers. Only edition of this collection of alphabet specimens, comprising Arabic, Syriac, Chaldaic, Hebrew (in two versions), Greek, "Illyric", "Egyptian", "Saracen", and "Indian". The author dedicated his effort to Conte Livio Benvenuti Clavello. - Slightly browned and brownstained throughout. Contemporary ink ownership "Biagio G..." on dedication leaf. Rare; only two copies in Italian libraries (Biblioteca statale di Cremona & Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, Venice). ICCU VEA\0176272.‎

‎(Suleiman II, Sultan) / Dominico Di Lardizabal (ed.).‎

‎Warhafftige Relation der H. Oerther zu Jerusalem, welche auß ergangenen Befehl deß Groß-Türcken anno 1690 in dem Monat April wiederumb zugestellet worden, denen mindern Brüdern, als Observaten und Reformaten deß Seraphischen Ordens S. Francisci. Vienna, Andreas Heyinger, 1692.‎

‎4to. (48) pp. All edges sprinkled in red. Disbound. Exceedingly rare separate "offprint" issue, with Heyinger's imprint and date on title page, of this account usually only encountered bound after a half-title as part of Francisco Caccia's "Monumentum Gloriae Seraphicae" (bibliographically unrecorded thus). Contains the German translation of the Sultan's mandate by which suzerainity over several holy sites in Jerusalem (particularly, two vaults in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, part of Golgotha, the Seven Arches of the Virgin, and the Stone of the Anointing) was restored to the Franciscans. Includes relevant correspondence and indulgences (all in German). - Some browning and staining. Removed from a collection; old number "23" on t. p. An early work from the press of Andreas Heyinger, active in Vienna from 1692 to 1732. Cf. VD 17, 12:113676Z.‎

‎Mandeville, John.‎

‎The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundevile, Kt. Which Treateth of the Way to Hierusalem: and of Marvayles of Inde, with other Islands and Countryes. London, J. Woodman, D. Lyon & C. Davis, 1725.‎

‎8vo. XVI, (8), 384, (8) pp. Title page printed in red and black. Contemporary calf with giltstamped cover fillets, rebacked to style with giltstamped red label, leading edges gilt. All edges sprinkled in red. Rare, reliable 18th-century English edition of the classic (though partly fictional) 14th-century account presented as voyages of Sir John Mandeville through Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, Syria, Persia, Arabia, India and the East Indies, published from a 15th-century manuscript in the Cottonian Library (MS Titus C XVI). "This is the completest edition up to date" (Cox). According to the story he set off on his travels in 1322 from Saint Albans in England, returned in 1343, wrote the present account in 1364 and died in 1371. It was originally written in French and is thought to have been compiled from various sources by Jehan d'Outremeuse (1338-1400) or Jean de Bourgoigne (d. 1372) of Liege. It includes many well-known stories and illustrations of monstrous people and animals in exotic lands. The book also includes genuine descriptions of the regions covered and gave many Europeans their first notions of the Near East, Middle East, India and East Indies. The part on Arabia includes an account of the birth of Muhammad (p. 169). - Occasional slight browning, but well-preserved. Provenance: Sold as a duplicate by the Bodleian Library (with the Radcliffe Infirmary's armorial bookplate and cancellation stamp); later in the collection of H. C. Gleave (his bookplate). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 12. Cox I, 319. Cf. Henze III, 363 (1883 reprint of this edition). Gay 2128.‎

‎Al-Qabisi, Abu Al-Saqr Abd al-Aziz Bin Othman Bin Ali (Alchabitius).‎

‎[Libellus Isagogicus - Al-madkhal]. Preclarum su[m]mi in astroru[m] scientia principis Alchabitii opus ad scrutanda stellaru[m] [...]. Venice, Petrus Liechtenstein, 1521.‎

‎4to. 64 ff. With several diagrams and woodcut initials in the text and the printer's full-page woodcut device on the final page, printed in red and black. Near-contemporary limp vellum with 19th century spine label. "Early edition of Alchabitius' 'Introduction to the Mystery of Judgments from the Stars', with the 'modern' version by Antonius de Fantis. Sessa issued the same work at the same time, but Liechtenstein's edition is superior and especially esteemed for the fine woodcut in black and red (printer's mark) at the end" (Weil). Translated by Joannes Hispalensis (in 1144), with the commentary of Joannes de Saxonia. "Although al-Qabisi's education was primarily in geometry and astronomy, his principal surviving treatise, 'Al-madkhal ila sina'at ahkam al-nujum' ('Introduction into the Art of Astrology') in five sections [...], is on astrology. The book, as the title indicates, is an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy; its present usefulness lies primarily in its quotations from the Sassanian Andarzghar literature and from al-Kindi, the Indians, Ptolemy, Dorotheus of Sidon, Masha'allah, Hermes Trismegistus, and Valens. Although completely lacking in originality, it was highly valued as a textbook [... The] Latin version was commented on by Joannes de Saxonia at Paris in 1331" (DSB). - Some traces of worming throughout, mainly confined to margins and expertly repaired. 17th century ownership "Francois Claret" to title page. Rare; a single copy in auction records since 1975. Edit 16, CNCE 834. Adams A 24. BM-STC 1. BM I, 307. IA 102.864. Essling 301. Sander 223. Houzeau/Lancaster I, 3848. DSB XI, 226. Weil, Cat. VI, 29. OCLC 46413115. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from The Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe (Qatar 2009), nos. 9f.‎

‎Blaeu, Willem Jansz.‎

‎India quae orientalis dicitur, et insulae adiacentes. Amsterdam, 1640.‎

‎Engraved map of Southeast Asia, showing the area from India in the northwest to the southernmost part of Japan in the northeast, with the Indonesian archipelago in the south and an outline of the western part of New Guinea (now part of Indonesia). The areas depicted also include present-day Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines.‎

‎Carcano, Francesco Sforzino da.‎

‎Tre libri de gli uccelli da rapina. Ne quali si contiene la vera cognitione dell’ arte de stroccieri, & il modo di conoscere, ammaestrare reggere and medicare tutti gli augelli rapaci. Con un trattato de cani del medesimo. Venice, Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari, 1568.‎

‎8vo. (16), 249, (3) pp., 1 final blank leaf. With a full-page woodcut in the text (illustration of hawking instruments), woodcut initials and ornaments, printer's device on title page and different, larger device at the end. Contemporary vellum (spine professionally repaired). First edition - the edition of 1547 mentioned by Harting and Souhart does not seem to exist, propably confused with Federico Giorgi's work - of the best-known and most authoritative of 16th century Italian books on falconry, the breeding and training of falcons, their ailments, etc. "Carcano states in his Preface that this treatise is the result of forty years' experience as a falconer, and the perusal of all the Italian and French books he could find relating to Falconry [...] The author's reputation as a falconer caused this book to become very popular, and it not only passed through several editions [...], but was extensively copied by subsequent writers, as, for example, Raimondi and Turberville" (Harting, p. 142f.). "An interesting treatise on falcons and sporting dogs, with remedies for their diseases" (Schwerdt). The full-page woodcuts shows a set of veterinary instruments for use by the falconer. - Occasional slight brownstaining; a minute paper flaw to margin of fol. P3 (barely touching text). Lacks 2 leaves of dedication in the preliminaries, not bound with all copies, and the second of the two final blanks, otherwise a fine copy. Harting 267 (p. 141). Adams C 644. BM-STC Italian 148. IA 132.009. Bongi II, 271. Souhart 86. Ceresoli 132. Schwerdt I, 94.‎

‎[Reflections on Mohammedism].‎

‎Reflections on Mohammedism, and the conduct of Mohammed. Occasioned by a late learned translation and exposition of the Koran or Al Koran. London, J. Roberts, 1735.‎

‎8vo. (2), 54 pp. (wanting half title). - (Bound with) II: Henley, John. The Lord, He is God: or, The Atheist Tormented, by Sure Prognosticks of Hell Fire [...]. London, J. Roberts, 1730. 29, (1) pp. - (Bound with) III: [Lewis, Thomas. The nature of hell, the reality of hell-fire, and the eternity of hell-torments, explain'd and vindicated. London, J. Hooke & T. Bickerton, 1720]. 38 pp., (2 pp. of ads), wanting 4 pp. of prelimns including the title. - (Bound with) IV: [Oakes, Abraham]. The doctrine of hell-torments distinctly and impartially discussed. London, J. Noon, 1738. 72 pp. - (Bound with) V: [Fludger, John]. The absolute and proper eternity of hell torments fully proved from scripture, from reason, and from the natural attributes of God. London, T. Gardner, 1739. (2), 36 pp. - (Bound with) VI: Phileleutherus Dubliniensis [i.e., Patrick Delany]. Reflections upon polygamy, and the encouragement given to that practice in the scriptures of the Old Testament. London, J. Roberts, 1737. (2), 188 pp. - (Bound with) VII: [Booth, George, Earl of Warrington]. Considerations upon the institution of marriage. With some thoughts concerning the force and obligation of the matrimonial contract. Wherein is considered, how far divorces may, or ought to be allowed. London, John Whiston, 1739. VI, 154 pp. - (Bound with) VIII: [Clarke, Alured]. An essay towards the character of her late majesty Caroline, queen-consort of Great Britain, &c. London, J. & P. Knapton, 1738. (2), 46 pp. - (Bound with) IX: [Hildrop, John]. A letter to a member of Parliament, containing a proposal for bringing in a bill to revise, amend or repeal certain obsolete statutes, commonly called the ten commandments. London, R. Minors, 1738. (2), 61, (1) pp. Contemporary full calf, gilt. Only edition; rare: an apology of Islam and its Prophet, influenced by the writings of Pococke and Reland, and published a year after George Sale's "Koran", the first English Quran to be translated directly from the Arabic. The anonymous author counts among those "interested in revising 'imposture' theories by recasting Mahomet in a positive, Greco-Roman republican mold - a wise 'Arabian legislator' [...]. [This work,] occasioned by Sale's translation of the Qur'an, suggests that Islam anticipates the Protestant Reformation: Mahomet 'laid the foundations of a general and thorough Reformation, Conversion, and Re-Union in ages to come'" (H. Garcia, Islam and the English Enlightenment, 1670-1840 [2011], p. 256). From the beginning the author cautions that "no disputes ought to be conducted with more temper and moderation than those about religion, but, unluckily, none have been managed with such warmth, bitterness, and inequality" (p. 1); he defends the Prophet against unjust accusations levelled against him by his Christian detractors and closes with the admonition that young British scholars of theology would do well "to apply themselves, among their other exercises, to the study of the oriental tongues, which, upon an impartial survey of the present state of religion, seems to claim much of their attention" (p. 53f.). - Bound with this are eight other English theological works (all first or only editions) concerned with hell-fire and heresies, several written with a decidedly free-thinking slant. Binding severely rubbed and bumped; hinges cracked. Variously browned throughout with occasional staining; contemporary handwritten table of contents on loose flyleaf; second flyleaf clipped with a handwritten title "A Vol. of scarce & curious Tracts" on verso; first title page has 19th century ownership stamp "R. Blackwell". ESTC T91614. Chauvin XI, 680 (note).‎

‎Abu al-Fida Isma`il ibn `Ali (Abulfeda).‎

‎Albulfedae tabula Syriae cum excerpto geographico ex Ibn Ol Wardii geographia et historia naturali. Arabice nunc primum edidit, latine vertit, notis explanavit Io. Bernhardus Koehler. Leipzig, Schönermarck, 1766.‎

‎Large 4to. (70), 240 pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine label. First separate edition of this important mediaeval geography of the Middle East, concentrating on Syria. Printed in Latin and Arabic parallel text; edited with an extensive commentary by the versatile oriental scholar J. B. Köhler (1742-1802). Abu'l-Fida, born in Damascus in 1273, was a historian, geographer, military leader, and Sultan. The crater Abulfeda on the Moon is named after him. - Insignificant browning throughout as common; contemp. ownership (1840) to front pastedown. GAL II, 46. Ebert 29. Hamberger/Meusel IV, 189. ADB XVI, 444.‎

‎(Amaduzzi, Giovanni Cristoforo) [ed.].‎

‎Catalogus librorum qui ex Typographio Sacrae Congreg. de Propaganda Fide variis linguis prodierunt et in eo adhuc asservantur. Rome, Typis Sac. Congreg. de Propaganda Fide, 1773.‎

‎8vo. 55, (1) pp. With woodcut printer's device on title page (Christ sending the Apostles forth to spread the Gospel). Unbound as issued. Very scarce catalogue of oriental books printed by the Propaganda Fide press. Pages 10-12 list no fewer than 28 publications in Arabic, many of which (such as Scialac's and Sionita's 1613 version of the "Doctrica Christiana") are still considered milestones of Arabic typography. Prints in other languages such as Chaldaean, Persian, Syriac, and Ottoman Turkish bear further witness to the unrivalled excellence of the Propaganda Press in the field of Middle Eastern typography. A first such catalogue had appeared in 1765; of this second, expanded edition OCLC lists no more than two copies (Tübingen and Copenhagen). - Well-preserved throughout. OCLC 465974789. Not in Besterman.‎

‎(Assemani, Simone).‎

‎Spiegazione di due rarissime medaglie cufiche della famiglia degli Ommiadi appartenenti al Museo Majnoni in Milano. Milan, Giulio Ferrario, 1818.‎

‎Folio (244 x 341 mm). (12) pp. With 2 engravings (one in the text, one on the title). - (Bound after) II: (Schiepati, Giuseppe / Assemani, Simone). Descrizione di alcune monete cufiche del Museo di Stefano de Mainoni. Milan, Paolo Emilio Giusti, 1820. 136 pp. With 3 engraved plates. - (And) III: Reinaud, [Joseph Toussaint]. Lettre à M. le baron Silvestre de Sacy sur la collection des monuments orientaux de [...] comte de Blacas. Paris, Firmin Didot, 1820. 16 pp. Original pink printed wrappers. 8vo. All three within contemporary green boards with giltstamped red spine label. Collection of three rare studies falling within "the rarely-entered territory of Muslim archaeology" (cf. Fück, p. 153), comprising the two final works of Simone Assemani and the first publication of Joseph Toussaint Reinaud. - In 1818, the orientalist Assemani, well known as an authority on Kufic coins through his "Museo Cufico Naniano" (1787) and, more recently, his treatise "Sopra le Monete Arabe effigiate" (1809), published his "Spiegazione", a discussion of two rare Cufic coins in Stefano de Majnoni's collection. Subsequently, Majnoni called on Assemani to identify several additional coins and in 1820 requested him to check a catalogue of his collection compiled by Giuseppe Schiepati. When Schiepati published the second work here included, "Descrizione di alcune monete cufiche", it was found to contain many unacknowledged contributions by Assemani, as well as extracts from his "Museo Cufico Naniano". Also, Schiepati’s historical comments relied on, and indeed summarized, C. O. Castiglioni’s "Monete Cufiche dell’ I. R. Museo di Milano" (1819). A controversy arose, in the course of which Schiepati was accused of plagiarism - a matter exacerbated by the fact that Assemani had died in early 1821, at the age of 69. - The third work in the volume is a slim octavo brochure, composed by Reinaud as a letter to his teacher Silvestre de Sacy reporting on the Islamic collection of the French antiquarian and diplomat Pierre de Blacas (1771-1839). Eight years later Reinaud would publish his famous, lavishly produced two-volume catalogue "Description des monumens musulmans du cabinet de M. le duc de Blacas", which made his name. - Occasional insignificant browning; Reinaud's work untrimmed, the folio works printed on large paper retaining very wide margins. From the library of Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Billard de Saint-Laumer (1814-92) with his collection drystamp to title page of "Descrizione"; the three plates interleaved with smaller sheets bearing numbered annotations, likely in his hand. I: Leitzmann 5. Achat 11216. OCLC 84477158. - II: Leitzmann 124. Brunet V, 199. Graesse VI, 301; I, 240. OCLC 52651290. - III: Leitzmann 114. OCLC 229903535.‎

‎Bergman, Franz Xaver, sculptor (1861-1936).‎

‎Bronze statue of an Arabic Qur'an scribe. [Vienna, ca 1930].‎

‎Coloured two-part bronze, cold painted. Ca. 205 x 117 x 105 mm. A scribe in oriental costume, seated on a carpet with a large removable Qur'an on a bookrest. - Recognised for his great attention to detail and use of wonderfully vibrant colours, works from Bergman’s foundry are highly prized today by collectors worldwide. F. X. Bergman was the son of a Bohemian metalwork chaser and finisher who had moved to Vienna in 1860, there founding a small bronze factory. At the turn of the century, his son Franz Xaver inherited the company and opened a new foundry, basing many of his early bronzes on designs from his father’s workshop and producing an eclectic mix of oriental, erotic and animal figure bronzes. Bergman used a cold painted technique, whereby cast bronzes were decorated in several layers of polychrome ‘dust paint.’ These layers were not fired to fix them to the bronzes, hence they are ‘cold painted’. - Very slightly rubbed. An appealing work, likely from the artist's late phase.‎

‎Boha-Eddin (Yusuf ibn Rafi Ibn Shaddad al-Mausili) / Albert Schultens (ed.).‎

‎[Sirat al-Sultan al-alik al-Nasr Salih al-Din]. Vita et res gestae Sultani, Almalichi Alnasiri, Saladini [...]. Grandiore cothurno conscripta ab Amadoddino Ispahanensi ex mss. Arabicis [...] Editit et latine vertit Albertus Schultens. Leiden, Samuel Luchtmans, 1732.‎

‎Folio. Four pts. in 1 vol. (30), 278 pp. (2), 64 pp. 26, (88, index) pp. Title-page printed in red and black, Arabic and Latin text in two columns. Original calf. First edition (reprinted in 1755). The eminent Arabian writer and statesman Bohaddin, better known in the East as Ibn-Sjeddad, "wrote several works on Jurisprudence and Moslem Divinity; but the only one that can be interesting to us is his 'Life and Actions of Saladin', which, with other pieces connected with the same subject, was published by Albert Schultens, at Leyden, in 1732, accompanied by a somewhat inelegant Latin translation, also by notes, and a Geographical Index. This work affords a favourable specimen of the historical compositions of the Arabs [...] The enthusiasm with which every thing about [Saladin] is narrated, and the anecdotes which the author, from his own personal knowledge, is able to communicate respecting that extraordinary character, give his work a great degree of interest" (Enc. Britannica, Suppl. II [1824], p. 352f). Schnurrer 148, no. 175. Gay 2238. Cf. Fück 107. Not in Smitskamp.‎

‎[East India-Company].‎

‎The Law, Relating to India, and the East-India Company; With Notes and an Appendix. London, Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1855.‎

‎Small folio (240 x 296 mm). (4), 563, (1) pp. Modern half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped red label to spine. The most comprehensive and relevant edition of "a work which may almost be regarded as the standard one on the subject to which it is devoted" (Preface), i.e., the legal code in force within the provinces ruled by the British East India Company - a rule which would last until 1858, when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown would assume direct control. Numerous statutes concern the slave trade in the Arabian Gulf or regulate relationships with the local Arab Sheikhdoms, such as 12 & 13 Victoriae, Cap. LXXXIV: "An Act for carrying into effect Engagements between her Majesty and certain Arabian Chiefs in the Persian Gulf", citing the chiefs "Sultan Bin Sugger, Shaik of Ras-el-Khyma and Shargah in the Persian Gulf, the chief of the Joasmee Arabs", "Muktoom Bin Buttye, Shaik of Debaye", "Abdool Azeez Bin Rashid, Shaik of Eginan", "Shaik Abdullah Bin Rashid, Shaik of Amulgavine", and "Saeed Bin Tahnoon, Shaik of the Beni Yas, chief of Aboothabee", as well as "Shaik Mahomed Bin Khuleefa Bin Subman, chief of Bahrein", and the engagements they concluded with the British crown (pp. 414ff.). Other acts relate to engagements with "Syed Syf bin Hamood, the Chief of Sohar, in Arabia" (p. 437), with Seid Saeed bin Sultan, the Imaum of Muscat (pp. 220, 383), etc. - Very well preserved, in a modern binding in contemporary style. OCLC 3062490.‎

‎Hurewitz, J[acob] C[oleman] (ed.).‎

‎Documents of Near East Diplomatic History. New York, Near and Middle East Studies, School of International Affairs, Columbia University, 1951.‎

‎4to. XV, 332 pp. Published as a typescript printed on one side. Original cloth. An invaluable collection of primary source documents, mostly in English (a few in French), related to international relations and the Middle East. The volume is composed as an aid to students at Columbia University, using documents available from that library only, covering nearly every nation in the Middle East and their relations with European nations. Topics include the texts of commercial and territorial treaties (including regarding the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits), Napoleon's proclamation to the Egyptians, territorial negotiations, proclamations of goodwill and protection of foreign merchants, the Suez Canal concession, regulations for colonies in the region, the Baghdad railroad, the mandate for Palestine, World War I and World War II regional restructuring discussions, etc. Most documents are from the 19th and 20th centuries, with the earliest being "Capitulation with France of February 1535", and the most recent, "Nationalization of the Oil Industry in Iran, 2-30 May 1951." A brief commentary is provided before each document describing context and significance. These papers represent an enormously important work for scholars, students, historians and diplomats, bringing together, as they do, such core reference material. In 1956, Hurewitz would expand this collection to the two-volume publication "Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: a documentary record". - J. C. Hurewitz (1914-2008) did his graduate work at Columbia, making what was then an unusual decision to concentrate on the Middle East. He worked for the Near East section of the OSS during World War II, then worked successively at the State Department, as a political adviser on Palestine to the President’s cabinet and for the UN secretariat. As a Professor, Hurewitz began studying Middle Eastern politics in 1950, before the field had emerged as an academic discipline. From 1970 until his retirement in 1984, he was director of Columbia's Middle East Institute. - Handwritten ownership (dated Washington, October 1952) on half-title; later in the collection of the professor of oriental studies and Brandeis librarian Miroslav Krek (1924-2014), with his ownership stamp on the reverse. OCLC 5749457.‎

‎[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.‎

‎[Persian Gazette].‎

‎The News of the Majestic Government of Iran. Tehran or Shiraz?, [1868 CE =] Sha'ban 1285 H.‎

‎Folio (230 x 368 mm). Title, (6) pp., single column, lithographed throughout, with large Persian coat of arms on the title page (by Abu’l-Hasan Gaffari). Early issue of Persia's official government newspaper. Traces of folds; some edge chipping and tears to folds. Removed from the City Library Association, Springfield, MA, with their stamp to the title an handwritten note "The 'Persian Gazette", one of the only two in Persia - printed at Teheran - The Persian Coat of Arms".‎

‎Ridinger, Johann Elias.‎

‎Arabisches Pferd. Cheval d'Arabie. Equus Arabiae. No place, 18th century.‎

‎Engraving. 285 x 357 mm. Matted. An Arabian horse led by a bedouin, engraved by the young Martin Elias Ridinger after a drawing by his famous father.‎