|
|
|
[Falconry].
Falconer and falcon. Vienna, [ca 1890].
Painting and embroidery on silk, 650 x 935 mm. Near-life-size embroidery of a lady falconer in green dress, her hat highlighted with gold sequins. A charming and skillfully executed work in the Viennese neo-classical style, obviously commissioned for the decoration of a so-called Hunter's Salon in an Austrian nobleman's castle.
|
|
|
[Husayn ibn 'Ali, King of Hejaz].
The King of Hedjaz and Arab Independence. With a Facsimile of the Proclamation of June 27, 1916. Together with the Proclamation issued at Baghdad by Lieut.-General Sir Stanley Maude, after the occupation of that city by the British Forces. London, Hayman, Christy & Lilly, Ltd., 1917.
8vo. 14, (2) pp. With portrait frontispiece and folding Arabic facsimile. Original printed wrappers. Rare British pamphlet advertising the independence of Hejaz from Ottoman rule, following the Arab Revolt in which T. E. Lawrence had played so vital a role. Husayn strove for acknowledgement as "King of Arabia", though the powers would recognize him only as King of Hejaz. In 1924 Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud conquered Hejaz and proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia six years later. - A clean, unmarked copy. Rare, the last copy at auction sold in 1999 (Sotheby's, Oct 14, 1999, lot 439, £800). OCLC 3949330.
|
|
|
[Ibn Saud].
Original vintage photograph. Hejaz, 1927.
13 x 18 cm. Original nitrate silver print. HRH King Abdulaziz ibn Sa'ud standing before his tent with Sir Gilbert Clayton and George Habib Antonius during one of their pivotal meetings at which they negotiated the Treaty of Jeddah, in which the UK recognized the Ibn Saud's sovereignty over Hejaz and Nejd. Clayton had been Chief of Arab Bureau over T. E. Lawrence when he helped facilitate the beginning of the Arab Revolt. Lawrence praises Clayton in his "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" (1935): "Clayton made the perfect leader for such a band as we were." In the centre of the photograph is King Abdulaziz, the first monarch of Saudi Arabia and father of the Sa'ud dynasty. He bagn his conquests by retaking his family's ancestral homeland of Riyadh in 1902. In 1925 he took Hejaz and in 1932 would unite all his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1925 and 1927 Clayton made important voyages to Jeddah to meet with King Abdulaziz over the future of the Arabian Peninsula. These conferences culminated in the pivotal 1927 Treaty of Jeddah, in which the United Kingdom recognized the King's sovereignty over Hejaz and Nejd, and in return Abdulaziz would hold back his forces from attacking the neighboring British protectorates. As recently revealed by the release of British Intelligence documents, the two continued to have secret meetings in 1928 to settle the borders of present-day Iraq with the emerging Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The records of these meetings, mostly typescripts and carbon copies, sold at Sotheby's in 2010 for more than $500,000. Photographic records of these critical and closely guarded negotiations are extremely rare; the only other one known is in the personal collection of the Antonius family. Even the Sotheby's archive included only photographs and slides of Clayton's funeral, and none of his meetings with Ibn Saud. - With French press caption printed on the reverse ("photo Meurisse - mention obligatoire").
|
|
|
Jurjani, Zayn al-Din Abu Ibrahim Isma'il bin Husayn al-.
Dhakhirah-i Khwarazm-Shahi. [Probably Anatolia, ca. 1490 / late 15th century CE].
Arabic manuscript on paper with somewhat wavy laid lines only (335 x 239 mm; text area 263 x 176 mm), 544 ff., written in a tidy nasta'liq, 35 lines to the page, text frame of red and blue rules, important words and phrases in red or in larger naskhi; chapter headings repeated in margins in a bold calligraphic script, several marginal annotations in various contemporary and later hands. Early 20th century brown roan preserving covers of contemporary morocco binding blind-stamped with a single tool to form a central motif of three interlocking lozenges, smaller lozenges above and below, blind-stamped corner-pieces. Very rare Arabic translation of Al-Jurjani's important medical compendium, the first major medical text written in the Persian language. - Al-Jurjani (d. 1136) "went to live in Khwarizm in 504/1110 and became attached to the Khwarizmshahs Kutb al-Din Muhammad, to whom he dedicated his 'Dhakirah', and Atsiz b. Muhammad [...] His 'Dhakirah Khwarizmshahi', probably the first medical Encyclopaedia written in Persian and containing about 450,000 words, is one of the most important works of its kind; it also exists in an Arabic version, and was translated into Turkish and (in an abbreviated form) into Hebrew" (Encyclopaedia of Islam). - Modelled on the Qanun of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the "Dhakirah" is divided into ten books, covering: definition and utility of medicine, and the structure and powers of the human body; health and disease, in general, including causes and symptoms of disease, and accidents of the body; the preservation of health; diagnosis, crisis and prognosis; fevers and their treatment; local diseases and their treatment; tumours, ulcers and so forth; the care of the external parts of the body (hair, skin, nails, and so on); poisons and antidotes; and simple and compound drugs. - Binding stained and rubbed. Various seal impressions (some erased) on first and second leaves and at end of text. Paper shows some splashes, soiling and staining, first leaf re-attached and with loss of one or two words on verso (sense recoverable), margins of last few leaves strengthened, but generally in good, sound condition. Provenance: Abdul-Malik bin Mahmud al-Mausuli al-tabib ("the physician"), with his ownership inscription dated 5 Rajab 913 AH (10 Nov. 1507) at the Mu'ayiddi hospital in Mosul; the distinguished German ophthalmologist and Arabist Max Meyerhof (1874-1945), with his bookplate on the front pastedown. GAL I, 487 & S I, 889. Cf. Keshavarz, A descriptive and analytical catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, pp. 52-54 & p. 149. Fihrist records no copies of the Arabic translation.
|
|
|
Leo Africanus, Johannes (al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi).
Historiale description de l'Afrique, tierce partie du monde. Lyon, Jean Temporal, 1556.
Folio (305 x 200 mm). Vol. 1 (of 2) only. (40), 495, (23) pp. Wood-engraved title border, double-page woodcut map of Africa, including Arabia, and 26 illustrations, all but one coloured by a contemporary hand. 18th c. mottled calf with giltstamped red label to fully gilt spine. Marbled endpapers. Scarce first French edition of the famous description of Islamic Africa and Arabia, with the illustrations coloured by a contemporary hand; the first collection of voyages printed in France. The book was originally written in Arabic around 1526 by the Berber Andalusi geographer and traveller al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi (ca. 1494-ca. 1554), known in the West as Johannes Leo Africanus, translated into Italian by the author and first published in Venice in 1550. The Arabian Peninsula is depicted nearly complete on the double-page woodcut map and is treated extensively in the first chapter, which contains information on its people, cities, geography, religion, customs, costumes, etc. Illustrations include Arabian camels and veiled women. - Johannes Leo took his Christian name from his sponsor Pope Leo X when he converted to Christianity after his capture in 1520. While still very young he began to travel widely in the Barbary States; in 1513 he appears to have started on his famous Sudan and Sahara journeys (1513-15). In 1516-17 he travelled to Constantinople, probably visiting Egypt on the way; it is more uncertain when he visited Arabias, Armenia and Tartary. His three Egyptian journeys, immediately after the Turkish conquest, all probably fell between 1517 and 1520; on one of these he ascended the Nile from Cairo to Aswan. - Binding somewhat rubbed; spine head and hinges professionally repaired. Repairs to lower margin of first two leaves (very slight loss of title border), some toning and soiling, water- and inkstains. Very occasional marginal tears or worming. Early marginalia and ink ownerships on title page ("Pacauld" and "Ex Bibliotheca Joh. Huyseri", i. e. Johann Huyser). No other auction record of a coloured copy in RBH or ABPC. Adams L 482. Howgego A17. Gay 258. USTC 1136. Sabin 40044.
|
|
|
[Ottoman-Austrian Trade Agreement].
Handlungseinverständniß zwischen dem kaiserl. königl. Hofe, und der ottomanischen Pforte zum Vortheile der österreichischen Handlung unter dem Namen Sined, oder Einverständnis geschlossen den 24. Hornung 1784. Wien, (Baumeister for) Sebastian Hartl, 1785.
8vo. 276 pp. With a folding table printed on both sides. Early 20th c. half cloth over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title. First edition. - Contains the text of the Trade Agreement of 24 March 1784 as well as earlier similar treaties: trade and shipping accords closed as part of the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, articles concerning trade as part of the Peace of Carlowitz in 1739, and the 1783 trade engagement between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The extensive final section (pp. 165ff.) contains tables of the prices for various products manufactured in Austrian factories "to facilitate and make more transparent the trade with Turkey", giving prices for a vast array of wares, such as mirrors, crockery, silverware, boxes and cases, toys, cloth and socks, etc.). - Title-page stained and wrinkled with and old Hungarian stamp and paper flaws (rebacked with insignificant loss), some further staining to fol. G1, otherwise a very good copy. Kress p. 5073. Wernigg 5849.
|
|
|
Prideaux, Humphrey.
Mahometto Den. [Translated by Tadasu Hayashi]. Tokyo, Higashi Kan'ichi, Meiji 9 [1876].
8vo. 2 vols. 88, 47 ff. Original Japanese fukuro-toji bindings. First Japanese edition: the first Japanese book on the life of the prophet Muhammad, drawn from Prideaux's "The True Nature of Imposture Fully Display'd in the Life of Mahomet" (1697) and translated into Japanese by Hayashi Tadasu, later to become Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs. Rare as a complete two-volume set. - Bindings very slightly stained, otherwise fine. Cf. Chauvin XI, 185f., 656ff. (other editions).
|
|
|
[Qur'an].
Illuminated Qur'an manuscript. [Ottoman Empire], [1807 CE] = 1222 H.
8vo (165 x 105 mm). Illuminated Arabic ms. on paper. 312 ff., 15 lines, Naskh script. Black ink on polished paper. Double-page 'unwan on first two pages shows elaborate gilt ornamentation; ornamental colophon. Borders in red, black and gold. Gold discs between verses, sura headings written in gold. Blindstamped and gilt calf. Signed by a copyist named Hafez 'Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-ma'ruf, "Ahmad the Hafez" (respect title bestowed on those who have proved to know the entire Quran by heart), son of the renowned ‘Ahmad’, as quoted (underlined) in the colophon: Kataba hada-l mushaf as-sarif adafu ibad-‘Allah al-Kabir al-Mutaal Hafez ‘Ahmad, ibn ‘Ahmad almaruf,ba-yawwab-e (?) halifa-zade Hamidu-llah Taala [...] (literally, ‘he who wrote this noble Qur'an is a very foolish slave of God the Greatest, the Exalted, named Hafez ‘Ahmad, son of the renowned Ahmad, servant (?) of Hamidu-llah Taala, offspring of the Caliph […]’), etc. - Binding partially restored, in good condition.
|
|
|
[U.S. Navy Middle East Force]. (Brown, J. C. [ed.]).
A Record of the Cruise of the U.S.S. Greenwich Bay April 30, 1949 to November 1, 1949. No place, [1950].
Small folio (220 x 276 mm). 99, (1) pp. Illustrated throughout. Original blue cloth with gilt title "GB AVP 41" stamped to upper cover. Commemorative publication "written, compiled and produced by [the] officers and men" of the U.S.S. Greenwich Bay after the ship's first tour of duty to the Persian (Arabian) Gulf as flagship for the Commander of the U.S. Navy Middle East Force. In the foreword, Commander K. G. Hensel acknowledges the Gulf as "one of the oldest yet least known parts of the world", a historic region that has "served for thousands of years as pathway of commerce by caravan and by dhow. Today, these areas are strategically among the most important that exist anywhere on the surface of the globe" (p. 3). - The small seaplane tender "Greenwich Bay" departed Norfolk on 30 April 1949 for a six-month mission, four months of which were spent in the Gulf area based at Bahrein, calling at Kuwait, Ras al Misha'ab, Ras Tanura, Sharjah, and Muscat before returning to Norfolk on 1 November. Every year thereafter the ship would repeat this duty, sailing through the Mediterranean to operate as flagship in the Red Sea, Gulf, and Indian Ocean for 4 to 6 months. In total, the "Greenwich Bay" made 15 Mediterranean deployments. This fully illustrated record contains rare images of a fire at Aramco's Ras Tanura oilfield that scorched the ship's hull, scenes from Manama, Bahrein, the "distinguished guests" who visited aboard (dignitaries of the Gulf countries visited, including a portrait of HRH Faisal al Saud on board the "Greenwich Bay"), etc. In addition to operating with foreign naval units in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Gulf, and Indian Ocean, the "Greenwich Bay" performed extensive work in the People-to-People programme, particularly in carrying drugs and other medical supplies to Arab and African nations, and operated as an important tool of diplomacy in the region. - Light brownstaining to endpapers, otherwise a fine copy of a rare, privately printed work whose press-run likely did not exceed the number of the crew: 20 officers and 206 men. Inserted are a 3-page assessment form "Military requirements for all men in the Navy" and a Bombay port receipt from the ship's call at Bombay in July 1949.
|
|
|
[Aswan Dam Construction].
A collection of more than 250 vintage photographs of the construction of the Aswan Dam. Upper Egypt, ca. 1899-1910.
A total of 267 photographs of construction work on the Aswan Dam. Comprises 190 large photographs (ca 25 x 30 cm), frequently with captions in the negative, mainly by D. S. George but also including A. Gianny and G. Kemble Bolam of Cairo (56 tipped in to an album and captioned, 21 loosely inserted within another album, 108 stored loosely within a portfolio, and 5 separately matted). Also, 77 smaller photographs (gelatin prints) of the dam and its environs, ca 15 x 18 cm (including a few duplicates), in an envelope. An impressive collection of photographs detailing the construction and opening of the Aswan Low Dam between 1899 and 1902 and of the work to raise it in 1907-1912. The images (frequently captioned in English on reverse) include views of the navigation channel in various stages of completion, the countless hundreds of local workers toiling in the unfinished West Channel and on the masonry of Bab el Maroum, the locks, trenches, Asyut Barrage, the accumulator house, the inauguration ceremony, but also a friendly football match between the "10th Soudanese Regiment (Blacks)" and the "Whites" (final score: Blacks 0, Whites 5). A stark panoramic shot shows the solar eclipse of 28 May 1900 above the Mohammed Ali Channel, seen from Awad. - Owing to its rainless climate Egypt has always depended on the annual flooding of the Nile for irrigation. The Aswan dam was designed by eminent British engineers to provide storage of annual floodwater and to augment dry season flows; construction about 1000 kilometres up the river from Cairo was begun in February 1899 by the London-based contractor John Aird & Co. Nothing of its scale had ever been attempted; on completion, it was the largest masonry dam in the world. It created an artificial lake extending 200 miles up the valley, partly submerging Ptolemy's temple on the island of Philae. The 1.25 mile-long dam with 180 sluice gates cost 3 million pounds sterling. It was opened by the Khedive on 10 December 1902. Originally limited in height by conservation concerns, the dam worked as designed but provided inadequate storage capacity for planned development and was raised between 1907 and 1912. The heightening still did not meet irrigation demands, and in the 1960s the Aswan High Dam was built 6 kilometres upstream. - A few nicks along the edges, some gelatin prints somewhat faded and with occasional creases. Mats generally foxed, with some foxing to the matted images, but on the whole an outstandingly preserved ensemble printed in rich, crisp detail.
|
|
|
Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Avicennae summi inter Arabes medici Fen I lib. I canonis. In usum Gymnasii Patavini, Editio correctior. Padua, Paolo Frambotti, 1636.
12mo. 140, (2) pp., final blank leaf. - (Bound with) II: Hippocrates. Aphorismorum sectiones VII. Nicolao Leoniceno Vicentino interprete. Accessit octava ex Ant. Musae Brasavoli commentariis. Ibid., 1649. (36), 111, (1) pp. - (Bound with) III: Galenus. Ars medicinalis. Nicolao Leoniceno interprete. Ibid., 1642. (12), 173, (1) pp., final blank leaf. Contemporary limp vellum. A fine Padovan 17th century manual assembling the great ancient and mediaeval medical works, published separately, in a single handy volume. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and beyond, the compulsory teaching matter of Avicenna's monumental "Qanun" always included the part on physiology in the first fen of book 1, which expounds the general principles of medicine. The present edition is bound with the principal works of Hippocrates and Galen, both edited by the Italian physician and humanist Niccolò Leoniceno (1428-1524). - Some browning and brownstaining. 18th century annotations to flyleaf; ownership of Antonio Barduni (?) to front pastedown. An appealing pocket-sized set containing in a nutshell the staples of the old medical schools from which European medical training was in the process of breaking free. Cf. Krivatsy 499, 4508. Not in Wellcome.
|
|
|
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) / Betti, Antonio Maria.
In IIII. fen primi canonis Avic. commentarius doctissimus, nunc primum in lucem editus impressus anno LX sed hucusque (immerito) incognitus. Bologna, Giovanni Rossi, 1591.
Folio (301 x 220 mm). (14 [including final blank]), 320 ff. (without the two final leaves cited by Edit 16 but not required by Durling). Title printed in red and black with woodcut device. Modern full vellum on 3 raised bands. Well-produced reissue of the 1560 first edition of this commentary to the 4th Fen of Book 1 of Avicenna's "Qanun", by the Bologna professor of logics and medicine, A. M. Betti (1480-1562). This part, the text of which is provided in full, is dedicated to general therapy, a staple of the compulsory teaching matter at mediaeval and Renaissance medical schools, if not one of the chapters most frequently to engender extensive published commentaries. Indeed, Avicenna's systematic "Canon of Medicine", written in Arabic but widely translated throughout the Middle Ages, remained the basis of medical training in the West until the latter half of the 16th century, when it gradually began to fall out of the syllabus at most European universities, not disappearing entirely until the mid-17th century. It continues in use to this day in parts of the Arab world. Through this encyclopedic work, the author exerted "perhaps a wider influence in the eastern and western hemispheres than any other Islamic thinker" (PMM). - A single edge flaw to fol. 263 (remargined by an earlier owner). A good, wide-margined copy showing minimal browning, rebound in contemporary style. Edit 16, CNCE 5658. Durling 401. Adams B 844. Not in BM-STC Italian or Wellcome.
|
|
|
Hottinger, Johann Heinrich.
Historia orientalis quae ex variis orientalium monumentis collecta, agit de Muhammedismo, de Saracenismo, de Chaldaismo, de statu Christianorum & Judaeorum tempore orti & nati Muhammedismi. Editio posterior. Zurich, Johann Jakob Bodmer, 1660.
(20), 600, (24) pp. Text in Latin, Hebrew and Arabic. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. 4to. Fine copy of the authoritative second edition of Hottinger's chief work, expanded by several long sections in the original languages. "One of the most significant contributions to the history of Islam to have been published in the seventeenth century" and "a groundbreaking account of the history and basic tenets of Islam which relied almost entirely on authentic Islamic sources" (Loop). Principal work of the theologian Hottinger (1620-67), a founder of oriental linguistics. Includes extensive chapters on the Prophet's genealogy, the main doctrines and the religious context of Islam, as well as many lengthy quotations in Arabic. While preparing the "Historia Orientalis", Hottinger had to cope with several problems, the most important being the lack of Arabic printing types. In the first edition of 1651 he had solved this issue by transliterating the Arabic quotations into Hebrew and using Hebrew letters with 'niqquds' to cover the Arabic alphabet. In the 1650s, however, the Swiss printers Johann Jakob and Heinrich Bodmer had started the casting of Arabic, Syriac and Samaritan types in their own foundry, and the present second edition of the "Historia" could be printed with Arabic types. Hottinger presents the entire body of knowledge about Islamic history and religion available at the time. He revised the first edition, published in 1651, during his stay in Heidelberg in 1655, where he had been summoned by the Elector Palatine. - Some browning as common, but an outstanding copy, with the handwritten ownership of Elisabeth Malainda (gift, dated Höchstädt, 28 Dec. 1676) on the pastedown. VD 17, 23:000384N. Chauvin XI, 577. Fück 91f. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 311. Fürst I, 414. Brunet III, 347. Durstmüller 147. Graesse III, 378. Paisey H-1725. BL-STC German 17th c. I, H-1725. Not in Smitskamp. Cf. Loop, "Johann Heinrich Hottinger (1620-1667) and the 'Historia Orientalis'", in: CHRC vol. 88 (2008), no. 2, pp. 169-203.
|
|
|
Low, Charles Rathbone.
History of the Indian Navy (1613-1863). London, Richard Bentley & Son, 1877.
8vo. 2 vols. XX, (8), 541, (1) pp. (final page of appendix erroneously bound at rear of vol. II). VI, 596 pp. Modern half calf over marbled boards, giltstamped labels to spine. The only published detailed history of the British Navy and its engagement with the Arabs of the Gulf. Covers specifically the British naval power in the Near and Middle East from the earliest days of the East India Company until its abolition in 1863. Forms the basis for studies of campaigns and exploration wherever the Bombay Marine operated: in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Laccadives, Maldives and west coast of India, the Andamans, Java and Burma. Of primary importance as a record of the history of the British presence in the Gulf, where the Bombay Marine served as police force, mail carrier, ethnographer, surveyor and, when necessary, strike force for over three centuries - in particular in the period when British relations with the Gulf sheikhdoms were being consolidated. Includes detailed accounts of hydrographic surveys by the Indian Navy, including those in the Gulf. Never surpassed as a history of the maritime arm of India's foreign policy. - A finely preserved copy. Macro 1492. NMM V, 2273.
|
|
|
[Mesopotamia].
Lower Mesopotamia Between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. London, War Office, Geographical Section, General Staff (George Philip & Son, London Geographical Institute), [1917].
Lithographed map, 632 x 704 mm, printed in brown and blue. Cut into sections, mounted on cloth, folded. 1907 War Office map, with additions and corrections dated August 1916, covering south-eastern Iraq, south-western Iran, Kuwait, and the upper Gulf. Shows physical features, the Turco-Persian frontier, ethnic and tribal society, populated places, cultivated land, major ancient and modern roads, railways, waterways, and communication lines ("a telephone runs along the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's pipe line"). Relief shown by gradient tints, contour, and spot heights. Includes geographic notes on selected locations, reference to Arabic words, and bibliographic sources of additional information. - One segment nearly detached; trimmed closely along lower edge. Ownership of the Rev. S. Strachen Rogers, C.F., on title label. Geographical Section, General Staff, No. 2563.
|
|
|
Nallino, Carlo Alfonso.
Raccolta di scritti editi e inediti. Rome, Istituto per l'Oriente, 1939-1944.
8vo. 5 volumes (instead of 6, lacking the final volume). With numerous photo plates. Original printed wrappers. The collected works of the Italian oriental scholar C. A. Nallino (1872-1938), who published his first treatise on Arab geography and astronomy at the age of 21. In 1938 he travelled in the Arabian Peninsula for two months, but died in Rome shortly after his return. The volume on Saudi Arabia, with which the series was inaugurated, was his last work. The second volume covers Islam ("dogmatica, súfisme, confraternite"), vol. 3 "Storia dell'Arabia preislamica. Storia e istituzioni musulmane"; vol. 4 "Diritto musulmano. Diritti orientali cristiani"; vol. 5 "Astrologia. Astronomia. Geografia". A final volume on literature, linguistics and philosophy was to be published in 1948. - Wrappers slightly chipped in places. Contemporary shelfmark numbers stamped to title-pages. Untrimmed and uncut as issued. Macro 1682. OCLC 5324614.
|
|
|
Rödiger, Emil.
De origine et indole Arabicae librorum V.T. historicorum interpretationis libri duo. Halle, (Hendel for) Kümmel, 1829.
Large 4to (252 x 295 mm). X, 115, (1) pp. Printed original wrappers. First edition of Rödiger's thesis that earned its author the right to lecture in theology as well as a professorship of oriental languages at the University of Halle. Rödiger (1801-74) denied that the Arabic version of the Old Testament's historical books was derived from the Alexandrian translation: instead, he proved that the Arabic translation of the Book of Judges, Ruth, and the Books of Samuel as well as of several parts of the Books of Kings and of Nehemiah as published in the Paris and London Polyglots was based on the Syriac Bible and constituted the work of several Christian writers of the 13th and 14th centuries. Other parts of the Books of Kings and of Nehemiah, he showed, were translated into Arabic by an 11-century Jewish author directly from the Hebrew text. - Some browning and foxing throughout. Old French library stamps to title-page. Spine reinforced with later paper. Uncut, untrimmed copy. ADB XXIX, 26.
|
|
|
Somer, Jan.
Johann Sommers See- und Land-Reyß nach der Levante, das ist nach Italien, Candia, Cypern, Rhodis Egypten, Syrien, Gelobten Lande, Constantinopel und von dar wider durch Ungarn, Italien und Teutschland nach Mittelburg nach Hauß [...]. Frankfurt, Johann Frantz for Wilhelm Serlin, 1664.
4to. (8), 200 pp. With 8 engraved plates (some with touches of colour, two folded). - (Bound with) II: Wenner, Adam. Türckisches Reisebuch von Prag aus biß gen Constantinopel [...]. Nuremberg, Johann Andreas Endter & Wolfgang Endter's heirs, 1665. (8), 135, (5) pp. Title printed in red and black. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title to spine. Exceedingly rare Mediterranean travelogue: one of two German editions published in the same year (the other, an entirely different translation, by Cunradus in Amsterdam; the Nuremberg edition cited by several bibliographies is fictitious). Dutch editions had previously appeared in 1649 (the first) and in 1661. Although the Amsterdam-published German edition dates the journey to 1640-42, the Dutch first edition as well as the present translation make it clear that it had taken place as early as 1590-92! Somer's voyage began inauspiciously - he was captured by a Turkish galley in the harbour of Famagusta and briefly enslaved, but was soon set free after the French consul at Alexandria intervened for him. In spite of this episode, he travelled the Ottoman Empire at a time of relative peace (the Long Turkish War with the Habsburgs would not break out until 1593), spending several months in Egypt, Constantinople and Palestine. His colourful account includes a description of desert sandstorms and the trade in Egyptian mummies (not all of them ancient) as well as extensive chapters on Constantinople, the Ottoman court, the ubiquitous baths, Turkish customs and manners, the Muslim faith, curses and magic, etc. Somer returned via then-Ottoman Greece and Hungary, which he also describes. An appendix (pp. 170ff.) contains A. Stockram's topical account of the voyage of the Dutch ship Arnheim, which foundered off Mauritius on the return from Batavia. The translation is credited to "Philemerus Irenicus Elisius" (i.e., Martin Meyer). Rare; the last copy in auction records sold in 1983 (Erasmushaus, an incomplete reissue with only 5 views). - Bound after this is the second edition of A. Wenner's narrative of the Imperial embassy to the Porte in 1616-18, to ratify the Treaty of Zsitvatorok. Wenner served as secretary to the embassy; his "book is a day-to-day account of the journey to Constantinople from Prague, and includes a list of all the entourage from nobles to the apothecary, goldsmith, musicians, tailors, cooks, and so on. A list of presents for the sultan, with their values, is also given" (Atabey). The Treaty of Zsitvatorok "was a landmark in Turkish-European diplomatic relations, when the Turks first began to observe the general principles and courtesies of international law, and to exchange special ambassadors on an equal footing with European nations" (Blackmer). - Some browning throughout due to paper, more pronounced in Somer's work, the title-page of which shows an unobtrusive tear in the upper edge. Contemporary handwritten ownership "Bocken" to recto of flyleaf; verso has stamp and 1978 ownership of the Viennese collector Werner Habel (1939-2015). I: VD 17, 23:231760C. Tobler 86. Röhricht p. 217, no. 820. Paulitschke 532; Ternaux-Compans, Bibliothèque asiatique et africaine, 1977 (both have "Nuremberg" in error for Frankfurt). Cf. Weber II, 216 (Amsterdam German ed.); Kat d. Scheepvart Mus. I, 254f. (Dutch eds.). Not in Atabey, Blackmer, Aboussouan, Howgego, Henze, Cox, or Chauvin. - II: VD 17, 23:234557B. Cf. Atabey 1326; Blackmer 1783; Brunet VI.2, 435 (all for the 1622 first edition). Not in Röhricht, Tobler, Aboussouan or Brunet.
|
|
|
(Ulloa, Alfonso de).
La historia dell'impresa di Tripoli di Barbaria, fatta per ordine del sereniss. re catolico, l'anno MDLX. Con le cose avenute a Christiani nell'isola delle Zerbe. Nuovamente mandata in luce. Venice ("Venevia"), Francesco Rampazetto, 1566.
4to. (7) ff., 1 blank f., (4) ff. With woodcut device on title, large historiated woodcut initials, and an additional engraved folding plan of Tripolis (204 x 285 mm), not called for by bibliographies. 18th century full vellum with giltstamped red morocco label to spine (very similar to the bindings done for the Venetian library of Giacomo Soranzo). First dated publication of Ulloa's account of the siege of Tripolis in Italian. Includes the three-page dedication to Johann Jakob Fugger - the only place in the book where Ulloa's name appears. The author, a courtier of King Philip II, celebrates the defence of St Angelo's fortress on Malta, modern Libya. - In the 1551 Siege of Tripoli, the Ottoman fleet vanquished the Knights of Malta in Tripoli; the city was captured on 15 August by Sinan Pasha after six days of bombardment. The knights, many of them French, were returned to Malta upon the intervention of the French ambassador, and shipped onboard his galleys, while the mercenaries were enslaved. Murad Agha, the Ottoman commander of Tajura since 1536, was named as the Pashalik of the city. The siege was the first step in the all-out Italian War of 1551-59 in the European theatre. In 1553, Dragut was nominated commander of Tripoli by Suleiman, making the city a centre for piratical raids in the Mediterranean and the capital of the Ottoman province of Tripolitania. In a famous attack from Tripoli, in 1558, Dragut attacked Reggio and took all its inhabitants as slaves to Tripoli. In 1560, a powerful naval force was sent to recapture Tripoli, but that force was defeated in the Battle of Djerba, an event also described in Ulloa's book. The end of the volume is brought up by an interesting four-page account of Malta ("Descrittione dell'Isola di Malta") and a list of the names of Christian knights who died in the siege. The fine engraved plate bound after the preliminaries, entitled "Il vero disegno del porto, della città, della fortezza, et del sito dove è posta Tripoli di Barbaria. Ven. l'anno 1567 alla libreria della Colonna" appeared a year after the book. It is engraved by Paolo Forlani. - A clean, well preserved copy. Edit 16, CNCE 37528. BM-STC Italian 704. Gay 1494. Palau 343.401. Göllner 1134. Graesse VI, 224. Olschki L II, 222. Cf. Mortimer 509 (with note on this edition). Not in Adams, Blackmer or Aboussouan. This edition not in Atabey.
|
|
|
[Constantinople].
Vues de Constantinople / Views of Constantinople. Istanbul, Christian Roth, [ca. 1880].
Oblong 8vo (150 x 105 mm). Leporello booklet of 12 glossy lithographed plates and two folding lithographed colour maps. Contemporary red cloth with blindstamped cover borders and giltstamped title to upper cover. A panorama of Constantinople on 10 consecutive plates (altogether ca. 1450 x 95 mm); two additional plates show views of the Hagia Sophia (then a mosque) and the fountain in the Yeni Cami (New Mosque). Important sights, buildings, bridges and districts are labelled in the panoramic view of Constantinople. The maps are titled "Plan von Constantinopel mit den Vorstädten, dem Hafen und einem Theil des Bosporus" and "Constantinopel und der Bosporus. Reduction nach der Aufnahme des Freiherrn v. Moltke auf 1/4 der Grösse des Originals. Maasstab 1:100.000". - Binding slightly rubbed.
|
|
|
Kunos, Ignaz (ed.).
Türkische Volksmärchen aus Stambul. Leiden, Brill, (1905).
8vo. XXXII, 410 pp. Original half cloth with giltstamped spine title. All edges marbled. First edition of this collection of Ottoman fairy tales, translated and with an introduction by the Hungarian linguist, turkologist, and folklorist Ignác Kúnos (1860-1945).- Binding somewhat bumped at extremeties, inner hinges and first flyleaf cracked.
|
|
|
Monterroyo Mascarenhas, José Freire de.
Oran conquistado ou relacam histórica, em que se dà noticia desta Praça, da sua conquista, e da sua perda, e restauração, colhida de varios avisos [...]. Lisbon, Oficina de Pedro Ferreira Impressor da Serenissima Rainha N. S., 1732.
4to. 20, (4) pp. Sewn. First edition. - Rare work on the Spanish expedition against Muslim Oran. After a survey of the history and geography of Oran (in modern Algeria), the author describes the preparations for the expedition to recapture the city, enumerates the Spanish leaders, and gives details of the Spanish naval and military attacks on sites in and around Oran in June and July 1732. The captain-general of the expedition was José Carrillo de Albornoz, first Duke of Montemar, who had fought in the War of the Spanish Succession and the War of the Quadruple Alliance; at this time he was viceroy of Sicily. Facing p. 20 is the plan of battle for the Spanish forces. The map on the verso shows the harbour at Oran, the town, and the half-dozen fortresses surrounding it, as well as the position of the Spanish navy during the battle. The final leaf has the key to the map on its recto, with the verso blank. Freire de Monterroyo Mascarenhas explains in the dedication that he compiled this account from many shorter accounts, because the public was eager to learn about the reconquest. Oran, which was in Spanish hands since 1509, had been captured by the Turks in 1708, while Spain was preoccupied with the War of the Spanish Succession. Spain held the city from 1732 until 1792, when it suffered a massively destructive earthquake and King Charles IV handed the city back to the Ottoman Empire. - Light waterstaining; a few leaves detached.
|
|
|
Al-Bakri, Abu Ubayd Abdallah ibn Abdalaziz / Slane, William MacGuckin (ed.).
[Kitab al-Mughrib fi dhikr bilad Ifriqiyah wa-al-Maghrib. Wa-huwa juz min ajza al-kitab al-ma`ruf bi-al-Masalik wa-al-mamalik.] Description de l'Afrique septentrionale. Alger, Imprimerie du gouvernement, 1857.
8vo. 19, 212, (1) pp. Contemporary boards with gilt spine label. First edition of this geography of northern Africa, extracted from the author's "Kitab al-mamalik wa-al-masalik" ("Book of Highways and of Kingdoms", a manual of universal geography). In Arabic throughout save for the French introduction. A second edition would not appear until 1910. The 11th century Andalusian Arab historian al-Bakri is regarded as the greatest geographer of the Muslim West. His works are noted for the relative objectiveness with which they present information. For each area, he describes the people, their customs, as well as the geography, climate and main cities. "The work, which contains no maps, appears to be independent from al-Balhi and based on original research. According to Simonet, his description of the Isles of the Blessed (Fortunatas, Canary Islands), quoted by al-Nuwairi, is taken from the Etymologiae of Isidor of Seville" (cf. Brockelmann). - Binding rubbed and bumped; hinges split; spine chipped. Interior shows some browning and foxing, but altogether a well-preserved copy of a rare Algerian imprint. GAL I, 476; S I, 876. OCLC 9294002.
|
|
|
[Alf layla wa-layla - English].
The Adventure Of Hunch-Back, and the Stories Connected With It (From The Arabian Nights Entertainments). London, printed for William Daniell by Thomas Davison, 1814.
Folio (330 x 413 mm). (2), 99, (1) pp. With 17 India-proof mounted engravings with tissue guards. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with blind-and gilt-tooled ornamentation, spine recently rebacked. First separate edition: the story of the Hunchback from "The Arabian Nights' Entertainment", in the translation by the Rev. Edward Foster initially published in 1802, with engravings by William Daniell (1769-1837) after paintings by Robert Smirke (1752-1845). "What Brian Alderson has called the 'cocoa-table book' formula was applied to the 'Nights' as early as 1814, when William Daniell's 'The Adventure of Hunch-back' appeared, a handsome selection from Forster's adult version (Wiliam Miller, 1802, repr. 1810) intended as a juvenile complement to the adult book. The latter was produced in a small as well as large format, but, with their magnificent engravings by, among others, William Daniell from Robert Smirke's paintings, all three publications must have been beyond the pocket of most readers" (Caracciolo). - Some brownstaining and foxing throughout. Chauvin V, p. 181 (& cf. IV, p. 92, no. 239). Caracciolo, Arabian Nights In English Literature (1988), p. 39, with illustration (fig. 3). OCLC 2925884.
|
|
|
[Hungarian-Arabian horses.] - Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate, Trieste.
Autograph letter signed. Trieste, 14. VI. 1898.
8vo. 9 pp. On three bifolia attached to one another with green string. A letter by a member of the British Consulate in Trieste, apparently written to a British official in Cyprus, responding to an enquiry regarding "the probable price of a pair of horses about 15 hands". "The kind of horses that you speak of are known here as 'Jukers', light, active, strong [...], fast trotting, able to go 14 kilometres an hour. A pair of horses of such description 5 years old & sound will cost about fls 1200 or say £100. Hungarian horses in my opinion will suit the best for your Island as they have Arab blood in them". The writer explains that he is not a dealer himself, "but being very fond of horses & having many native friends in India I have very often occasions to buy for them & also for my brother, who resides in Bombay at present". He explains that "no good horses are to be found in Trieste", and that "as a rule" he visits "the fairs in the interior" to buy horses. He names the four breeding farms of the Hungarian Government and describes the types of horses bred at each ("lastly the Fogaras stud, where stallions from the Lipizza private farm belonging to the Emperor are supplied"). Describes the auction of the "superfluous horses of these establishments of the age of 4 & 5" at "Tattersall's in Budapest in the 1st week of October", with prices for each type of horse, giving examples from his own experience. "Two British Cavalry officers belonging to the Egyptian Army came over here in the Autumn of 1896. They bought 60 remounts for the Egyptian cavalry. The Greek Cavalry & Artillery are wholly supplied with horses from Hungary". While discussing "sires for breeding purposes" he mentions that he knows "the Director of the Lipizza farm [...] personally" and gives the price at which he is offered superior horses by him. Ends with details of possible "charge for freight on each horse to Cyprus". - Text clear and complete.
|
|
|
[Isfahan].
Noticia certa de hum grande caso, succedido na cidade de Ispaham no reyno da Persia a que se ajunta a descripçam geografica do mesmo reyno & c. Lisbon, [publisher not identified], 1758.
4to. 8 pp. Sewn. Rare 1758 Portuguese account of the city of Isfahan, formerly the capital of Persia, published during the uneasy period in Iranian history between the end of Nader Shah's reign and the rise of the Qajar dynasty, more than a century after the Portuguese had withdrawn from the Gulf. WorldCat lists copies in Harvard, Ann Arbor, Princeton, British Library, Cambridge Univ., and Tübingen. - Well-preserved. Floor/Hakimzadeh, Acta Iranica, p. 32. OCLC 22325642.
|
|
|
Mehmed Efendi (Yirmisekiz Çelebi).
Relation de l'ambassade de Mehemet-Effendi, a la cour de France, en MDCCXXI. Paris, Louis-Étienne Ganeau, 1757.
Small 8vo. (4), XII, 233, (1) pp. Contemporary full calf with gilt spine; leading edges gilt. All edges red. First edition, translated from Ottoman Turkish by Julien-Claude Galland. Mehmet Effendi (1680-1732) served as Ottoman ambassador to Paris between 1720 and 1721. Composed for Sultan Ahmet III and his Grand Vizier, his account, originally entitled "The Paradise of the Unfaithful", helped to change the image of European culture, lifestyle, and literature in the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, this is the first Turkish embassy of which we have a written account ("Sefaretname"). It was of special significance for the introduction of printing into Turkey, as Mehmet's son Said Effendi accompanied him and became convinced of the advantages of printing. On his return to Constantinople he began to petition to the Grand Vizier for permission to establish a press, and a few years later Ibrahim Müteferrika was famously licensed to print non-religious books: the beginning of "Ottoman book publishing in the Sultan's territory" (Neumann, p. 230). - A copy in the Bibliothèque nationale de France has an engraved portrait of the author, but this would appear to be a unique example: all other known copies were issued without a frontispiece (including the Atabey copy, formerly in the library of and bound for La Rochefoucauld, which commanded more than £3000 at Sotheby's in 2002). - Handwritten ownership "Bené" to pastedown; covers show insignificant traces of worming; a tear to the half-title repaired. A fine copy; rare. Atabey 471. OCLC 459449580. Cf. Christoph K. Neumann, Book and Newspaper Printing in Turkish, 18th-20th Centuries, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution (2002), p. 227-248. Not in Blackmer.
|
|
|
Naval Intelligence Division - Great Britain.
A Handbook of Mesopotamia. London, Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, 1916-1918.
8vo. 4 vols. (instead of 6). Vol. I: General. 360 pp., 3 colour folding maps at rear, tables. - Vol. II: Irak, The Lower Karun, and Luristan. 512 pp., 1 large folding plan and 1 folding map at rear pocket, 8 b/w photographic plates (spine slightly damaged, hinges weak, lacking title page). - Vol. III: General Mesopotamia with Southern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert. 416 pp., 1 large folding map at rear (modern cloth, new endpapers, glossary, appendix, index). - Vol. IV: Corrections and additions to Volume IV. Northern Mesopotamia and Central Kurdistan. 166 pp. (library bookplate verso front cover, small stamp on title page). Vol. III in modern library cloth, the rest in original cloth. Prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and the War Office for official use only, this Handbook gives an account of conditions in Mesopotamia (Iraq) for the most part as they were before the First World War. These volumes cover the boundaries and physical features of Iraq, its minerals, climate, fauna, administration, transport, irrigation, religion and agriculture. The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Intelligence Staff in 1965. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans and the collection of naval intelligence.
|
|
|
Plant, Johann Traugott.
Türkisches Staats-Lexicon, oder vollständige und wahre Erklärungen aller türkischen Staats- und Hofbedienungen im Militair-, Civil und geistlichen Stande, und richtige Vergleichung derselben mit unsern Bedienungen von gleichem Range [...]. Hamburg, Hoffmann, 1789.
8vo. (14), 194 pp. Modern marbled boards. Rare first edition: an interesting lexicon of Turkish and Persian words and phrases used in travel accounts and newspaper articles to describe court functionaries, decrees, and Ottoman and Muslim traditions. The notes provide valuable information on Turkish and Islamic customs, often running to short essays: the article on the Qur'an is more than four pages long, and that on the Prophet Muhammad five pages. The Atabey collection contained only the second edition, published at Weißenfels and Leipzig in 1793. - Cancelled old German library stamps. No copy in auction records. OCLC 312617599. Cf. Atabey 964. Not in Blackmer.
|
|
|
[Saudi Arabia - Transit Dues at Bahrain].
Treaty Series No. 7 (1936). Exchange of Notes between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Government of Saudi Arabia regarding Transit Dues at Bahrein. Jedda, November 16, 1935. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1936.
8vo. 7, (1) pp. Original wrapperless covers. Trade agreement regulating the trade of goods destined for or exported from ports in Saudi Arabia, and carried in ships calling at Bahrain. In English and Arabic. - Some rust-staining in gutter.
|
|
|
Sébah, P[ascal] / Beato, [Antoine] et al.
Photograph album. Egypt and Italy, mid-1870s.
Large folio (ca 35 x 47 cm). An album of 87 albumen photographs, mostly ca 36 x 26 cm to 26 x 20 cm, of which 17 show Egyptian locations. Mounted on cardboard leaves, bound in heavy, relief-stamped full calf. White moirée endpapers. All edges gilt. Among the Egyptian images (mostly unsigned, but several by Pascal Sébah and another by Antoine Beato) are a plan of the Suez Canal (with several inset images), Pompey's Column, the obelisk now known as "Cleopatra's Needle" (in New York City's Central Park), the Heliopolis Obelisk, the ruins of the ancient town of Hermonthis (Armant), the Sphinx, the Great Pyramid, a palm grove near Giza, groups of Arab men and women, street scenes, a panoramic view of Cairo, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, etc. Loosely inserted are a large (19 x 28 cm) portrait of an Arab warrior in Bedouin costume and a composite photo of eight portraits of Arab men and women in various types of local costume, with a handwritten note by the owner: "Bought at Port Said July 1876". The remainder of the photos of this fine souvenir album shows views and sights in Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Salerno, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Florence, and Pisa. - Binding rubbed and bumped, but a well-preserved set.
|
|
|
Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste.
Der Neu-eröffnete Türckische Pallast, Das ist Außführliche Beschreibung des Ottomannischen Serrail oder Residentz, und dessen so darin vorgehet [...]. Ins Teutsche übersetzet und dem Druck übergeben durch J. Menudier. Jena, Johann Gollner for Johann Bielke, 1680.
12mo. (20) pp., 1 blank leaf, 445, (5) pp., 3 blank leaves. Title printed in red and black. With engraved frontispiece. - (Bound with) II: Andrés, Juan. Des für 200 Jahren bekehrten Doctoris, Professoris und Praedicatoris der Muhammedischen Lehre, Johannis Andreae Mauri, nachdenckliches Buch, gegen den Mahomet und die Mahomedische falsche Lehre; von newen in Teutscher Sprache außgefertiget durch [Rudolf] Capell. Hamburg, Georg Wulff, 1685. (54), 218 pp., final blank. With engraved frontispiece. Contemporary vellum with handwritten spine title. Rare, early German edition of Tavernier's (1605-89) account of the Ottoman court drawn from his own observations. "The author's journey began in 1630. He went on a mission to Constantinople in 1636, or earlier. He states in the preface that much of his information regarding the seraglio was obtained from two former exployees of the Sultan, one a Frenchman, the other an italian, each of whom had served for many years" (Weber). The author also describes Ottoman ranks and court offices, as well as Ottoman coinage. - Bound after this is a very rare German edition of the widely received account of Islam provided by Juan Andrés, a converted Moor. First published in Spanish in 1515, it achieved immediate fame and was translated into many languages. "A crude anti-Islamic pamphlet by the Moor Abdallah, who took the Christian name of Johannes Andreas (Juan Andrés). The quotations from the Qur'an are often wildly distorted, and their interpretation biased - a fact which was even praised in the Paris edition of 1574" (cf. Göllner). - Some red underlining to Tavernier; some browning, but very well preserved. From the library of the Viennese collector Werner Habel, with his ownership stamp to front pastedown. His note of acquisition from 1976 is loosely inserted. I: VD 17, 39:126588G. Cf. Weber 270 ff. (other eds.), Graesse IV, 43 (1675 French ed.). Not in Cox. - II: VD 17, 23:286870C. Chauvin XII, p. 23, sub no. 86. Cf. Göllner I, 73 (1515 first ed.).
|
|
|
Teixeira, Pedro.
(The Travels of Peter Teixeira from India to Italy by Land.) A View of the Universe: or, a New Collection of Voyages and Travels Into All Parts of the World. With the Geography and History of Every Country [ed. by John Stevens]. London, J. Knapton et al., 1710.
4to. (2), 81, (7) pp. 19th century later half calf over cloth boards with giltstamped title to spine. All edges gilt. The account of the 1604/05 return voyage of the Portuguese merchant and adventurer Pedro Teixeira (1563-1645?), mentioning "Katifa (Al-Qatif) near Barhem (Bahrain)" in the Gulf (p. 15), Basra's trade with "Barhen, Catifa, Lasan, Persia, Bagdat, and all Arabia" (p. 16), as well as Badawin culture in Arabia (p. 21). Separately issued second part of the second volume of a collection of seven separate travel accounts compiled by John Stevens printed between 1708 and 1710 under the series title of "A View of the Universe", this one "for March 1710". - Contemporary handwritten ownership to title-page. Covers rubbed, with flaw to leather of upper cover. Slight, even browning; a good, wide-margined copy. Wiles, Serial Publication in England Before 1750 (1957), p. 272. Howgego, to 1800, T19, p. 1018.
|
|
|
Ahlwardt, Wilhelm.
Verzeichniss der Arabischen Handschriften der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin. Berlin, A. W. Schade (I) and A. Asher & Co. (II-X), 1887-1899.
4to. 10+1 volumes. With 12 photographic halftone plates of 62 manuscript specimens in vol. X. - Added: separate atlas issue of the 12 plates. Altogether 11 vols. in publisher's light blue printed boards. A complete set of the scarce original edition, published as volumes 7-9 and 16-22 of the giant general catalogue of the Berlin manuscript collections ("Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin"). Ahlwardt (1828-1909) was engaged in 1863 as cataloguer of the Arabian manuscripts. Until 1887 he classified, collated, described and excerpted some 12,000 works in ca 6000 volumes, including current accessions. The important collection was based on the precious library bequeathed by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez. It was gradually enlarged by the manuscript treasures purchased from leading German scholars such as Glaser, Landberg, Minutoli and Brugsch, Petermann, Sachau, Sprenger and Wetzstein. Ahlwardt's monumental catalogue is renowned for an unprecedented wealth of details both in physical and textual respect. It formed a pattern for a complete history of Arabic literature - theological, juridical, philosophical, scientific, linguistic, historical and poetical. Ahlwardt expanded on the customary manuscript catalogue entries by providing an exact outline of contents for each work catalogued. "When all ten volumes had been printed in 1899, Ahlwardt had created a work which by virtue of its scope and precision would remain of lasting value to the history of Arabic literature" (cf. Fück, Die Arabischen Studien in Europa, 1955, p. 192). - Bindings a little bumped, dust-soiled and faded in places, some edges foxed. A clean and very good set. NYPL (Arabia and the Arabs) p. 7.
|
|
|
[Alf layla wa-layla - English].
Arabian Nights Entertainments. Consisting of One Thousand and One Stories [...]. The twelfth edition. London, for T. Longman, 1767.
12mo. 4 vols. (12), 320 pp. 314, (2) pp. 301, (3) pp. 312 pp. Contemporary full mottled calf, spine, covers and leading edges gilt. A rare, early English edition based on Galland's liberal but highly influential French translation. Adapted to Parisian tastes, it had been first published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717. "Even before the last of Galland's volumes had been published in France, some of his stories had been translated into English and were circulating as cheap chap-books on the popular market" (R. Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, p. 19). "Galland's translation [...] was quickly translated into English and German. It enjoyed a most remarkable success throughout Europe, perceptible even in children's literature, and contributed significantly to the new image which enlightened Europeans entertained of the Islamic East: after Galland, this was no longer the home of the Antichrist and of accursed heresy, but rather the ever-constant Orient beneath an eternally fair sky, boasting splendid colours and unheard-of wealth, Caliphs, Viziers, and Kadis, harems, fairy-tale princes, fairies and genies, sorcerers and sages, a world of fantastic adventure and outrageous incidents" (cf. Fück, p. 101). - Hinges and spines professionally repaired in places. Light browning and reading marks; old auction lot ticket on vol. 2; clean cuts into the side of three leaves of vol. 4 (no loss to text). A well-preserved set with the blocks intact, all the same edition and uniformly bound. Only three copies listed via COPAC (British Library; Trinity College, Connecticut; Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania). ESTC N15877. OCLC 504545353. Cf. Chauvin IV, 185 D (1713: 4th ed.), 185 G (1769); 185 L (1778: 14th ed.).
|
|
|
(Balbi, Gasparo). De Bry, Johann Theodor.
Indiae Orientalis pars septima [...]. Frankfurt, Wolfgang Richter, 1606.
Folio (210 x 319 mm). (4), 126, (4) pp.; 22 ff. Title within engraved figurative border. With an engraved vignette, 22 engraved plates (2 of which are double-page-sized). Contemporary brown calf with gilt borders and decoration on middle of covers; blindtooled spine rebacked. Traces of ties. Book seven of Théodore de Bry's "Petits Voyages", the greatest single collection of material on early voyages to the East Indies, which is considered unique in its extraordinary wealth of cartographical and visual material. Crucially, this much-sought volume includes Gasparo Balbi's groundbreaking account of the Middle East, first published in 1590 as "Viaggio dell' Indie Orientali" - a mere 16 years before this present issue, making this the second appearance in print altogether and the first Latin translation. Balbi, a Venetian jewel merchant, travelled extensively in the Arabian Peninsula in search of precious stones. From Venice he sailed for Aleppo, proceeding to Bir and from there overland to Baghdad, descending the Tigris to Basra, where he embarked for India. While in the Gulf, he studied the pearl industry, noting that the best pearls were to be found at Bahrain and Julfar. He refers to islands in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (including Sir Bani Yas and Das) and to several coastal settlements that were to become permanently established, such as Dubai and Ras al Khaima. Balbi was the first to record the place names along the coast of modern Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Practically "none of the names of places on the coast between Qatar and Ras al Khaima occur in other sources before the end of the eighteenth century" (Slot). The volume also comprises the account of Joris von Spilbergen's voyage to Ceylon in 1601-04 (with excellent plates). - Calf slightly worn, some browning due to paper. Title browned in the margins; some foxing to plates. Contemporary ownership inscription of Thomas Knyvett in upper margin of title (partly obliterated by a later owner), dated 27 June 1608; also inscribed "perlegi (I finished reading) 20 Octob. 1608 Tho. Kny." near lower edge of the title. Armorial bookplate and later ownership of "T. Norcliffe" on inside of upper cover. Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet (also Knevytt, Knyvett, Knevett, Knevitt; 1545-1622) was an English courtier and Member of Parliament who played a part in foiling the Gunpowder Plot. Latterly the library of Swedish antiquarian bookdealer Björn Löwendahl (1941-2013). Brunet I, 1334. Church 206, 207, 208, 211, 212, 214, 217, 219, 221-225. Cf. Howgego I, B7. Ibrahim Al Abed, Peter Hellyer. United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective. London 2001. Slot, B. J. The Arabs of the Gulf, 1602-1784. Leidschendam, published with the support of the Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi, 1993. Geoffrey King. Delmephialmas and Sircorcor: Gasparo Balbi, Dalmâ, Julfâr and a problem of transliteration. In: Arabian archeology and epigraphy 17 (2006) 248-252. United Arab Emirates yearbook 2005 by Ibrahim Al-Abed, Paula Vine, Peter Hellyer. London 2005. The Heritage Library, Qatar, p. 17. Carter, Robert A. Sea of Pearls, p. 79.
|
|
|
Ibn Tagribirdi, Abu-'l-Mahasin Yusuf Ibn-`Abdallah / Carlyle, J[oseph] D[acre].
Maured Allatafet Jemaleddini Filii Togri-Bardii, seu rerum Aegyptiacarum annales, ab anno Christi 971, usque ad annum 1453. London, Cambridge, and Oxford, B. White & Sons, J. & J. Merrill, J. Fletcher & J. Cooke, 1792.
4to. (2), 132, VIII, 132, 55, (1) pp. Contemporary vellum. First edition of the annals of Egypt written by Jamaleddin Abul Mehassen. Original Arabic text followed by the Latin translation and Latin notes, each with separate pagination. - Occasional browning to text. An errata leaf follows the title page. Old library stamps of the Congregation of the Redemptorists, New York, and the Bibliotheca Mt. St. Alphonsus, Esopus, N.Y. - Rare. Schnurrer 184. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 25. Gay 2073. OCLC 165551800.
|
|
|
[Pirates of the Caribbean].
The Historical Register, Containing an Impartial Relation of all Transactions, Foreign and Domestick. With a Chronological Diary of all the Remarkable Occurrences [...] That Happen'd in This Year. Volume VI. For the Year 1721. London, H. M. for T. Norris, R. Gosling and H. Meere, [1722].
8vo. (2), 348, (6), 44 pp. Contemporary full mottled calf with gilt spine (hinges weakened, binding professionally restored and lacquered). All edges sprinkled red. Rare news journal containing the lengthiest entry on pirates known in any contemporary periodical, spanning eleven closely printed pages (pp. 246-256) that went on to be cited in numerous piracy studies. The relevant section begins with a report from Jamaica that the pirates have been so active that they now number about 1500. There is a letter from Andrew Kingston detailing the loss of his ship to John Roberts (also known as Bartholomew Roberts, and later "Black Bart") about four miles from Antigua, followed by proclamations and speeches of Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, and an attempt by him to collect recompense from the alcaldes of Trinidad in Cuba ("I find the Port of Trinidado a Receptacle to Villains of all Nations"). The English governor also demanded that the two pirates Nicholas Brown and Christopher Winter be handed over, which was refused - on the grounds that they had been baptized in the Catholic faith. Pages 253-256 contain an account by Captain Mackra who lost his ship Cassandra to pirates in the East Indies "between the coasts of Arabia and Malabar", and the unfortunate seaman's negotiations with the pirates' "chief Captain", the notorious Edward England. - The "Historical Register" was a quarterly news periodical originally issued to the clients of London's Sun Fire insurance. First printed in 1716, it ceased publication with no. 92 in 1738. This is the complete 1721 volume, comprising numbers 21 through 24 of the Register as well as the Chronological Diary for 1721. Complete year-volumes are rare: Bonhams NY (11 April 2016, lot 30) estimated a disbound copy of issue no. 23 only at $2500-$3500. ESTC T154297. OCLC 642461330.
|
|
|
D'Anville, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon.
Premier Partie de la Carte d' Asie, contenant La Turquie, L'Arabie, La Perse, L'Inde en deça du Gange et de la Tartarie ce qui est limitrophe de la Pers et du Gange. Paris, 1751.
Engraved map on two sheets (75 x 79 cm), with hand-coloured cartouche and coloured in outline. “The first really modern map of Arabia” (Tibbetts). An extremely detailed two-sheet map showing the Middle East, Arabia and India. The map extends from Turkey and Arabia to India, Tibet and the Gobi Desert in the east. Alai, General maps E.126; Al-Qasimi 169; Tibbetts 281.
|
|
|
Arif Pacha, Muchir.
Les Anciens Costumes de l'Empire Ottoman, depuis l'origine de la monarchie jusqu'a la reforme du Sultan Mahmoud. Paris, Lemercier, 1863.
Folio (548 x 400 mm). Vol. I (all published). Lithographic portrait of Arif Pasha, on India paper mounted, drawn on stone by M. Julien, 16 tinted lithographic plates after Arif (lacking lithographic title, toning to text). Contemporary black half morocco over black cloth-covered boards with gilt title to spine. First edition of the valuable and beautifully illustrated survey of the costume worn at the court of the Ottoman Empire, published with the text in both French and Turkish. Ministers, state officials and military officers (including intelligence service) are shown in full costume with their functions captioned in Arabic and French below. Although the lithographic title states 'Tome 1er', no further volume was published in either language. - Arif Pasha fought against the Greeks at Athens and at Euboea (1826-28), and in Syria against Mehmet Ali. His career included a number of missions for the Sultan and his appointment in 1861 as governor of the province of Silistria. Atabey 30. Blackmer 43. Lipperheide 1440m. Colas I, 148.
|
|
|
Chatelain, Henri Abraham.
Carte de l'Empire des Turcs en Asie & en Afrique. Paris, 1720.
425:525 mm. Engraved map. Shows the Arabian Peninsula in great detail and includes "a detailed diagram of the caravan routes to Mecca and Medina from across the Ottoman Empire" (Al Ankary). - With traces of fold. Al Ankary 132. Tibbetts 220. Not in the Al-Quasimi collection.
|
|
|
Elwe, Jan.
Carte de la Perse de L'Armenie de la Natolie & de L'Arabia. Amsterdam, Jan Elwe, 1792.
Hand-coloured engraved map (56 x 49 cm). Matted. Large detailed map with elaborate figurative cartouche. Al-Qasimi 207.
|
|
|
Homann, Johann Baptist.
Imperii Persici in omnes suas provincias. Nuremberg, ca. 1720.
Hand-coloured engraved map (615 x 523 mm). Detailed map of the region bounded by the Gulf of Basra and the Indian Ocean in the South, Indus River and Turckestan in the East, Astracan, Circcasia and the Crimea in the north and the Black Sea and Cyprus in the West, centered on the Caspian Sea. Decorative map, showing cities, mountains, rivers, lakes, roads, etc. Large decorative cartouche and smaller cartouche. Marvelous detail throughout. One of the few commercial atlas maps to focus closely on this region at the beginning of the 18th Century. - Slightly brownstained and dusted. Not in Tibbetts.
|
|
|
Hondius, Jodocus.
Turcici Imperii Imago. Amsterdam, ca. 1630.
Engraved map, outline colour (560 x 450 mm). Decorative map of the Turkish Empire, showing the Ottoman territories in the Balkans, Anatolia, Levant, Arabia and North Africa, published by Henricus Hondius in Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati figura. The map has a decorative cartouche with the portrait of Ottoman Sultan Mahomet Turcorum Imperat 2. The English translation of the text (1636 edition) includes observations such as "The Countrie is for the most part fruitfull in graine, as wheate, barlie, oats, winter wheate, beanes, pease, and all manner of pulse. It aboundeth in rice, flaxe and cottons. They have vines, whose fruit they make use of after divers manners. The Christians make wine of them, & the Turcks prepare a kind of sweete meate, by mingling honey and grapes together, which seemeth allwayes fresh, both to the sight & tast, this they call Vsum Turssi (sic)." Tibbetts 63. Al Ankary 178. Al-Qasimi 50.
|
|
|
[Hydrographic Office].
Mouth of the Euphrates. Shatt Al Arab and Bahmanshir River from surveys by the Port Directorate, Basra, to 1926. London, published at the Admiralty, 1931.
1025 x 700 mm. Scale 1:100,000. Engraved chart of Shatt Al Arab and Bahmanshir River (1235), with inset charts showing Abadan to Coal Island including Al Basra and Karun River. Includes 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 1921, last revised in 1931. Folded and browned, with a few paper flaws in the fold.
|
|
|
[Hydrographic Office].
Persian Gulf. Approaches to Ras at Tannura. From United States Government Charts to 1959. L (D1) 3788. London, published at the Admiralty, 1963/1964.
1040 x 710 mm. Scale 1:150,000. Nautical chart of the Arabian Gulf off the coast of Ras Tanura on the north-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, inland elevations. This edition first published in 1951, re-engraved in 1958, with revisions in 1962, 1963 and (overstamped or handwritten) 1964. - Folded; very well preserved. Provenance: from the archives of Lilley & Reynolds Ltd., suppliers of Navigation Equipment.
|
|
|
[Hydrographic Office].
Persian Gulf. Jazh. Shaikh Shu'aib & Qalat to Ras at Tannura. From the latest information in the Hydrographic Office. L (D5) 2883. London, published at the Admiralty, 1962-1964.
1040 x 710 mm. Scale 1:350,000. Nautical chart of the Arabian Gulf off the coast of Ras Tanura on the north-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, with parts of the southern coastline of Persia. Including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, inland elevations (including a "conspicuous tree" on the island of Shaikh Shu'aib). This edition first published in 1955, with large corrections in 1958 and smaller ones in the subsequent years to 1964 (overstamped or handwritten). - Folded; some pencil annotations but very well preserved. Provenance: from the archives of Lilley & Reynolds Ltd., suppliers of Navigation Equipment.
|
|
|
[Hydrographic Office].
Persian Gulf. Shatt Al Arab [2 sheets]. London, published at the Admiralty, 1944.
Sheet 1: 1065 x 760 mm; sheet 2: 1270 x 765 mm. Scale 1:25,000. Nautical chart of Shatt Al Arab on 2 sheets: sheet 1 showing the "Entrance to Shatt Al Arab" (3842) and sheet 2 showing the "Inner Bar to Kabda Point" (3843). Engraved chart, including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, lighthouses and beacons picked out in red, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1927, revised in 1944. Signs of contemporary use, with several pencil markings. Folded.
|
|
|
[Hydrographic Office].
Plans in the Shatt Al Arab. 1250. London, published at the Admiralty, 1926.
1030 x 700 mm. Chart showing "Quarantine Island to Coal Island including Al Basra" (scale 1:10,000), "Abadan" (scale 1:12,500) and "Mohammerah Bar" (scale 1:12,500) including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, lighthouses and beacons marked in orange, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1921, revised in 1926. Signs of contemporary use. Folded.
|
|
|
Maggio, Francesco Maria.
Vita, e morte del venerabil P. F. Alipio di S. Giuseppe Scalzo di S. Agostino Palermitano della Congregazione d'Italia, in odio della confessione della S. Fede di Giesù Cristo, crudelissimamente ucciso da’ Turchi di Barberia, nella città di Tripoli, a 17 di febbraio l’anno 1645 [...]. Rome, Ignatio de' Lazzari, 1657.
4to. (40), 24, (4), 25-234 pp., final blank leaf. With 3 engraved plates. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. Very scarce first and only edition of the life and death of San Alipio, who was captured by Ottoman pirates on 1 July 1643 and brought to Tripoli. He converted to Islam, but repented and was martyred on 17 February 1645 when he told to the Pasha that he wished to return to his Christian faith. The plates show the martyrdom (a supersized image after the prelims, folded in at the bottom) and the holy relics of the Saint. - Some defects to spine, otherwise fine. Old ownership of the "Convento dell' Angelo Custode" on the flyleaf. Streit XVI, p. 525, no. 4001. ICCU UM1E\007052.
|
|
|
Receive by email
Download as PDF document
RSS feed
Permanent link
