‎Moyen orient‎

‎[India & Burma - Sketchbook]. Blackwell, Thomas Eden.‎

‎"Indian, Burmese and Swiss Sketches" A sketchbook containing numerous sketches of India, Burma and Switzerland, with an emphasis on their cultures. [Various places, ca. 1826-1830].‎

‎Oblong 4to. [70] gray, white and blue album ff., containing 67 sketches with accompanying manuscript captions and descriptions. 66 sketches in pen & ink and pencil, mostly signed by Blackwell, depicting Swiss, Burmese and Indian panoramas and domestic scenes, buildings, events, animals and inhabitants, mounted and bound in, most accompanied by manuscript captions and descriptions by Blackwell and sometimes by a later hand. There is also 1 print (ca. 1795/1800?) showing a "rhahan" (priest) drawn by Singey Bey and engraved by Thomas Medland. Half black morocco, black decorated paper sides, gold-tooled ornaments on spine. Sketchbook by the English lieutenant Thomas Eden Blackwell (1803?-45), showing views of India, Burma, and Switzerland, made in the years 1826-30, when India, which is the subject of about 30 of the sketches, and parts of Burma (now Myanmar) were British colonies. The sketches, mostly signed and dated by Blackwell, are mounted on album leaves and accompanied by manuscript captions and descriptions, also by Blackwell and sometimes by a later hand. Some of these remarks are general or contain interesting facts, while others are very personal or describe an event that happened during Blackwell's time as officer. - Blackwell drew some panoramic views and buildings (for example an Indian mosque or a narrow street in Calcutta), but he pays particular attention to Indian culture in his sketches of India and the accompanying explanations. He sketches the Indian population, animals, and scenes representing the everyday life of Indian people. Several animal sketches are exceptionally beautiful, including that of a horse (with notes about Arabian horses). He also draws a camel, compares camels to dromedaries, and outlines the habitat of both species in India. Also included are many sketches of Indian cattle, such as bullocks, which were used as water-carriers, and Bengal cows (whose milk is said to be "inferior" to that of English cows). - Blackwell also drew the inhabitants of the Indian places he visited, including a priest ("rhahan") and an Indian watchman ("chokedar"), but also a "Musselman" and an Indian woman, with remarks concerning the attitude of Indian men towards women. Of particular interest are the Indian "sceneries", as Blackwell calls them, showing the everyday life of Indian people: native cooking, but also how Indian people bathe in Hooghly river, how they wash their clothes, and men smoking a so-called "hubble bubble" (a hookah or water pipe). Blackwell annotatioins to nearly all these sketches provide the reader with rare insights into Indian culture. - of Burma (now Myanmar) fewer sketches were made, and they focus mostly on the coasts and the city of Rangoon's wharfs. These include the royal wharf at Rangoon, with a whole page of explanatory text on the facing page, and a sketch showing a stockade in Burma, where, according to Blackwell's caption, the British killed the Burman general Maha Bundoola (1782-1825) in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Yet there is also a sketch of the so-called Great Bell in Rangoon, which is representative of Burmese bells, which are often located near celestial buildings. The album also includes two views of Tobago in the West Indies: a large two-page panoramic view and a sketch of the government house in Tobago with a garrison in the background; Blackwell's note states that his daughter Eliza was born there on 25 January 1833. - Another part of the sketchbook comprises sketches of Swiss landscapes and panoramas, especially of the region surrounding Basel (of which Blackwell also includes a two-page panoramic view). - With owner's inscription on the front pastedown: "Lieut. Blackwell 13th Light Infantry. Indian, Burmese and Swiss Sketches". Binding a little worn, one quire loose, some occasional spots and somewhat browned, but not affecting the drawings. In good condition.‎

‎Camoes (Luís de) & João Franco Barreto.‎

‎Obras de Luis de Camoes Principe dos Poetas Portugueses. Com os argumentos do Lencenceado João Franco Barreto, & por elle eme[n]dadas em esta nova impressão, que comprehende todas as Obras, que deste insigne Autor se achàrão impressas, & manuscritas, com o Index dos nomes proprios. Lisbon, Antonio Craesbeeck de Mello, 1666-1669.‎

‎8vo. With 8 woodcut tailpieces. Later mottled calf, red spine labels, red edges. Rare edition of the collected works of Luis de Camões, including Os Lusiadas and three Rimas. In the same year, Antonio Craesbeeck published another edition with the same title but with less content and with a different frontispiece. This collection of works is made up of separate publications. - Os Lusiadas is the great epic poem of Portuguese exploration, in the original Portuguese, a monument of Portuguese literature that gave a Homeric aura to Renaissance voyages of discovery and colonial conquests, here together with the other works of Camões. Camões's work was first published in Portuguese at Lisbon in 1572. - In the early 1530s the great Portuguese historian, João de Barros, most famous for his Decadas de Asia, had called for an epic poem of Portuguese exploration and discovery. Luis de Camões (1524-80) answered that call four decades later. Camões was educated in a monastic school in Coimbra, and produced poetry and plays at an early age. In his early twenties he was banished from Lisbon after producing a play considered disparaging to the royal family. He served as a soldier in the Portuguese forces besieging Ceuta in North Africa, where he lost an eye. Camões returned to Lisbon in 1550, but found himself in more trouble, and was pardoned by the King on condition that he serve the Crown in India for five years. He arrived at Goa in late 1553 and stayed there briefly before joining an expedition to the Malabar Coast. Later he participated in a campaign against pirates on the shores of Arabia. In 1556 he left Goa again for the East Indies, taking part in the military occupation of Macao, where he remained for many months. On his return trip to India, he was shipwrecked off the Mekong and wandered in Cambodia before reaching Malacca and eventually returning to Goa. He did not return to Lisbon until 1570. The Lusiads gives a fine description not only of Portuguese exploits in the East, but also of the flora and fauna of Asia and India, the ethnographic details of the peoples there, and the geography of the region, informed by Camões's own experiences as well as his familiarity with Ptolemy and Barros. - With the bookplate of "Aulo-Gélio", 1961, with a view of Lisbon. The first few pages slightly worn with some repairs. Stained throughout. Some contemporary annotations in ink in the margins. Bibliotheca Lusitana p. 62. Inocêncio XIV, 78. José de Canto, 37.‎

‎Iraq Petroleum Co. Ltd.‎

‎Iraq Oil in 1951 / Iraq Oil in 1953. London, Iraq Petroleum Co. Ltd., 1952-[1954].‎

‎4to. 2 vols. 32 pp. 30 pp. Illustrated throughout with photo illustrations and sketch maps. Original pictorial wrappers, second volume ring-bound. Issued in tandem with the Basrah Petroleum Co. Ltd. and the Mosul Iraq Petroleum Co. Ltd., these volumes, which seem to have appeared yearly from 1951, offer information on the development of the industry over the year. Both volumes contain a Foreword by the Managing Director H. S. Gibson, followed by illustrations and information concerning the oil produced. The books are nicely produced, and in very good condition.‎

‎Michaelis, Christian Benedikt (praes.) / Schleunitz, Joachim Daniel (resp.).‎

‎Philologemata medica, sive ad medicinam et res medicas pertinentia, ex Ebraea et huic adfinibus orientalibus linguis decerpta [...]. Halle, Johann Friedrich Grunert, 1758.‎

‎4to. (8), 54, (2) pp. All edges red. Modern blue boards. Only edition of this dissertation on oriental medical terminology. "The author is the theologian Michaelis [the father of Johann David Michaelis], who attempts to elucidate Hebrew terms by comparison with the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopian languages. He also discusses the medical knowledge of the oriental peoples, as well as Ecclesiastes 12:3-6" (cf. Choulant). - Trimmed a little closely at the lower edge with slight loss to printer's name, otherwise very well preserved. Choulant 102. Meusel IX, 137f. Fürst II, 374. Lockot, Bibliographia Aethiopica 7660. OCLC 14330491.‎

‎Schieferdecker, Johann David (praes.) / Schmid, Johann Martin (resp.).‎

‎[Timar al-`arabija]. Fructus linguae arabicae, inclutae facultatis philosophicae indultu, dissertatione philologica in alma Lipsiensi [...]. (Leipzig), Christian Götze, 1692.‎

‎4to. (24) pp. Early 19th century marbled wrappers. First edition of this rare and prettily produced philological dissertation on the Arabic language, on Arab scholarship and the use of Arabic studies, written by the Saxon professor of theology and oriental studies J. D. Schieferdecker (1672-1721). Numerous passages are printed in Arabic type (in imitation of those of Erpenius). Separate chapters discuss the influence of Arabic in jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, astronomy, optics, arithmetics, geography, geometry, and music, as well as in history and literature. A set of subjects for discussion by the doctoral candidate, printed at the end of the volume, includes theses about Muhammad and the Qur'an, on the role of the Messiah in Islam, on the difference between Turkish and Arabic (said to be comparable to that between French and Latin), and on the special regard given in Islam to the first sura of the Qur'an, which is likened to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. "The 'Fructus' was first defended in 1692 and opens with a calligraphical basmala in bird shape [... It has] a woodcut Arabic title on the title-page" (Smitskamp). - Well preserved. VD 17, 12:142720G. OCLC 930345148. Cf. Smitskamp, PO 361b (1695 edition).‎

‎Vayssettes, [Eugène] / Antoine d'Alger (transl.).‎

‎[Al-Awzan wa-al-akyal]. Système légal des poids et mesures, traduit en arabe. Algiers & Constantine, Bastide & Amavet, 1858.‎

‎Small 8vo. (2), 30 pp. Lithographed and illustrated throughout. Original yellow printed wrappers. Lithographed in Arabic throughout (save for the French wrapper-title): a rare official manual of the legal system of weights and measures used in French Algeria, intended for Arab-French schools. The booklet was drawn up by the school principal Eugène Vayssettes and translated by an Arab known only as Antoine, after an earlier effort by the military interpreter Ahmed ben Lefgoun had been condemned by the board as too complicated and linguistically obscure. The illustrations show various receptacles and measuring units. - In excellent condition. OCLC 493647389.‎

‎Al-Jasim, Mohammed Ali Redha.‎

‎Muqadimat a'iqtisadiyat al-mamlakat al-'arabiat al-Sa'udia [An Introduction to the Economics of Saudi Arabia]. Cairo, The Arab League, 1972.‎

‎Small 4to (235 x 170 mm). 246 pp., including 3 maps. Bound in original printed buff wrappers. First and only edition. - A scarce and important analysis of the Saudi Arabian oil economy, featuring authoritative data and illustrated by three maps, published on the eve of the 1973 Oil Crisis and the Saudi government's takeover of ARAMCO. Mohammed Ali Redha Al-Jasim was a Saudi academic who authored several pioneering studies on Saudi economy during the 1960s and 1970s. Entirely in Arabic, the work employs the latest official data, combined with Dr. Al-Jasim's skilled analysis, to provide an authoritative insight into the nature of the world's most dynamic petroleum industry and its effects upon Saudi Arabia's national ambitions. Illustrated with numerous tables and three intriguing maps, the work is an invaluable source for anyone interested in the modern development of the global petroleum industry and the economic history of Saudi Arabia in particular. - Slight wear to spine and edges of covers; internally clean and crisp. A very good copy. OCLC 4771175724 / 235989266.‎

‎`Alwaji, Abd al-Hamid.‎

‎[Al-Shaykh Dari qatil al-Kulunil Lichman fi Khan al-Nuqtah]. Sheik Dhari, Assassin of Lieut-Col. G. E. Leachman at Khan El-Nuqta. Baghdad, Maktab al-`Alwaji wa-al-Hijjiyah, 1968.‎

‎8vo. 158, (2) pp., with bibliographical references on pp. 141-143. With 16 black and white photographic illustrations on 5 leaves. Original lime green printed wrappers. First edition. A fascinating apology of Sheikh Dhari, who killed the British intelligence officer Gerard Leachman on 12 August 1920. It includes brief but detailed biographies of both men (that of Leachman includes his travels to Arabia and Iraq), an exposition of the acts leading up to the event, and an account of the day itself. Though the book links Sheikh Dhari's act to the Iraqi revolt of 1920, records of his trial signal that the killing was not politically motivated in the wider sense, but was instead committed in response to abuse suffered at the hands of Leachman (see Abbas Kadhim, Reclaiming Iraq, University of Texas Press [2012], p. 80). Leachman's legacy, like those of so many British Officials operating in the Middle East at the time, is complicated: multiple descriptions tend toward painting "a courageous and devoted servant of empire" (ODNB), whereas recent assessments rightly factor in the evidence of his abuses. - Arabic text throughout save for English title to recto of final leaf and lower wrapper. Occasional tiny edge chips; wrappers a little dusty and fingerstained showing minor wear to head and tail of spine, otherwise very good. Rare: Copac/Jisc locates a single copy in the UK (Oxford); WorldCat adds two further holdings at the Bavarian State Library and the University of Haifa. No copies in North American institutions (Harvard and Princeton have microfilm copies in their Arabic collections). OCLC 24963037.‎

‎[Biblia syriaca - NT].‎

‎Diyatheke hdatta. London, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1816.‎

‎4to. (4), 552, (2) pp. Contemporary half calf. The first complete New Testament printed by the BFBS entirely in Syriac, edited by Samuel Lee. "The editor based his text upon Schaaf's edition; but he collated an ancient Syriac MS. belonging to Adam Clarke, a MS. from the Lebanon, dated 1523, now at Cambridge, and a third MS. (without vowel-points) brought by Claudius Buchanan from Travancore, as well as the Commentaries of Ephrem Syrus, and also made some use of the collations of R. Jones. The printing of this edition was completed in 1816" (Darlow/M.). This copy has the "extensive obliterations [...] in the section headings, made by means of a stamp and violet ink", which were "made by order of the BFBS Committee, on the ground that the headings contravened the rules of the Society" (ibid.). - Binding rubbed and bumped; occasional marginal scribblings in red crayon (more extensive on p. 5). Traces of worming in the upper margin of the final two leaves overpasted with brown paper. In all a good copy of a rarely seen edition. Darlow/Moule 8979. NUC LVI, 13. BM XVIII, 1449. OCLC 921205405.‎

‎Dawson, Llewellyn Styles.‎

‎Memoirs of Hydrography Including Brief Biographies of the Principal Officers Who Have Served in H.M. Naval Surveying Service between the Years 1750 and 1885. Vol. II: 1830 to 1885. Eastbourne, Henry W. Keay, 1885.‎

‎4to. (4), 209, (3) pp. Original green cloth with giltstamped spine and cover titles. Published as a description of the careers of Royal Navy officers in the mid and latter part of the 19th century, this also constitutes an important source book for the activity of the UK forces in the Arabian Gulf during a crucial period of British activity in the region. Contains plentifold references to places along the Gulf coast, Bahrein and Mascat, discussing in particular the survey of the Gulf undertaken by Captain Haines (p. 38f.), Captain Ethersey & Commodore Charles deployment in the Gulf (pp. 54f.), work performed by captain Felix Jones (p. 88ff.), publications of maps by Lieut. Whitelock on the Gulf and Oman (p. 90), map making (p. 100), Marine surveys in the Gulf and mapping (pp. 109f.), list of charts made for the "Persian Gulf Pilot" (p. 128), survey of the reefs near Bahrein (p. 153), Lieut. Wish's map of Bahrein (p. 158) and map making (p. 195). - Extremeties slightly rubbed and bumped; binding a little loosened. Chapters 1 and 2 have photographic portraits mounted at the head of the page; the article of Admiral Sir Edward Belcher has a photographic reproduction of an oil portrait from the National Portrait Gallery loosely inserted. Numerous handwritten annotations. From the library of J. A. Edgell, 1940s editor of the "Persian Gulf Pilot", with his bookplate to pastedown and handwritten ownership to flyleaf; also with bookplate of Allan Carruthers of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. OCLC 1117176057.‎

‎[Holdermann, Jean-Baptiste Daniel].‎

‎Grammaire turque ou méthode courte et facile pour apprendre la langue turque [...]. Constantinople, [Ibrahim Müteferrika & Zaïd Aga Effendi], 1730.‎

‎4to. (16), 194, (6) pp. With a double-page engraved table of Arabic characters. Contemporary full blindstamped calf. First edition of the first book printed with Roman letters in Turkey. Holdermann's "Grammaire turque" is the first French-Turkish grammar, printed on behalf of the French embassy to the Porte, at the first printing press established in 1726 by Zaid Aga Effendi, son of the Turkish ambassador to France, and Ibrahim Müteferrika. The type apparently was sent out from France especially for this work. Words and phrases are given both in Arabic-script Osmanli and in Roman transliteration. The engraved alphabetic table displays the names and shapes of letter forms for French and Turkish alphabets, including the letter forms used in various styles of Turkish writing for different uses: Nesghi for the Qur'an, Divani for business, Tealik for law and poetry, Kyrma for public registers; Sulus, like capitals, is used for book titles and imperial patents, Jakuti, and Rejani. - Since 1719 the French embassy had been calling for improved instruction and grammatical texts, and the present work was compiled by Holdermann "aprés avoir consulté, & conferé avec les plus habils maîtres, sur tout avec le sçavant Ibrahim [Müteferrika] Effendi, sur cet langue" (preface) for the use of the school of the "Enfants des Langues" (the school of the dragomans, or official interpreters) at Constantinople. Holdermann's book was also adopted as a teaching text by the Jesuit College at Paris, which had received a number of copies from the librarian at the Bibliothèque du Roi, abbé Bignon, in 1731 and 1732. - Holdermann, a Jesuit from Strasbourg, spent some four years as a missionary in Constantinople, dying there in 1730. He had projected also a French-Armenian grammar, which was unfinished at the time of his death. - Binding a little rubbed; corners bumped. Insignificant traces of worming to lower gutter near the beginning; dampstain to margin of first quire and diffuse dampstains to pp. 131-138. The first leaf of the index is bound after the title-page, the remaining two at the end. Complete with the final errata leaf. - Provenance: contemporary ownership of a Vlach nobleman in French service on the lower flyleaf ("Mr Pierre Rhetorides Grand Vornike de Valachie et Michmandare de Sa Hautesse le Grand Marechale de Frence"). The principality of Wallachia was then vassal state of the Ottoman Empire supported by France between 1730 and 1769. Blackmer 824. Atabey 586. Zenker 304. De Backer/Sommervogel IV, 431, 1. Toderini III, p. 89, no. VIII. Watson, "Ibrahim Müteferrika and Turkish incunabula", Journal of the American Oriental Society 88.3 (1968), 435-441 at p. 437, no. 8. Brunet II, 1693 ("volume peu commun et assez recherché").‎

‎Hornby, Emily.‎

‎Sinai and Petra. The Journals of Emily Hornby, in 1899 and 1901. London & Liverpool, James Nisbet & J. A. Thompson, [1907].‎

‎8vo. 244 pp. With a colour frontispiece and 9 colour plates, all drawn after Hornby's original watercolour sketches. Contemporary giltstamped full cloth, spine and front edge repaired with green cloth in the 1990s, with 2 giltstamped spine labels taken over form the original spine. First edition. - Intriguing account by a woman traveller visiting the Sinai Peninsula in 1899 and Petra in 1901, her stops including Gaza, Jaffa, Jericho, Jerusalem, Port Said, and Suez. Hornby, who was not only a pioneer among woman travellers but also an ambitious mountaineer, created lovely watercolour sketches of her impressions during the journey, some of which are printed here. They show her tent in Ayn Musa, palm trees in Wady Ghurundel, Mount Serbal, Ras Sufsafeh, St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai, the Urn Tombs of Petra, the Siq passage leading up to the Al-Kazneh, Ad Deir, and Mount Hor from Bidebda. - Browned throughout with some foxing, more pronounced among first and last leaves. Bookplate of Peter Ward (d. 2004) of Purlieu in Upper Colwall, former intelligence officer in the Middle East and North Africa and fluent speaker of Arabic, to front pastedown; flyleaf shows remains of an earlier, removed bookplate and a pencil note regarding repairs to the book done in 1995. - No copy in auction records. A rare example of Arabian travel literature from the early 20th century featuring a female protagonist. OCLC 560058182.‎

‎[Iraq / Kuwait / Saudi Arabia / Bahrain / Qatar].‎

‎Manuscript map of Baghdad Vilayet and Basra Vilayet. [Probably Istanbul, ca. 1915].‎

‎Ca. 235 x 190 mm. Original hand-coloured map on tissue paper. In Ottoman script and Arabic. Two hand-drawn maps on a single sheet, made in the Ottoman Empire, likely in Istanbul, near the beginning of the 20th century. The map to the left depicts the Baghdad Vilayet, embracing Central Iraq. The map on the right features the Basra Vilayet, extending from Southern Iraq down the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf to include Kuwait, what is now the Dhahran area of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar. By the late 19th century the Gulf States had become de-facto British protectorates and were no longer practically subject to Ottoman rule; still, the Sublime Porte never relinquished its sovereignty. - Maps such as this, executed on thin tracing paper, were commonly made as educational tools at elite Ottoman schools and universities during the early 20th century, although few such specimens survive. - Clean and bright, with light creasing and traces of an old vertical centrefold.‎

‎Maillet, Benoît de.‎

‎Description de l'Egypte, contenant plusieurs remarques curieuses sur la Geographie ancienne et moderne de ce païs, sur les monumens anciens [...]. Paris, Louis Genneau & Jacques Rollin, 1735.‎

‎4to (214 x 250 mm). 2 parts in one volume. XXI, (3), 328, 242, (10) pp. Title-page printed in red and black. With engraved portrait frontispiece, 7 engraved plates (2 of which folding), and 1 engraved folding map of Egypt. Contemporary full calf with traces of gilt spine (oxydized) and remnants of a spine-label. Marbled endpapers. Edges sprinkled red. First edition. - Prominent compendium of all that was known about Egypt at the time, taking the form of a series of letters written by the French consul and inspector of the French institutions in the Levante, Benoît de Maillet (1656-1738), stationed in Cairo from 1692 to 1708, edited and compiled for publication by the cleric Jean-Baptiste le Mascrier (1697-1760). During his time in Egypt, Maillet developed a great interest in Arabic and Egyptian life, as well as in Egyptian antiquities and Arabic architecture. With his work he greatly expanded European knowledge about the country, its antiquities and the manners and costums of its inhabitants. The frontispiece shows a portrait of the author, while the plates depict tombs, sarcophagi, obelisks, and animals. The two folding plates exhibit the Mikias, or Nilometer, in Cairo, and a cross section of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The final chapter discusses the annual Hajj to Mecca and describes the cities of Mecca and Medina, as well as Mahomet's tomb. - Title-page a little duststained, with traces of a removed stamp of ownership. Somewhat foxed and brownstained throughout, more pronounced among first and last leaves. Upper margins slightly waterstained near the end. The map of Egypt shows small marginal flaws. Upper joints and extremities professionally restored. A near-contemporary note on the estimated price of the volume by a former owner on front flyleaf. A good copy. Atabey 748. Blackmer 1061. Gay 2105. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 170. Paulitschke 717. Not in Weber.‎

‎Nizami, Nizam al-Din Abu Muhammad.‎

‎The Secander Nama of Nizami. With a selection from the works of the most celebrated commentators by Beder Ali & Mir Hosain Ali. Calcutta, Hindoostanee press, P. Pereira, 1812.‎

‎Small folio (238 x 303 mm). (2), 638, (2) pp. Modern half calf with red and green gilt spine labels, bound in 19th century style. First printed edition of the celebrated Islamic biography of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) by the Persian poet Nizami, completed ca. 599/1202. Published under the auspices of Sir Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the First Earl of Minto (1751-1814), and printed in Persian throughout but for the English title. - "The Alexander of the Persian romances is much more colorful than his Western counterpart [...] Nizami celebrates him first as a king and conqueror, then as a sage and a prophet. In 'Iskandarnamah', in addition to being a zealous Moslem, Alexander becomes an ardent lover with numerous wives and concubines" (Southgate, "Portraits of Alexander in Persian Alexander-Romances of the Islamic Era"). - Islamic myths about Alexander the Great are thought to have derived in part from Qur'anic references to the "Dhu'l-Qarnayn" ("He of the Two Horns") as well as from the Greek sources in translation. "The principal episodes of the legend of Alexander, as known to the Muslim tradition, are elaborated in the [Eskander-nama]: the birth of Alexander, his succession to the Macedonian throne, his war against the Negroes who had invaded Egypt, the war with the Persians, ending with the defeat and death of Dara and Alexander's marriage to Dara's daughter, his pilgrimage to Mecca. Nezami then dwells at some length on Alexander's stay in the Caucasus and his visit to Queen Nushaba of Barda'a and her court of Amazons; this lady takes over the role of Candace in earlier versions of the Alexander saga. Alexander then goes to India and China. During his absence the Rus (i.e., the Russian Vikings) invade the Caucasus and capture Barda'a (as they in fact did some two centuries before Nezami's time) and take Nushaba prisoner. Alexander's wars with the Rus, which are depicted at considerable length, end with his victory and his magnanimous treatment of the defeated army. The [Eskander-nama] concludes with the account of Alexander's unsuccessful search for the water of immortal life" (Encylopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, pp. 612-614). Along the way Alexander's conquests of much of Central Asia and the pre-Islamic world are described: Dara (Syria), Ajam (near Kuwait), Kayan (Afghanistan), the Arabian Peninsula, Khorasan (Northern Iran), and so on. - Ca. 20 pages with wormholes affecting some text, wide margins. Some browning throughout. Discarded and sold from the Library of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, with their drystamp to the title-page. Later in the Alexander the Great Collection of Julio Berzunza (1896-1952), Professor of Languages at the University of New Hampshire. Graesse IV, 680. Brunet IV, 83; Ebert 14833 ("1811" in error). Nawabi 414. OCLC 41609907.‎

‎Parfit, Joseph T[homas].‎

‎Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan. London, Hunter & Longhurst, 1917.‎

‎8vo. VIII, 252, (2) pp. With 16 black-and-white photographic plates. Original green cloth, gilt lettering to spine and black lettering to front cover. First edition. - An account of missionary work in Mount Lebanon, with a description of the Druze people, their history and their faith. Parfit narrates "seven years' work amongst the secret sects of Syria", focusing on the establishment of mission schools in the mountainous lands south and east of Beirut, where many Druze communities were based. To the main narrative of school-building and teaching, he adds much on relations between the Druzes and other communities (including animosities with the Maronites), and significant events such as the dangerously severe Winter of 1911. - The book is attractively illustrated with the author's photographs and each chapter is preceded by a line from "Arabian Wisdom", a collection of Qur'anic quotes and proverbs compiled by John Wortabet. - Very light wear to extremities, corners slightly bumped, very good otherwise. Endpapers browned, a few instances of spotting, rest of interior clean and bright. Ownership inscription of Marian Parfit of Westcot, near Wantage, Berkshire, to front free endpaper and her bookplate to front pastedown. The Arab History: A Bibliographical List (Cairo, 1966), p. 132. OCLC 250774345.‎

‎Hughes, T[homas] P[atrick] (ed.).‎

‎[Ketab-e ganj-e pasto]. The Kalid-i-Afghani, being selections of Pushto prose and poetry for the use of students. Peshawar, Panjab Educational Press Lahore, 1872.‎

‎Large 4to (240 x 292 mm). (6), III, (3), 418, 4 pp. Contemporary Western quarter morocco over marbled boards, spine gilt with title. First edition. - A reader issued to supply the "English Student of the Pushto (or Pukhto) language [with] some work written in the colloquial", published "under the sanction and patronage of the Government of the Panjáb" (preface). It became the official text book for the Pashto Examination. The editor Hughes served as a missionary in Peshawar (1865-84) with the Church Missionary Society. - In lithographed Pashto throughout save for the preliminary English letterpress matter. Binding rather rubbed and scuffed, spine and extremities professionally repaired; three leaves remargined at the lower edge (not affecting text). A few small wormholes. Contemporary pencil annotations to the text and endleaves. McLachlan, Bibliography Of Afghanistan, no. 6883. OCLC 5111396.‎

‎Vasif, Ahmed.‎

‎Mahasin ül-âsâr ve hakayik ül-ahbar. Bulaq, Bulak matbaasi, [1830 CE =] 1246 H.‎

‎4to. 2 vols. bound in one. 14 pp. (index), 210 pp., (1 blank), 7 pp. (index), 190 pp. Original full calf with later paper label; later marbled paper on the spine. An important first-hand account of relations between the Porte and central Europe as well as the wider political events during the second half of the 18th century. Written by the Baghdad-born diplomat Ahmed Vasif Effendi and also known as "Vasif Tarihi" ("Vasif's History"), it forms one of the most important works of Ottoman political history for the period between 1754 and 1774, when the author actively participated in the world of diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire, on the Balkans, in Russia and in Vienna. Vasif was known for his quick temper and was later described by the German orientalist Franz Babinger as "vain, stingy, jealous, and excessively vicious" (cf. p. 336). His text was left unfinished after a dispute with the Istanbul-based press of Rasid Efendi, which Vasif himself had helped establish, and it was completed by Sadullah Enveri (d. 1794), who himself had participated in the military events described. - At the time one of the few available printed historico-political accounts of contemporary Middle Eastern relations with the West during the age of Enlightenment, the book proved extremely popular throughout Europe and is today found in many European libraries. This is the third and last edition, the second printed at Bulaq, by the first official and governmental printing press in Egypt, after first being published in Istanbul in 1219 (1803/04). - Bulaqor Al-Amiriya Press, the first official and governmental printing press established in Egypt, was founded in 1820 by the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali. As early as in 1815 the first delegation was sent from Egypt to Milan to learn printing. After the building for the press was finished in the autumn of 1820, it took another two years to transport the machines and train the employees, and the first book, an Arabic-Italian dictionary, was published in 1822. Viceroy Muhammad Ali started several reform programmes with a view to create a modern Egyptian society after the European model, and the press was part of this modernisation. He is remembered for establishing modern Egypt as an independent country. - Printed on thick paper. Interior clean with sporadic old staining; old pencil and ink annotations to endpapers. Binding shows larger scratches and loss of material, but still in the original Bulaq covers. Provenance: 19th century bookseller's label of Benjamin Duprat, Paris, on front pastedown; later owned by the Iraqi architect Mohamed Makiya (2015). Özege V, 22519. OCLC 949617481, 777193206, 320228577, 780208235, 165361809, 26779362 and 600848792 (some examples on microfilm). Ethan L. Menchinger, The First of the Modern Ottomans: The Intellectual History of Ahmed Vasif (2017). Franz Babinger, Die Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke (1927), pp. 335-337.‎

‎Bedford, Francis (photographer) and W. M. Thompson.‎

‎The Holy Land, Egypt, Constantinople, Athens, etc. etc. A series of forty-eight photographs. London, Day and Son, [ca. 1865-1867].‎

‎4to (24.5 × 18 cm). With title-page printed in red and black and 48 albumen prints (measuring ca. 10 × 13 cm) mounted on leaves with lithographed captions. Original publisher's goldblocked blue cloth, gilt edges. First and only edition of a collection of 48 albumen prints of photographs by the British photographer Francis Bedford (1816-94). "A significant boost to his reputation came with the commission to accompany the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, on a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land in the spring and early summer of 1862. The resulting images were exhibited in London in July 1862 [...] Selections from Bedford's Middle Eastern views were included in [...] The Holy Land, Egypt, Constantinople, Athens etc" (Hannavy). The photographs mainly show ancient and Islamic architecture, as well as some landscape views, in and around Cairo, Gizeh, Thebes, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Damascus, Baalbek, Istanbul (Constantinople), Athens and more. The photographs are accompanied by an introduction and 100 pages of descriptive text by W. M. Thompson. - With bookplate. Slightly browned with some occasional foxing, not affecting the photographs. Binding slightly rubbed along the extremities. Overall in good condition. Blackmer 1483. J. Hannavey, Encyclopedia of 19th-century photography, pp. 134-136.‎

‎Gastaldi, Giacomo.‎

‎Il Disegno della Terza Parte Dell' Asia. Rome, 1561.‎

‎74 x 48 cm. A fine example of Giacomo Gastaldi's map of Southeast Asia, China, and India, perhaps the single most influential map of the region published in the 16th century. - Gastaldi's map has a remarkable history, one that presents a microcosm of Italian mapmaking in the middle of the 16th century. It begins with the publication of a single section in 1559, which was intended as a separate map. Additional sections were added in 1561, creating the portion of the existing map which extends south to the Equator. In 1565, two additional sections were added, in order to show all of Indonesia and the neighbouring islands as far south as Java Minor. - "In its original form the map extended only to the equator, so that most of the Indonesian islands were not included. To remedy this, in about 1565, two narrow sheets were made by the great Italian engraver Paolo Forlani to supplement the main body of Gastaldi's map [...] This lower addition bears an inscription in the lower left corner which reads 'si vende...' [...] indicating the location of the shop of the publisher Bertelli" (Suarez). - Of all of Gastaldi's Asian continental maps, this one more than any other "had a major influence on the work of Ortelius and de Jode [...] In their representation of the coastlines his maps are superior to all previously known maps of Asia, either drawn by hand or printed" (Schilder, in: The Map Collector 17, p. 7). - On the right-hand side of the map, Gastaldi provides a list of about 100 place names on the map, showing both their ancient and modern names. In his excellent study of Gastaldi's maps of Asia and their relationship to the accounts of Marco Polo's travels, Nordinskold notes that while Gastaldi has clearly incorporated information from Marco Polo's travels, Gastaldi relied also upon the accounts of other contemporary travelers to the East. Most notably, the dedication to Marcus Fugger (1529-97) is strong evidence that Gastaldi had access to the Fugger family library, one of the most important libraries compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries. During the 16th century, the Fugger Library was perhaps the best private library in the world, surpassing even the Vatican Library. - Nordinskold goes on to note: "Finally, it must be remembered that Gastaldi, under the guidance of Ramusio, is supposed to have aided in repairing or repainting the famous wall-maps in Sala dello scudo in Venice [...] If such was the case, it may be considered probable that the monumental maps of Africa and Asia by Gastaldi have had some connection to [Gastaldi's map of Asia], that these copper-plate engravings are a reproduction of the originals of the wall maps in that form which was given them in the middle of the 16th century". Quirino notes that Gastaldi's map is the first appearance of the name "Philippines" ("Philippina") on a printed document. - The map is rare on the market. We note no examples of this first edition of the map on at auction or in recorded dealer catalogs in at least 15 years. Tooley, Italian Atlases 63. Karrow 30/92 (note). Woodward, Forlani 36 (note). Suarez, South East Asia, pp. 130-157 Quirino, Philippine Cart., p. XV & 95. Nordinskold, The Influence of the "Travels of Marco Polo" on Jacobo Gastaldi's Maps of Asia, in: The Geographical Journal 13, No. 4.‎

‎Imru al-Qays ibn Hugr al-Kindi.‎

‎[Kitab Nuzha duwi'l-kis wa-tuhfa al-udaba' fi Qasa'id Imri' al-Qais]. Le Diwan d'Amro'lkais précédé de la vie de ce poëte par l'auteur du Kitab El-Aghani, accompagné d'une traduction et de notes par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane [...]. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1837.‎

‎Folio (237 x 312 mm). 2 parts in one volume. XXV, (1), 128 pp. (French and Latin text); 50 pp. (Arabic text); central blank. Contemp. half brown hard-grained morocco, raised bands on gilt fleuron spine. Marbled endpapers. First edition, with the full text in Arabic: an early effort of the Franco-Irish editor. The pre-Islamic Arab poet Imru al-Qays (497-545) from the Kinda is regarded as the greatest writer in Arabic of his time. His Diwan (complete collection of poems), written in a language of impeccable classicism, was collected from the 8th century; it includes 28 to 68 parts according to recensions. - The Irish scholar William McGuckin de Slane (1801-78), a disciple of Silvestre de Sacy, to whom the present work is dedicated, went on to serve as Principal Interpreter of Arabic of the French Army and Professor of Arabic at the École de langues orientales in Paris. It is remarkable the he chose to present a Latin version of these works: he later became known for his translations into French and English of Arab and Persian historians. - Occasional browning and foxing. GAL I, 24. OCLC 457350459.‎

‎Joseph I, Emperor (1678-1711).‎

‎Printed privilege for Bartholomew Coreis, signed. Vienna, 15 July 1707.‎

‎Folio (193 x 295 mm). 11, (1) pp. With large papered seal. Contemp. marbled wrappers. An Imperial privilege establishing a five-year trade monopoly for olive oil within the Austrian hereditary principalities, to be exercised by an oil company (Bartholomew Coreis & Co.) against payment of half a florin for every hundredweight of oil, as well as tolls and fees, to the treasury. With autograph signature of the short-lived Emperor Joseph and two counter-signatures, one by the court chancellor Johann Friedrich Baron Seilern (1646-1715, previously the architect of the ill-fated marriage of Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte and the Duke of Orléans, later author of the Pragmatic Sanction). The owner of this early oil company could not be traced; he may be related to the Greek scholar Adamantios Korais, born in 1748 (his father Ioannes was a native of Chios). - Evenly browned due to paper; small paper flaw in center of gutter; contemporary binding professionally repaired in the fold. Codex Austriacus III, p. 540-542. Beitraege zur Geschichte der boehmischen Laender 23 (1878), p. 422f.‎

‎Niebuhr, Carsten.‎

‎Reize naar Arabië en andere omliggende landen. Amsterdam and Utrecht, Steven Jacobus Baalde and Johannes van Schoonhoven & Co. and Bartholomeus Wild (colophon: printed by Johan Joseph Besseling), 1776-1780.‎

‎2 vols. VIII, (6), 484, (2) pp. (16), 456 pp. (6), XXXXI, (1), 408, (14) pp. With 2 engraved title-pages, each with an engraved vignette (that for volume 2 from the plate of the 1774 "Beschryving" with the lettering revised; that for volume 1 copied from it and unsigned), 125 engraved plates numbered I-LXXII, [LXXIII] (vol. 1) & I-LII (vol. 2) (38 folding), showing topographic views, watermills, people, Egyptian and Persian antiquities, Egyptian, Persian, cuneiform and other inscriptions, etc. by C. F. Fritsch, C. J. de Huyser, Th. Koning, G. H. Koning, C. Philips, O. de Vries, Baurenfeind and others. The unnumbered folding map of Yemen ("Tabula Itineraria", plate size 48.5 x 41.5 cm), with the trade routes coloured by hand, covers a smaller area at a larger scale than that in the Beschryving. - (Bound with) II: Niebuhr, Carsten. Beschrying van Arabie, uit eigene waarnemingen en in 't land zelf verzamelde narigten opgesteld. Amsterdam, Steven Jacobus Baalde; Utrecht, Johannes van Schoonhoven & Co. (colophon: printed by Johan Joseph Besseling), 1774. With engraved title-page showing an engraved vignette by N. van der Meer (2 female figures with a globe and other instruments) and 25 engraved plates numbered I-XXIV, (XXV), including 7 folding showing 1 view of military exercises, 2 Kufic inscriptions (coloured by hand) and 4 maps. The unnumbered map of Yemen (plate size 58.5 x 39 cm) is coloured by hand in outline. The full-page plates include maps, topographic views, costumes, coins, Arabic inscriptions, etc. All by C. J. de Huyser, N. van der Meer, Th. Koning and C. Philips. 2 works in 3 volumes. 4to. Contemporary half tree calf, sides covered with paste paper; rebacked, with original gold-tooled backstrip laid down. One of the very rare large paper copies of the first and only editions of the Dutch translation by Jacob van Ekers of Niebuhr's famous account of a voyage to Arabia and surrounding countries (ad 1) and his description of Arabia, Egypt and the Middle East (ad 2). Both works were originally written by the Danish traveller and surveyor Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) and published in German, in Copenhagen in 1772 under the titles, "Beschreibung von Arabien" and "Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern". Both works were also translated in French and English. - In 1760 Niebuhr was invited to join a scientific expedition to Egypt. Other members of the expedition were Friedrich Christian von Haven (a Danish linguist and orientalist), Christian Carl Kramer (a Danish physician and zoologist), Georg Baurenfeind (an artist from southern Germany), Berggren (a Swedish ex-soldier) and Pehr Forrskal (a Swedish botanist). In January 1761, the expedition sailed from Copenhagen, Denmark to Alexandria, Egypt. The members of the expedition spent a year in Egypt, visiting Suez and Mount Sinai. They left Suez in October 1762 and sailed to Yemen. In May 1763 they reached Mocha where Von Haven and Forrskal died from malaria. In August 1763 Baurenfeind and Berggren died, followed by Kramer in February 1764. Niebuhr was the only one left to continue the expedition. In 1764, he explored India, sailing from Bombay to Muscat, as well as Shiraz, Babylon, Baghdad, Mosul, and Aleppo. He spent some time in Persepolis in 1765 where he has made very detailed drawings and maps, which were used for more than a hundred years. In 1766, he explored Palestine before finally returning to Copenhagen on 20 November 1767, after a journey of seven years. When he returned to Copenhagen the Swedish government warmly welcomed him and paid the costs of engraving the plates to illustrate his accounts of the voyage. Both works are lavishly illustrated, having together 2 large maps of Yemen and 148 beautifully engraved maps, plans and views of all the regions Niebuhr visited. - The present set has both works printed on the same large watermarked paper (Strasbourg bend above VDL) and is only slightly trimmed, measuring 296 x 242 mm with the tranchefiles still visible (regular copies are printed on unwatermarked paper measuring 275 x 217 mm). Not even Tiele mentions the existence of copies on large paper. - Binding slightly rubbed on the sides and rebacked as noted; otherwise good. With a few occasional spots, the half-titles slightly thumbed and a few mm of minor browning in the upper margins; a very good large paper copy, only slightly trimmed. Howgego, to 1800, N24. Tiele, Bibl. 795f. Cf. Atabey 873f. Cox I, 237f. Gay 3589. Hamilton, Europe and the Arab world 48.‎

‎Rich, Edmund Tillotson.‎

‎Report and Estimates of Cost of Motor Roads in South East Persia Between Bandar Abbas and Kerman. Delhi/Simla, 1917/1918.‎

‎Folio (218 x 340 mm). Two parts: 1) Confidential. Survey by Major E.T. Rich, R.E., of routes between Bandar-Abbas and Kerman. General Staff, India. Simla: Government Branch Press, 1917. 9, 13, (1), 7, 16 = 46 pp. With six maps and plans (two folding), a proof plate with 2 photo views, and 13 leaves of original manuscript, typewritten and printed telegrams related to the report. Both original publisher’s wrappers bound in. - 2) Confidential. Report by Major E. T. Rich, R.E., on the Construction of Motor Roads in South Persia between Bandar Abbas and Kerman. 1917. General Staff, India. 2 vols. Delhi: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1918. Vol. 1: (2), IV, 38 pp. With 12 leaves of plates (including one proof plate) and 8 maps and plans (3 folding). Vol. 2: 39-54 pp. With 3 folding maps. Occasional red ink notes by Rich in text and on the maps/plans; original publisher’s wrappers bound in. Occasional red ink notes by Rich in text and on the maps/plans; both original publisher’s wrappers bound in. Custom-made hardcover binding with the first publisher’s wrapper of the original report pasted to the front board. With a large folding linen backed map of Persia in the pocket at rear. Addenda (see below). Special custom-bound, historically important archive, compiled by E. T. Rich and containing confidential printed reports, 18 maps and plans, as well as original documents related to the survey of potential routes for a motor road between Bandar Abbas and Kerman in southern Persia. The survey was carried out by Rich as a part of the Persian campaign during the First World War on the special orders of the Chief of General Staff in India. As a part of WWI military operations, Bandar Abbas was occupied by British forces under command of Sir Percy Sykes in March 1916, and the survey was apparently undertaken in order to establish additional supply routes to the war’s Persian front. Rich was ordered "to report as soon as possible on the best route for a road to take motor lorry traffic from Bandar Abbas to Kerman and to frame estimates from the same and proposals as to the best way of carrying out the work." The survey was done between December 1916 and June 1917; a year later Rich was promoted a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.) for his work. Nevertheless, the road never was constructed, probably because of the cardinal changes on the Persian front after the collapse of the Russian front line as a result of the revolution in February 1917. - The volume contains: confidential reports by Rich; printed "Working notes" on the survey; maps and plans of Bandar Abbas, Kerman, and the area in between; telegrams sent to him from the Chief of General Staff (Delhi & Simla), Surveyor General’s Office in Calcutta, British Consul in Bandar Abbas; tables with distances and estimates of construction, printed views of the area et al. Several leaves slightly age-toned, but overall a very good custom-made copy. - Supplemented with Rich’s copy of a typewritten dispatch from the British Vice-Consul in Bandar Abbas to the Chief of Roodbar (South Persia) Zarghan-us-Saltaneh, dated Bandar Abbas, 2 Dec. 1916. In the dispatch the consul asks for the assistance to Rich who is going to visit the area under the chief’s control during the course of his road survey. The copy is signed by the consul and has his manuscript note "Original sent by special messenger direct to Zarghan-us-Saltaneh." - There are also two autograph signed letters by Rich, addressed to his aunt in London and written while on field service in Southern Persia. The letters are dated 10 & 25 Dec. 1916, housed in the original envelope with a postal stamp of Bandar Abbas, and contain interesting notes about Rich’s work and his observations on the native life. [Near Kerman:] "It is Xmas evening & as I have no one to talk to, the nearest white man being over 100 miles away, I am writing instead. Being high up over 5000 feet in the mountains, it is bitterly cold & proper Xmas weather, but personally I’d prefer it a bit warmer as I can’t keep warm no how at night which means continuously waking up [...] The food of the villagers about here is most strange, being dates & bread about 2 lbs of each per diem & nothing else. They feed the horses & cows on dates & even the dogs. I eat them once a day for lunch which consists of porridge, bread & cheese & dates. I often envy the meals my servants get at home when I am out on these expeditions." - E. T. Rich (1874-1937) was a British military engineer and surveyor, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He graduated from Sandhurst with the Pollock Medal and was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. In 1895 he went out to India and was posted to railway survey work in Burma. In 1905-1909 Rich worked as survey officer on the Indian North-West Frontier, and took part in the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Campaigns of 1908 (as a divisional and a chief survey officer respectively). During the latter he was slightly wounded and for his services was promoted brevet-major. In 1911 Rich was appointed the head of the survey office on the Burma frontier post at Myitkyina, where he carried out the survey of the border with Tibet and Yunnan. In 1916/17 he was in charge of the survey party looking for the alternative routes between Bandar Abbas and Kerman in South Persia; in 1918 he was in charge of the North West Persia Survey Detachment which accompanied British intervention in the Caspian under command of General Dunsterville. Rich carried out important surveys in Baku, Batum and Tiflis. After WWI Rich returned to Burma where he became the head of the Burma Circle of the Survey of India. In 1920-22 while surveying the unadministered territory between Burma and Assam he encountered slavery and human sacrifices still practiced there; in 1925 he took part in the Sir Harcourt Butler’s Mission to the Hukawng Valley to suppress slavery. Rich retired with the rank of Colonel and C.I.E. in 1929. "Colonel Rich was a great linguist, and besides his knowledge of Urdu, Pushtu, and Persian, he was able to converse in Yunnanese and several dialects of Burma - Kachin, Maru, and Lisaw [...] He was a keen explorer throughout his career and did much to encourage a spirit of adventure in younger officers who served under him” (Obituary, The Geographical Journal 91.1 [1938], p. 96).‎

‎Worm, Olaus.‎

‎Museum Wormianum. Seu historia rerum rariorum, tam naturalium, quam artificialium, tam domesticarum, quam exoticarum, quae in Hafniae Danorum in aedibus authoris servantur. Leiden, Jan Elsevier, 1655.‎

‎Folio (243 x 372 mm). (12), 389, (3) pp. With double-page-sized engraved frontispiece (G. Wingendorp sc., bound after p. 8), 12 engravings in the text, and 139 woodcuts in the text (wants the engraved portrait). 18th century full calf with giltstamped red label to gilt spine in seven compartments. All edges red. First edition of this description of the important natural-historical and ethnological collection assembled by the famous Danish physician and naturalist Worm (1588-1654), forming the nucleus of the museum he founded, one of the first natural history museums ever established. The double-page frontispiece (sometimes counted as an additional engraved title page) shows his natural history collection inboxes, on shelves and hanging from walls and ceiling. This plentiful text illustrations show exotic as well as Scandinavian animals, plants, fossils, ethnological trophies, archeological discoveries, etc. For many items in the mineralogical and chemical section, the Arabic names are given (such as Borax or "Baurach", Alkali, Tinkur, etc.). Among the exotic flora are many plants endemic to the Middle East and Arabia, including the "Nabuch Arabum", the "Nux indica" (with reference to Avicenna), the date palm, pistachio ("ex Persia, Arabia & Syria"), gum arabic etc. - Binding slightly scuffed in places, but well preserved. Slight browning and brownstaining to interior, mainly confined to blank margins. A few early marginalia and underlinings in ink (trimmed by binder's knife when rebound in the later 18th century). As virtually all copies available for comparison, ours lacks the portrait (to be bound after the preliminaries). Nissen, ZBI 4473. Willems 772 ("Description raisonnée du cabinet d'histoire naturelle formé par le savant danois Olaus Worm").‎