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Silvestre de Sacy, [Antoine Isaac].
Mémoires sur les antiquités de la Perse et sur l'histoire des Arabes avant Mahomet. Paris, E. Duverger / J. J. Marcel, Imprimerie Impériale, [1808-1809].
Large 4to (220 x 274 mm). (6), 47-58, 483-782 pp. With 4 tables. Later red half morocco over marbled boards with gilt title to spine. Offprints from vols. 47 & 48 of the "Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres" with separately printed title-page. The four "mémoires" which make up the first piece were variously read in public between 1787 and 1791, but published for the first time in 1793; the second, much longer part, was first heard on 5 April 1785. Includes long extracts in Arabic from Masoudi, Sirat Alresoul, Kitab Aldjouman, Tabari, and others. - Shelfmark to spine, unobtrusive blind library stamp to title & following 2 leaves. Ownership inscription of Col. S. B. Miles to front free endpaper, and his wife's presentation bookplate (Bath Public Reference Library) to front pastedown. Wilson 197.
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Thimm, C. A.
Egyptian self-taught (Arabic) with the English phonetic transliteration of every word. London, E. Marlborough & Co., 1897.
Small 8vo. 71, (1) pp. plus (12) pp. of publisher's ads. Publisher's original printed red cloth. Rare manual of vernacular Egyptian Arabic, intended "for the Navy and Army, Travellers, Missionaries, and Traders on the Nile, in Alexandria, or in the Sudan [...] By the use of this book, students will find they are quite competent to make themselves clearly understood by all classes of Arabs met with in Egypt, the Sudan, and a considerable part of North Africa". Includes "colloquial phrases, travel talk, naval, military and commercial terms, money, weights, and measures", omitting grammar and Arabic characters, instead employing Latin-alphabet transliteration throughout. - Binding loosened; traces of use and moisture. Handwritten ownership of "Alexander Morrison", dated 1897, to front flyleaf.
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Abdulmejid I, Ottoman Sultan (1823-1861).
Ottoman travelling firman for Sir Jacob Henry Preston. [Constantinople], ca. 1840.
Ca. 550 x 770 mm. Ottoman Turkish manuscript with large Tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid I (reigned 1839-61). 1 page. Black ink on single sheet of sturdy, smoothed laid paper (watermark: "GFA"; Fratelli Gava manufactory of Lombardy & Venice?). A scarce example of a mid-19th century Levantine manuscript firman granting permission to travel in the Ottoman Empire, issued to Sir Jacob Henry Preston (1812-91), 2nd baronet of Beeston St Lawrence. Preston was educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1832); his seat was at Beeston Hall near Norwich in Norfolk. - Traces of old folds. Small stain with related small hole not affecting text; contemporary ink annotation on verso: "Travelling firman for Sir Jacob Henry Preston". In fine condition.
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Bresnier, (Louis-Jacques).
Cours pratique et théorique de langue Arabe. Algiers & Paris, Bastide, Challamel, Duprat, 1855.
8vo. XVI, 668 pp. With a frontispiece printed in colours and gilt in the style of an Arabic title (lith. Bastide). Elegant oriental-style red morocco binding with fore-edge flap, covers blindstamped with gilt borders, spine gilt in western style. Marbled endpapers. Widely received introduction to Arabic by L. J. Bresnier (1814-69), a disciple of Silvestre de Sacy and the first professor of Arabic in Algiers. - Some insignificant foxing to margins, but a fine copy in a unique binding, from the library of the Algerian essayist and Muslim leader Mourad Kiouane, a participant in the World Muslim Conference held in Karachi in February 1951 (with his ownership stamps). Even many leaders among the Algerian Muslims of the 1950s, educated by the French colonial system, spoke good French but only Algerian Arabic rather than the standard variety, which hampered their ability to converse with the leaders of other Arab nations. Famously, Algeria's first president Ahmed Ben Bella broke out in tears when invited by Nasser to speak for the first time before an Egyptian audience, but finding himself unable to do so. Partly in response to this, and to promote pan-Arabism, Nasser sent droves of Arabic instructors to Algeria in the 1960s. OCLC 929616431.
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[Caussin de Perceval, Armand Pierre.
Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'islamisme, pendant l'époque de Mahomet, et jusqu'à la réduction de toutes les tribus sous la loi musulmane. Paris, Didot, 1848].
Tables only: 11 genealogical tables on 15 folding sheets. Contemporary red half morocco; marbled covers and endpapers. Slightly foxed throughout. From the library of Richard C. Hodges (his etched bookplate on front flyleaf); later in the library of Sidney Edward Bouverie-Pusey (1839-1911), only son of the agriculturist Philip Pusey (cf. DNB XLVII, 64), with his bookplate on front pastedown.
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Hammer-Purgstall, [Joseph von, ed.].
Mahmud Schebisteri's Rosenflor des Geheimnisses. Persisch und Deutsch. Pest & Leipzig, Hartleben, 1838.
4to. VI, 32 pp. With 2 lithogr. plates and 28 ff. of Arabic letterpress with lithogr. borders, toned in various colours. Modern boards with the original wrappers bound within. First edition. - Without any doubt Hammer’s finest work in imitation of an oriental manuscript: the Persian text of the famous Sufi manual ‘Golshan-e Râz’ is printed in seven four-leaf quires of varying colours, each framed by a lithographed sequence of interlaced flowers and animals (pheasants, deer, antilopes, panthers, jackals). The German translation, the unsophisticated typography of which provides a striking contrast to the luxurious Persian text, is illustrated by two plates of topographical interest. The binding preserves the original blue paper wrappers with a large emblematic lithograph of a shell hidden among a bouquet of roses, drawn by Pauline von Koudelka-Schmerling. - Occasional slight foxing. Untrimmed. Goedeke VII, 767, 100. Rabenlechner I, 122. Cf. Brunet III, 34 (Vienna, 1838 ed.).
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[Kalila wa Dimna]. Silvestre de Sacy, [Antoine Isaac] (ed.).
Calila et Dimna, ou Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1816.
4to. 2 parts in one volume. VIII, 140 pp. (8), 315, (1) pp. 19th century cloth with giltstamped spine title. The complete text of the Arabic version by Ibn al Muqaffa of this collection of animal fables with didactic overtones designed to illustrate wise conduct, printed in the beautiful types of the "Imprimerie Royale", with an introduction and critical notes in French. The typeface, based on Arab or Turkish specimens of calligraphy and cut in Rome in the early 17th century for Savary, "was the mainstay of Arabic typography in France until the late 19th century; it also provided a model for others" (Roper, p. 145). - Spine sunned; occasional browning and foxing, but a good copy. Chauvin II, p. 11f., no. 17. Cf. G. Roper, Early Arabic Printing in Europe, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter (Westhofen 2002), pp. 129-150.
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Louis XVI / Silvestre de Sacy, [Antoine Isaac] (ed.).
[Al-durr al-manzum fi wasaya al-sultan al-marhum]. Testament de Louis XVI, Roi de France et de Navarre, avec une traduction arabe par M. le Baron Silvestre de Sacy. Paris, de l'Imprimierie Royale, 1820.
8vo. 19, (1), 22, (2) pp. Contemporary grey wrappers. First Arabic edition. "Silvestre de Sacy translated the Last Will and Testament of Louis XVI into Arabic and had the translation printed together with the French original in 1820, in hopes that it might prove a comfort and encouragement to the Christians of the Orient, while giving Muslim readers a demonstration of Christian submission and evangelical meekness" (cf. Fück). Three years previously, de Sacy had published the late King's Testament (together with the last letter of Marie Antoinette) in a luxurious folio edition. "Sacy never let his Christian convictions hamper his work as a scholar, for he saw religion as a personal matter. Although he revealed his faith at times, it was never to pose it as the strongest model against which to judge other religions. He was nevertheless very pious. There is no other way to explain his translation of the guillotined king, Louis XVI, into Arabic [...]. He apparently wished to show how devout, simple and charitable his beloved monarch had been" (Kamal as-Salibi, The Druze [London 2005], p. 20). - The orientalist de Sacy, a monumental figure in the development of oriental studies in France, began his career as professor of Arabic at the École des Langues Orientales Vivantes in 1796. In 1806 he was offered the chair of Persian at the College of France and in 1824 was appointed director of the school of oriental languages. He also acted as advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, translating political propaganda into Arabic, including the "Bulletins of the Grande Armée" (cf. Atabey 1134). - An excellent, untrimmed and wide-margined copy in mint condition, printed on strong paper, the central counter-leaf remaining uncut. Fück 144 (note 377). Bibliothèque de Sacy III, 4781f. OCLC 25217438.
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[Ottoman military manual - firearms].
Ta'limat al-Madafi' - al-Shishanah. Cairo, [early May 1864 CE] = awa'il Du'l-Hijja 1280 H.
8vo. 13 [instead of 17, lacking pp. 3-6], (1), 2, 386 pp. Contemporary half leather with coloured paper boards. Fourth volume only of the Ottoman military manual "Ta'limat al-'Askariya al-Mustajadda" ("Instructions for the New Model Army"), discussing firearms, guns and artillery in the Ottoman army. Translated from Turkish into Arabic by Captain Hasan Effendi Muzahhar with the assistance of his fellow officer Mohammed Effendi 'Abi'l Hasan. The title ("Gun Instructions - The Shishana") denotes an old Ottoman lock rifle produced mostly in Syria. - Binding severely rubbed and bumped; spine chipped; remains of old lending label on upper cover. Handwritten English note on flyleaf: "found in a tent at Tel-el-Kebir / 14 September 1882 / T. J. Jones". In the Battle of Tel El Kebir (13 Sept. 1882), fought near the Suez Canal, the British military defeated the Egyptian army led by Ahmed Urabi following an insurrection of Egyptian soldiers during the Anglo-Egyptian War.
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Abu-’l Harr al-Mumallih (Pseudo-) / Gliemann, Wilhelm.
Viro pietate doctrina humanitate excellentissimo Christiano Wolterstorff kallikrenaioi [...] Praemissum est Abu’l Charri’l Momallechi ad Abu’l Melchum sapientem carmen arabicum ex duobus codd. mscr. nunc primum editum latine et vernacule conversum adnotationibus criticis et exegeticis instructum. Halle, (Karl August Schwetschke), Gebauer (for the author), 1828.
4to. XII, 23, (5) pp. Arabic letterpress text within red ornamental borders. Contemporary papered spine. Only edition; exceedingly rare. - At first glance, the editio princeps of an ancient Arabic encomium based on two manuscript sources, accompanied by copious notes on the text as well as by German and Latin versions, and published on the occasion of the 50th teaching anniversary of Christian Woltersdorf, the director of the Salzwedel grammar school, by Friedrich Wilhelm Gliemann (1792-1864), teacher at the school. The few holding libraries unanimously cite the author as "Abu-’l Harr al-Mumallih", a poet entirely unknown to oriental literary history. Contemporary reviewers were quick to point out that the publication is, in fact, an elaborate hoax as scholarly as it is witty: "Indeed, the poem constitutes a cento assembled by Mr. Gliemann, in the main based on several poems of the Hamasah genre and on the encomium of Safieddin, edited by Bernstein [in 1816]. Yet the feat of properly conjoining these various pieces to form a whole, in a single, pure and correct metre, reveals no mean knowledge of Arabic. Several of the verses are of Mr. Gliemann's own invention. And so it is evident that the purported editor is none other than Abu’l Charr himself (the 'father of the embers', a pun on the name, 'Glühmann'), and that the variant readings of the second MS are nothing but different readings of the various passages of the original" (cf. Ergänzungsblätter zur A.L.Z. [1829], col. 263f.). - Printed on fine, crisp writing paper with tree watermark. Slight corner flaws to Latin and Arabic title-pages, otherwise a clean and wide-margined copy. Only four copies known in institutional possession (Halle, Leipzig, Göttingen, Greifswald). A rare and highly original piece of Arabic scholarship. OCLC 257626548.
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Aubry, Paul.
Mémoires originaux. Les Hôpitaux, les Asiles d'aliéné et les Léproseries en Orient. Grèce, Turquie, Egypte. (Revue Internationale des Sciences Médicales. Tome IV. No 2. 28 février 1887). [Paris], Revue Internationale des Sciences Médicales, 1887.
8vo. (37)-84 pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped title to upper cover and spine. Endpapers marbled. All edges gilt. Only edition. - Rare account, by the French physician Paul Aubry, of Turkish military and civil hospitals, describing in detail their design and medical capacities, including accurate numbers of beds. An exceptional documentation of health care infrastructure in the Ottoman Empire, mentioning the Yildiz Ambulance, the Haider Pacha military hospital and the Haseki Hospital in Istanbul. The present offprint also contains a medical bibliography of works in German, Danish and Swedish published in 1886-87 as well as several abstracts, including an article on gonorrhoea by the Ottowa physician Coyteux Prévost, published in the "Union Médicale du Canada" in the same year. - Inscribed and signed by Aubry to Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) on the front flyleaf. Binding slightly rubbed. Small marginal tears to pp. 39-42; last few pages somewhat creased. Library stamps erased from flyleaf and first page. From the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to exert effective contol over the fracturing state and also remembered as a poet, translator and one of the dynasty's greatest bibliophiles. While his passion for books is memorialized by the many precious donations he gave to libraries all over the world and which mostly have remained intact to this day (including the 400-volume "Abdul-Hamid II Collection of Books and Serials" gifted to the Library of Congress), his own library was dispersed in the years following his deposition in 1909: books were removed to other palaces and even sold to Western collectors, the greatest part of his collection is today preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. U.S. Army, Index-catalogue of the library of the surgeon-general's office VII, 393. Wohnlich-Despaigne, Les Historiens Français de la Médecine au XIXe Siècle 59.
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Azpeitia de Moros, Luis.
En busca del caballo árabe. Comisión á Oriente. Turquia. - Siria. - Mesopotamia. - Palestina. Madrid, Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1915.
8vo. 302 pp. With photo illustrations in the text throughout. Red half morocco over cloth boards with giltstamped spine title. Top edge red. Marbled endpapers. Rare first edition of this important work on Arabian horses. "Spanish commission sent to observe Arabian horses in Turkey, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine [...] Used as a reference source by Gladys Brown Edwards in 'The Arabian: War Horse to Show Horse'" (Boyd/P., p. 11). An English translation ("In Search of the Arabian Horse") appeared in 2001; an Arabic one ("al-Bahth `an al-husan al-`Arabi") was published in Riyadh in 2007. A fine copy with the bookplate of José Luis Marín-Sánchez to half-title. Boyd/Paul 10. OCLC 49468733.
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[Burgess, Thomas].
The Arabick Alphabet; or, an easy introduction to the reading of Arabick. For the use of Hebrew students. Newcastle, S. Hodgson, and sold by W. H. Lunn, London, 1809.
Large 12mo. V, (3), 20 pp. Modern half calf over marbled boards with black morocco label to spine, gilt. Padded at the end with 22 sturdy blank leaves with binder's ticket of "Period Binders, Bath". First edition of this rare introduction to Arabic. As the author writes in his dedication to the Rev. John Frederick Usko, "The object of the following pages is to put the Hebrew student in possession of just so much Arabick as may enable him to profit by the illustrations of Hebrew words in the Lexicons of Simonis and others." He proceeds to explain and justify his methods in the face of the many difficulties encountered by students. The text looks at the construction of the alphabet itself, compares Hebrew and Arabic letters, and similarly verbs and their tenses. - Attributed to Thomas Burgess (1756-1837), who served successively as Bishop of Salisbury and St. David's. He was educated at Winchester college and gained a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he spent most of his time studying Greek. He was ordained in 1784 and at this time he became interested in Hebrew and theology. A prolific author, he published over a hundred works - the first while at Oxford. Early in his career, he came under the patronage of the Bishop of Salisbury. In his spare time, he helped increase the number of Sunday schools and contributed in writing primers for the students. The present work is an obvious fruit of these interests. - No copies listed in auction records of this unusual Newcastle imprint, which also names the London bookseller and dealer in continental books, W. H. Lunn. Some contemporary handwritten annotations in ink & ownership inscription to title-page "A Bertiz / August 5, 1829". - Rare. OCLC 55524381.
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[Eggermont, Isidore Jacques].
Le Japon. Histoire et religion. Paris, Ch. Delagrave, 1885.
8vo. 156 pp. With one folding map of Japan. Contemporary gilt full red morocco with the giltstamped inscription "A Sa Majesté Impériale Le Sultan. Hommage de l'Auteur" to upper cover, Ottoman crest to lower cover, and giltstamped spine. Leading edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. First edition of this synopsis of the political and religious history of Japan, by the Belgian diplomat, photographer and writer Eggermont (1844-1923), who was appointed councillor to the legation of Belgium in Japan from 1876 to 1877. Author's presentation copy for the Sultan with the dedication giltstamped to the upper cover. The book's first part discusses Shintoism and Buddhism; the second part presents an overview of Japanese history from the origins of the Japanese people until the 1868 Meji Restoration. - Lacks upper half of the title-page; lower half is transposed before the half-title and glued on top of it, thus omitting the author's name. - From the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918), the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to exert effective contol over the fracturing state and also remembered as a poet, translator and one of the dynasty's greatest bibliophiles. While his passion for books is memorialized by the many precious donations he gave to libraries all over the world and which mostly have remained intact to this day (including the 400-volume "Abdul-Hamid II Collection of Books and Serials" gifted to the Library of Congress), his own library was dispersed in the years following his deposition in 1909: books were removed to other palaces and even sold to Western collectors; the greatest part of his collection is today preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. - Extremities insignificantly rubbed; paper somewhat foxed throughout. An appealing copy in a finely gilt presentation binding. OCLC 249076616.
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Ferrario, Giulio.
Descrizione della Palestina o storia del Vangelo. Milano, Società Tipografica de' Classici Italiani, 1831.
4to (193 x 258 mm). (4), 171, (5) pp. With 30 hand-coloured aquatint plates, 1 folding engraved map coloured in outline, 1 hand-coloured engraved plan, 1 uncoloured plate. Modern blue cloth with metal corner-pieces. Top-edge gilt. First edition of this fine topography of the Holy Land. "The signing artists include G. Bramati, Citterio, D. Landini, Bonatti, A. Angeli" (cf. Lipperheide). The splendidly coloured aquatints mostly show views (including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Bethany), costumes, churches, sepulchres, temples, etc. - Some foxing to edges and margins as common; very minor clean tear to outer margin of map. A a wide-margined copy complete of the map and the hand-coloured plates. Tobler 217. Lipperheide Lc 10. Roehricht 1757.
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[French Intelligence on Bahrain].
Original typescript compiled by French Middle East intelligence. Probably Beirut or Damascus, 1936.
22 typewritten sheets (4to) in carbon duplicates, revised by hand, with two smaller hand-drawn coloured maps of the Arabian Gulf, showing Bahrain and Qatar with the "Pirate Coast". A closely typed report on Bahrain, written in the autumn of 1936, outlining the country's history, situation, population, government, economy, foreign relationships and influences. This is accompanied by two detailed coloured sketch maps of the Gulf, showing Bahrain off the coast of Qatar and the entire Gulf from Kuwait to Oman, with the British and American spheres of interest and the international air routes marked. - During the two years that followed the end of the Great War, the British held control of most of Ottoman Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the southern part of Ottoman Syria (Palestine and Transjordan), while the French controlled the rest of Syria, Lebanon, and other portions of southeastern Turkey. In the early 1920s, British and French control of these territories became formalized by the League of Nations' mandate system, and in 1923 France was assigned the League of Nations mandate of Syria. It would last until 1943, when Syria and Lebanon emerged as independent countries. - Occasional insignificant edge flaws; rust stains from old paperclips. Holes punched along left edge. A rare survival.
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[French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon].
Recueil des Arrêtés et Décisions de la Z. O. (24 Octobre 1918 - 31 Août 1920). Interessant toutes les branches de l'Administration: Administration Civils, Justice, Finances, Hygiène Publique, Agriculture, Douanes. Beirut, Imp. des Lettres J. G., 1924.
8vo. 188 pp., 2 final blank leaves. Original printed wrappers. First edition. - Collection of laws and regulations for Lebanon (Zone Ouest) passed by the French under their mandate for Syria and the Lebanon from October 1918 until the end of August 1920, two days prior to the declaration of independence of Greater Lebanon. A compact primary source on French administration in the Middle East, this rare manual contains decrees for administrative issues such as the division of Lebanon into three zones, sanitary measures against the plague, but also detailed regulations concerning everything from travel permits and the organisation and surveillance of prisons to the application of the metric system, the trade in carrier pigeons, the prices for ice (2 piastres for 400 grams wholesale, 3 piastres retail), alcoholic drinks (16 piastres for a litre of table wine) and tramway fares, and the circulation of vehicles. - A few marginal flaws to the wrappers, occasional minor edge flaws. A good, clean copy with provenance stamp "Le Chef de Cabinet" on the upper cover.
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Hilmi, Ibrahim.
Memâlik-i Osmânîye cep atlasi. Devlet-i `Aliye-i Osmânîyenin ahvâl-i cografya ve istatistikiyesi. Istanbul, Ibrahim Hilmi, [1907 CE =] 1323 Rumi.
Small 8vo. 8, 328 pp. With 64 colour lithographed plates of maps and diagrams. Original light brown cloth bearing elaborate Ottoman Art Nouveau designs. This edition of Hilmi's "Pocket Atlas" captures the Ottoman Empire during the twilight of the Hamidian Era, when it still controlled territories on three continents, extending from Albania to Yemen. With 64 highly attractive colour lithographic plates, the atlas features an especially extensive collation of thematic maps and diagrams, more that we have encountered in other issues, including detailed maps of the empire's various vilayets. Notably, the book's coverage of the Arabian Peninsula is excellent, with a double-page map of the entire peninsula; a custom map of the route of the Hejaz Railway (due to be extended as far south as Medina in 1908); a map of the Basra Vilayet (with southern Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as parts of today's Saudi Arabia); as well as separate maps of Yemen and Asir. - Ibrahim Hilmi Cigiracan (1876-1963) was one of the most important publishers and cartographers of the late Ottoman Empire. Born in Tulcea (now in Romania), he founded his first printing shop in Istanbul in 1896, under the name "Kitaphane-i Islami" (Islamic Library), largely producing religious books. Subsequently, Hilmi became interested in military affairs, geography and history, and changed the name of his press to "Kitaphane-i Islam ve Askeri" (Islamic and Military Library). He published about 200 military books, and his atlases (especially his "Pocket Atlas") were among the most popular cartographic items throughout the empire. During WWI, Hilmi gained the affection of the public for his charitable programme of sending free books to poor children in Anatolia. - Hilmi's enterprise thrived until Atatürk's Republican regime nationalized the publishing of law and school books in the 1920s, undercutting the most lucrative part of his business. However, Hilmi left an enduring legacy, having published over a thousand books on a wide variety of topics over three decades. - Binding worn with a few chips of minor loss, especially along hinges, but holding firm; old repairs to lower margin of upper cover. Internally light, even toning to text pages and some marginal chips to few leaves and plates, not affecting printed area. Maps generally clean and bright, just some offsetting to 4 maps. A fine edition. OCLC 1014526531.
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Lafuente y Alcantara, Emilio.
Inscripciones arabes de Granada, precedidas de una reseña histórica y de la genealogía detallada de los reyes Alahmares. Madrid, Imprenta Nacional, 1859.
4to. XIII, (1), 15-242, (2) pp. With a folding family tree. Near-contemporary full vellum with giltstamped borders and spine title, original 1860 upper wrapper cover bound within. Endpapers with floral pattern. The first (and only early) edition of this detailed study of Arabic inscriptions found in Granada, with the texts of the inscriptions set in naskh Arabic type and also translated into Spanish. It includes many poems, notably those of Ibn Zamrak (1333-93), as well as Lafuente's overview of the history and genealogy of the Moorish Nasrid dynasty (1230-1492) that ruled the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic realm in Spain. Emilio Lafuente y Alcantara (1825-68), a disciple of Don Pascual de Gayangos and José Moreno Nieto, includes much information from documents he had newly discovered himself. He was "gifted with great erudition and love of scholarship" and condemned mediaeval Christian intolerance of Islam, the destruction of Arabic manuscripts during the Inquisition and the damage done to the Alhambra by rebuilding under Charles V. In his present first major publication, Lafuente attempts to document surviving Arabic inscriptions in Spain before anyone could destroy or incompetently restore them. This quickly established him as one of the leading oriental scholars of the Iberian peninsula, but his work was cut short by his premature death nine years later. The book, reissued in 1860 with no change except for the date on the new wrappers, inspired a new interest in Iberian Arabic poetry, but was largely forgotten by bibliographers of Arabic studies. It was reprinted without revisions in 2000 and remains an important source for Islamic Granada. - Vellum covers slightly warped. Paper evenly browned throughout; slightly foxed in places. Near-contemporary handwritten English annotations in ink and pencil to p. 169, correcting Lafuente's claim that a large vase had disappeared from the Alhambra and probably is to be found "ornamenting the cabinet of some Englishman, passionate for our things": "This is a mistake entirely. The great 2nd jar is in the Museum at Madrid [...]". James T. Monroe, Islam and the Arabs in Spanish scholarship (1970), pp. 119-122. Palau 129800. Harrassowitz, Arabien und der Islam 1932, 2414 ("Rare"). Petzholdt, Neuer Anzeiger für Bibliographie und Bibliothekswissenschaft 1862,140. Abascal/Cebrián, Manuscritos sobre Antigüedades de la Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid 2005, 309. Dodds, Al-Andalus, 404.
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[Lawrence, Thomas Edward]. Pirie-Gordon, Harry (ed.).
A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under the Command of General Sir Edmund H.H. Allenby. July 1917 to October 1918. Compiled from Official Sources and Published by the Palestine News. Cairo, Government Press and Survey of Egypt, 1919.
Small folio (227 x 294 mm). (6), 113, (1) pp. With Allenby's portrait frontispiece on cloth and 56 coloured maps (facing explanatory texts printed on versos). Original printed wrappers with printed cloth spine. First edition, edited by Harry Pirie-Gordon as a souvenir album: an account of the 1917-19 campaign in the Middle East. Contains two reports written by T. E. Lawrence, "Sherifian Co-Operation in September" and "Story of the Arab Movement", in which he details the Ashraf contribution to the War effort and narrates his own involvement in a third-person report. - Rubbed and stained, with occasional edge flaws. Endpapers have pencil ownership of O. A. Holstius, attached to Headquarters, 19th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. Loosely inserted is a typed extract from "The Honourable Artillery Company in the Great War, 1914-1919" by George Goold Walker (1930), detailing living conditions in the Jordan Valley during the Great War (torn and frayed at edges). O'Brien A011.
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Slatin-Pascha, Rudolf von, administrator in the Sudan, politician, and adventurer (1857-1932).
Archive of first-hand contemporary documents concerning the escape of Slatin Pasha. Various places, ca. 1895.
Autograph document in Arabic. 8vo. 1 p. Accompanied by the first published account of Slatin's escape: 3 consecutive issues of the Pall Mall Gazette, 23-25 April 1895 (42 x 37 cm each). Wrapped as a parcel within a bifolium of the Times, inscribed "Slatin Bey's Escape" by Sir Reginald Wingate. An archive of first-hand contemporary documents concerning the escape of Slatin Pasha (Major-General Rudolf Anton Carl Freiherr von Slatin, 1857-1932), who was held prisoner for eleven long years by the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad and his successor. The material was assembled by General Sir Reginald Wingate of the Egyptian Intelligence Department, who facilitated the escape and assisted on the perilous three-week, thousand-kilometre journey across the Nubian desert to Aswan, Egypt. "Probably the most famous European in the history of the Sudan, this Austrian survived as a captive of the Mahdi from 1883 until his escape to Egypt in 1895. His knowledge of the Sudan and its people was unrivalled and after the re-conquest he was appointed Inspector-General, second in authority only to the Governor-General, Reginald Wingate, of whom he was a great personal friend" (H. Keown-Boyd, Soldiers of the Nile [1996], p. 174). - The archive includes an Arabic document presumed to be written by Slatin Pasha (1 p. on thick handmade paper, 16 x 25 cm). Any writing by Slatin Pasha in Arabic is exceedingly scarce. Also, Slatin Pasha's first published account of his captivity and escape in Sudan, in three consecutive "Special Edition" issues of London's Pall Mall Gazette newspapers, preceding his book "Fire and Sword in the Sudan" by an entire year. Dated 23, 24, 25 April 1895 respectively, each contains 1 of 3 parts of Slatin's account entitled "The Story of My Flight". Each issue measures 42 x 37 cm. Wear to extremities and folds, otherwise very good. A scarce contemporary report, complete and in original condition. - Wrapped together within contemporary leaves of the Times, forming a parcel and inscribed by Sir Reginald Wingate "Slatin Bey's Escape", addressed in his secretary's hand to "Miss Campbell, Cawley Priory" - evidently a close friend or relative of Slatin's who Wingate thought would appreciate knowledge of his safety as soon as possible.
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Tychsen, Thomas Christian.
Grammatik der Arabischen Schriftsprache für den ersten Unterricht, mit einigen Auszügen aus dem Koran. Göttingen, Dieterich, 1823.
8vo. VIII, 263, (1), 40 pp. Contemporary marbled boards with giltstamped red spine label. All edges red. Only edition. - The principal work of the Göttingen oriental scholar T. C. Tychsen (1758-1834), a grammar of Arabic that replaced that of Michaelis, including a 40-page "Anthologia Coranica" in Arabic which contains suras 1, 68, 91-96 and long excerpts from suras 2, 23, 47, and 5. The instructional text (though not the Qur'anic appendix) of the present copy has been closely studied, corrected and extensively annotated in German, Arabic, and Latin on more than 70 pages by an unidentified contemporary scholar or student of oriental languages, in a manner often consistent with preparatory notes for a revised edition. Sources cited include Scheidius, Reiske's Abulfeda, De Sacy, Rosenmüller, and Gesenius; the latest is the third volume of Freytag's Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, published in 1835. - Binding rubbed, extremeties bumped. Evenly browned throughout due to paper. Formerly in the library of the Gießen-based Arabist Wilfried B. C. Schaum (b. 1943) with his 1970s stamp to the title-page. Kayser V, 484. OCLC 614537916.
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Aitchison, C[harles] U[mpherston] (ed.).
A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads Relating to India and Neighbouring Countries [...]. Vol. XII. Containing the Treaties, &c., relating to Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Assam and Burma. Calcutta, Government of India, Central Publication Branch, 1931.
Large 8vo. (2), XII, 283, (3), XII, XXIII, (1) pp. Contemporary half cloth over buckram boards. Forming part of the fifth edition of this important government-issued series (incorporating revisions to 1929), this 12th volume records the treaties made with the countries on the fringes of the British Raj, most importantly those made with Burma, but also such entered into with Jammu and Kashmir in the northwest as well as with Sikkim and Assam in the northeast. The first of these recorded is a commercial arrangement with the King of Ava in 1795, and those that follow demonstrate the steady progress of English intervention with a Treaty "for the establishment of a Court at Mandalay" and various arrangements between the British and Chinese with regard to the Burmese frontier. - Edges somewhat rubbed, front hinge beginning to split, but still a good, well-preserved copy. Provenance: Foreign and Commonwealth Office stamp (Commonwealth Relations Offfice Library) to title-page and cancellation stamp to verso; "Council Reading Room" stamp to flyleaf with pencil note "Amendments made to to 25. 2. 35". OCLC 454612923.
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Al-Shidyaq, As'ad.
Khabariyat As`ad al-Shidyaq alladhi udtuhida li-ajl iqrarihi fi'l-haqq. [Account of As 'ad al-Shidyaq who was persecuted on account of his steadfastness in the truth]. Malta, Church Missionary Society, 1833.
12mo. 52 pp. Wrapper title printed within decorated borders. Extremely rare autobiography of As'ad al-Shidyaq (1798-1830, brother of the writer Faris), who came under the influence of the American Congregationalist missionaries in Beirut when he was employed by them as a teacher and translator, and embraced Protestantism in defiance of the Maronite Patriarch. In retaliation, the Patriarch imprisoned and tortured al-Shidyaq in a convent in the Lebanese mountains, starving him to death in 1830. Al-Shidyaq's autobiography, the story of his conversion and persecution, was published three years later by the CMS press of Malta. "This of course is also anti-Catholic, or rather anti-Maronite. It has been quite erroneously attributed to his brother Faris al-Shidyaq by a number of eminent authorities, who have cited it as the latter's earliest work. In fact it is clearly by As'ad himself, being written in the first person, and his mentor Isaac Bird has recorded that it was written in 1826 at his (Bird's) request, 'that we might make use of it to his advantage in future time'; English translations were published in Boston (USA) in 1827 and 1839 and it was later incorporated into Bird's biography of As'ad, published in 1864" (Roper, p. 239). - A clean copy in very good condition. Copies known only at the British Library and Glasgow University. Zenker I, 1658. Sarkis 1105. Brockelmann S II, 868. Ellis I, 323. Alwan 18. Agius 43f. Roper (Arabic printing in Malta 1825-1845) no. 49.
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[Damascus - Venetian taxes].
Document on vellum. Venice, 22 Feb. / 5 March 1488.
Italian manuscript on vellum (445 x 160 mm). Written space ca. 270 x 140 mm. In a fine cursive handwriting by two hands. Written by a notary public of the Much Serene Republic of Venice: a statement of debt for 3,300 ducats owed to the main commissioner of Venice by the gentleman Francesco Marcello, for the collection of custom taxes in Damascus. The creditor renounces all other claims, and the debt is to be paid in annual instalments of 300 ducats, beginning the year following the drafting of this document, but after a deposit has been paid the following month: "Parendo debitor ser Thadio Polo del Cothimo de Damasco et general de la soria de certa suma de denari, de i qual ser Francesco Marcello se ne chiama piezo: et per i magnifici siori de le raxon vechie el fo sententiando volontarie in ducati tremillia et trexento per parte. Et perchè per le grande sue adversità come publicamente ognuno intende, non è possibele che senza qualche axeveleza el possi pagar et essendo visto et cognossudo questo per li comessi del dicto Cothimo, misier Francesco Falier, misser Zuan Bembo et misser Benedeto Sanudo, azoché scorando el tempo senza qualche conclusion de haverse con qualche habilità a pagar per nome del dicto Cothimo sono venuti a questa ultima conclusion et acordo chel dicto ser Francesco se chiama come piezo debitor per resto de tute raxon de Cothimo, et de le uxure seguide computando la sententia tolta ut supra de ducati tremillia et trexento da esser pagadi per el dicto ser Francesco ducati trexento alanno et sia obligato dar bona et sufficiente piezarìa over caution de paga in paga. Et comenza el tempo anno uno da poi concluso tal acordo: et die mexe uno da poi tal acordo dar dicta piezarìa over caution, et cussi de paga in paga fin integra satisfatction havendoli isoproducti per nome del Cothimo a pregar Carta de Segurtà de non li haver ni poder altro domandar [...]". Immediately underneath this statement is a confirmation by the Damascus consul, ser Giovanni Mocenigo, of the obligation to pay the sum of 3,300 ducats in 11 annual instalments, by the Venetian gentleman Francesco Marcello and his son. - A remarkable early Renaissance document concerning a legal agreement set up by the three commissioners of the council of the Venetian court known as "Quarantia Civil Vecchia", commissioned to oversee the correct collection of the customs tax which was to be paid by merchants on goods imported from or exported to Egypt and Syria. - Perfectly preserved.
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Furet, Caroline.
Histoire abregee de l'Empire Ottoman. Résumé mnémotechnique complémentaire. Constantinople, Levant Herald, 1880.
4to (192 x 251 mm). 7, (1); 6 pp., blank leaf. Contemporary red morocco with gilt spine and cover borders; upper cover giltstamped "Bibliotheque Imperiale" and lower cover with gilt ornament. Marbled endpapers. Only edition. - A capsule condensement, for the use of students, of the author's 208-page history of the Ottoman Empire (1869), here written in rhyming verse, published in French and Ottoman Turkish (the latter part lithographed). - Binding a little rubbed, mainly at extremeties. Removed from the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, with traces of requisite marks and the author's handwritten inscription to front flyleaf: "Á Sa Majesté Abdul Hamid II / Hommage très respectueux de l'auteur C. Furet". - Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) was the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to exert effective contol over the fracturing state and also remembered as a poet, translator and one of the dynasty's greatest bibliophiles. While his passion for books is memorialized by the many precious donations he gave to libraries all over the world and which mostly have remained intact to this day (including the 400-volume "Abdul-Hamid II Collection of Books and Serials" gifted to the Library of Congress), his own library was dispersed in the years following his deposition in 1909: books were removed to other palaces and even sold to Western collectors, the greatest part of his collection is today preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. OCLC 613456710.
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[Giacometti, Georges].
La situation. Décembre 1876. (Constantinople, Imprimperie Kevkeb-Charki, 1876).
8vo. 37, (1) pp. Giltstamped purple cloth with white moirée endpapers. Extremely rare anonymous pamphlet by the political writer Georges Giacometti about the political position of Turkey during the crisis of December 1876, after the outbreak of the Serbian-Ottoman War that would soon develop into the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. OCLC lists a single copy in public collections (British Library, not identifying the author). - Extremeties a little rubbed. Removed from the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, with traces of requisite marks and the author's handwritten inscription to front flyleaf: "A Sa Majesté Impériale / Hommage Respectueux de l'auteur. G. Giacometti". - Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) was the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to exert effective contol over the fracturing state and also remembered as a poet, translator and one of the dynasty's greatest bibliophiles. While his passion for books is memorialized by the many precious donations he gave to libraries all over the world and which mostly have remained intact to this day (including the 400-volume "Abdul-Hamid II Collection of Books and Serials" gifted to the Library of Congress), his own library was dispersed in the years following his deposition in 1909: books were removed to other palaces and even sold to Western collectors, the greatest part of his collection is today preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. OCLC 504499620.
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Haywood, John A.
Modern Arabic Literature 1800-1970. An Introduction, With Extracts in Translation. London, Lund Humphries, 1971.
4to. XIII, (1), 306 pp. Publisher's green cloth with original dustjacket. First edition. - A useful reference work aiming to familiarize students of Modern Arabic literature with the leading authors and essential dates in this field, including 12 extracts in translation, as well as numerous quotations within the text. - In very good condition. OCLC 379738.
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Hopwood, Derek.
Sexual Encounters in the Middle East: the British, the French and the Arabs. Reading, Ithaca Press, 1999.
Large 8vo. V, (1), 308 pp., final blank leaf. Publisher's dark blue cloth with original dustjacket. First edition. - An intriguing account of the misunderstandings and fantasies that persisted between northwestern Europeans and Arabs about the prevailing sexual mores and attitudes toward gender in each other's societies in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, discussing, inter alia, Montesquieu, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Voltaire. - In near-mint condition with author's signed presentation inscription: "With all best wishes, Derek". OCLC 42043272.
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Hyde, Thomas.
Mandragorias, seu historia shahiludii. Oxford, Theatro Sheldoniano, 1694.
8vo. 3 parts in one volume. (72), (4), 184, 71, (1), (16), 278 pp. With 12 engravings in the text, 3 folding plates and several woodcuts. Contemporary English calf with red label to gilt spine. All edges red. First edition. Important work dedicated to oriental games from Arabia and Persia as well as from India and China, including backgammon, draughts and dice. Also contains the first scholarly account devoted to the history of chess (pp. 53-137), with two folding plates showing chessboards, engravings of a giraffe, and examples of various types of chessmen (English from the time of Caxton; Turkish; and several kins of Indian specimens). The second part explains, inter alia, the "Promotiones Mandarinorum", the history of dice, and many other Chinese games. Contains numerous texts in Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Greek and other languages. Hyde was an orientalist and later became Bodleian Librarian. "Ouvrage curieux. Les exemplaires n'en sont pas communs" (Brunet). - Upper spine-end professionally repaired; inner hinges reinforced. Light browning throughout due to paper. From the library of the chess-player and collector James Wilson Rimington Wilson (1822-77) of Broomhead Hall near Sheffield, with his autograph ownership in ink ("J W Rimington Wilson / Chess Library") to pastedown. Graesse III, 403. Von der Linde I, 88-90. Cordier (Sinica) 3142. Wing H3875 & H3877. ESTC R1348.
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[Iraqi coup d'état].
[The Trial of al-Istrabadi]. Baghdad, Abdul Karim Zahid / Dar as-Salam Press, [ca. 1958].
8vo. 64 pp. With 9 black and white half-tone photographic illustrations. Original light red wrappers, staple-bound. First edition. - A scarce ephemeron of the 14 July Revolution, which overthrew the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq that had been established by King Faisal in 1921 under the auspices of the British. The Istrabadi family were part of the Iraqi ruling class prior to the 1958 coup and unsuccessfully attempted to deliver the then Prime Minister Nuri al-Said to safety; Bibiya al-Istrabadi was killed in the attempt, while trying to exit Baghdad. - Wrappers sunned and a little dust-soiled, extremities worn. Upper corner of title-page clipped; old ink ownership. A good copy. Not in OCLC.
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[McMahon-Hussein Correspondence].
Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon, His Majesty’s High Commissioner at Cairo and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, July 1915-March 1916. Miscellaneous series No. 3 (1939). London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1939.
8vo. 18 pp. With a colour-printed folding map. Wrappers stapled as issued. First official publication of the famous exchange of letters written between 1915 and 1916, between the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, concerning the future political status of the lands under the Ottoman Empire. A special controversy concerned Palestine: Great Britain's pledged support for Arab independence in the region was not to be realized, and the correspondence went on to haunt Anglo-Arab relations for many decades thereafter. Unofficial excerpts from the letters had been circulated in the press as early as 1923; excerpts appeared in the 1937 Peel Commission Report, and the correspondence was unofficially published in George Antonius's 1938 book "The Arab Awakening". - A few slight edge flaws; corner loss to lower wrapper, but still very good copy. Cmd. 5957.
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[Pakistan].
Watercolour album. Pakistan, 1844.
Oblong 4to (287 x 195 mm). 23 leaves with 17 watercolours and 4 pencil drawings (1 watercolour having been removed); a few blanks. Contemporary marbled half calf. A fine watercolour album composed by a member of the British Army stationed in Pakistan, shortly after the Battle of Hyderabad in March 1843. The unknown artist (whose name may be indicated by the initials "WME" on the flyleaf) followed the Indus river from Karachi to the northern parts of the Sindh province. Most drawings have pencilled place names; only a few are untitled. The album begins with a watercolour of the tomb of the British officer Bowen, of the 86th regiment, who drowned in an attempt to swim his horse across the river, followed by a watercolour of the spot where the accident occurred. Furthermore, the album contains views of Karachi (3, including a "captured pirate vessel"), Hyderabad (4), Jerruk (Jhirk), Bhaker Fort (3), Sukkur, Soonda (between Makli and Jerruck), and eight unidentified cities and landscapes. A sketch of the "Mess Verandah" at Fort Hyderabad has been removed. - A rare and very interesting manuscript album with fresh and unfaded colours, dating from the early years of the British presence of Pakistan: the British East India Company began its invasion of Sindh in 1839; Karachi was the first area in the province to be occupied. By 1843 most of the province (excepting the State of Khairpur) was added to the Company's territory after victories at Miani, Dubba and Hyderabad.
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[Punjab-British Secretariat].
Press lists of old records in the Punjab Secretariat. Volume VII. North-West Frontier Agency. Correspondence with Government, 1840-1845. Lahore, Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1915.
Folio. 2 vols. (2 [instead of 4?]), 993 pp. With an addendum slip facing p. 197. Brown calf, with "Book 1" and "Book 2" in gilt on the spines. A rare and extraordinary snapshot of the North-West Frontier of British India (now comprising parts of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) between 1840 and 1845, the time of the First Anglo-Afghan War. It contains abstracts of official correspondence written during the period and preserved at the Punjab Secretariat, including documents on the 1842 retreat from Kabul, British relations with Dost Mohammed Khan, and the Sino-Sikh War of 1841-42. While the focus is military and political, there is also much of interest on legal and financial matters, public health, policing, and other matters. The North-West Frontier States Agency was one of the colonial agencies of British India exercising indirect rule. - Lacking the title-page and pp. 3-4 as noted, with pp. 1-2 loose and damaged (with the loss of almost half of their text); repairs to the upper outside corners of pp. 983-993 with some loss of text. Slight browning. Charles Allen, Soldier Sahibs: The Men Who Made the North-West Frontier (2012).
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Zamakhshari, Abu al-Quasim Mahmud ibn Umar / Schultens, Hendrik Albert (ed.).
[Al-Kalim al-nawabigh]. Anthologia sententiarum Arabicarum. Cum scholiis Zamachsjarii. Leiden, (Daniel van Damme for) Jean Le Mair (ex typographia Dammeana), 1772.
4to. (20), 171, (1) pp. With large engraved arms of William V of Orange to dedication leaf. Full vellum with handwritten spine title. First edition of this famous collection of Arabic proverbs by the Persian-born scholar Zamakhshari (1075-1144), edited and translated by Hendrik Albert Schultens (1749-93), professor of oriental languages at the University of Leyden. - Little is known of Zamakhshari's youth. He was apparently well-travelled and resided at least twice (once for an extended period of time) in the holy city of Mecca, where he earned his nickname, Jar Allah. As a philologist, he considered Arabic the queen of languages, in spite of the fact that his own native tongue was Persian (and though he wrote several minor works in that language). - Occasional light browning due to paper. Blindstamps of the library of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, to title and dedication. A good copy. Schnurrer 215. GAL I, 292, no. XIV (p. 348). Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam VIII, 1207. OCLC 4522262.
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[Alf layla wa-layla - Qissat as-Sindbad al-bahri]. Langlès, L[ouis] (ed.).
[Qissat al-Sindibad al-Bahri fi sab` safaratihi fi al-barr wa-al-bahr al-Hindi-Kayd al-nisa]. Les voyages de Sind-Bâd Le Marin, et la ruse des femmes. Contes arabes. Traduction litterale, accompagnée du texte et de notes. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1814.
12mo. XXX, 161, 113 pp. Modern brown calf preserving original marbled covers. First edition of "Sind-Bâd" and the first independent printing of any part of the Arabian Nights in Arabic. Although traditionally included in the corpus of the Thousand and One Nights (Alf layla wa-layla) as told by Scheherazade, it is thought that the series of stories that make up the voyages of Sindbad have older and separate origins, incorporating elements of Homer, Panchatantra, other Persian, Arab and Indian literary material as well as historical material relating to trade and navigation. Set traditionally during the reign of Haroun al-Rashid, Sindbad undertakes seven voyages from Basra, each leading one to the other, encounters fabulous creatures, faces exhaustive ordeals and amasses fabulous wealth. The publisher of the present edition, Louis-Mathieu Langlès (1763-1824), an important figure in the study of Middle-Eastern and Oriental languages and literature, was a correspondent of William Jones in Calcutta, co-founder of the École des Langues Orientales Vivantes in Paris, and the keeper of the Indian manuscript department in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. "Un ouvrage classique, et d'une certaine importance sous le point de vue scientifique, historique ou littéraire" (preface). - Some browning and waterstaining throughout; occasional paper defects to edges (no loss to text); an Arabic stamp to p. 90 of the French text. Chauvin VII, p. 2. Brunet III, 820. OCLC 4433261.
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D'Anville, [Jean Baptiste Bourguignon] / Schrämbl, Franz Anton.
Karte von Asien. [Map of Asia]. Vienna, F. A. Schraembl (& J. G Trassler in Brno), 1786.
3 engraved maps of 2 sheets each (ca. 740 x 790 mm, 980 x 700 mm, 510 x 1070 mm) in contemporary light border colour, cut into segments and mounted on cloth. Engraved by Jacob Adam and A. Amon. Scale ca. 1:7.4 million. Folded in contemporary marbled slipcase with leather cover label. Complete set of Schraembl's Asia maps, based on D'Anville's maps with improvements by the Austrian cartographer F. A. Schraembl and also issued as part of his "Great General Atlas" (Vienna, P. J. Schalbacher, 1786-1803). The first map shows the Near and Middle East from Turkey and Egypt to Arabia, Persia, India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Although the southwestern part of the Gulf is poorly explored, various Gulf cities are identified, including "Dsjulfar" (Ras al-Khaimah), "Mekehoan" (Umm Al Quwain), "Kalba", and "Ras ol Lima". The city of "Al Katif" is clearly identified. The Qatar Peninsula is entirely absent, but the island of Bahrain is noted (though misaligned), and the coastline between "Gattar" (south of Bahrain) and Kalba is marked as a "little-known coast". - A well-preserved set. Phillipps I, 694. Kretschmer/Dörflinger, Lex. Kartogr. 566. Dörflinger/Hühnel I, 133, 11-16. Not in Al-Qasimi, Al-Ankary, Couto/Bacqué-Grammont/Taleghani, etc.
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[Government of 'Iraq].
Maps of 'Iraq with Notes for Visitors. London, (Waterlow & Sons for) the Government of 'Iraq, 1929.
Folio (215 x 344 mm). (4), 34 pp. With a photographic frontispiece showing the Arch of Ctesiphon and 9 folding maps. Original red cloth, lettered in gilt. Revised and enlarged edition: an excellent guide to the roads of Iraq, with notes compiled by government departments and members of commercial firms. The text contains chapters on the "Development of Oil Resources", "The Great Tribes of Iraq", and "The Iraq Police", and offers advice on roads and railways, the Iraq Automobile Association, "Government Regulations for Ladies Travelling in Iraq", and other information on history, culture and political organization of the country. The front pastedown bears a binder's ticket advising the owner that "the solution used in binding this book has been specially prepared in order to render the work impervious to the ravages of insects". - Ink ownership, dated Baghdad, 1934, to pastedown. Extremities slightly rubbed, otherwise very good.
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Haines, Stafford Bettesworth.
Survey of Part of the South East Coast of Arabia. London, Edward Stanford, Royal Geographical Society, 1845.
Engraved map (360 x 315 mm). A map by Captain S. B. Haines (1805-60), Commander in the Indian Navy and the first political agent in Aden, showing his surveys of the coastal areas that had never before been recorded or charted, with one area remaining unexplored after his expedition. - Being the first charting of this section of the coast, Haines's map is a rare primary source. Haines commanded the East India Company's survey ship "Palinurus" from 1833 to 1839. His survey of the coast of Southern Arabia, performed in 1839, was driven by the Company's requirement for a coaling station to service its steamship on the Bombay-Suez route. The map extends from the Wadi Masilah near Sawit to Jebel Saffan, passing Morbat and Ras Madrakah, also showing Masirah Island and some smaller islands in Curia Muria Bay. Elevations are indicated, as are freshwater lakes, small villages, and a region irrigated for cultivation at Dafhar. One section along the coast is marked "unexplored". - This map pre-dates by more than two decades the construction of the Suez Canal Company, which opened on 17 November 1869. During this time, mail came overland through Egypt from Alexandria to Cairo, then Suez. - Folded, but in very good condition.
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Hilmi, Ibrahim.
Postcard. Asir (Saudi Arabia). [Istanbul, Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi Kitaphane-yi Askeri / Military Press Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi, circa 1910].
Colour lithographed postcard, 130 x 90 mm. A very rare Ottoman postcard featuring one of the earliest printed maps to focus on the Asir region, then nominally part of Ottoman Yemen, but today a part of Saudi Arabia. The card was part of a series made by Ibrahim Hilmi, one of the premier Istanbul cartographers of the era. - Ibrahim Hilmi Cigiracan (1876-1963) was one of the most important publishers and cartographers of the late Ottoman Empire. Born in Tulcea (now in Romania), he founded his first printing shop in Istanbul in 1896, under the name "Kitaphane-i Islami" (Islamic Library), largely producing religious books. Subsequently, Hilmi became interested in military affairs, geography and history, and changed the name of his press to "Kitaphane-i Islam ve Askeri" (Islamic and Military Library). He published about 200 military books, and his atlases (especially his "Pocket Atlas") were among the most popular cartographic items throughout the empire. During WWI, Hilmi gained the affection of the public for his charitable programme of sending free books to poor children in Anatolia. - Hilmi's enterprise thrived until Atatürk's Republican regime nationalized the publishing of law and school books in the 1920s, undercutting the most lucrative part of his business. However, Hilmi left an enduring legacy, having published over a thousand books on a wide variety of topics over three decades. - Very good, overall clean and crisp, just some very light even toning and slight stains to verso.
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Hilmi, Ibrahim.
Postcard. Northern Arabian Gulf. [Istanbul, Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi Kitaphane-yi Askeri / Military Press Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi, ca. 1910].
Colour lithographed postcard, 130 x 90 mm. This very rare Ottoman postcard features a map of the Northern Arabian Gulf, including what is today Qatar, Bahrain, the Saudi Arabian Gulf Coast (including Dhahran), Kuwait, Southern Iraq (including Basra), as well as south-western Iran. Interestingly, it shows the Arab Gulf States as being part of the Ottoman Empire, when in reality they were already British Protectorates. The card was part of a series made by Ibrahim Hilmi, one of the premier Istanbul cartographers of the era. - Ibrahim Hilmi Cigiracan (1876-1963) was one of the most important publishers and cartographers of the late Ottoman Empire. Born in Tulcea (now in Romania), he founded his first printing shop in Istanbul in 1896, under the name "Kitaphane-i Islami" (Islamic Library), largely producing religious books. Subsequently, Hilmi became interested in military affairs, geography and history, and changed the name of his press to "Kitaphane-i Islam ve Askeri" (Islamic and Military Library). He published about 200 military books, and his atlases (especially his "Pocket Atlas") were among the most popular cartographic items throughout the empire. During WWI, Hilmi gained the affection of the public for his charitable programme of sending free books to poor children in Anatolia. - Hilmi's enterprise thrived until Atatürk's Republican regime nationalized the publishing of law and school books in the 1920s, undercutting the most lucrative part of his business. However, Hilmi left an enduring legacy, having published over a thousand books on a wide variety of topics over three decades. - Very good, overall clean and crisp, just some very light even toning to verso.
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Hilmi, Ibrahim.
Postcard. Yemen. [Istanbul, Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi Kitaphane-yi Askeri / Military Press Tüccarzade Ibrahim Hilmi, circa 1910].
Colour lithographed postcard, 130 x 90 mm. A very rare Ottoman postcard depicting a map of Yemen, including the Ottoman-dominated northern and western parts of the country (Sana'a, Taiz, and Al Hodeidah), as well as the British-dominated southern regions (Aden). The card was part of a series made by Ibrahim Hilmi, one of the premier Istanbul cartographers of the era. - Ibrahim Hilmi Cigiracan (1876-1963) was one of the most important publishers and cartographers of the late Ottoman Empire. Born in Tulcea (now in Romania), he founded his first printing shop in Istanbul in 1896, under the name "Kitaphane-i Islami" (Islamic Library), largely producing religious books. Subsequently, Hilmi became interested in military affairs, geography and history, and changed the name of his press to "Kitaphane-i Islam ve Askeri" (Islamic and Military Library). He published about 200 military books, and his atlases (especially his "Pocket Atlas") were among the most popular cartographic items throughout the empire. During WWI, Hilmi gained the affection of the public for his charitable programme of sending free books to poor children in Anatolia. - Hilmi's enterprise thrived until Atatürk's Republican regime nationalized the publishing of law and school books in the 1920s, undercutting the most lucrative part of his business. However, Hilmi left an enduring legacy, having published over a thousand books on a wide variety of topics over three decades. - Very good, overall clean and crisp, just some very light even toning and slight stains to verso.
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[Hydrographic Office].
Central America. Cape Mala to Elena Bay with the Northern Coast from Chagres to Greytown. London, published at the Admiralty, 1926.
1025 x 700 mm. Chart of Costa Rica, Panama, the Mosquito Gulf and the Pacific Ocean. Engraved chart, including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1889, revised in 1926. Signs of contemporary use, with several pencil markings. Folded.
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[Hydrographic Office, U.S. Navy].
Indian Ocean - Arabian Sea. Gulf of Oman and Adjacent Coasts from Karachi to Ra's Al Hadd. From British and American Surveys to 1931. Washington D.C., Hydrographic Office, 1948/1951.
1290 x 780 mm. Lithographed with some lighthouses highlighted in purple. Scale 1:883,200. Serial no. 1588. New edition of the U.S. Navy's 1899/1931 hydrographic map of the Gulf of Oman, immediately east of the Musandam Peninsula to Karachi, showing depths and lighthouses on the coasts of Oman and Iran. Marked as 8th edition, March 1948, reprinted April 1951. - Stamp of Northwest Instrument Co., Inc., Agents, Seattle, in lower margin. Well preserved.
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[Hydrographic Office U.S. Navy].
Preliminary Chart. Panama Canal to Escudo de Veraguas from United States govrenment Surveys to 1938. Washington D.C., published at the Hydrographic Office, 1948.
1320 x 865 mm. Scale 1:145,925. Nautical chart of the North Coast of Panama. Engraved chart, including tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, lighthouses and beacons picked out in yellow and red, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1938, revised in 1948. Signs of contemporary use. Folded.
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[Iran]. Generalstab des Heeres.
Entwurf! Militärgeographische Angaben über Iran: Ortschaftsverzeichnis; Textheft; Bildheft. Berlin, Generalstab des Heeres - Abteilung für Kriegskarten und Vermessungswesen, 1943.
8vo. 3 vols. 35, (1), 293, (9) folded maps, (7), 212, (1) pp. Original printed wrappers. First edition. - Three-volume set of this military geographic work on Iran, published by the General Staff of the German Army, collecting valuable information concerning physical aspects, resources, and artificial features of the terrain necessary for planning and operations. This set is complete with its 9 large folded maps and its 212 b/w photographic reproductions. - Moderate age-toning or foxing on wrappers. Text in German. Wrappers in overall good, interior in very good condition.
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[Kuwait].
[Kharitah jiyulujiyah shamilah li-Dawlat al-Kuwayt]. Synoptic Geologic Map of the State of Kuwait. [Kuwait], Wizarat al-Tijarah wa-al-Sina`ah (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), 1966.
Colour-printed map, 1210 x 850 mm. Scale 1:250,000. Lambert conic projection. Folded. (Includes:) Explanatory Text to the Synoptic Geologic Map of Kuwait. Vienna & Kuwait, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 1968. 8vo. 87, (1) pp. With 2 folding plates in back pocket. Original printed wrappers. Geologic map of Kuwait in Arabic and English, compiled by the Geological Survey of Austria. Geological data prepared by H. F. Holzer, T. E. Gattinger, and W. Fuchs, based on fieldwork conducted in 1965/66. Includes accompanying text volume with bibliographical references and two sheets of tables in back pocket. - In perfect condition. OCLC 9684913, 69621. LoC G7601.C5 1966.
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[Map of the Arabian Peninsula].
Aravijskij poluostrov. B-2118. Moskva, glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii pri sovete ministrov SSSR, 1977.
Scale 1:4,000,000. Equal-area conic projection (ravnougol'naia konicheskaia proektsiia). Relief shown by gradient tints, shading, and spot heights. Depths shown by gradient tints and soundings. 77 x 65.5 cm. Index printed on verso. Stored in original printed sleeve. Re-issued third edition of the Soviet 1:4,000,000 reference map of the Arabian Peninsula, edited by N. I. Arep'ev with O. L. Kuznechov and K. D. Volkov. Includes insets (in 1:15,000,000 scale): "Ekonomicheskaia karta", "Karta plotnosti naseleniia i razmeshcheniia arabskikh plemen". - Old reference label "2" pasted to sleeve's cover. In excellent condition. Rare.
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Noël, A. D. / Vivien de Saint-Martin, Louis.
Carte de l’Empire Ottoman comprenant les possessions de la Porte en Europe, en Asie, et en Afrique; avec les parties limitrophes de l’Arabie, de la Perse, de la Russie et de l’Empire Austriche. Dressée par Nöel et Vivien, geographes; et gravée par Giraldon-Bovinet. Paris, Giraldon Bovinet & Cie., 1825.
12 sheets joined and mounted on cloth; total dimensions 1190 x 1300 mm. Engraved map in original outline colour. In the original marbled paper box with manuscript title on cartouche and a 19th century bookseller’s label. A large map coving from the Balkans to the Ukraine, the Caspian Sea, Western Persia, Arabia and the Nile. Unusually, the map uses stipple engraving to give texture to the open areas, especially in Arabia. It is also an uncommonly international publication, published in France by the engraver, with the assistance of publishers in other countries: James Wyld and John Cary in London; Artaria & Fontaine in Mannheim; Villardi in Milan; Bouffa & Fils in Amsterdam; and Brunin in Glasgow (a publisher not listed in Tooley’s Dictionary). - Minor defects to the box, slight browning, otherwise in fine condition. OCLC 1061136095.
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Imray, James F[rederick].
Indian Ocean. London, James Imray and Son, 1879.
Engraved map, ca. 103 x 192 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale, approx. 1:10,000,000. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Depth shown by isolines and soundings. Large blue-backed hydrographic chart of the Indian Ocean, showing an area between the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand. Extends north to include the Arabian and Indian peninsulas, Philippines, and much of China. Shows the Gulf coast as far north as Al-Latif, identifying "Abu Thabi" as the major settlement on the Trucial Coast. Includes courses of currents and standard tracks for shipping through the ocean, with nine inset maps of islands and coastal features (Cargados Carajos; Coetivy; Rodrigues; Wood Island; Farquhar Passage; Tromelin; Réunion; Saint Paul; Saint Denis). - Some browning and staining; a few edge and corner defects professionally repaired (minor corner loss to Cargados Carajos inset). OCLC 884378574. Cf. Tooley II, 407.
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