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Strecker, [Wilhelm].
Ueber den Rückzug der Zehntausend. Eine Studie. Berlin, Mittler & Sohn, 1886.
8vo. 29, (1) pp. With one lithographed folding map. Contemporary giltstamped full calf bearing the tughra of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Leading edges gilt. Endpapers with golden floral pattern. All edges gilt. First and sole edition of this historical study of the "March of the Ten Thousand", the retreat of Greek mercenaries immortalized in Xenophon's "Anabasis". The author retraces the soldiers' marching route, drawing on his own experience after having spent several years in Armenia. The map shows a portion of Higher Armenia with the author's own route, as well as that given by Xenophon. Strecker, a former Prussian artillery lieutenant, entered Ottoman service in 1854 and was appointed governor of Bulgaria's Vidin region from 1864 to 1865, when he was known as "Reshid Pascha". In later sources he also appears as a leader of the Ottoman militia, going by the name of "Strecker Pascha". - Spine slightly rubbed, title-page slightly foxed, with traces of a paper label to verso. Inscribed to Sultan Abdul Hamid II and signed in Ottoman Turkish by Strecker (as "Reshid Pasha") on verso of flyleaf, opposite the title. - 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. H. Rohrbacher, Georgien. Bibliographie des deutschsprachigen Schrifttums (Wiesbaden 2008), 902.
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Thomas, Bertram.
Arabia Felix. Across the "Empty Quarter" of Arabia. London, Jonathan Cape, 1932.
8vo. XXIX, (3), 397, (1) pp. With 3 maps (one a large folding map of the Empty Quarter at the end of the volume), 74 photo illustrations on plates, and 7 text illustrations. Publisher's brown cloth with title in gilt to spine. First edition, published simultaneously with the New York one. The preface was contributed by T. E. Lawrence. Among the many photograph illustrations is one of the earliest portraits of the Qatar royal family (facing p. 298). "In this book, Bertram Thomas relates some aspects of his journey in which he crossed the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) from Oman to Qatar, and provides geographical information about the peninsula of Qatar, especially the southern part. He also recorded his observations of the region stretching from the Gulf of Salwa to Al-Rayyan, where he met Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, Emir of Qatar at the time (1930). The book includes photographs he took of Sheikh Abdullah, Mohamed bin Abdul-Latif bin Mani', and his brother Saleh bin Abdul-Latif bin Mani'. He gives some concise information about Al-Nuaija, Doha towers, and the castle" (Fikri). - Provenance: armorial bookplate of Arthur Garrard to front pastedown. Later in the collection of the Dutch traveller Ruud Verkerk. Macro 2185. M. H. Fikri, Qatar in the Heart and in History (2011), p. 46f. (illustrated).
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[Yemen] - Reimer, Dietrich.
Jemen. Hadramaut. Versuch einer Darstellung vom glücklichen oder südöstlichen Arabien zu C. Ritter's Erdkunde (Drittes Buch West Asien Band VI) von Carl Zimmermann, Second-Lieutenant im 21ten Infanterie Regiment. (Zum Atlas von Vorder Asien gehörig). Berlin, G. Reimer, 1846.
Engraved map. 1245 x 690 mm (if joined). Fine large-format map of the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. Includes a large inset plan of Aden and smaller inset maps of the island of Socotra and a smaller map of the routes to Mecca. Illustrates the indigenous peoples, towns, topography and trade routes in the region. - 2 sheets, unjoined.
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[Algerian piracy].
Breve relacion de la refriega que la Capitana Real de Espana con otras quatro galeras de su guarda, ha tenido con una nao grande de cossarios de Argel [...]. (Barcelona, Estevan Liberos, 1621).
4to. (4) pp. With 2 woodcut vignettes. Sewn. Extremely scarce pamphlet on a naval battle in the Mediterranean near Cabo de Gata (Andalusia). It describes the destruction of a ship of corsairs from Algiers by the Spanish vessel "San Pedro" on 7 January 1621, killing 70 men. The victory proved important for the Spaniards, as the surviving corsairs provided them with useful intelligence, including information regarding the deployment of 30 Algerian vessels in the area, all seeking to rob other ships. However, the Ottomans were ignorant of any Royal Navy galleys which the Spanish suspected in the area, rather presuming them near Mallorca or Sardinia. - Large Jesuit woodcut vignette to the otherwise blank final page. Somewhat browned. Near-contemporary foliation in ink (205-206), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. No copies traceable in libraries worldwide. Not in OCLC.
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[Algerian piracy].
Copia de una carta que un cavallero, que va embarcado en la Patrona Real, ha escrito a un cavallero desta ciudad, dandole aviso de como en la costa de Cataluna, en el Cabo de Begur descubrieron un vaxel de Turcos [...]. (Barcelona, Estevan Liberos, 1623).
4to. (3) pp., final blank page. With woodcut illustration on the title-page. Sewn. Scarce account of a naval battle in the Mediterranean that took place near Cap de Begur (Catalonia) between a Spanish vessel and a ship of corsairs from Algiers in April 1623. The latter, carrying "50 Turcs, 4 captured Christians, a black Moorish woman, and a Mallorcan renegade", went up in flames. Allegedly the copy of a letter by a soldier of the Spanish Armada. The illustration shows the Ottoman vessel features 11 sailors at the helms wearing turbans. - Slightly dampstained. Near-contemporary foliation in ink (137-138), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. Palau 61131. Not in OCLC.
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[Arabian Nights]. Burton, Richard Francis.
A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Now Entituled the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. (Including: Supplemental Nights). [Boston?], The Burton Club, [ca. 1904].
Royal 8vo (24 x 16 cm). 14 (instead of 17) vols. With frontispieces and numerous illustrations (vol. 8 lacking one image). Contemporary richly gilt full cloth. Top edges gilt. - (2) The same. The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments. Vol. IV. (Including: Supplemental nights, vol. VI). (Colophons: USA), ibid., [ca. 1940]. Contemporary richly gilt and silvered full cloth. Top edges red. The first Burton Club edition of Richard Burton's celebrated translation of Alf Laylah wa-Laylah, commonly known in English as the Arabian Nights. These Arabic tales, cherished in Europe since the early 18th century, are often erotic in content, and in Burton's unexpurgated translation they outraged Victorian England. Burton included numerous footnotes and a scholarly apparatus, offering a vivid picture of Arabian life, which set his translation apart from earlier English renderings. Bold to a fault, Richard Burton travelled to Mecca, explored the African Great Lakes, shocked his readers with his candid travel accounts, and gained fame and riches with his translation of the Arabian Nights. The first edition was published in 1885-88 and re-issued by the Burton Club shortly thereafter. - The present set lacks volume 4 of the "Nights", as well as volumes 4 and 7 of the "Supplemental Nights". The volumes numbered "IV" and "V" of the "Supplemental Nights" are in fact volumes 5 and 6. In lieu of the missing tomes the collection includes volume 4 of the "Arabian Nights" and volume 6 of the "Supplemental Nights" from a later 16-volume Burton Club edition, which Ross dates ca. 1940. This later date is supported by the fact that this edition is not included in Penzer's thorough bibliography published in 1923. - Spines slightly faded; extremities lightly worn. A fine set, uncut and partly unopened. Penzer 131. (2) Scheherazade's Web: The 1001 Nights & Comparative Literature, J. Ross 10 & 11.
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Bury, George Wyman.
Arabia Infelix, or the Turks in Yamen. London, Macmillan and Co., 1915.
Large 8vo. X, 213, (3) pp. With 3 maps and 18 plates, some containing multiple images. Red cloth, blind-tooling on covers, title information in gold on spine. First edition of G. W. Bury's account of Yemen on the eve of WWI. Bury (1874-1920) was a British naturalist, explorer, Arabist and political officer in the British army, who spent most of his life in the Aden-Yemen borderlands. As a young man, he spent a year with the Abdali tribe in the Aden protectorate; he learned their language and even received the name Abdulla Mansur. Later in life, he was able to pass himself off as a local, because of his looks and command of colloquial Arabic. The British government made use of this by employing Bury as a political officer in the region and even escorting the British part of the Boundary Commission in the Dhala region of Yemen. - "At the outbreak of World War I, Bury's unique knowledge of the Arab tribesmen and the Turkish administration commended him to the British intelligence service, and in 1915 he was made 'political officer' to the Red Sea Northern Patrol with the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve" (Howgego). - Very slight browning, small tear in the contents-page (outer margin). Overall in good condition. Howgego IV, B99. Macro 642. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 163. Smith, The Yemens, 59. Sotheby's, Burrell sale, lot 136. Cf. Canton, From Cairo to Baghdad British travellers in Arabia, pp. 170-176.
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Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Persian Gulf, 1975: the continuing debate on arms sales. Hearings before the special subcommittee on investigations of the committee on international relations, house of representatives, ninety-fourth congress, first Session. June 10, 18, 24 and July 29, 1975. Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976.
8vo. VI, 261 pp. Original printed paper wrappers. Document printed by the government of the United States of America, concerning "the escalating level of arms sales to Gulf states" (p. V). Included are statements of witnesses, memorandums, tables and other important documents concerning the (illegal) arms trade. Occasionally a marginal annotation in red ink. Otherwise in very good condition.
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[Conquest of Oran].
Breve relaçao dos progressos, que as armas espanholas tem feito na defeza de Praça de Oran, contra os mouros [...]. (Lisbon, Jose de Aquino Bulhoens, 1791).
4to. 14 pp., final blank leaf. Two printed sheet folded into a pamphlet, unsewn and unbound. Very rare Portuguese account of one of several unsuccessful 18th century attempts by Muslim forces to recapture Oran. Translated by Manuel Pedro Tomás Pinheiro e Aragão (1773-1838), describing the events of May and June 1791. From 1790 to 1792, Muslim forces, led by Mohamed El-Kebir (d. 1796), besieged Oran and Mers el-Kebir, which were in Spanish hands since 1732. Both cities would be returned to the Ottoman Empire after a massively destructive earthquake in 1792. - First page somewhat spotty. Uncut and untrimmed. BGUC Misc. 24, 508. OCLC 56569516.
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[Conquest of Oran].
Nova relaçam da famoza, e admiravel batalha, que tiverao os castelhanos com os mouros, em que triunfarao delles na praça de Orao [...]. Lisbon, Pedro Ferreira, 1754.
4to. 8 pp. With woodcut title vignette. Printed sheet folded into a pamphlet, unsewn and unbound. Rare Portuguese account of one of several unsuccessful 18th century attempts by Muslim forces to recapture Oran. This operation took place in March of 1754, more than two decades after the Spanish conquest of the city in 1732. Oran was repeatedly attacked by Algerian and Ottoman forces, but remained under Spanish rule until 1792. - Uncut and untrimmed. BGUC Misc. 24, 459. OCLC 27754498.
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[Conquest of Oran] - Monterroyo Mascarengas, Jose Freire de.
Oran conquistado ou relaçam historica, em que se dà noticia desta Praça, da sua conquista, e da sua perda, e restauraçao, colhida de varios avizos [...]. Lisbon, Pedro Ferreira, 1732.
4to. 20, (3) pp., final blank page. With a woodcut illustration. - (Bound with) II: The same. Oran conquistado, e defendido, relaçam historica [...] Parte II. Ibid., 1733. 16 pp. Later full vellum. First editions. Both separately published parts of this rare work on the Spanish expedition against Muslim Oran. After a survey of the history and geography of Oran (in modern Algeria), the author describes the preparations for the expedition to recapture the city, enumerates the Spanish leaders, and gives details of the Spanish naval and military attacks on sites in and around Oran in June and July 1732. The captain-general of the expedition was José Carrillo de Albornoz, first Duke of Montemar, who had fought in the War of the Spanish Succession and the War of the Quadruple Alliance; at this time he was viceroy of Sicily. Facing p. 20 is the plan of battle for the Spanish forces. The woodcut on the verso shows the harbour at Oran, the town, and the half-dozen fortresses surrounding it, as well as the position of the Spanish navy during the battle. The final leaf has the key to the map on its recto, with the verso blank. Freire de Monterroyo Mascarenhas explains in the dedication that he compiled this account from many shorter ones, because the public was eager to learn about the reconquest. Oran, which was in Spanish hands since 1509, had been captured by the Turks in 1708, while Spain was preoccupied with the War of the Spanish Succession. Spain then held the city from 1732 until 1792, when it suffered a massively destructive earthquake and King Charles IV handed the city back to the Ottoman Empire. - First part uncut. Second part slightly wormed near the gutter. Occasional light brownstaining. The two parts are very rarely encountered together. Inocêncio IV, 348. Barbosa Machado II, 856. BGUC Misc. 3, 80.
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Coon, Carleton S[tevens].
Measuring Ethiopia and Flight into Arabia. Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1935.
8vo. IX, (5), 333, (1) pp. With 8 plates. Yellow cloth with title information in blue on front cover and spine, with a dust jacket designed by Paul Wenck, map of Ethiopia and Arabia on the endpapers. First edition of Coon's account of his experiences in Ethiopia and Arabia. From 1933 to 1934 Coon travelled through Ethiopia to conduct physical anthropological research, but after conflicts with the authorities he had to escape to Arabia. He states in his foreword that the purpose of the present work is a memoir, since it was not meant to "impress the public with our scientific findings, for, interesting as these results may or may not be, they are reserved for more formal publication", but simply to tell what he and two others did during the expedition. C. S. Coon (1904-81) was an American anthropologist and professor of anthropology at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. He spoke ten languages and made notable contributions to the fields of cultural and physical anthropology and archaeology. He was the author of multiple works, including highly controversial works on race, such as "The Origin of Races" (1962), which were widely disputed during his lifetime and are considered pseudoscientific by modern anthropology. - Dust jacket somewhat damaged, covered with clear protective plastic, edges foxed. Otherwise in very good condition. Macro 747. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 178. Sotheby's, Burrell sale, lot 889.
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Dumont, X[avier].
Guide de la Lecture des Manuscrits Arabes. Alger, Brachet & Bastide, 1842.
4to (172 x 256 mm). 107, (1) pp. Lithographed throughout. Contemporary half calf over blue marbled boards. Only edition of this rare instruction manual designed by the editor to help learners of Arabic overcome what Caussin de Perceval identified as the greatest difficulty in acquiring the language: the obstacle of reading the script. Dumont's workbook provides a total of 25 specimen texts, first in the original handwriting, then in a standardized transcription (such as might be more easily legible to learners familiar with printed Arabic), and finally a French translation. The contents are listed in a separate table at the end: they include examples such as an appointment as manager, various legal documents, literary and narrative pieces, private and business correspondence, and passages from the Qur'an. - Unnumbered pages (1-2) bound last as colophon leaf. A rare Franco-Algerian produced manual in good condition throughout. OCLC 14851800.
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[Hogarth, David George (ed.).].
A Handbook of Arabia. Volume I: General. Volume II: Routes. London, H. M. Stationery Office (Frederick Hall, Oxford) and (vol. 2) Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Division, [1916]-May 1917.
8vo. (3)-708, (2) pp., XV pp. of plates. With four folding maps within pouch inside lower cover. 519, (3) pp., IX pp. of plates. Lacks the map, but with a different, supernumerary map within pouch inside lower cover. Modern (vol. 1) and original (vol. 2) blue cloth with giltstamped cover and spine titles (vol. 2 with closing fore-edge flap). Only edition of this rare, secret Naval Intelligence Handbook, compiled by D. G. Hogarth, Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (and close friend of T. E. Lawrence) for the British Admiralty's new Naval Intelligence Division, intended for the exclusive use of British officers operating on the Arabian Peninsula during the Great War. Although the information contained was classified as confidential, it could "in certain cases be communicated to persons in H.M. Service below the rank of commissioned officer", though officers exercising this power were warned to impart such data only with "due caution and reserve". As the introductory "Note" informs the reader, "The sources from which this work has been compiled include native information obtained since the outbreak of the war [...] Separate chapters are devoted to each of the great districts of Arabia [...] After the area of the territory under review has been defined, its physical character is described unter the subsections of Relief and Climate. Then follow social and political surveys of the district, the former usually arranged under the sub-headings of Population, Life and Appliances, Products and Trade, Currency, and Weights and Measurements, the latter describing the system of Government, Recent History, and Present Politics. The last section of such a chapter is purely geographical and is devoted to the Districts of the territory [...] In a composite chapter, such as that on the Gulf Coast, dealing with several independent territories, the same general arrangement, when practicable, has been followed for each area [...] The plates at the end of each volume have been chosen to illustrate the varieties of country which are characteristic of Arabia". The second volume is devoted "mainly to detailed routes, preceded by two chapters on methods of transport and lines of communication [...] Chapters have been incorporated on Meteorological Observations, Hygiene and Disease, and Vocabularies". All four maps of the first volume (Districts and Town; Orographical Features; Land Surface Features; Tribal Map) are present as called for; the "Key Map of Routes" in the second volume has been replaced by an orographical map of Palestine and Trans-Jordan (1933). While the first volume (I. D. 1128) has been rebound to style (lacking the half-title noting the confidential character of all information contained), the second volume (C. B. 405) is preserved in its original binding as issued, bearing also the copy number "Copy 117" in gilt on the upper cover. A Note of Confidentiality calls attention to "the penalties attaching to any infraction of the Offical Secrets Act". Stamps on flyleaf and pastedown trace its provenance to the Royal Central Asian Society, founded in 1901, and the book remained on the shelf of that Society's secretary when it was renamed the "Royal Society for Asian Affairs" in 1975. This ownership is cancelled in ballpoint, with a note "Sold to Mr. M. Graham" (i.e., Murray Graham, British collector and exploration agent in Arabia, d. 2008). Acquired from UK trade. OCLC 29922535, 775016994. Not in Macro.
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Kurpershoek, Paul Marcel.
Oral poetry and narratives from Central Arabia. 1. The poetry of ad-Dindân a Bedouin Bard in Southern Najd. 2. The Story of a Desert Knight. The Legend of Sçwîh al-'Atâwi & Other 'Utaybah Heroes. 3. Bedouin Poets of the Dawâsir Tribe Between Nomadism & Settlement in Southern Najd. Leiden, New York, Cologne, Brill, 1994-1999.
Large 8vo. 3 volumes. XVII, (5), 368, (4) pp. XIV, (4), 512, (2) pp. XX, 506, (4) pp. With 2 portraits as frontispieces in vols. 1 and 2. 16 pages with illustrations and 2 maps at the end of vols. 2 and 3. Red cloth with title information in gold on front cover and spine of all 3 vols. All 3 vols. have a dust jacket. Outstanding research on the oral traditions of the Bedouins in central Arabia, divided into 3 volumes containing information on the poetry and narratives of various Bedouin tribes and an analysis and translation of various poems and stories. Kurpershoek has recorded, transcribed and translated all poetry and narratives he discusses in this work. - Since its first publication in 1994-99, this trilogy has been expanded with two additional volumes: vol. 4, published in 2002, deals with Saudi tribal history, while vol. 5 (2005) looks back on almost 20 years of research on and involvement with Arabian oral culture. - The Dutch scholar, author and diplomat P. M. Kurpershoek specialises in Arab studies. Kurpershoek studied Arabic language and culture at the Universities of Leiden and Cairo; since 1974 he has worked for the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, the UN and NATO. As a professor of languages and cultures of the Islamic Middle East at the University of Leiden, he has performed research on the Bedouins of Saudi Arabia. From 2002 until 2013 he served successively as Dutch ambassador to Pakistan, Turkey, and Poland. Subsequently, from August 2013 until December 2014 he served as envoy to Syria. - Spines of the dust jackets of vols. 1 and 2 are slightly discoloured, otherwise in very good condition.
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Lamm, Carl Johan / Geijer, Agnes.
Orientalische Briefumschläge in schwedischem Besitz. Stockholm, Wahlström & Widstrand, 1944.
4to. 47, (3) pp., final blank leaf. With 11 plates with black and white photographic illustrations on recto and verso, as well as 2 plates with 2 mounted colour illustrations on recto. Contemporary green half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped title to spine. Original printed wrappers bound within. The first art-historical examination ever published of the 17th century oriental (Turkish, Persian and Crimean Tatar) cloth envelopes kept at the Swedish Reichsarchiv. This work discusses the use of the textile envelopes as well as their production, fashioning, material and patterns. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with pencil inscription to pastedown: "From the library of C. J. Lamm". - Carl Johan Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - Agnes Geijer was a Swedish textile historian and archaeologist. She received a doctoral degree from Uppsala University in 1938 and started working at the Swedish History Museum in 1941, where she was active from 1947 as a textile conservator. - Unobtrusive scratch to lower board, otherwise in excellent condition. Yuan 2172. OCLC 871325817.
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Lotti, Lotto.
[Ch' n' ha Cervell ava gamb.] La liberazione di Vienna assediata dalle armi Ottomane. Poemetto giocoso. E la Banzuola. Dialoghi sei. In lingua popolare Bolognese. [Prob. Bologna, c. 1746].
8vo. (8), 248 pp. With engr. frontispiece and 12 full-page engravings by G. M. Cantarelli. Contemp. blue wrappers. Third edition (probably printed in Bologna) of Lotto Lotti's (1667-1714) poem celebrating the liberation of Vienna from the 1683 Turkish siege, written in the Bologna dialect and first published in Parma in 1685. "Divided in 5 cantos of 30 to 40 eight-line verses each" (Kábdebo). Pretty engravings; the one facing the first canto (a besieging army aiming their cannons) shows contemporary touches of blue colour in places. Includes Lotti's collection of dialogues, "La Banzuola" (likewise illustrated throughout). - Date taken from the engraving on fol. O5v. Untrimmed copy. Sturminger 1973. NUC (pre-1956) vol. 342, p. 194. ICCU UBOE\075844, VEAE\001888. Graesse IV, 264. Cf. Kábdebo II, 290.
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Marcandier, M.
Traité du Chanvre. Paris, Nyon, 1758.
Small 8vo. (4), VII, (1), 138, (2) pp. Modern half calf with giltstamped red spine label, light cloth covers. All edges red. Rare first edition of one of the earliest treatises devoted exclusively to cannabis, extolling its virtues as a medicine, industrial fibre, seed oil, soap, animal feed, and so on. Marcandier in particular recommends the cultivation of the plant in the "Nord d'Amerique" (p. 46), and indeed the Traité du Chanvre was read by perhaps that region's most famous hemp enthusiast, George Washington - whose library contained a copy of the English translation printed in 1764, cataloged as Wa/549. - Marcandier begins with a scholarly account of the herb as it was known to the Romans (quoting Dioscorides, Pliny, and Herodotus), presenting intriguing theories of the etymology of the term cannabis: from the Celtic canab; the Greek kanna; the Hebrew kanneh; the Latin canna; etc. Although he is most concerned with its cultivation and medical applications, in his surveys of cannabis in non-European cultures we find descriptions of what can be termed 'recreational use': for example, "the Hottentots use a plant, named Dakha, instead of tobacco, or at least mix them together, when their provision of the latter is almost exhausted. They say that it is a kind of wild hemp" (pp. 19f.), while the 'flour' (farine) of the plant mixed into a drink "renders those who use it drunk, stupid, dazed; they say that the Arabs make of it a type of wine, which intoxicates" (p. 37). - Evidently drawing on personal experience, Marcandier describes the female flower as a "tender, sweet, and oily, white kernel, of a strong smell, that intoxicates when it is fresh" (p. 28) and even gives lengthy advice on how to inspect and purchase good-quality hemp (p. 76) and how to dry the plant properly, to avoid 'black spots' i.e. mold from forming (p. 54). - Cannabis is also recommended for myriad medicinal uses: "The grain and the leaves being squeezed, while they are green, and applied, by way of cataplasm, to painful tumors, are reckoned to have a great power of relaxing and stupefying ... The root of it boiled in water, and applied in the form of a cataplasm, softens and restores the joints of fingers or toes that are dried and shrunk. It is very good against the gout, and other humours that fall upon the nervous, muscular, and tendinous parts. It abates inflammations, dissolves tumours, and hard swellings upon the joints. Beat and pounded in a mortar, with butter, when it is still fresh, it is applied to burns, which it relieves greatly when it is often renewed" (pp. 38, 40f.). Marcandier also finds it useful as a spermicide (p. 35) and against gonorrhea, jaundice, smallpox, and 'vermin of the ear'. - A few contemporary ink annotations throughout. Provenance: from the library of the noted French botanist Philippe de Vilmorin (1872-1917) with his bookplate and separate shelfmark label ("a progenie in progenies") to pastedown. An excellent copy. Very rare: OCLC records 8 copies in US institutions (Chicago, Princeton, Lloyd Museum (OH), American Philosophical Society, Carnegie Mellon (Hunt Institute), Harvard, Minnesota, and the JCB). Not in Kress. Cf. Clarke & Merlin, Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany (University of California Press, 2013), p. 202; and Gibson, "Bibliotheca Cannabinacea", in: Journal of Industrial Hemp 13 (2008), pp. 176-188.
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[Ottoman Empire].
Fiel treslado da carta traduzida de Italiano en Portugues, na qual se relata a victoria naval, alcançada contra os turcos na sua força de Dardanelli, pela armada da serenissima Republica de Veneza [...]. (Lisbon, Officina Craebeekianaa, 1656).
4to. (11) pp., final blank page. Sewn. Scarce Portuguese account of the Third Battle of the Dardanelles in the Sixth Ottoman-Venetian War, the heaviest defeat the Ottomans had suffered since the Battle of Lepanto. Since 1645, Venice and the Ottoman Empire had been at war over the possession of the island of Crete. Ottoman forces had captured most of the island in the early years of the war, but were unable to seize its capital, the heavily fortified city of Candia (modern Iraklio). The Venetians had endeavoured to cut off the Ottoman army's supplies and reinforcements, and attempted several times to blockade the Straits of the Dardanelles, through which the Ottoman fleet had to sail to reach the Aegean from its base around Constantinople. In the morning of 26 June 1656 the wind was from the north, and the Ottomans made good progress, the Venetian galleys being unable to assist their sailing ships. Then the wind backed, trapping the Ottomans against the Asian side of the strait just below the Narrows, and a mêlée ensued. Kenan Pasha got back past the Narrows with 14 galleys but the rest were either captured, sunk or burned. - Numbered "17" in ink on first page. Small rust spot on first page, otherwise very well preserved. BGUC Misc. 3, 58. OCLC 1045393175.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
Arabian Days. An Autobiography. London, Robert Hale Ltd., 1948.
8vo. XVI, 336 pp. With a portrait of the author as a frontispiece and 24 double-sided plates. Blue cloth. First edition, second impression. The autobiography of the noted British Arabist, explorer, writer, officer and adviser to Ibn Saud, Harry St John Bridger Philby (1885-1960). In the preface Philby states that he mainly describes the essential and most notable features and events of his public life. He began writing this work in 1934, but the next decade was filled with activity and adventure, both in Britain and abroad, which kept him from writing and publishing the work until after the Second World War. During this time, he was asked by King Ibn Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia to map the border between his newly formed kingdom and the Yemen. This gave Philby the opportunity to explore Southern Arabia, where he also made archaeological discoveries. - Philby undertook his first journey to Arabia in 1917 in order to complete a mission to Ibn Sa'ud; once there he formed a lifelong acquaintanceship with the future king of Saudi Arabia. In 1930 Philby officially converted to Islam. - The present copy is the second impression of the first edition which were published mere months apart in the same year. Philby's descriptions of his many experiences in Britain, India and the Middle East are accompanied by numerous images of him, his family, King Ibn Sa'ud, government officials, and buildings and landscapes he encountered. - Binding shows very slight signs of wear, small inscription in blue ink to the verso of the first flyleaf, very slight browning throughout. Howgego IV, P 31. Macro 1776. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 394. Sotheby's, Burrell sale, lot 623.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
Arabian Jubilee. London, Robert Hale Ltd., 1952.
8vo. XIV, 280 pp. With a portrait of King 'Abdul-'Aziz Ibn Sa'ud as the frontispiece, 1 map of Arabia in 1950, and 16 double-sided plates. Black cloth. First edition of this biography of Saudi Arabian King HRH Abdul-Aziz bin Abdul Rahman al Sa'ud by his adviser Harry St John Bridger Philby. Ibn Sa'ud was the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, when after a conquest spanning 30 years he united most of the Arabian Peninsula under his rule. He reigned from 1932 until his death in 1953, but had previously (since 1902) ruled parts of what was to become Saudi Arabia as Emir, Sultan, King of Nejd, and King of Hejaz. The present work is not a complete and final biography: at the time of writing and publication the king was still alive, and Philby states in the preface that "it is rather a pageant of his [Ibn Sa'ud's] achievement, set forth in a series of tableaux illustrating characteristic phases of his career". The descriptions of these phases contain not only information relating to the king, but also inform the reader about the country as a whole and are enlivened by accounts and other small details of court life and Islamic customs, including a pilgrimage to Mecca. The work is illustrated with numerous images of the king and his family, and important landmarks in Saudi Arabia. - Binding shows slight signs of wear, spine is slightly discoloured, slight foxing to edges, very slight browning throughout, several newspaper clippings in a small paper pocket on the lower pastedown. Overall in good condition. Howgego IV, P 31. Cf. (other ed.) Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 395; Sotheby's, Burrell sale, lot 623.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
Halévy in the Yaman (The Geographical Journal Vol. 102, no. 3). [London, The Royal Geographical Society], September 1943.
8vo. 115-124 pp. Contemporary blue cloth with giltstamped title to upper cover: "Philby - Yaman". First edition. A brief investigation of Joseph Halévy's journey through the Jawf region of Yemen, comparing the account given by Hayyim Habshush, recently published, with Halévy's own. - St John Philby (1885-1960), also known by his Arabian name "Sheikh Abdullah", was an Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence officer. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he studied oriental languages and was a friend and classmate of Jawaharlal Nehru, later prime Minister of India. Philby settled in Jeddah and became famous as an international writer and explorer. He personally mapped on camelback what is now the Saudi-Yemeni border on the Rub' al Khali; in 1932, while searching for the lost city of Ubar, he was the first Westerner to visit and describe the Wabar craters. At this time, Philby also became Ibn Saud's chief adviser in dealing with the British Empire and Western powers. He converted to Islam in 1930. The personal contacts between the United States and Saudi Arabia were largely channeled through the person of Philby. - Very slight browning, a few minor stains to the first page. Macro 1782. Smith, The Yemens, 84.
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Philby, Harry St. John Bridger.
Sheba's Daughters, Being a Record of Travel in Southern Arabia [...] With an appendix on the rock inscriptions by A. F. L. Beeston. London, Methuen & Co., [1939].
4to. XIX pp., one blank page, 485, (1) pp. With photographic frontispiece, 46 photographic plates (1 of which double-page), 1 folding map of southern Arabia, and several photographic illustrations in the text. Publisher's full cloth with giltstamped title and ornament to spine. First edition. Travel account by the first European to cross the Rub' al-Khali (Empty Quarter) of Arabia from east to west, the Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence officer St. John Philby (1885-1960), also known by his Arabian name "Sheikh Abdullah". Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he studied oriental languages and was a friend and classmate of Jawaharlal Nehru, later prime Minister of India. Philby settled in Jeddah and became famous as an international writer and explorer. He personally mapped on camelback what is now the Saudi-Yemeni border on the Rub' al Khali; in 1932, while searching for the lost city of Ubar, he was the first Westerner to visit and describe the Wabar craters. At this time, Philby also became Ibn Saud's chief adviser in dealing with the British Empire and Western powers. He converted to Islam in 1930. The personal contacts between the United States and Saudi Arabia were largely channeled through the person of Philby. - From the collection of the Dutch traveller and collector Ruud Verkerk. With 2 inserted colour photographs mounted on the plates facing p. 314 and 318, showing Verkerk standing beside rock inscriptions on the old fort at 'Uqla - south face, as well as standing before the Rock fort of 'Uqla, both dated in pencil 18 December 1997. Light damage to head of spine. Paper occasionally foxed and a slightly creased. Overall a good copy. Macro 1801. OCLC 4836861.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
The Land of Sheba (The Geographical Journal Vol. 92, no. 1). [London, The Royal Geographical Society], July 1938.
8vo. 21, (1), 107-132 pp. With 1 large folding, coloured map, 1 smaller, uncoloured folding map, and numerous photographs on 7 plates. Later half cloth over marbled paper boards with giltstamped title to spine. First edition. Important account of travels in southern Arabia performed in 1936, particularly in the Hadhramaut, by the Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence officer St. John Philby (1885-1960), also known by his Arabian name "Sheikh Abdullah". It describes the longest of Philby's journeys, ostensibly to map the new frontier with Yemen, containing excellent photographs taken for the first time in that area by a European. Until the 1930s the highlands of the south-western corner of Arabia were among the world's few remaining lands not fully explored or charted. - Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Philby studied oriental languages and was a friend and classmate of Jawaharlal Nehru, later prime Minister of India. Philby settled in Jeddah and became famous as an international writer and explorer. He personally mapped on camelback what is now the Saudi-Yemeni border on the Rub' al Khali; in 1932, while searching for the lost city of Ubar, he was the first Westerner to visit and describe the Wabar craters. At this time, Philby also became Ibn Saud's chief adviser in dealing with the British Empire and Western powers. He converted to Islam in 1930. The personal contacts between the United States and Saudi Arabia were largely channeled through the person of Philby. - Clear tape on the first page, covering part of the title of the journal without affecting the page or legibility of the text; very slight foxing on the large coloured map (mainly on the back). In very good condition. Macro 1788.
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Philby, Harry St John Bridger.
The Queen of Sheba. London, Melbourne and New York, Quartet Books, 1981.
4to. 141 pp., final blank page. With 8 coloured plates and numerous photographs (some in colour) in the text. Contemporary full cloth with giltstamped spine-title and illustrated dust jacket. First edition. Lavishly illustrated posthumous edition of an unpublished manuscript "by the great Arabian traveller, scholar and writer, H. St John Philby [...] charting his explorations into the bewildering thickets of the story [of the Queen of Sheba]" (publisher's blurb). With an introduction by the British military officer, Arabist, explorer, historian and diplomat Gerald de Gaury (1897-1984). - Dutch newspaper clipping about the analysis of an Ethiopian DNA sample supposedly going back to the legendary Queen of Sheba is loosely inserted. - In mint condition. OCLC 640352386.
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[Red Sea - Hunter, Frederick Fraser].
Arabia and the Persian Gulf. N.W. Section, S.W. Section. [Map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf with additions and corrections to 1916]. Dehra Dun, Survey of India Offices, published under the direction of Colonel Sir S. G. Burrard, Surveyor General of India, 1916.
Large folding heliozincographed colour map, 2 (of 4) sheets, each measuring 940 x 700 mm (lacking the eastern sections). Both sections with original printed covers. Two sections of Hunter's large and extremely detailed map of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf, showing the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia with the 'Asir, Hejaz and Nejd regions, as well as most of Yemen, with Kuwait and Southern Iraq. The two eastern sections, which covered Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and part of eastern Saudi Arabia, are not present. - The Canadian-born Hunter later became a major figure in British India's Intelligence Service. He initially compiled the map between 1905 and 1908, to accompany J. G. Lorimer's "Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf". As the author recalls in his 1919 "Reminiscences", "a great deal of the information on the map was from sources considered secret at the time" (p. 357). Special surveys of the country's interior areas were carried out to achieve a hitherto unprecedented degree of accuracy: "The map was a distinct advance on anything which existed, as in 1908 no general map of Arabia on such a large scale existed" (p. 360). The "Hunter" map was used (and praised) by St John Philby during his journey across Arabia. - Such was the detail of Hunter's map that the Survey of India reissued it, with corrections, several times during the First World War and interwar period. As the maps were issued in parts and used on active service it is not unusual for sections to be missing. Many of the surviving copies show signs of official use; this issue bears a flight route, sketched out in red ink, along the southern Gulf coast to Baghdad. - Some light browning, several small tears to folds, otherwise very good. - Scarce. OCLC locates complete copies at the Library of Congress, University of Wisconsin, National Library of Israel and the BNF. Cf. Macro 1228.
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Société des factoreries francaises du Golfe Persique & de l'Afrique Orientale.
Action de Cinq Cents Francs au Porteur. No 296. Paris, Imprimérie centrale des chemins de fer / Imprimérie chaix, 2. II. 1883.
Folio (ca. 305 x 393 mm). 1 page. Share certificate for a bearer stock security of 500 francs with 24 coupons, signed by two administrators of the "Société des factoreries francaises du Golfe Persique". The company operated from the small port town of Obock, on the Gulf of Tadjoura opposite Aden. It was the site of the first French colony in the region, which was established in 1862, initiating the colonisation of Djibouti. The French were especially interested in having a coaling station for steamships, which proved valuable upon the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
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Stark, Freya.
Beyond Euphrates. Autobiography 1928-1933. London, John Murray, 1951.
8vo. XIII, (3), 341, (1 blank) pp. With a double-page map on green paper, 40 double-sided plates, a green ornament on the title-page and some decorations in the text. Green cloth with gold lettering on front cover and spine. With dust jacket designed by F. Quilter. First edition of the second part of Freya Stark's autobiography, detailing her first extensive travels through the Middle East. Stark (1893-1993) was one of the first European travellers in certain parts of the Middle East, for example Southern Arabia. Apart from a four-volume autobiography, she has 21 other works to her name. Her autobiography and other works are illustrated with images of her own photographs she took of family and of the landscape and peoples during her travels. Her writing style was unusual for her time, since she wrote multifaceted works in a highly personal style, not only about her own life and travels but also about the geography, history, politics, and anthropology of the places she visited. In the present work Stark describes her experiences during the years 1928-1933. - Dust jacket is very slightly damaged with a small tear at the foot of the spine, restored with tape, edges are untrimmed, very slight browning throughout. Overall in very good condition. Bergé, Vente Collection Lazard L'Orient et la Terre Sainte (2008), 404. Blackmer 1470. Howgego IV, S 61. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 457. Cf. Canton, From Cairo to Baghdad British travellers in Arabia, pp. 118-121; cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Stark, Freya.
Dust in the Lion's Paw. Autobiography 1939-1946. London, John Murray, 1961.
8vo. XII, 296, [2] pp. With a map of the Middle East, titled "Dust in the Lion's Paw" on p. 6, 8 double-sided plates, and an illustration of a lion (in red) on the title-page. Green cloth with gold lettering on front cover and spine. With dust jacket, designed by Frank Quilter, and protected by a clear plastic jacket. First edition of Freya Stark's (1893-1993) fourth and final volume of autobiography, detailing her work, travels and life during the years 1939-1946. During the Second World War she travelled through the Middle East in the service of the British Ministry of Information, spreading propaganda for the Allied cause. According to the short blurb on the inside of the dustjacket, "Freya Stark's new book is an autobiography with a theme - the art of Persuasion ...". She strictly promoted connections between the Allies and the peoples and governments of the Middle East, expressly speaking out against the Germans and also against Zionism. In Egypt she founded the "Brotherhood of Freedom", which she used to further her fight for freedom and secular democracy. - Untrimmed. With an ownership inscription on front pastedown in blue ink: "Marjorie Wood. December 1961". Overall in very good condition. Blackmer 1470. Howgego IV, S 61. Shapero, The Islamic World (2004), 459 (first ed. misdated "1962"). Cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Stark, Freya.
East is West. London, John Murray, 1945.
8vo. XXII, 218 pp. Red and black title-page with a small illustration of two people. With a frontispiece, a map of the Middle East on green paper, titled: "East is West by Freya Stark", and 32 double-sided plates. Blue/green cloth. With dust jacket. First edition, detailing the author's experiences in the Middle East during the Second World War. Stark (1893-1993) spent the duration of WWII travelling from Egypt to Iraq and from Syria to Southern Arabia. She had offered her services to the British Ministry of Information and was sent to the Middle East to persuade government officials, among others, to join, or keep on supporting, the Allied cause. - The book was written "with the freedom of the independent and adventurous traveller but also with the authority of an official of the Diplomatic Corps" (dust jacket blurb). Stark's writings are accompanied by many images of her own photographs, taken during her travels, showing the landscapes and peoples she encountered. - Dust jacket slightly soiled, binding shows some minor signs of wear, slight browning throughout. Overall in good condition. Howgego IV, S 61. Macro 2111. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 460. Smith, The Yemens, 95. Cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Stark, Freya.
Seen in the Hadhramaut. London, John Murray, 1938.
4to. XXIII, (1 blank), 199, (1 blank) pp. With the title-page in red and black, 1 map of the Hadhramaut titled: "Seen in the Hadhramaut", and 50 double sided plates. The plates are included in the pagination. Blue cloth with black lettering on front cover and spine. With dust jacket. First edition. A perspective on the Hadhramaut region in Southern Arabia and its people through the eyes and camera lens of traveller, writer, and photographer Freya Stark (1893-1993). Of Italian and British descent, Stark was born in Paris and grew up in several places throughout Europe. Her present account tells the story of Southern Arabia in 130 photographs with corresponding descriptions. - Dust jacket is slightly soiled and very slightly damaged (mostly around head and foot of spine), binding and edges with some slight discoloration and foxing, endleaves partially browned. Blackmer 1470. Howgego IV, S 61. Smith, The Yemens, 98. Sotheby's, Burrell sale, lot 889. Cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica; Macro 2118 (1939 ed.); Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 468.
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Stark, Freya.
The Coast of Incense. Autobiography 1933-1939. London, John Murray, 1953.
8vo. XIII, (3), 286, (2) pp. With 1 map of the Hadhramaut printed on green paper, 20 double-sided plates, 3 illustrations in the text on pp. 76, 77 and 85, a few small tail pieces throughout, and a green ornament on the title-page. Green cloth with gold lettering on spine. Third part of Freya Stark's (1893-1993) autobiography, in which she describes her life and especially the travels she undertook between 1933 and 1939. During this time, her first four works were published, starting with "The Valley of the Assassins" in 1934. The present account focuses mostly on Stark's travels in South Arabia and is illustrated with images of photographs she took herself. It is a very personal account of her life and travel experiences, alongside significant historical, political, geographical and anthropological information about the places she visited. This writing style was quite unique and unusual for her time, but since she was one of the first European travellers in parts of Southern Arabia, "unique and unusual" were, in a positive way, accurate descriptors. - Edge at the head of the book is green and the edge at the foot is untrimmed. Small marking in blue ink on p. 79, lacking dust jacket, otherwise in very good condition. Blackmer 1470. Howgego IV, S 61. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 458. Cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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Stark, Freya.
Traveller's Prelude. An Autobiography. London, John Murray, 1951.
8vo. XII, (2), 346 pp. With a double-page map on blue/green paper, 22 double-sided plates, a green ornament on the title-page, a small woodcut of Asolo on p. 336, and some small decorations in the text. Green cloth with gold lettering on front cover and spine. With a dust jacket designed by F. Quilter. First part of Freya Stark's autobiography, spanning the years until her early thirties (1893-1927), immediately before embarking on her travels. The author was one of the first non-Arabs to journey through the southern Arabian Desert, in the 1930s. - The present copy is a reprint of the first edition; it was published in 1951, merely months after its first appearance in September 1950. Even though Stark's uniquely personal writing style was considered unusual at the time, her books proved very popular. Stark was of Italian and British descent; she was born in Paris and grew up in several places throughout Europe. - Freya Stark's autobiography includes three additional works: Beyond Euphrates (1951), The Coast of incense (1953), and Dust in the Lion's Paw (1961). - Dust jacket is somewhat damaged and partially repaired with tape, edges are untrimmed, small repair to the inner front hinge with tape. Overall in very good condition. Howgego IV, S 61. Cf. article "Freya Stark" in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 470 (other ed.).
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[Tangier].
Curiosa, e verdadeira noticia da famosa acçao, e inclyta victoria, que o famigerado espanhol, tenente General D. Diogo Maria Ozorio, Governador de Praça de Ceuta, alcançou contra os mouros no porto de Tangere [...]. Lisbon, Ignacio Nogueira Xisto, 1764.
4to. 8 pp. With 2 woodcut vignettes. Sewn. First Portuguese edition. Exceedingly rare account of an attack on an Ottoman corn vessel by Spanish forces in the port of Tangier in Morocco. Essentially an encomium of Domingo Pignatelli and the 42 men who approached the Ottoman ship under heavy fire. Simultaneously published in Spanish in the Gaceta de Madrid. - Near-contemporary foliation in ink (77-80), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. Slightly browned. BGUC Misc. 24, 488. Palau 66444. Not in OCLC.
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Zwemer, Samuel.
Arabia: the Cradle of Islam. Studies in the geography, people and politics of the peninsula with an account of Islam and mission-work. Edinburgh & London, Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, [preface dated: Dec. 1900].
8vo. (6), 437, (1 blank) pp. With a cut-out picture of a Bedouin woman on the verso of the half-title-page, a picture of "a typical Arab of Yemen" as the frontispiece, 15 plates, a floor plan of a mosque, 2 maps and numerous small illustrations in the text. Yellow cloth. An account of the history, geography, religion, and political and social situation of the Middle East, and especially of the Arabian Peninsula, from a Christian missionary point of view. This information is presented alongside accounts of the author's experiences, and it is illustrated with images of local peoples, landscapes and examples of Arabic script and music. According to the preface, this second edition of Zwemer's first work, first published in 1899/1900, was published in order to correct some minor errors that had made their way into the first edition because of the physical distance between the author and the publishers. At the time of publication, Zwemer was doing missionary work in Arabia, while his work was being published in the U.S. The present copy was published in Edinburgh and London, but apparently (according to the verso of the title-page) printed by the Caxton Press in New York. - Reverend Samuel Marinus Zwemer (1867-1952), sometimes nicknamed "the Apostle to Islam", was an American missionary, traveller and scholar. He was a part of the Reformed Church of America, meaning that his beliefs and later missionary work were rooted in Calvinistic traditions, and he was ordained within that church in 1890. Together with James Cantine and John G. Lansing, Zwemer founded the Arabian Mission, which was active from 1889 until 1913. During that time, Zwemer was active in Iraq, Bahrein, and several locations in Arabia. He also worked in Egypt and travelled extensively throughout Asia Minor. From 1929 until his retirement at the age of 70 in 1937 he taught at the Princeton Theological Seminary, as a professor of missions and as a professor of the history of religion. - Binding rubbed, soiled and slightly damaged around the corners, edges foxed, water stain in the top margin of the first leaves (until p. 14), hinges weak. With an inscription in German on the first flyleaf dated 17 January 1904; cut-out picture of a Bedouin woman pasted on the verso of the half-title. List of works in the NYPL relating to Arabia and the Arabs (1911), p. 174. Cf. Macro 2371; Shapero, The Islamic World (2003), 511.
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[Arabian Peninsula - Near and Middle East].
Blizhnij i srednij vostok. Moscow, [Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR], 1972.
88 x 100 cm. Original colour-printed map. Scale 1:6,000,000. Rare political map of the Middle East from the Cold War era, centred on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region, but also comprising Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as Greece, Turkey and the Levant, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. With Cyrillic titles and captions. - Small marginal flaws.
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[Arabian Peninsula - Southwest Asia].
Jugo-zapadnaja Azija. Moscow, [Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR], 1972.
82 x 96 cm. Original colour-printed map. Scale 1:5,000,000. Rare political map of Southwest Asia from the Cold War era, centred on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region but including Turkey and the Levant, Iraq and Iran. With Cyrillic titles and captions. - Small marginal flaws.
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Boustead, Hugh.
The Wind of Morning. The Autobiography of Colonel Sir Hugh Boustead. London, Chatto & Windus, 1974.
Large 8vo. 240 pp. With 8 double-sided plates with multiple images and 4 maps. Orange cloth with title information in gold on spine. With dust jacket, designed by John Woodcock, with a photo of a caravan of people on camels on front cover and one of H. Boustead on a horse on the back, title information in purple on front cover and on spine of dust jacket. The autobiography of Colonel Sir (John Edmond) Hugh Boustead (1895-1980), Britain's political agent in Abu Dhabi during the early 1960s. - A British military officer and diplomat, Boustead served in numerous posts across several Middle Eastern Countries, including Ethiopia, Sudan, Aden, and the Hadhramaut in Southern Arabia. For his remarkable military career, he received a knighthood, multiple military crosses and other honours. Boustead started as a midshipman with the Royal Navy before switching to the British Army to fight in France during the First World War and later in Turkey, the Mediterranean, and even in Sudan with the Camel Corps. His work in the Middle East was geared towards generally improving the living conditions of the local people, by helping to establish peace between tribes, improving agriculture, building schools and hospitals, and training Sudanese and Arab administrators. Boustead also took part in the 1920 Olympics and went mountaineering in the Alps and even the Himalayas. He ended his career as the political agent (ambassador) to Abu Dhabi from 1962 until his retirement in 1965. The present work was written during the first few years of his retirement and was first published in 1971, the year in which the United Arab Emirates achieved independence. The present copy is one of the third impression. - Slight foxing throughout (including on the dust jacket, not on the outside of the covers), a few brownstains on pp. 56-57 and 59, mostly in the margins and not affecting the legibility of the text. Overall in fine condition. OCLC 255358654.
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Hasani, [Abd al-Razzaq].
Al-Yazidiyun fi hadirihim wa-madihim (The Yezidis in Their Present and Past). Sayda (Sidon), Al-Matba'ah al-'Asriyah lil-Tiba'ah, (cover title dated 1968, but) 1967.
8vo. 196 pp. Arabic text. With a photographic plate (portrait of Hasani) and 14 illustrations in the text (12 of which are black and white half-tone photographs). Original printed wrappers. Fifth edition. An important study of the Yezidis, which went through over ten editions. Hasani makes use of Western studies, including those of Giuseppe Furlani and Isya Joseph, and Arab sources. - Spine darkened, extremities slightly worn, otherwise good. Rare. JISC locates just one copy, at SOAS.
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Lamm, Carl Johan / Charleston, R. J.
Some Early Egyptian Draw-Loom Weavings [...] Extrait du Bulletin de la Société d'Archéologie copte, tome V [...]. Cairo, Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1939.
4to. 193-199, (1) pp. With 7 photographic plates. Original printed wrappers bound within modern full cloth with giltstamped black spine-label. Marbled endpapers. Treatise on ancient Egyptian draw-loom weaving, picturing several textile specimens kept in London, Stockholm and Copenhagen. The personal copy of the author Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. - Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - Offprint from the archaeological journal "Bulletin de la Société d'Archéologie copte". Very well preserved. OCLC 474423945.
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[Limes arabicus].
Fragment of a Roman military diploma for a member of the ala praetoria singularium. [Roman Syria, 7 Nov. 88 CE].
Ca. 72 x 83 mm. Engraved bronze. Rare and exceptionally well-preserved document of the Roman presence on the Arabian Peninsula. This diploma was issued for a member of the ala praetoria singularium, an auxiliary cavalry unit stationed in Syria, under the command of Aulus Furius Saturninus during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96). It can be dated with a high degree of certainty, as Aulus Furius Saturninus is only traceable to military diplomas issued as part of an imperial military constitution for 5 alae and 2 cohorts in Syria from 8 November 88. - The ala praetoria singularium was one of 14 alae and 33 cohorts stationed in the province of Syria between 88 and 157. These troops built and defended the almost 1500 kilometre Limes Arabicus, a system of streets, watchtowers, and forts that had its origin in the Roman conquest of Syria in 64 BCE and reached its greatest extent in the second century. Palmyra and Damascus were among the fortified cities along the Limes Arabicus. - From the German collection of Peter Weiß, acquired before 1980. Published: P. Holder, Roman Military Diplomas V (London: University of London, Institute of Classical Studies, 2006). P. Weiß, Neue Militärdiplome, in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 117 (1997), pp. 227-268.
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[Mesopotamia & Syria]. Kiepert, Richard.
Syrien und Mesopotamien zur Darstellung der Reise des Dr. Max Freiherrn von Oppenheim vom Mittelmeere zum Persischen Golf, 1893. II. Öestliches Blatt. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen), 1915.
Colour-printed map. Ca. 92 x 70 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:850,000. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. German map of Mesopotamia printed during the early years of the First World War, showing the travel route of Max Oppenheim during his 1893-94 journey from Cairo through the Syrian desert and Mesopotamia to Basra. Eastern sheet, reaching from Diyarbakir in south-eastern Anatolia to Kerbala and Babylon in Iraq. Includes populated places, roads, and trails, with the railways updated to 1915. - Folded; a few edge tears. Formerly in the collections of the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin with their stamps and shelfmarks. Well preserved. OCLC 179717182.
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Pretyman, Herbert Edward.
Journal of Herbert Edward Pretyman. Written During his Expedition to the Kittar Mountains, Between Kenneh (on the Nile) and the Red Sea, 1891. [London], printed for Private Circulation Only, 1892.
4to. VI, 50 pp. With a portrait frontispiece of the author, from a photograph, 34 other photographic illustrations on plates, and a double-page sketch map of the Kittar Mountains. Publisher's purple cloth, blocked in black and gilt with ibex and palm tree. All edges gilt. First edition. Extremely rare example of this journal which covers Pretyman's 1891 hunting expedition to the Kittar mountains, the Eastern Desert of Egypt between Qena on the Nile and Quseer on the Red Sea, using the only known map of the area produced by Floyer four years earlier. H. E. Pretyman, a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards, travelled back from Ismalia to London in 1891 but died the same year, whilst Camp Adjutant at Bisley, and it is believed he had not fully recovered from a severe attack of typhoid and jaundice in 1889. His father, the Rev. Frederic Pretyman, arranged to have the journal published as a memorial volume. - Extremeties insignificantly rubbed, light brownstaining or foxing to a few places in the first and last few leaves. An excellent copy. Meckly, Alpine Journal. Bibliography of Privately Printed Mountaineering Books 204. Lloyd, Cat. of the Graham Brown and Lloyd Collections in the NLS, 813. Not in Czech, Asian Big Game Hunting Books.
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[Roobacker, Cornelis Cornelisz.] A. Hotz (ed.).
Cornelis Cornelisz Roobacker's scheepsjournaal Gamron-Basra (1645); de eerste reis der Nederlanders door de Perzische Golf. Uitgegeven, met inleiding en noten, door A. Hotz. In: Beekman, A.A. etc. (eds.), Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap gevestigd te Amsterdam. Tweede serie Deel XXIV. No. 3 (15 Mei). Leiden, Brill, 1907.
8vo. 289-405 [= 117] pp. One folding table and 3 folding maps (1 belonging to another article in the journal). Brown paper wrappers, with title information of the journal on the front and spine, and the contents on the back wrapper. This issue of the journal of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society contains the first and only publication of the original text of the primary logbook documenting the first Dutch expedition to the Arabian Gulf in 1645. This logbook was kept by the leader of the expedition, Captain Cornelis Cornelisz Roobacker, and it is one of three logbooks to have survived the journey. They are kept at the National Archives of the Netherlands as part of the collection of the VOC official Wollebrand Geleynssen de Jongh (1594-1647). - Roobacker's logbook was the only one of the three to have been selected for publication; it was edited by Albert Paulus Hermanus Hotz (1855-1930), a Dutch businessman in Iran and consul in Beirut. Hotz also wrote other articles on Dutch activities in the Gulf region and formed a large collection of Arabic manuscripts, early photographs and books on the Middle East. - "In the year 1645, two small Dutch ships, the Delfshaven and the Schelvis, set out from Bandar Abbas [on the coast of Iran] on their first trading mission to Basra [Iraq]. Only small ships could be used to reach Basra. [...] As was the custom for shipping to Basra, the Dutch ships took a local pilot on board on Kharg island. The pilot took the ships directly to the Shatt al Arab, but there trouble began. The Shatt al Arab was very shallow at that time [...]" (Slot, Kuwait). In his logbook, Roobacker gives a detailed description of the expedition, including the various problems and navigational errors they faced due to the size of the two Dutch ships and - according to Roobacker - the inaccuracy of the English nautical charts that were used on board the ships. He ended up drawing his own charts of the region, which survived among the papers of VOC official Artus Gijsels (1577-1647) and are now kept at the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe. The illustration of a chart Hotz added to his publication of Roobacker is one of a different Dutch nautical chart that was made during the second half of the 17th century, since Hotz did not know about the original in Karlsruhe. Regardless of what chart Hotz used, it is a useful addition to illustrate the locations in the Arabian Gulf region, mentioned in the text of Roobacker's logbook of the expedition. - Very slight foxing throughout, 2 of the 3 maps at the end of the work are loose, overall in very good condition. Slot, The Arabs of the Gulf, p. 11. Slot, The Origins of Kuwait, pp. 18-19.
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Rouire, Alphonse Marie Ferdinand.
La rivalité anglo-russe au XIXe siècle en Asie. Golfe persique, frontières de l'Inde. Paris, Armand Colin, 1908.
8vo. VIII, 298 pp., final blank leaf. Printed original wrappers. First edition. Inscribed and signed by the author to Madame Maratuech, from 1919 to 1925 the director of the girls' boarding school at Saint-Denis operated by the French League of Honour: "A madame Maratuech, Directrice des Etudes de la Maison d'éducation de La Légion d'Honneur de St. Denis. Hommage respectueux de l'auteur [...]". - Interesting assessment of the impact of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, which regulated the spheres of influence over Afghanistan and Persia, with Britain controlling the entrance to the Gulf. It examines the growing influence of the British Empire in the Gulf region, particularly Bahrain, Kuwait and in Southern Arabia, before dealing with the geopolitics of Afghanistan, Tibet, and Persia, which was half under Russian and half under British influence. The work concludes with an analysis of the impact of the pact on both Muscat and Kuwait. Never translated into English; a Russian translation appeared in 1924. - Without the separately published lithographed map. Binding loosened; old adhesive tape in the gutter between front cover and flyleaf as well as to pp. 192f.; occasional small marginal flaws. OCLC 851237785.
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Saladin, Henri.
Le Yali des Keupruli a Anatoli-Hissar. Côte Asiatique du Bosphore. Paris, Société des amis de Stamboul, 1915.
Folio (375 x 485 mm). (2), 15, (3) pp. With 13 numbered lithographed plates, of which 9 are in original hand colour and 4 folded. Loosely inserted in original folder with printed decoration. One of 150 copies. Fine architectural study of Yali Körprülü, the oldest surviving seaside mansion (yali) on the Bosporus strait in Istanbul. Particularly remarkable for its detailed depictions of the rich ornaments and decor of the walls and ceilings in the residence. - The Körprülü seaside mansion is the oldest extant private residence in Istanbul. It was built in 1699 for Amcazade Hüseyin Pasa (1644-1702), a member of the Köprülü dynasty of grand-viziers in the second half of the 17th century, who was grand-vizier under Mustafa II from 1697 until his death. The residential complex he built on the Anatolian coast of the Bosporus at Anadoluhisari consisted of three mansions surrounded by gardens and orchards that extended landward. Only the assembly room (divanhane) of the men's quarters (selamlik) has survived, and today is in urgent need of repair after partial restorations performed in 1956 and 1977. - Text by the architects Henri Saladin and René Mesguich; the drawings were created under the direction of the architect M. Y. Terzian by two of his students and subsequently coloured by Saladin. With a foreword by the French naval officer and novelist Pierre Loti, who laments the decay of the Bosporus mansions and proclaims that the Körprülü yali should be "saved at all costs". - Boards slightly scratched. Paper lightly toned; occasional small marginal flaws. A good copy of this prominent work on a splendid, now largely lost example of Ottoman architecture. OCLC 10499257.
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[Saudi Arabia].
Photograph of Abdulaziz, King of Nejd and Hejaz (later King of Saudi Arabia), at the Khabari Wadha meeting in January 1930. [Khabari Wadha, 22 January 1930].
Original silver-gelatin photograph (90 x 143 mm). Ms. pencil caption to verso "AVM Brook-Popham and Ibn Saud". A historically significant photograph of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1875-1953) at the Khabari Wadha meeting, where he discussed the surrender of rebel Ikhwan leaders with British officials. All original photographs of Abdulaziz are rare, especially those of him before the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. - The Khabari Wadha meeting signalled the end of the Ikhwan revolt, a rebellion against the authority of the Al Saud which started in 1927. It was held approximately 150 miles south of Kuwait, where Faisal al-Duwaish and other Ikhwan leaders had sought refuge after suffering a string of military defeats. Over several days, Abdulaziz and British officials (responsible for political affairs in Kuwait and the Gulf) debated what to do with the rebels, finally settling on handing them over to Abdulaziz "on the condition that their lives should be spared and that the property which they looted from the people of Kuwait and Iraq should be returned" (Wahba, Arabian Days, p. 143). Abdulaziz was greatly relieved at the result, as it fatally weakened the Ikhwan and removed the main obstacle to unifying his Kingdom. Sheikh Hafiz Wahba recalls him saying "From today we live a new life" (ibid., p. 145). - The photograph shows Abdulaziz seated centrally at the front, with Sir Hugh Biscoe (British Resident, Persian Gulf) to his right and Charles Burnett (Air Vice-Marshal, RAF) to his left. Stood behind him, among other officials, are the important figures of H. R. P. Dickson (British Consul, Kuwait) and Sheikh Hafiz Wahba (diplomat and advisor to Abdulaziz). The caption on the verso suggests Robert Brooke-Popham is also present, but we cannot locate him. - For fuller descriptions of the Khabari Wadha meeting see Dickson's "Kuwait and her Neighbours" (London, 1956, pp. 318 ff.) and Hafiz Wahba's "Arabian Days" (London, 1964). The latter book also includes the present photograph (plate facing p. 113), described as "A meeting in the desert between the late King Ibn Saud and the British political agents in the Persian Gulf with the author standing behind the King (January 1930)". - A good strong image, with only a little fading toward the edges of the photograph. Reproduced in: V. Dickson, 40 Years in Kuwait, plate 5 (opposite p. 96).
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Schley, J[akob] van der.
Carte de la Coste d'Arabie, Mer Rouge, et Golfe du Perse. Tirée de la Carte de l'Ocean Oriental publiée en 1740. Par ordre de M. le Comte de Maurepas. Amsterdam, Schley, [ca. 1745].
Hand-coloured engraved map (260 x 243 mm). Scale ca. 1:13,000,000. The Dutch edition of Jacques-Nicolas Bellin’s map, from Prévost's "Histoire générale des voyages (Paris, 1746). "This map is perhaps the original of the maps appearing in Prévost" (Tibbetts). Map of Arabia and the Red Sea emphasizes the coastlines and the interior is primarily left blank. The shoals and navigational hazards in the Red Sea and the pearl banks off the coast of Bahrain are also noted. Decorated with a title cartouche. - Well preserved. Tibbetts 267. Al Ankary 173. Not in Al-Qasimi. Cf. OCLC 164354184.
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[Syria - Aleppo].
Kartenbild von Aleppo und seiner näheren Umgebung. [Probably Syria], Vermessungs-Abtlg. 27 der Heeresgruppe F, June 1918.
Lithographed map, ca. 55 x 71 cm. Scale 1:25,000. German military map of Aleppo, printed in the field by German troops during the last months of the First World War. Shows railway lines, roads, caravan trails, pastures and arable land, irrigated gardens, Muslim and Christian cemeteries, etc. The cartography, performed during April and May 1918, is credited to a Lieutenant Erdmann. A note (in German) instructs the user that "the city topography is based on the 'Plan général de la Ville d'Halep'; the environs were mapped by the compass-time-route method. The contour lines, about 8 by 8 metres, are intended merely to convey a rough notion of the terrain. The names are written so as to sound most pleasing to those not versed in the language". - Folded. Formerly in the collections of the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin with 1940s stamp and shelfmark. Well preserved. OCLC 179713973.
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[Syria - Homs].
Homs N.-O. Amplification de la Carte de l'État-Major Ottoman au 200.000e. Paris, Service géographique de l'armée, 1924.
Colour-printed map. Ca. 52 x 66 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:100,000. Relief shown by form lines. French military map of the portion of Syria east of Homs to Talkalakh, based on mapping received by May 1924. - Pencil shelfmarks of the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin. Two holes punched in lower margin. Well preserved.
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