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[Oriental studies in Sweden].
A collection of 40 theses. Copenhagen, Lund, Uppsala and other places, 1747-1842.
40 volumes, mainly 4to. Mostly printed in the second half of the 18th century, the present collection includes the works of the principal Swedish orientalists of their time, mainly teaching and publishing at the universities of Uppsala and Lund, many by the great Matthias Norberg (1747-1826). Among the topics covered are medicine in the Middle East, history, linguistics and literature, education, and the learnedness of Middle Eastern rulers. - Detailed list of all titles available upon request.
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Ortelius, Abraham.
Turcici Imperii Descriptio. Antwerp, Ortelius, 1579.
Engraved map (49 x 37 cm). Contemporary hand-coloured. Matted. Map of the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, North Africa, Syria, Israel, the Balkans, etc. From the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" by Abraham Ortelius. - Slightly age-toned and brownstained. Green faded to brown; repaired tear with tiny holes in the middle. Generally in a good condition. Van den Broecke, 169. Al Ankary 15. Tibetts 42.
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Schley, J[akob] van der.
Carte de la Coste d'Arabie, Mer Rouge et Golfe de Perse. Tirée de la Carte de l'Ocean Oriental publiée en 1740. Par ordre de M. le Comte de Maurepas. [Amsterdam, c. 1770].
Engraved map in contemporary hand colouring (35 x 26.5 cm). The Dutch edition of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin’s map, from Prévost's "Histoire générale des voyages (Paris, 1746). "This map is perhaps the original of the maps appearing in Prévost" (Tibbetts). Map of Arabia and the Red Sea emphasizes the coastlines and the interior is primarily left blank. The shoals and navigational hazards in the Red Sea and the pearl banks off the coast of Bahrain are also noted. Decorated with a title cartouche. - Well preserved. Tibbetts 267. Al Ankary 173. Not in Al-Qasimi.
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[Slave Trade].
Slave Trade. No. 2 (1876). Circulars respecting Slaves in Foreign Countries addressed to British Military or Naval Officers. London, Harrison & Sons, 1876.
(2), 8, (2) pp. Folio. Sewn. Including a Circular on the receipt of fugitive slaves in the Arabian Gulf: "If, while your ship is in the territorial waters of any Chief or State in Arabia, or on the shores of the [...] Gulf, or on the East Coast of Africa, or in any island lying off Arabia, or off such coast or shores, including Zanzibar, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands, any person should claim admission to your ship and protection on the ground that he has been kept in the state of slavery contrary to the Treaties existing between Great Britain and the territory, you may receive him until the truth of his statement is examined into [...]". - Well-preserved.
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Tardieu, Pierre François.
Carte de l'Arabie d'après les Differents Morceaux qu'a Donnés M. Niebuhr de Cette Partie de l'Asie, et d'aprés M.Danville pour l'Intérieur des Terres. Paris, c. 1780.
Engraved map (33.5 x 44 cm). Matted. Engraved map of the Arabian peninsula and southern Iran, with place names corrected by “a scientist very educated in the Arab language”. Al Ankary 210.
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Thomson, John.
Arabia, Egypt, Abyssinia, Red Sea &c. London, [ca. 1814].
Engraved map (61 x 51 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Shows east to west Caravan routes. Marked with various well locations. Al-Qasimi 221.
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Thornton, John.
A Large Draught of the Coast of Arabia from Maculla to Dofar. By Sam.l Thornton at the signe of England Scotl.d and Ireland in the Mnories London. London, Samuel Thornton, [1711].
Engraved map (43 x 53 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Rare chart of the southern coasts of Yemen and Oman, published in “The English Pilot... the Third Book”, engraved by Sutton Nichols. Tibbetts 177. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
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Visscher.
Magni Turcarum Domini Imperium. Amsterdam, c. 1680.
Engraved map (51 x 84 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Large map of the Turkish Empire in original colour stretching from the Gulf of Oman to Morocco. Al-Qasimi 78; Tibbetts 154.
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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 calligraphic title, portrait of Arif Pasha, drawn on stone by M. Julien, 16 tinted lithographic plates after Arif, coloured and finished by hand. Modern cloth. First edition of this valuable and beautifully illustrated survey of the costumes 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. - A little marginal soiling, a few closed tears, portrait lacking tip of lower corner, but overall a good, complete copy of the rare coloured issue. Atabey 30. Blackmer 43. Lipperheide 1440m. Colas I, 148.
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Al-Tughrai, Hassan ibn ´Ali.
Lamiato 'l Ajam. Carmen Tograi [...]. Una cum versione Latina, & notis [...]; opera Edvardi Pocockii. Accessit tractatus de prosodia Arabica. Oxford, Henry Hall for Richard Davis, 1661.
8vo. 2 parts in 1 vol. (22), 233, (89) pp. (4), 170, (2) pp. With full-page engraving. Contemporary full calf with handwritten spine label. The first Arabic-Latin edition of the great poem "Lamiyat al-´Agam" by Hassan ibn ´Ali al-Tugra'i (c. 1061-1121), and one of the first Arabic books ever printed in England: "a complaint over the unfortunate circumstances of his times and over his own lot" (cf. GAL). Contains not only the text with an extensive commentary, but also a complete index of the words appearing in the poem and the apparatus, as well as a second part, an Arabic prosody by Samuel Clarke entitled "Scientia metrica & rhythmica, seu Tractatus de prosodia Arabica" (also issued separately, but here forming part of the Tugrai edition). Edward Pococke (1604-91) was the first scholar of Arabic at Oxford; the Oxford oriental scholar Samuel Clarke (1624-69) also served his University as printer. - Light rubbing to binding. Front inner hinge split; wants front flyleaf. Slight paper browning; stamps of the École Sainte Genevieve and of the Jesuit college of St. Aloysius, Jersey, on title-page; pretty engraved bookplate and contemporary bibliographical note to pastedown. A good copy. GAL I, p. 247. Lowndes 2692. Schnurrer 197. Brunet V, 875. Ebert 23019.
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Dalrymple, Alexander.
Remarks on a Passage from P. Warwoor, to the Strait of Sunda, The Macklesfeild-Strait on the East of Banka, with the Journal of the Carnatic, Capt. Lestock Wilson. Published at the Charge of the East India Company, from the original MS. London, George Bigg, 1789.
4to. (2), VI, 60 pp. Stitched, untrimmed. A rare set of "remarks" concerning the Gaspar Straits and the east coast of Bangka Island, published by Dalrymple from the log of the East Indiaman Carnatic. A fascinating insight into the workings of Dalrymple and the East India Company. - As hydrographer to the East India Company from 1785, Alexander Dalrymple continually sought to update and correct the charts and pilots used by the Company's captains. To this end he sought the log books and observations of many of the voyages that took place between England and China, especially where they had detailed records of the China Seas and the approaches to it. Sometimes Dalrymple would request log books from the Company or the ship's captain, or as in the present work, the captain, Lestock Wilson, has taken the liberty of contacting Dalrymple himself. Dalrymple goes so far as to publish the correspondence at the beginning of the present work. - The observations and charts made by Captain Wilson so impressed Dalrymple that he not only included them in his chart of the area and published the present sailing directions, but also persuaded the East India Company to allow Wilson, now in command to the EIS (East India Ship) Vansittart, to carry out more detailed surveying of the area on his next voyage. Again Dalrymple publishes the Court of Directors minutes regarding Wilson's commission at the beginning of the present work. The decision by the Court of Directors to allow one of their ships to delay their journey to China in order to carry out surveying work was highly unusual. In fact, Andrew Cook, in his work on Dalrymple, highlights the Vansittart voyage as one of the only times that they consented to Dalrymple's request; and the Directors state, within the minutes, the reason why: "the propriety of some early ship carefully examining the Strait on the East of Banka, which is now justly preferred to the Strait of Banka, and intimating that Captain Wilson of the Vansittart, who has already passed that way, has by his Chart and the Observations communicated to Mr Dalrymple, shewn himself well qualified for effecting the desired object." The minutes go on to set out relatively loose stipulations on how (and how long) Wilson will be allowed to carry out the survey. What they do state is that, on his outbound journey, he is to survey the waters off the east coast of Bangka Island; taking no more than ten days, though more if strictly necessary, and that he must not miss the season's crossing to Canton. For the delay this will cause, they have ordered an unusually quick turnaround at Canton, in order to catch the prevailing winds on his return. The Gaspar Strait had previously been avoided by Company ships as the shoals were deemed too dangerous for safe passage, the Company preferring the safer yet longer Bangka Strait between the Island of Bangka and Sumatra. One of the reasons for the change, as mentioned by Wilson in the present work, was the increased size of the ships, together with the advent of the pocket chronometer, a fact alluded to by Wilson, who took an example of "Arnold's making, which kept time remarkably well, and the Longitude of several points is deduced from it". Alas, the surveying work that Wilson undertook, in the Vansittart, although successful, led to her being wrecked on one of the very shoals she had gone to survey. Wilson and the crew were rescued, but many of the treasure chests onboard were lost to the numerous pirates that patrolled the waters. - Pilot guides such as the present work rarely come on the market. We are only able to trace one example appearing at auction in the last 50 years, a collection of 47 pamphlets by Dalrymple, in Sotheby's 2014. - Some light spotting, title a little dust-soiled, occasional slight browning, small tear to last leaf affecting one word. Cook 15747.
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Après de Mannevillette, Jean-Baptiste d' / Dalrymple, Alexander.
A Brief Statement of the Prevailing Winds, from Monsieur d'Apres de Mannevillette. [London], 1782.
4to. 22 pp. Stitched, untrimmed. First edition of a rare pamphlet on the monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean, of crucial importance for East India Company ships sailing to and from the East Indies. - As Dalrymple states in the introduction, the text for the pamphlet has been translated by him from Jean Baptiste d'Après de Mannevillette's "Mémoire sur la navigation de France aux Indies". Dalrymple had extensive correspondence with Mannevillette, hydrographer to the French East India Company and Dépôt de la Marine, from 1767 to 1780, much of which is preserved in Paris in the Archives nationales and the Bibliothèque de l'institut de France. Dalrymple had such high regard for d'Après - the author of the "Neptune Oriental" in 1745, at the time the most authoritative work on oriental navigation - that he often sent charts for comment and inclusion into his work, as the following letter attests: "You have full consent to make what use you please of the Charts I have sent you [...] You will undoubtedly find many mistakes which escaped my observation; And therefore you will do me a favour in communicating your remarks to me" (10 Nov. 1772). In the present work Dalrymple has augmented the d'Après text with information from a Mr. William Woodville of Liverpool, and a Captain Jones of the ship Mary, "whom we met at Grenville 5th June 1775, to the Westward of Sierra Leon. It is obvious Mr Woodville's Account differs considerably from M. D'Aprés but I cannot presume to decide who is right". - The extract not only shows Dalrymple's continuing quest for any and all sources of information regarding a passage to the East Indies, and the rather ad hoc nature in which he obtained it, but also his willingness to question Mannevillette's findings, at the time the leading authority on such matters. - Some waterstaining to title with marginal fraying. Rare: we are only able to trace one other example appearing at auction since the war (Sotheby's, the Franklin Brooke-Hitching sale 2014). ESTC T74284.
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[Pius VI, Pope].
Acta Consistorii Secreti habiti die XXV Iunii MDCCLXXXI. Rome, Typographia Sac. Congr. de Prop. Fide, (1781).
Large 4to (206 x 275 mm). XXVI pp., final blank leaf. With engraved armorial vignette to title-page and a woodcut tailpiece. Contemporary bronze-varnished wrappers. Report from the Papal consistory for the Syrian Catholic Church in Aleppo, printed in Latin and Arabic throughout, confirming the newly-elected Archbishop Basilius of the Catholic Armenian rite. With the engraved arms of Pope Pius VI on the title-page. - Some light foxing, otherwise an excellent copy. Very rare; no copy in OCLC. Canon Law Collection of the Library of Congress, p. 17, no. 189. Zenker, BO I, p. 72 ("Jan." in error for "Jun.").
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Rosen, G[eorg].
Geschichte der Türkei von dem Siege der Reform im Jahre 1826 bis zum Pariser Tractat vom Jahre 1856. In zwei Theilen. Leipzig, S. Hirzel, 1866-1867.
8vo. 2 parts in 1 volume. XII, 303, (1) pp. VIII, 262 pp., final blank. Contemporary hald cloth with handwritten spine label. First edition of this history of the Ottoman Empire between 1826 and 1856, by the Prussian orientalist and diplomat Rosen (1821-91). - From the library of the German diplomat Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg (1875-1944), one of the conspirators against Hitler. From 1922 to 1931 Schulenburg served as German envoy to Iran. His handwritten ownership is dated "Tehran, 1928"; his bookplate is on the front pastedown. For his involvement in the tragically failed plot of 20 July 1944, Schulenburg was executed on November 10. - Well preserved copy.
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[Trevisan, Domenico, Venetian bailo in Istanbul (fl. mid-16th century).
Relazione dell'Impero Ottomano]. Northern Italy, probably 1560/1570s.
Folio (222 x 324 mm). Italian ms. on paper (incipit "S'io mi persuadessi"; explicit "debbo servir per sempre alla patria mia. Dixi"). 134 pp., final blank leaf. Modern unsophisticated paper wrappers. Near-contemporary manuscript copy of the 1554 relation to the Doge of Venice, by Domenico Trevisan, the returning bailo (resident ambassador) to Constantinople, about the Ottoman Empire and the duration of his station there. Much in the manner of present-day diplomatic cables and station reports, Trevisan gives an account of the ruling dynasty and the background of the various living or recently deceased family members to be reckoned with. He discusses the structure and hierarchy of the Ottoman administration, relations with foreign powers, events of foreign policy such as the ongoing Ottoman-Habsburg wars in Hungary, the weaponry of the army and navy (providing many new and vital details on the strength of the Ottoman galleys and their armaments, at a time when the Spanish-Italian fleet of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria was suffering a series of successive defeats against the Turks), the tributes exacted from the various provinces of the Empire (departing in some details from the figures given by Alberi's edition), etc. - "The bailo's appointment usually lasted two years [... He] was obliged to send Venice information not only about politics and colonial affairs but also about the prices and quantity of the goods sold in local markets. A bailo was more important than a consul [...] The bailo in Istanbul began to deal more and more with the highest Ottoman authorities, even if extraordinary ambassadors or lower-ranking diplomatic envoys were also assigned to the city. When a bailo came back to Venice he had to deliver a detailed report or country study (Relazione). The office of bailo in Istanbul was usually much desired by Venetian noblemen because it was the only important position abroad that was profitable, not expensive. It was given to experienced diplomats who often went on to become doges" (Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, p. 73). - Well preserved. Some browning and ink bleeding to other side of leaf, but in all well legible. Other manuscript copies of the same relation are known in the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Bertoliana in Vicenza. - Watermark: circle with star; counter-mark: clover and letters SF (or ST?). Briquet lists very similar examples in his first volume under nos. 3089 and 3092 (the first, a specimen in the Venetian state archives, dated Vicenza, 1559, with similar examples from Graz [1557], Vicenza [1573], Salo [1574] and Udine [1574-87]; the other, a specimen in the Venetian state archives, dated Salo, 1565-70). Piccard Online shows similar specimens from the Tyrolean State Archive dating from Vienna, 1562 (AT3800-PO-160995) and Innsbruck (as early as 1514: PO-160878). E. Alberi, Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti al Senato, ser. III, vol. I (1840), pp. 111-192.
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Visscher, Nicolaas.
Africae accurata tabula. [Amsterdam], Nicolas Visscher, [ca. 1690?].
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[Arabian Horse Breeding].
A library on Arabian horse breeding, including Stud Books and General Reference. From the Le Vivier, Marcia Parkinson and Finkelmeyer Family Collections, with Additions from the Library of Duke Maximilian in Bavaria. Various places, 1788-2011.
The largest collection of its kind in private hands. 330 works in more than 1100 volumes. Mostly original or first editions. Published in Austin, Cairo, Chicago, Hildesheim, London, Marburg, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, Riga, Tehran, Warsaw and other places in the years 1788 to 2011. Amassed over the last fifty years and covering four centuries of relevant material, the present collection spans all aspects of the history and development of the breeding of Arabian horses. It comprises within itself many books from the Le Vivier collection: fine press books of racing and thoroughbred literature produced by Eugene Connett's famous Derrydale press, as well as numerous important items from the library of Duke Maximilian in Bavaria (1808-88), himself a great enthusiast of Arabic horses. We here find the early Arabian Horse Registry of America Stud Books, and many items also bear presentation inscriptions from the authors (Carl Raswan, Gladys Brown Edwards, etc.). The common practice in such a specialized field, most of the publications here were issued for a very limited circulation in runs of 1,000 or fewer individually-numbered copies. - As a reference library for breeding the collection is unparalleled: almost any Arabian horse's forefathers will be found amongst the exhaustive stud books and breeding serials from the 18th to the 20th century, from Egypt, Australia, Iran, Spain, Russia, the USA, etc., often with accompanying photographs. Perhaps the most famous reference work is the Raswan Index, of which only 380 copies were printed (and many destroyed by a flood). Raswan became an expert on the Arabian breed through his lengthy trips to the desert, where he lived with the Bedouins and learned their language and customs. Several scarce early 20th century works also testify to the Western fascination with the Bedouin and desert roots of the Arabian horse: Homer Davenport's 'My Quest of the Arabian Horse' (1909) and Raswan's 'The Black Tents of Arabia: My Life Amongst the Bedouins' (1935). - Alongside modern surveys of the key centres of horse-breeding in the Arab world, the early Western classics are also found here in their scarce first editions. French and German authors are also well-represented, including the text and first French translation of the 'Hilyat al-fursân wa-shi'âr ash-shuj'ân', an abridgement of Ibn Hudhail's horse treatise, prepared around 1400. Finally, the owner's collection of notable catalogues and magazines paints a fascinating composite picture of the evolution, and heyday, of Arabian horse-breeding in the Arab world, Poland, America, and the United Kingdom. - Also contained in this magnificent collection are the classic reference works on Arabian and Anglo-Arabian racehorses and their breeding. These standard works and encompassing sets of specialised thoroughbred literature include not only the indispensable guides to horse pedigrees, the Racing Calendar, General Stud Book, Spanish, American and Australian Stud Books, Bloodstock Breeders' Review, and Prior's Register of Thoroughbred Stallions, in near-complete runs stretching back as far as the 18th century, but also British and international horseracing history, and several volumes of exquisite coloured plates. - The size and comprehensiveness of the present collection cannot be overstated; it is safe to say that it represents the largest private collection of its kind which has come up for sale in recent decades. Many of the items found here can be located in just a handful of public institutions worldwide. Such items come into the market so rarely (and have recently, like the Raswan Index and the AHRA Stud Books, commanded prices of five figures) that it would be impossible to build a comparable collection item-by-item; the volumes here represent a lifetime of serious dedication to the task. Yet the value of such a collection lies not simply in its impressive number of important publications, but in the vast amount of practical knowledge contained within. - Illustrated catalogue available upon request.
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Braeckle, Jacques de.
Memoires du voiage de Constantinople de Jacques de Bracle seigneur de Bassecourt. Manuscrit du XVIe siècle. No place, ca. 1570.
4to (210 x 135 mm). French manuscript on paper. 90 ff. Flemish Bastarda in black ink, 26 lines. Bound with 16 strictly contemporary specimens of Turkish silhouette paper, a series of 28 watercolours, heightened in gilt and two extensive, early 19th century manuscript additions (complete transcript of the the travelogue and a biography of the author). Slightly later vellum with ms. title. Unique, fascinating and unpublished manuscript containing the account of a diplomatic journey to the Ottoman Empire in 1570. Braeckle (1540-71), a Flemish physician, "assisted Charles Rym Baron de Bellem, Ambassador of Maximilian II in Constantinople, probably as a secretary. He wrote an account of his journey, which contains interesting details about the places he visited, the manners and customs of the inhabitants, incidents, etc." (Aug. Vander Meersch, in: Belgian National Biography II, 903). Leaving Prague on 13 March 1570, the mission passed through Vienna and then Hungary and Czechoslovakia before entering Ottoman territory, visiting the mosques and caravanserais of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (c. 1505-79), Grand Vizier of Sultan Selim II (1524-74) who ruled the Turks at the time of Rym's and Braeckle's journey. Their stay in Constantinople lasted from 31 May to 12 August 1570, permitting the author to describe several monuments and works of art. During the journey back they travelled through Bulgaria, Serbia (they were held in Belgrade for nearly a month), and Hungary. The mission ended with their return to Germany on 23 October 1570. Jacques de Braeckle died shortly afterwards, in 1571. - The ms. is accompanied by a beautiful set of 28 original watercolours heightened in gilt. Showing Turkish people in traditional costumes, such illustrations were usually fashioned for sale to travellers in Constantinople or passed on to western merchants. However, as the present set includes the caravanserai of the diplomatic legation, it is extremely likely that these were created with the sole purpose of illustrating the diplomatic mission of Charles Rym, described within the present manuscript. The figures are captioned next to the subjects (16th century Italian script in black ink), indicating that the legends were recorded after the plates were collated and sewn together, or that they were included in books before insertion into the present volume. Among the illustrations are the caravanserai of the ambassadors to Constantinople, Sultan Selim II, the Mufti, costumes of Ottoman dignitaries and the military, a Persian, a Moor of Barbary, a lady in burqa, a Bulgarian, a giraffe, etc. The author of the Italian captions may have been the ambassador Edoardo Provisionali: he was responsible for several diplomatic missions and is known to have appreciated the Ottoman culture; furthermore, de Braeckle left Constantinople in his company (cf. Yerasimos). The manuscript is also bound with 16 remarkable specimens of 16th c. Turkish paper (title in French in pen on the first sheet: "papier de Turquie"). At the beginning of the volume is a transcription, calligraphed in an elegant French cursive of the early 19th century (18 unnumbered ff., black ink, 21 lines per page). The volume ends with a short biography of the author (2 pp., black ink, with the arms of de Braeckle). Yerasimos provides a detailed chronology of the journey, listing the major cities visited as well as monuments and curiosities noted by the travellers. - Only three manuscript copies of the present travelogue are recorded, mostly restricted to family use: two copies are in the National Archives of Belgium in Brussels (Fonds 692 Lalang, 8f., cf. Yerasimos); a third copy is bound in a miscellany and kept at the communal Archives of Ghent. - Binding rubbed, spine detached, in excellent condition internally. Stéphane Yerasimos, Les Voyageurs dans l'Empire Ottoman (XIVe-XVIe siècles), Ankara, 1991, pp. 286f. Not in Blackmer or Atabey.
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Dünkelberg, Friedrich Wilhelm.
Die Zuchtwahl des Pferdes. Im Besonderen das englisch-arabische Vollblut. Braunschweig, Vieweg und Sohn, 1898.
Large 8vo. X, (2), 263, (1) pp. With 15 plates (some folding). Modern marbled boards with original giltstamped spine label. Uncommon, well-illustrated treatise on the breeding of Arabians and throroughbreds. With separate chapters on the Wuerttemberg Royal stud, Arabian studs in France, the British breeding tradition, etc. - A fine copy. OCLC 65505707. Not in Boyd/P.
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Gianni, Vittorio.
Notizie, ed aventure veridiche di un viaggio intrapreso da una persona di condizione privata [...] di Urbino [...], sino a Costantinopoli; e del ritorno suo [...]. Middle East, 1769-1770.
Folio (235 x 170 mm). Italian manuscript in two parts with 29 original pen and ink drawings (15 and 14), written in black ink in a neat, legible hand, 28 lines to a page. (1), 95, (1) pp. (including illustrations numbered in pencil, upper right, but recto only). Collation, including illustrations: [1 f., 1 p.], [21 ff., 35 pp.], [6 pp.], [17 ff., 26 pp.], [5 pp.] (several sheets cut so that a tab only remains of the second page, and all illustrations tipped in). Contemporary half vellum over marbled paper boards. Generally written on both recto and verso, except for the two title-pages and the illustrations (recto only); all but first and last page enclosed with a single line border, in pencil for text pages and in ink for illustrations. Unpublished manuscript giving a vivid and event-filled first person account of a journey from Urbino to Constantinople, well legible and beautifully presented with 29 equally unique pen-and-ink illustrations. - A unique account of a journey from Urbino to Constantinople and back, in 1769-70, hand-written and accompanied by 29 original drawings, which offer views of islands rarely if ever depicted in contemporary travel accounts or series. No counterpart has been found for the illustrations, which appear to have been prepared from eye-witness records. That the artist may have been the author himself is suggested by the fact that he makes no mention of a separate artist, and by the manner in which he introduces the first illustration: 'Il Paise è piccolo come vedrassi della figura, che di curiosita, ed intelligenza di lettori porro a piedi di questo capitolo' (p. 5v). The story of his adventure is equally idiosyncratic, incorporating both a record of foreign places, people and customs common to other such literature, and also an account of a personal tragedy and a dangerous sea-voyage. The manuscript falls within a tradition of cultural exchange and travel writing between Europeans and the Orient; but unlike Luigi Mayer, for example, employed to make drawings of the historical buildings of Constantinople by the English ambassador Sir Robert Ainslie shortly afterwards, or J. B. Hilair, whose paintings made on a trip throughout the Empire with the French ambassador Count Choiseul-Gouffier in 1776, and engraved and published in Gouffier's "Voyage pittoresque de la Grèce" (1778-82), Gianni appears to be an entirely independent figure. Though the manuscript is set out like a printed book and was presumably destined for wider distribution in that form as a money-making enterprise, Gianni does not seem to have been commissioned, nor to have hoped for patronage. His stated aim is simply to give a true account to his readers, in case they might wish to undertake a similar journey. His route takes him through great cities such as Venice, Athens, Smyrna and Gallipoli, ancient sites such as Troy and Heraklia, through the Peloponnesus and islands such as Mykonos, Corfu, Maitos and Skios, all of which he describes and depicts in detail. Meanwhile, although he says that he is not writing in order to leave "una viva ricordanza di me, come di soggetto qualificato", that is precisely what he does: the second part of the book recounts his search for his son from whom he had heard nothing but that he had married a Greek girl. Reunited with him through a doctor who has been helping the boy through an illness, he tries to persuade the young couple to return with him to Urbino, but this plan is thwarted by the machinations of the doctor. His journey home, alone, is enlivened by an encounter with corsairs, a near shipwreck, a boy falling overboard and a violent storm. The value of this book lies not only in the unique, unpublished text and illustrations, and legible and attractive presentation, but also in the combination of commonly-found themes such as dress and customs, with an entirely personal and richly-told narrative of one man's search for his son. - One illustration (Smirne) has been trimmed along the right edge after having been bound in. Etched armorial bookplate of an unidentified noble bishop on front pastedown.
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Mayr, Heinrich von.
Malerische Ansichten aus dem Orient, gesammelt auf der Reise Sr. Hoheit des Herrn Herzogs Maximilian in Bayern nach Nubien, Aegypten, Palaestina, Syrien und Malta im Jahre 1838 [...]. Vues pittoresques de l'Orient [...]. München/Paris/Leipzig, Kaiser & Lacroix; Rittner & Goupil; Weigel, [1839-1840].
Folio (422 x 528 cm). Lithogr. t. p. and 60 lithogr. plates, all in original hand colour, captions often raised in gilt. With 10 leaves of letterpress text. 10 instalments in the original printed wrappers as issued. Stored in contemporary green half calf with giltstamped spine and cover label. Ties. - (Includes): Die Uebergangsländer von Asien und Afrika, begreifend: Arabien nebst Mesopotamien und Syrien und das Nilgebiet. Munich, C. Wenng, 1845. Engraved map with contemporary border colour. 640 x 544 mm. Scale 1:7,000,000. Only edition of the rare variant with all the plates and in their splendid original colour: the personal copy of Duke Maximilian in Bavaria. "Published in ten parts. The plates show costume of the period and also that of earlier times, taken from paintings" (Hiler). The picturesque views, which include Cairo, Alexandria, Jerusalem, La Valletta, Luxor, and Thebes, genre scenes and landscapes, are all framed within a decorative border and arranged as a small painting. The Nuremberg artist Mayr, especially well-known for his depictions of battles scenes and horses, was personal painter to Duke Maximilian, whom he accompanied on his 1838 journey of the Orient. The group had departed from Munich on January 20 with a small entourage, travelling via Venice, Korfu, Patras, Athens, Alexandria, and Cairo to the Holy Land. They returned to Munich after eight months on 17 September 1838; the following year, Maximilian was made honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. - Some foxing to letterpress explanatory text, plates beautifully preserved with only the backing paper showing occasional duststaining. From the library of Duke Maximilian at Tegernsee Castle, retaining the original shelfmark label on the spine. - Includes the extremely rare map of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East which was published only in 1845, at the instigation of the naturalist Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (1780-1860) and the geologist Joseph von Russegger (1802-63), to satisfy this frequently noted lack in Mayr's production (some foxing, but also finely preserved). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 26. Gay 90 (only 36 plates). Lipperheide Ma 22 (= 1589). Hiler 578. Tobler 161. Graesse IV, 457. Engelmann 124. Kainbacher 265 ("a rarity"). Thieme/Becker XXIV, 477. Nagler VIII, 498f. ("highly memorable drawings"). ADB XXI, 139ff. Not in Blackmer or Abbey (Travel). Not in Colas.
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(Varthema, Lodovico di.
The Navigation and v[o]yages of Lewes Vertomannus, Gentelman of the citie of Rome, to the regions of Arabia, Egypte, Persia, Syria, Ethiopia, and East India, both within and without the ryver of Ganges, etc. In the yeere of our Lorde 1503. Conteynyng many notable and straunge thinges, both hystoricall and naturall. Translated out of Latine into Engylshe, by Richarde Eden). London, Richard Jugge, 1577.
4to. (4 [instead of 10]), 464 [instead of 466] ff. (wants the first 6 ff. of prelims, final 2 ff. of text and the 6 ff. of "special advices" and index, all supplied in facsimile). With historiated woodcut initials. Splendid modern red morocco, both covers richly gilt, gilt fillets to raised bands. Stored in custom-made cloth clamshell box with gilt spine title. The first English edition of Ludovico di Varthema's famous travels to Arabia, Persia, and India: the highly important and adventurous narrative containing the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. All early editions of Varthema’s "Itinerario" are exceedingly rare (even the 2013 Hajj exhibition at the MIA, Doha, only featured the 1654 reprint; cf. below). - Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502. In 1503 he reached Alexandria and ascended the Nile to Cairo, continuing to Beirut, Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where, adopting Islam and taking the name of Yunas, he joined a Mameluke escort of a Hajj caravan and began the pilgrimage to Mecca. Varthema was amazed by what he observed: "Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there", he begins, and arriving at the Great Mosque, continues, "it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the fragrances which are smelt within this temple." Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples [...] of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten hear-says." His good fortune did not continue unabated, however: after embarking at Jeddah and sailing to Aden, he was denounced as a Christian spy and imprisoned. He secured his release and proceeded on an extensive tour of southwest Arabia. Stopping in Sanaa and Zebid as well as a number of smaller cities, he describes the people, the markets and trade, the kind of fruits and animals that are plentiful in the vicinity, and any historical or cultural information deemed noteworthy. Returning to Aden, and after a brief stop in Ethiopia, he set sail for India. In addition to visiting Persia, Varthema explored the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, including a stay at Calicut at the beginning of 1505. He also purports to have made extensive travels around the Malay peninsula and the Moluccas. Returning to Calicut in August 1505, he took employment with the Portuguese at Cochin and, in 1508, made his way back to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. - First published in 1510, Varthema's account became an immediate bestseller. In addition to his fascinating account of Egypt, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and the holy Muslim cities, "Varthema brought into European literature an appreciation of the areas east of India [...] which it had previously not received from the sea-travelers and which confirmed by firsthand observations many of the statements made earlier by Marco Polo and the writers of antiquity" (Lach, I. i. 166). "Varthema was a real traveller. His reports on the social and political conditions of the various lands he visited are reliable as being gathered from personal contact with places and peoples. His account of the overland trade is of great value in that we are made to see it before it had begun to give way to the all-seas route. He even heard of a southern continent and of a region of intense cold and very short days, being the first European probably after Marco Polo to bring back the rumor of Terra Australis" (Cox I, 260). - Published as an extensive part of "The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies" - one of the first English versions of the significant collection edited by Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (Peter Martyr, 1457-1526). The first independently published English translation would not appear until 1863: Varthema's travelogue was included for the first time in the present translated edition of Martyr's "History". The translation, with some omissions, is that of Decades I-III of "De Orbe Novo" by Martyr, with additions from other sources, edited by Richard Eden and Richard Willes. Willes was a member of the Jesuits from 1565 to 1572 and was familiar with Maffei, the Jesuit chronicler whose account he drew on for this work. Under the benefaction of the Earl of Bedford, Willes expanded Eden's translation to include, apart from Varthema's travels, four Decades and an abridgement of Decades V-VIII; Frobisher's voyage for a Northwest Passage, Sebastian Cabot's voyages to the Arctic for the Moscovy Company, Cortez's conquest of Mexico, Pereira's description of China, 1565, Acosta and Maffei's notices of Japan, 1573, and the first two English voyages to West Africa. Also, this is the first account in English of Magellan's circumnavigation, as well as the first printed work to advocate a British colony in North America. - First 6 and final 8 ff. supplied in facsimile. Occasional faint contemp. marginalia. 19th c. calligraphic note, quoted from Brunet, on flyleaf. From the library of Sir Arthur Helps (1813-75), English writer, dean of the Privy Council, and Cambridge Apostle, with his armorial bookplate and autograph ownership. Howgego M65. Brunet I, 294. OCLC 5296745. LCCN 02-7743. European Americana 577/2. Church 119. Streeter Sale 24. Arents 23. Borba de Moraes, p. 33. Hill 533. BM-STC 649. Sabin 1562. Cordier, Japonica 71. Field 485. Cf. exhibition cat. “Hajj - The Journey Through Art” (Doha, 2013), p. 90 (1655 Dutch ed. only). Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 2239f. (other editions only). Not in the Atabey or Blackmer collections.
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Balbi, Gasparo.
Viaggio dell'Indie Orientali. Venice, Camillo Borgominieri, 1590.
8vo. (16), 149 ff. (misnumbered as 159), (1) p., (23) ff., with woodcut diagram (f. 144), woodcut headpieces and initials. Bound in 19th c. polished tan calf, gilt spine, gilt borders to covers, gilt turn-ins, marbled pastedowns, red edges, silk ribbon bookmark, stamped by binder "Dupré" on front flyleaf. First edition of this important travelogue by the Venetian state jeweller and gem merchant Gasparo Balbi, detailing his nine-year voyage from Venice to the Far East between 1579 and 1588, and a work of special historical interest for its eyewitness information about the Arabian Peninsula in this early period. In this book, Balbi was "the first writer to record the place names between al-Qatif and Oman that are still in use today" (G. R. King, p. 74). His "interest in the area lay in the pearls that came from the oyster beds of which the most extensive are those in the waters around al-Bahrayn, those off the Qatar peninsula and especially those in the western waters of Abu Dhabi. Either taking his information first-hand from a local individual or using a navigator's list, Balbi recorded place-names along the coast of modern Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman" (G. King, p. 248). According to Slot, "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" (p. 36). The present work is also of the highest significance for including "the first European record of the Bani Yas tribe" (UAE Yearbook 2006, p. 20), the largest and most important tribe of the Arabian Peninsula, from which emerged both the Al Nahyan and the Al Maktoum dynasties, today's ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. - Balbi travelled extensively in the Arabian Peninsula in search of precious stones. He knew "the waters off the Abu Dhabi coast as the Sea of Qatar and mentions the following places now in UAE territory: Daas (Das), Emegorcenon (Qarnein), Anzevi (Azanah), Zerecho (Zirkuh), Delmephialmas (Dalma), Sirbeniast (Sir Bani Yas), Aldane (Dhanna), Cherizan (identified as Khor Qirqishan, just off Abu Dhabi island), Dibei (Dubai), Sarba (Sharjah), Agiman (Ajman), Emelgovien (Umm al-Quwain), Rasa-elchime (Ras al Khaimah), Sircorcor (Khor al-Khuwair), Debe (Dibba), Chorf (Khor Fakkan) and Chelb (Kalba)" (G. R. King, UAE: A New Perspective, 74). From Venice Balbi sailed for Aleppo, proceeding to Bir and from there overland to Baghdad, descending the Tigris to Basra, where he embarked for India. The "Viaggio dell'Indie Orientali" proved to be the most widely read source of information about India throughout the next century. In the tradition of mercantile guidebooks, such as the 14th century "Practica della mercatura" compiled by Pegolotti, this is one of the few secular travelogues to the Orient published in the 16th century. And in addition to providing the kind of practical information required by merchants trading in precious stones among other wares, Balbi, with a jeweler's eye for rarities, allows himself considerable license in recording his personal observations at exotic sights (e.g., the cave Temples of Elephanta and his enthusiasm for elephant tusks f. 100v) or in mentioning incidental occurrences along the way, such as his chance meeting in Goa with the famous embassy of Japanese legates on their way home. Balbi dates his stays to particular places in a precise manner, always gives a careful explanation of the local system of exchange (coins, weights, and measures), describes commercial routes in India in detail and even includes a monsoon calendar. Balbi also discusses Goa, Negapatam, and Pegu (Burma), the latter a source of great fascination owing to its sensational wealth and the section most frequently anthologized in travel collections. The "Viaggio dell'Indie Orientali" was reprinted in 1600 (also rare). The account was translated into Latin and equipped with illustrations in the 1606 'India' volume of the De Bry series, and a partial English translation (above all, the section on Pegu) subsequently appeared in Purchas. An Arabic translation was published in 2008, but a full English translation never appeared. - Minor rubbing and edge wear to spine and boards. Narrow upper margin, mend at f. 25, otherwise remarkably well preserved. BM-STC Italian 68. Howgego I, B7. Cordier Japonica 112. Brunet I, 618. Graesse I, 279. Kress Library of Economic Literature S 276. B. J. Slot, The Arabs of the Gulf, 1602-1784. G. King, "Delmephialmas and Sircorcor: Gasparo Balbi, Dalmâ, Julfâr and a Problem of Transliteration," Arabian Archeology and Epigraphy, vol. 17 (2006), pp. 248-252. UAE Yearbook 2006, p. 20. G. R. King, "The Coming of Islam and the Islamic Period in the UAE," in UAE: A New Perspective, I. Al-Abed & P. Hellyer (eds.), pp. 68-97. W. M. Floor, The Persian Gulf: A Political and Economic History of Five Port Cities, 1500-1730. Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, I.1, 473-475. Penrose, Travel and Discovery, 198. Placido Zurla, Di Marco Polo e degli altri viaggiatori veneziani piu illustri, II, 258-265. J. Charpentier, "Cesare di Fedrici and Gasparo Balbi," Indian Antiquary LIII (1924), pp. 51-54.
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Cantemir, Dimitrie.
Geschichte des osmanischen Reichs nach seinem Anwachse und Abnehmen. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Hamburg, (Piscator f.) Herold, 1745.
4to. 64, 852, (2) pp. With title vignette, 3 headpieces, 2 tailpieces, 5 initials, folding plan, and 23 portraits (all engraved). Contemporary calf with giltstamped ownership "N. H. v. Engelhard" to upper cover. "First edition in German" (Atabey), translated by J. L. Schmidt. The principal work of Dimitrie Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia (1673-1723), author of numerous learned historical works. With the author's portrait, portraits of the Turkish rulers, and a layout plan of the city of Constantinople. - Endpapers stamped "Andre S." and with ms. ownership "H. W. Lado" (both 18th-century ownerships); deleted stamp to title page; occasional edge repairs. Formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Atabey 192. Graesse II, 38. Ebert 3465. OCLC 630479705.
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[Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1842-1918)].
Secretarial document with gilt tughra of Abdülhamid II. No place, [1888].
Large folio (ca. 37 x 57 cm). 1 p. Traces of folds; some slight paper flaws. Austrian revenue stamp (50 kreuzers), dated 1888, affixed to upper left corner. Calligraphic notes in Ottoman Turkish on reverse (ink somewhat oxydized).
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Owen, Roderic.
The Golden Bubble. Arabian Gulf Documentary. London, Collins, 1957.
8vo. 255, (1) pp. With 13 photo illustrations and a map. Original red publisher's cloth with giltstamped spine title. Original dust jacket. Second printing of the first edition. A documentary of a year spent by the author in the Arabian Gulf, discussing Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Buraimi Oasis, Qatar, Kuwait; hunting and falconry. Dedicated "to the honour and glory of His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Albufalah, Ruler of Abu Dhabi". - Ink inscriptions (dated 1958) to flyleaf and pastedown. Now rare. Not in Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula.
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Powers, R. W. et al.
Geology of the Arabian Peninsula. Sedimentary Geology of Saudi Arabia. A review of the sedimentary geology of Saudi Arabia as shown on USGS Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-270 A, "Geologic map of the Arabian peninsula", 1963. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.
Large 4to. VI, 147, (1) pp. With 10 folding maps and plates stored loosely in envelope. Original printed wrappers. Front cover with owner's stamp "W. R. Farrand". - Binding slightly rubbed, larger tears to spine.
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Audubon, John James.
The viviparous quadrupeds of North America. New York, John James Audubon, 1845-1848.
3 vols. Large folio (70 x 55 cm). With 150 striking coloured plates, all lithographed on stone, printed and coloured by J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia, after drawings by John James and John Woodhouse Audubon, and the backgrounds after Victor Audubon. Each volume also with a title-page and a list of contents. Late 19th century black morocco, with gold-tooled spine, red cloth sides and marbled endpapers. First edition of the extraordinary coloured plates of quadrupeds by the world-famous French-American naturalist and painter John James Audubon (1785-1851), whose "Birds of America" was purchased at a Christie's auction for $11.5 million in March 2000, setting a world record for the most expensive book ever sold (surpassed only by the 1640 "Psalm Bay Book", sold for $14.2 million in November 2013). The plates in the present work are considered the finest animal prints ever published in America. Unlike the "Birds", it was produced entirely in the United States, making it the "largest successful color plate book project of 19th-century America" (Reese). - After the publication of his highly acclaimed "Birds of America", Audubon settled on the Hudson River and began working on the present series to document the animal life of North America. The plates were first published in 30 parts of 5 plates each, and three separately published accompanying text volumes, written by John Bachman, appeared between 1846 and 1854. A second edition was published in 1856, but "the first edition is by far the best" (Sabin). - Title-pages show some small scuff marks, a few plates with minor, unobtrusively repaired tears along the edges. Binding skillfully restored. A complete set, with most plates in fine condition. Nissen, ZBI 162. Buchanan, pp. 147-154. Reese 36. Sabin 2367. Cf. Howgego II, A19 (p. 15, 1846-54).
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[Bahrain].
A collection of 27 vintage silver prints of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, ca 1955-1960.
27 silver prints, various sizes (from 195 x 250 to 95 x 133 mm). Includes three coloured postcards of Mecca. A set of rare photographs, most probably taken by professional photographers travelling to Bahrain around 1955-60. Most of the images are captioned in pencil, showing sites in Al-Muharraq and Manama (a tailor's shop, tobacco shop, hospital court yard Muharraq, Arab windows in Muharraq, wind towers, etc.) and everyday scenes (loading a sheep onto a raft, a falconer, etc.).
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[Carriage Horses]. Fölsch, Michael, Vienna strapmaker (fl. c. 1800).
Eighteenth-century illustrated manuscript sample book of harness designs and other elaborate and decorative carriage horse tack. [Vienna, c. 1800].
2 vols. Oblong small folio (23.5 x 36.8 cm and 25.4 x 39.4 cm). 66 pen-and-ink, watercolour and gouache drawings of horses, mostly highlighted with silver and gold (one folding), all signed, each within a black ruled border, most trimmed and mounted onto larger sheets at a period date. Early marbled paper spines. Housed in an early calf-backed marbled paper covered faux-book box, metal clasps. Unique illustrated manuscript trade catalogue, with each image depicting a horse in elaborate carriage tack. The drawings were executed by Michael Fölsch himself, one of the foremost Viennese makers and sellers of luxury tack in the early 19th century, to show prospective clients possible designs for their carriage horses. Every single drawing is signed by the artist: Fölsch's talent for draughtsmanship and colouring was hitherto unknown and is remarkable for a leather craftsman who probably never received training as a painter. The breadth and complexity of the designs, and the use of gold and silver, is impressive, underlining the fact that such bespoke equipment was intended for the wealthy elite. - Provenance: first in the equestrian library of the Imperial stablemaster Franz Wenzel Schleichart von Wiesenthal (engraved bookplate on verso of box), who came from a great dynasty of stablemasters and horsebreakers that included his father as well as his two younger brothers Anton Philipp and Johann Joseph; latterly in the collection of Franz Josef II, Fürst von und zu Liechtenstein (1906-89, armorial bookplate).
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Lanci, Michelangelo.
Trattato delle Simboliche rappresentanze arabiche. Paris, dalla Stamperia orientale di Dondey-Dupré, 1845-1846.
Small folio. 3 vols. (2 vols. of text and 1 plate vol.). 288 pp. 256 pp. 64 plates. Contemporary half calf on raised bands, red morocco spine labels, black volume numbers. Marbled endpapers. First edition, one of 125 copies. - The learned Italian abbot and orientalist Michele Angelo Lanci (1779-1867) taught Arabic at the Sapienza in Rome. For his "Trattato", Lanci studied Islamic artefacts such as the famous "Vaso Vescovali" (now in the British Museum), of which he provided the first scholarly account. Includes engravings of inscriptions on talismans, amulets, arms and armour, metalwares and textiles. - Some foxing. From the library of the Ducs de Luynes at the Château de Dampierre: their bookplate reproducing the arms of Charles Marie d'Albert de Luynes (1783-1839), 7th Duc de Luynes, on pastedown. - Of the utmost rarity, no copies recorded at auctions since decades. No copy in the US. ICCU UBO\3282249. OCLC 41653985. Cf. Gay 2094. Brunet III, 809. Graesse IV, 93 (1846 ed.).
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Mariette-Bey, Auguste.
Album du musée du Boulaq comprenant quarante planches photographiées par MM. Delié et Béchard, avec un texte explicatif rédigé par Auguste Mariette-Bey. Cairo, Mourès & Cie, 1872.
Folio. 3 unnum. leaves, 40 original photographs on albumenized paper (approx. 245 x 180 mm) on stiff cardboard mounted on hinges, and 42 unnum. leaves of explanations. Publisher's half brown hard-grained morocco, blind stamped calico boards, with gilt title and figures, raised bands. Edges gilt. Beautiful photographic album made in Cairo, the first illustrated catalogue of the first Egyptian Museum. While copies dated 1871 exist, both copies preserved in the French National Library bear the date 1872. The photographs by Hippolyte Délié and Émile Béchard show the halls and antiques of the Bulaq Museum, founded in Cairo in 1863 by the great Egyptologist Auguste Mariette (1821-81). The Museum was created by Auguste Mariette, who in 1858, following his appointment as head of the Antiquities Service, moved the banks of the Nile, in Bulaq, where he assigned four rooms in his residence for exhibitions. Mariette obtained permission to settle in Bulaq in the abandoned offices of the River Company. On these dilapidated premises, where he lived with his family, the "Director of the Historical Monuments of Egypt and the Cairo Museum" converted the first four exhibition halls with the assistance of his faithful assistants Bonnefoy and Floris. The period photographs, published in this 'Album du musée de Boulaq', show the low buildings by the river, almost completely devastated during the flood of 1878. In the preface dated November 1, 1871, Mariette explains the origins of this monumental album: "Mr. Hippolyte Délié and Mr. Béchard requested permission from the Directorate of the Bulaq Museum to reproduce by photography some of the monuments on display in our galleries. Not only the application [...] was explicitly welcomed, but the Director of the Museum feels he must promote the work of the great photographers from Cairo, opening up for them the cabinets of the Museum and choosing among the objects it contains those that appeared to him most worthy of inclusion in the proposed Album. Mr. Délié and Mr. Béchard have followed, for the classification and arrangement of their proofs, the order adopted in the Notice sommaire, which is for sale at the entrance of the Museum. The three plates showing the interior and exterior of the Museum serve as an introduction to the Album. The monuments are then classified into religious, funerary, civilians, historical, Greek and Roman sections. The photographic Album [...] is thus an illustrated catalogue of the Museum. The remarkable execution of the plates allows us also to recommend to everyone this album by Mr. Délié and Mr. Béchard. Travelers will indeed use it as a souvenir of their visit to the Bulaq Museum. Scholars will find the hieroglyphic texts reproduced with such clarity as if they were in direct presence of the monuments. Finally artists will not study from any other work on Egyptology as well as from the beautiful proofs delivered from the apparatus used by Mr. Délié and Mr. Béchard, the difficult problems that relate to the history of art in Egypt". The French photographer Émile Béchard was active during the years 1869-90: "Béchard arrived in Egypt probably together with his partner Délié. He collaborated with him in the production of the Album du Musée Boulaq and in the carte de visite photographs of native types and costumes. There is little information on the life of Béchard. It is known that he was awarded a first class gold medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, and his images appear in many of the travel and topographic albums until almost the end of the century. His major achievement was no doubt his monumental album of photographs of the most important archaeological sites and antiquities of Egypt […]. It is worthy to note that Béchard did have a great deal of talent in picturing architecture. The neatness of the execution and printing of the final image adds tremendously to the monumentality he was able to reflect in them" (cf. Perez, p. 123). "Délié arrived in Egypt the year the Suez Canal was opened and settled in Cairo. Until the mid-1870s he was in partnership with Émile Béchard. The two collaborated on a major photography album on the Boulaq Museum that was very highly praised as one of the most luxurious and finely printed books of the period. […] Délié's photographs were known already in 1869, and some of them were used that early for woodcuts illustrating articles in Le Tour du Monde. In 1876, he became a member of the Société Française de Photographie, and in 1878 he was awarded a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. For some reason, Délié's images, although equal in quality, are much rarer than those by Béchard, even though both continued to work after they dissolved their partnership. His photographs are exclusively of Egypt, mainly ruins, antiquities, and cityscapes, with a few genre studies" (p. 153f.). Perez also devotes a long notice to the archaeological activity of Mariette, a familiar to photography: "Best known as Mariette Bey, this famous Egyptologist became an archaeologist almost by chance. He was a young schoolteacher in the provincial town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, writing bad novels and chairing the local fishing-club, when he happened across the papers of a relative, Nestor L'Hote. L'Hote's writings of Egypt aroused Mariette's interest, and he turned to the study of Coptic writings and hieroglyphs. He published a number of papers that attracted the attention of Charles Lenormant, who sent him to Egypt in 1850 to hunt down Coptic manuscripts, which were at the time actively collected by British scholars. He remained in Egypt four years, during which time he realized the importance of finding and saving the archaeological treasures still buried in Egypt. Mariette shared his conviction with Ferdinand de Lesseps, whom he met in 1857. The latter appealed to the Viceroy of Egypt, and Mariette was appointed head of the department of Antiquities, a post he created and held until his death in Cairo in 1881. During his years there he displayed an unusual instinct in finding excavation sites; his contribution to Egyptology is invaluable. He was also founder of the Boulaq museum. Photography became an inseparable part of his activity. He mainly employed professional photographers such as Délié, Béchard, and Brugsch, but he himself also photographed, using an 8x10'' camera, newly found artefacts and ancient structures in remote parts of the Egyptian desert. It is interesting to note that, although technically not perfect, Mariette's photographs have a certain precision of angle and composition that makes the image 'right' and authentic. This is no doubt the result of his love and understanding of the objects he was photographing" (p. 194). - Spine scuffed, some foxing. Cf. Nissan N. Perez, Focus East, 1988. On Mariette cf. also J.-M. Carré, "Voyageurs et écrivains français en Égypte", p. 223-249.
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Nees von Esenbeck, Theodor Friedrich Ludwig.
Plantae officinales oder Sammlung officineller Pflanzen. Düsseldorf, Arnz & Co., [1821]-1833.
Folio. 4 volumes (1 text volume, 2 plates volumes and the supplement volume with plates and interleaved text). (406); (96) ff. plus plates. With lithographed title-pages in plates and supplement volumes; in total 552 plates (the plates volumes with in total 432 lithographed plates (425 hand-coloured, 7 black and white); supplement volume with 120 hand-coloured lithographed plates. Contemporary red half sheepskin. Rare complete set with the supplement (often lacking) of a sumptuous botanical work with 552 striking lithographic plates by Aimée Henry. Among the plants and trees depicted are the date palm, the Commiphora gileadensis, and the Acacia Arabica. The work was begun by M. F. Weyhe, J. W. Wolter and P. W. Funke, and finished by the important German botanist and pharmacologist Theodor Friedrich Ludwig Nees von Esenbeck (1787-1837), best remembered for his systematic research on the medical properties of plants, which helped to establish pharmacology as a serious academic discipline. The plates appeared in instalments between 1822 and 1828, followed by several instalments of text, and finally a supplement volume in 1833. Some confusion exists as to the general title of the work, since the volumes of plates are titled "Plantae medicinales", whereas the text volume was published as "Plantae officinales". - Bookplate and library stamps in each volume. Some browning and foxing as usual; bindings worn. A good set, rare in its present complete form. GFB, p. 69. Johnston 945. Nissen, BBI 1442. Plesch p. 347. Pritzel 6662. Stafleu/C. 17391. Cf. Graesse IV, 655.
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Silvestre, C[harles] F[rançois].
Differents habillements de Turcs, dediez à monseigneur le duc de Bourgogne. No place, [c. 1700].
Large 4to (195 x 268 mm). Title and 30 captioned plates, engraved throughout (image size ca 110 x 170 mm). Late 19th century half calf with gilt spine rules and 18th or early 19th c. giltstamped lozenge label on upper cover. Charming, rare suite of engravings showing the costumes of the Turks, including the Sultan and various courtiers of the Porte, Ottoman soldiers and janissaries, an Arabian preacher, a falconer, street salesmen, a porter smoking a long meerschaum pipe, and several Turkish ladies (one in surprisingly revealing attire). - Charles-Francois Silvestre (1667-1738) held the title of "Maître à dessiner du Roi" (Drawing Master to the King) and was in 1695 appointed art instructor to the young Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou and Berry, the grandsons of Louis XIV. The present suite, dedicated to Louis, Duke of Burgundy, reflects the orientalist fashion of its time but is also a highly original work of art demonstrating a vivid, flamboyant style and not apparently based on earlier illustrations. The title and 21 of the plates are signed in full with the Royal privilege: "F. Silvestre inv. et ex. C.P.R.", while eight are simply signed "S." and one ("Janissaire de la garde, Solac ou Pzyc") is not signed, though it is clearly executed in the same style as the others. Uncommon thus with 31 plates including the title: the copies listed by both Hiler and Colas, as well as that in the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, are oblong volumes containing only 30 plates including the title, on a total of 15 leaves (Colas: "titre compris [...] Ces planches sont tirées à deux sur la même feuille"), while the Lipperheide copy comprised a mere 22 plates including the title, making this the most complete set known. - Insignificant browning and fingerstaining, more pronounced in title but on the whole confied to the wide margins. Hiler 799; Colas 2744 (both listing 30 plates including title). Lipperheide Lb 25 (listing title and 21 plates).
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Spilsbury, F[rancis] B.
Picturesque scenery in the Holy Land and Syria, delineated during the campaigns of 1799 and 1800. Second edition. London, B. R. Howlett for Thomas McLean, 1819.
Folio (500 x 350 mm). IV, 42 pp. With 19 aquatints by Edward Orme after sketches by Spilsbury in original hand colour. Contemporary half cloth with red boards and printed label to upper cover. Second edition of English naval surgeon Francis Spilsbury’s account of his travels in Palestine and Syria during the Napoleonic campaigns there, with 19 finely hand-coloured folio aquatint views. Spilsbury was surgeon on board HMS Tigre during the campaigns of 1799 and 1800. The Tigre brought Sir William Sidney Smith to defend Acre against Napoleon’s siege, and led a naval force in support of Turkish armies which finally relieved Acre, and his text gives some account of the military campaigns and the Turkish dignitaries. In his reminiscences Napoleon accused Smith of making him miss his destiny, as Smith’s timely appearance thwarted Napoleon’s drive to invade Syria and forced him to retreat to Egypt. The views are mostly connected with the coastal towns of modern Lebanon and Israel, though several are from Spilsbury’s travels inland to meet the Grand Vizier in charge of the Turkish army, Jezzar Pacha, and other dignitaries. First published in folio in 1803, with a mezzotint portrait of Sir William Sidney Smith that was not included in this second edition; a third followed in 1823. - Some staining to covers; aquatints are perfectly preserved. Tooley 464. Cf. Atabey 1168f. Blackmer 1585. Abbey, Travel 381. Colas 2788. Weber II, 835. Aboussouan 852.
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Stosch, Philipp von.
Pierres antiques gravées, sur lesquelles les graveurs ont mis leurs noms [...]. Gemmae antiquae caelatae, scalptorum nominibus insignitae [...]. Amsterdam, Bernard Picart, 1724.
Folio (ca. 240 x 368 mm). (6), XXI, (1), 97, (1) pp. Latin and French parallel title-pages printed in red and black (with half-title on recto of Latin title). With 2 engraved title vignettes, 3 engraved headpieces and 70 numbered engraved plates. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped spine and spine label. All edges red. Pastedowns marbled. First edition. - A prominent work on engraved gems by the German numismatist and collector of antiques, Stosch (1691-1757), giving detailed descriptions of 70 pieces in European collections, followed by splendid reproductions by the French engraver Bernard Picart (1673-1733). In Latin and French parallel text with wide margins. - Late 18th century engraved armorial bookplate of the naturalist and Swedish civil servant Mathias Benzelstierna (1713-91), who studied with Carl Linné and became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1786. - Binding slightly rubbed. A clean, well preserved copy. Lewine 516. Cicognara 3016. Brunet V, 552 ("rather sought-after"). Graesse VI, 504. Ebert 21801. Blackmer 1613. Cohen/de Ricci 959. Hoefer XLIV, 510. Vinet 1616. Sander 1553. Querard, La France litteraire IX, 273.
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Abidin, Ihsan.
Pferdezucht und Pferderassen im osmanischen Reiche. Berlin, Verlag der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Züchtungskunde, 1918.
8vo. 31, (1) pp., with 47 pp. of black-and-white photo plates. Modern half cloth. Rare treatise on the various breeds of Arabian horses in the Ottoman Empire, a translation of the author's "Osmanli atlari", published in Istanbul the previous year. "I have decided to reissue my book in German because, as far as I know, the German language does not possess of an extensive and detailed account of the several horse breeds of Turkey, in especial of the Arabian horse and its various sub-breeds and strains. I was also encouraged by the great interest that Turkey evinces quite generally throughout Germany, and the close economic connexions between these two allied countries which we are to expect after the end of the war may also bring about closer relations in the field of horse breeding [...]" (preface). The copious plate section shows numerous breeds of Arabian horses. - Occasional brownstaining with the odd contemporary German annotation in copying pencil, but well preserved altogether. A single copy outside Germany (Catholic University of Paris); none in America (only a microfilm of the Tübingen copy at Harvard). Flugschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Züchtungskunde 42. OCLC 72415601. Not in Boyd/Paul.
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Ahmet Resmî Efendi / Diez, Heinrich Friedrich von (ed. & transl.).
Wesentliche Betrachtungen oder Geschichte des Krieges zwischen den Osmanen und Russen in den Jahren 1768 bis 1774 von Resmi Achmed Efendi, aus dem Türkischen übersetzt und durch Anmerkungen erläutert [...]. Halle & Berlin, in Commission der Buchhandlungen des Hallischen Waisenhauses, 1813.
8vo. (2), 307, (1) pp. Contemporary marbled half calf with giltstamped red label to prettily gilt spine. All edges red. First German translation of the "Layiha" of Ahmet Resmî bin Ibrahim Giridî (1700-83), a Greek-Ottoman statesman and diplomat and Turkey's first ambassador to Berlin. A political memoir on the Ottoman-Russian war of 1768-74, one of the few existing accounts from the Turkish perspective. Between 1772 and 1773 the Ottomans undertook ultimately abortive negotiations with the Russians during which Ahmed Resmi pressed for peace, arguing that the Russians were badly overextended and that both sides should recognize their military and territorial limitations. Such thinking was still novel in Ottoman administration and represents the good understanding of the balance of power diplomacy which the author had gained at the courts of Vienna and Berlin. - The oriental scholar H. F. Diez (1751-1817) had trained as a jurist but, bored by his administrative occupation, soon left the Prussian civil service and in 1784 went to Constantinople as Frederick the Great's chargé d'affaires at the Sublime Porte. He was ennobled after only two years of successful diplomatic service. Recalled in 1790 on the eve of the Russo-Turkish War, the self-confessed Turkophile soon retired to the life of an independent scholar and book collector in Berlin. His orientalist publications captured the attention of the learned world, and he moved in the circles of Goethe, Gleim, and Alexander von Humboldt, though largely outside the contemporary tradition of academic oriental studies. "Even if many aspects of his scholarly life are almost forgotten, his merits, especially for the development of Turkish studies, are noteworthy [...] His works, almost completely printed at his own expense, reflect his interest in the origins of Asian cultures, literatures, and politics, as well as everyday issues and ethics" (J. Gonnella et al. [ed.], The Diez Albums [Leiden, 2017], p. 58, 76). - Corners slightly bumped, otherwise very good. Bookplate of the "Brigade-Schule zu Potsdam"; several 19th century stamps of Prussian military academies on title-page; old shelfmark label to spine. Katalog der k. k. Kriegs-Bibliothek (1853), p. 266.
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Biot, J[ean]-B[aptiste].
Recherches sur plusieurs points de l'astronomie Égyptienne, appliquées aux monumens astronomiques trouvés en Égypte. Paris, Firmin Didot, père et fils, 1823.
8vo. XL, 318 pp. With 2 folding tables and 2 (instead of 4) folding lithographed plates. Contemporary marbled half calf. Edges sprinkled blue. First edition of this rare work on Egyptian astronomy and the so-called "Dendera zodiac". The zodiac was removed from the temple of Dendera by French soldiers during Napoleon's Egyptian expedition and is today kept at the Louvre. Conceived around 50 BC, it shows astrological symbols and gives evidence of the remarkable astronomical knowledge of ancient Egyptian priests. The mathematician and physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774-1862) is best known as the author of the "Traité élémentaire d'astronomie physique" (1805). Although some copies contain two additional plates showing the zodiac, these appear to be missing from most copies. - Corners somewhat bumped. Removed from the Imperial Russian Military Academy with their bookplate to front pastedown. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 70. Gay 1646. Brunet VI, 8193. OCLC 4895344.
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Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von.
Histoire de l'ordre des Assassins. Paris, (Auffray for) Paulin, March 1833.
8vo. (4), 367, (1) pp. Contemporary marbled half calf. Edges sprinkled blue. First French edition of the first extensive history of the medieval Muslim sect of the Assassins, a radical group from whose name the English term for a political or religious killer is derived. A fanatical branch of the Ismaili Muslims who viewed themselves as martyrs, the Assassins specialised in political murder (usually carried out with a dagger), often conducted in broad daylight and in full view of the public, so as to instill terror in their foes. Contemporaries found it incomprehensible that they entirely accepted the fact of their own death as a consequence, as they made no attempt to escape and exposed themselves to the revenge of the victim's followers. Acting from a strong ideological conviction, the Assassins aimed to re-establish a theocracy, the basic Islamic order bequeathed by the Prophet, as they felt their contemporary world order to be usurped by tyrants. Most of their victims were Sunni Muslims, especially the Seljuk rulers of the 12th and 13 centuries. - For this history, which first appeared in German in 1818, Hammer-Purgstall draws from a wide variety of mainly oriental sources (Ibn Khaldun, Jihannuma, Abulfeda, Persian and Turkish chronicles, with a small number of western studies included), all of which he lists at the beginning, and ultimately compares the mediaeval sect to the modern fanatics of his own day, particularly the Jacobin party of the French Revolution. Among the goals which he wishes to have achieved with his book, he writes, is to have "given an account of the pernicious influence of secret societies under weak governments". - Binding slightly rubbed; corners bumped. Removed from the Imperial Russian Military Academy with their bookplate to front pastedown. Brunet III, 33. Graesse III, 205. Goedeke VII, 762, 47. Cf. Atabey 556; Blackmer 787 (1835 English edition only). Cf. Wurzbach VII, 274, I B 1 (German first edition). Not in Wilson.
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Vidal, F[ederico] S.
The Oasis of Al-Hasa. [Dhahran, Saudi Arabia], Aramco, 1955.
8vo. (16), 216 pp. With a folding map in the lower cover. Original printed cloth. First edition of this study of the traditional historical region of Al-Hasa near Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, created a World Heritage site in 2018. The anthropologist and surveyor Federico S. Vidal, an Aramco employee, would develop his work into a 3-volume Harvard Ph.D. thesis in 1964. - Handwritten ownership of Hazel D. Blair to front free endpaper. An excellent copy of this scarce work.
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[Ibn Sina (Avicenna)] / Oddis, Oddus de.
In primam totam Fen primi libri canonis Avicenn[a]e dilucidissima & expectatissima expositio. Nunc primum in lucem edita, illustrata, & completa aßiduo labore, & longo studio Marci Oddi Medici eiusdem filij. Venice, Paolo and Antonio Meietti, 1575.
4to. With woodcut device on title-page. Contemporary limp vellum. Rare first and only edition of a commentary on book I, fen I of Avicenna's Canon, including the Latin version of the text by Andrea Alpago and Jacob Mantino. Like most of Oddi's work it was published posthumously by his son Marco degli Oddi. "Although in the body of his work much of the time he treated Avicenna with nominal respect, this was apt to be achieved through a procedure of deducing Avicenna's 'real' opinion by consulting Galen. In addition, Oddo Oddi had a long-standing interest in the problem of securing a better Latin text of the Canon (he was on the academic committee that approved Alpago's work and he encouraged Graziolo many years later); he based his exposition on Alpago's text, which he claimed to be in general use, and rather frequently compared the latter's renderings with those of Gerard of Cremona and Jakob Mantino." (Siraisi). Before practicing Medicine in Venice, Oddo degli Oddi (1478-1558) taught classics (Greek and Latin) at the University of Padua. Eventually he went back to Padua, where he taught Medicine. He was a committed supporter of Galen's doctrines. - With owner's inscription on fly-leaf dated 1586, two owner's names on title-page (one struck trough) and some manuscript notes in the margins. Binding slightly wrinkled, but internally in very good condition. Arcadian library 15358. Durling 3388. Edit 16, 30889. USTC 845237 (4 copies outside Italy). Cf. N. G. Siraisi, Avicenna in Renaissance Italy: The Canon and medical teaching in Italian universities after 1500 (1987), p. 193.
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Croce, Giulio Cesare / Nikola Palikuca (transl.).
Himbenost pritankogh Veleznanstva Nasradinova. Ancona, Pietro Paolo Ferri, 1771.
12mo. With a woodcut of the main character on the title-page. Contemporary plain wrappers. Very rare first edition of a Croatian translation of the popular comic novel "Le sottilissime astuzie di Bertoldo" by Giulio Cesare Croce, first published in 1606. Based on oral traditions, this highly popular novel told the story of the farmer Bertoldo, who is sometimes cunning and at other times stupid. In this Croatian version the translator "localized" the name of the main character to Nasreddin, thereby establishing a link with the famous 13th-century Turkish satirist Nasreddin Hodja, whose stories were well known in the Balkan region. The translator, Nikola Palikuca from Prokljan (near Šibenik) was probably the pseudonym of a friar or nun. A second edition of the book was published in 1799 in Venice. - With owner's inscriptions on the final blank and interior of the wrapper and some pencil crossing on the back of the title-page. Browned and with waterstains throughout, nevertheless a structurally good edition of a very rare book. Deželjin, "Bertoldi di Giulio Cesare Croce e il riflesso di quest'opera nell'altra sponda dell'Adriatico" in: Capasso, L'Italia altrove, atti del III convegno internazionale di studi dell'AIBA, pp. 135-144. Not in WorldCat; ICCU.
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Heine, Maurice.
L'Islam sous la cendre. Paris, (colophon: Frazier-Soye), (19 February) 1918.
Square 4to (250 × 260 mm). With the frontispiece in three states: a lithographed plate, a hand-coloured miniature painting on vellum, highlighted with gold, and an engraved plate; and with the half-title printed in blue and several words in the text printed in green and blue. Original green cloth. One of six copies (numbered 4) of a sumptuous publication of poems on Islam by the French poet, writer and publisher Maurice Heine (1884-1940). The entire edition consists of 77 copies, of which only the first six (numbered 1-6) were printed on dyed Japanese paper and included the frontispiece in three states, of which one painted and highlighted with gold on parchment. The frontispiece, an Arabic text surrounded by flowers, was designed and drawn by the Algerian miniature painter Mohammed Racim (1896-1975), founder of the Algerian school of miniature painting that still exists. The included poems are: La demeure harmonieuse; Dans la maison moresque; Palais d'Islam; Le voyage en faience; Le cyprès; Alger-aux-barbares; and La mort d'Alger. The work opens with a half-title printed in blue, followed by a blank leaf, a leaf with the privilege, another half-title, three frontispieces, the title-page, and a dedication, followed by the prologue and the seven poems. It closes with a colophon, mentioning the different copies of the book. Below the colophon is the print number: "Exemplaire no. 4. Imprimé pour le docteur Pierre Astruc". - With a presentation inscription to Pierre Astruc: "à Pierre Astruc, avec toute l'affection de ton ami dévoué, Maurice Heine". In very good condition. C. Tailliart, L'Algérie dans la littérature française 123. WorldCat (3 copies).
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Hietzinger, Carl Bernhard Edler von.
Statistik der Militärgränze des österreichischen Kaiserthums. Ein Versuch [...]. Vienna, Carl Gerold, 1817-1823.
Large 8vo. 2 parts in 3 vols. XX, 299, (135) pp. XII, 467, (1) pp. XII, 668, (8) pp. With 4 folding tables and 1 folding lithographed map of the Military Frontier. Contemporary giltstamped full calf with charmingly giltstamped spine; leading edges gilt. All edges gilt. Marbled pastedowns. First edition. - Elaborate study of the "Militärgrenze" (Military Frontier), a borderland of Imperial Austria set up for national defence against the Ottoman Empire, by Hietzinger (1786-1864), a civil servant in the Court Council of War. "Of lasting historical value" (cf. Wurzbach). The map shows the area of the Military Frontier as well as the positions of the infantry and cavalry regiments stationed there. The folding tables provide details on the size and population density of the area, various 18th century organisational reforms, as well as temperature and minerals of the Baths of Mehadia (Baths of Hercules) in modern Romania. The first part was published with a dedication to Archduke Ludwig Joseph of Austria, a younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. The index of subscribers in volume I, sometimes bound after the XX pp. of preliminaries, is bound at the end of the present copy. Author's initials and shelfmarks to the flyleaves of all three volumes. - A few paper flaws to the index of volume I, not touching text. A very well preserved, appealingly bound copy. From the library of the Viennese collector Werner Habel, with his stamped and signed ownership to flyleaves, dated 1977. Kayser III, 142. Wurzbach IX, 8f. (misquoting the title).
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[Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (1932-2016)].
Original photograph. [Cairo, 1970s].
168 x 215 mm. Showing Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar, and the President of Egypt Anwar as-Sadat (1918-1981) during a state visit in Egypt.
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[Oil - Middle East].
The Petroleum Times. [Drop-title]: Review of Middle East Oil. A comprehensive illustrated review of all aspects of current developments based on a recent extended tour by Dr. C.T. Barber [...]. London, Brettenham house, June 1948.
Small folio (30 × 23.5 cm). With many reproductions of photographs, ground plans, maps, and cross-sections. Later cardboard binder. Extract from the periodical "The Petroleum Times", containing an extensive article on oil in the Middle East. It opens with a list of Middle East oil companies and their concessions, accompanied by a map showing their oil fields, followed by a section on the future of Middle East oil. Individual chapters are devoted to the oil industry in Iran, Iraq, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, Haifa (Israel) and Kuwait, describing the area's geology, oil fields, reservoirs, and more, illustrated with photographs and cross-sections of the soil. The first 25 and last 16 pages consist of advertisements. - Lacking the first 4 leaves of the preliminaries (probably advertisements), but the article itself complete, some leaves slightly creased, otherwise in very good condition.
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Villotte, Jacques, SJ.
Voyages d'un missionaire de la Compagnie de Jesus, en Turquie, en Perse, en Armenie, en Arabie & en Barbarie. Paris, Vincent, 1730.
8vo. (6), 647 pp. Modern half calf with giltstamped spine. First edition. - The Jesuit Jacques Villotte (1656-1743) was sent to China. Leaving Marseilles in 1688, he arrived in Isfahan in October 1689. His various attempts to penetrate China were unsuccessful, and he settled in Isfahan, where he remained for twelve years. He was not recalled to France until 1712. At Isfahan, he taught plainchant to the Persians and translated several works in Armenian. - Some staining. OCLC locates no copy in the U.S.; however, one copy in Princeton (the Atabey copy). Atabey 1294. De Backer/Sommervogel VIII, 789 (quoting a slightly different title, possibly in error).
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Wallin, Georg.
[Qissat Yusuf an-Naggar] sive historia Josephi Fabri lignarii. Liber apocryphus ex codice manuscripto regiae bibliothecae Parisiensis. Leipzig, Andreas Zeidler, 1722.
4to. (16), 110, (2) pp. Contemporary full calf. First edition of the Arabic text of the "History of Joseph the Carpenter", one of the oldest New Testament Apocrypha. A compilation of traditions concerning Mary, Joseph, and the "holy family", it probably was composed in Byzantine Egypt in Greek in the late 6th or early 7th century but is preserved only in Coptic and Arabic versions. The Arabic text was edited by Georg Wallin (1686-1760), the learned Lutheran archbishop of Göteborg. - Some browning, more pronounced in margins of title-page. Binding lightly rubbed at extremeties. Old Swedish deaccessioning note ("Duplett") on pastedown. Wants first free endpaper. Rare. Schnurrer 413. OCLC 165689104.
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Metellus, Johannes.
Asia tabulis aeneis secundum rationes geographicas delineata. Oberursel, Sutor, 1600.
4to. 12 double-page maps with accompanying Latin text, head- and tailpieces. Contemporary decorated calf gilt. Johannes Matalius Metellus (ca. 1517-97) was a French jurist who spent his early life travelling in Italy. Later Metellus moved to Louvain. Around 1579, he became involved in Cologne's cartographic publishing industry, when he is thought to have contributed to the "Itinerarium Orbis Christiani". He also contributed a description of Lyon to Braun & Hogenberg's "Civitates Orbis Terrarum". There is a very attractive map of Arabia. "His map of Japan is the earliest known copy of Teixeira's map, which had appeared in Ortelius" (Walter 20). Metellus was a friend of Matthias Quad, whose name is sometimes associated with the posthumous completion of the Metellus atlas of the Americas (it was published in 1598; Metellus is thought to have died in 1597). The cartographer was also in correspondence with Abraham Ortelius. At one point he gave Ortelius assistance collating Ptolemy's Cosmography with manuscripts in the Vatican. This was evidently needed for the completion of Ortelius's "Parergon Theatri". - Minor foxing generally not affecting maps, minor worming. Al-Qasimi 36. Tibbetts 59. H. P. Kraus, Monumenta Cartographica, items 45 & 52.
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