‎Middle east‎

‎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.‎

‎[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.‎

‎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.‎

‎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.‎

‎[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).‎

‎[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.‎

‎[Turkey].‎

‎Asie ouest 1:2.000.000e Flle. 1. Beirut, Bureau Topographique des Troupes du Levant, 1939.‎

‎Colour-printed map. Ca. 84 x 63 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale: 1:2,000,000. Relief shown as gradient tints and spot heights. - With: Lembke, Herbert. Jährliche Niederschlagsmenge im westlichen Vorderasien. Gotha, Justus Perthes, 1940 (Petermanns Georg. Mitteilungen, 86. Jg., Tafel 26). Colour-printed map, scale 1:3,700,000. Ca. 66 x 42 cm. French-produced map of the western portion of Turkey, showing the eastern tip of Bulgaria, the Aegean, Crete, Cyprus, the northern coast of Africa, and Asia Minor to Ankara. Issued by the French military just prior to the Second World War. - Folded, some tears to margins. Formerly in the collections of the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin, accessioned during wartime as part of the German military' spoils, with requisite stamp and shelfmarks. - Includes a German wartime map of Turkey, also removed from the University of Berlin, showing the average annual rainfall. OCLC 497879161, 495083198.‎

‎Varthema, Ludovico di / Jones, John Winter (transl.) / Penzer, Norman Mosley (ed.)].‎

‎The itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna from 1502 to 1508 as translated from the original Italian edition of 1510, by John Winter Jones, F.S.A. in 1863 for the Hakluyt Society with a discourse on Varthema and his travels in Southern Asia by Sir Richard Carnac Temple [...]. London, The Argonaut Press, 1928.‎

‎4to. LXXXV, (1 blank), 121, (3) pp. With 5 maps, the facsimile text of the title-page and colophon of Varthema's original 1510 book, 1 plate, and a small blue illustration (similar to the blind-tooled image on the front board) on the title-page. Text set in Monotype Baskerville. Half white and half blue cloth with gold lettering on spine and a blind-tooled image (probably of Varthema) on the front board. Ludovico di Varthema (ca. 1468-1517) was one of the first Europeans to visit the cities of Mecca and Medina and to travel as far east as India and the East Indies. He probably came from Bologna or possibly from Rome and might have been a soldier in the Papal forces, but not much is known about his early life. Due to Varthema's writing and later publishing his travel account, much more is known about his later years: in 1802 he sailed from Venice via Cairo in Egypt to Damascus in Syria, where he embarked upon his first remarkable journey. He joined a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, being one of the first Europeans to enter these holy cities, and then continued south through the Arabian Peninsula to Yemen. From Aden in Yemen he sailed to several cities on the coast of Somalia before sailing along the coast of Oman to Ormuz and subsequently travelling inland across Persia to India. Varthema supposedly travelled across large parts of the East Indies, but since his descriptions of this part of his journey lose some of its accuracy, scholars doubt whether he made the journey himself. Nonetheless, the itinerary shows that the journey that far to the East was not impossible or unheard of at the beginning of the 16th century. - Varthema's Itinerary was first published in Rome in 1510, and numerous editions have been published since. Almost immediately after its first publication the work was translated into Latin (1511), and numerous translations into other languages followed. In 1863 the Hakluyt Society published the principal English translation of the original Italian work, by John Winter Jones. In the present edition, prepared by Norman Mosley Penzer, an extensive analysis of Varthema and his travels by Richard Carnac Temple has been added to Jones's translation. Temple (1850-1931) was an Indian-born British administrator and an anthropological writer. He was a member of several learned societies and institutes, including the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the Hakluyt Society. Penzer (1892-1960) was a British scholar specialising in Oriental studies and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. - Binding slightly soiled, edges foxed and untrimmed. With a pink reading ribbon and a small blue label on the back pastedown: "Vancouver Bookshop 909 Robson Street Vancouver, B.C.". Printed on Japon vellum, one of 975 copies but unnumbered. Howgego I, V15. cf. Blackmer 338; Gay, Afrique et Arabie, 140; Macro 2239.‎

‎Wavell, Arthur John Byng.‎

‎A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca and a Siege in Sanaa. London, Constable & Co., 1913.‎

‎8vo. IX, (1 blank), 349, (1) pp. With a photo of the author as a frontispiece, 6 plates and 1 folding map of the Arabian Peninsula. Blue cloth with gold lettering on front cover and spine, and blind-tooling on front cover. An account of the travels of an Englishman through Arabia, including an eye-witness account of the 1911 siege of Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. This siege was one of the last big events in the Yemeni-Ottoman conflicts, which started with the first Ottoman attempt to conquer Yemen in 1538. In 1911 a treaty was signed, with which Yemen became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire until the country could take advantage of the Empire's collapse during and after WWI to reclaim its independence. - Wavell did not intend to include a description of his journey to the holy city of Mecca, but apart from his accounts of Yemen he admits in the preface that the present work breaks no new ground. The places he visited had already been described, possibly more extensively, by other explorers and travellers, but a journey to Mecca and Medina was still quite out of the ordinary for Europeans, and thus a description of his experiences was added to the work. It was first published in 1912 and the present copy was a part of the second impression of that edition, which appeared in 1913. An edited, smaller and thus cheaper second edition appeared posthumously in 1918. The chapters on Wavell's travels in Yemen had been removed and an introduction by Major Leonard Darwin, son of the naturalist Charles Darwin, had been added. - Arthur John Byng Wavell (1882-1916) was an English army officer and traveller who was educated and trained at the Royal Military college Sandhurst. He was a cousin of the decorated field marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, who served in the Second Boer War, in other parts of Africa, and in India where he also served as the Viceroy. The author of the present work resigned his army commission in 1906 and went to Mombasa in British East Africa - modern Kenya - where he learnt Arabic and Swahili and where his desire to explore Arabia and even visit Mecca grew. After his travels in Arabia, described in "A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca", he returned to Africa. During the First World War he remained in Africa, where he founded a coastal defence force called the "Arab Rifles", active around Mombasa. Later he was sent to serve near the border of Kenya with Tanzania (then British East Africa and German East Africa), where he was killed in 1916 as a result of a German ambush. - Binding slightly rubbed, very slight foxing on the edges, some foxing on the first and last flyleaves. Small tear in the in the inner margin of the map, without affecting the map itself. Sharp folding lines in the plate of The Haram in Mecca (between pp. 152-152). With an ownership inscription: "R. S. Breene, 1 June, 1928" over the remnants of an erased inscription on the first flyleaf. Howgego IV, W13. Smith, The Yemens, 103. Cf. Macro 2266. Canton, From Cairo to Baghdad: British Travellers in Arabia, pp. 161-165. Sotheby's, The library of Robert Michael Burrell, 858 (other ed.).‎

‎[Dominicus de St. Thomae (Dominique Ottoman)]. Puch, Louis de.‎

‎À son Altesse le sérénissime Père Dominique Othoman, fils aisné du Sultan Ibraim, empereur d'Orient. Grenoble, André Galle, 1667 (others undated).‎

‎4to. 8, (2) pp. With additional panegyrical matter: 2 ff., 2 single sheets. All with woodcut initials and headpieces. A set of French (and Latin) eulogies addressed to "Dominique Ottoman", or Osman, the son of Sultan Ibrahim I, who was captured with his mother by the Maltese fleet in 1644 and educated by the Knights of Malta to become a Dominican friar. As an adolescent he was baptized and adopted the name Dominique de Saint-Thomas on 23 February 1656. He studied in Naples and Rome and went to Paris in 1664, where he spent two years. In 1667 he travelled to Candia on Crete, a Venetian-ruled city besieged by Ottoman forces since 1648, on an unsuccessful mission to convince the latter to make peace. Appointed vicar general on Malta around 1669, he returned to the island, where he spent his final years. - Louis de Puch's formal address of 8 pages is followed by a 12-line madrigal on a separate leaf. This same madrigal is present as a broadside on another single sheet, as well as on the first of two conjoined additional leaves, the second of which contains a Latin elogy in praise of St. Dominicus (signed P[uch] L[odovicus]). Finally, a large quarto leaf (showing traces of folds) contains an unsigned French sonnet "Au serenissime prince Dominique Ottoman fils aisné du Sultan Ibrahim, religieux de l'Ordre de S. Dominique". - Occasional slight foxing and creasing. A rare ensemble. OCLC records Puch's encomium only at the French National Library, the University of Tübingen, and the University of Pennsylvania. OCLC 458209721.‎

‎[Saudi Arabia - Riyadh].‎

‎Riyadh. World (Asia). Sheet NG38, Series 1301. [London], Army Map Service, Corps of Engineers, 1951.‎

‎630 x 800 mm. Scale 1:1,000,000. Detailed map of the central quadrangle of the Arabian Peninsula, including Riyadh and its environs. Edition 3-GSGS, based on a 1945 Second Edition. - A few small dents, some pencilled numbers to lower right angle, otherwise very good. Provenance: Army Map Services stamp; stamp of Arizona State University and a red "Withdrawn" Stamp to the verso.‎

‎Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1842-1918, ruled 1876-1909).‎

‎Berat certificate for Salahaddin Bey. Istanbul, [28 June 1899 =] 18 Safer 1317.‎

‎Black ink on paper, ca. 38 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. An award of the Order of Osmaniye (fourth class) to Salahaddin Bey, recording clerk on the executive board of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), for diligence in the discharge of his duties. - Berat certificates are official documents presented as appointments for office, exemption certificates from a tax or duty, or accompanying the award of a medal or other honour. This example is meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity, with a brief summary of the document. - Folded with extensive tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.‎

‎Lamm, Carl Johan.‎

‎Egyptiska dukagångsvävnader. Särtryck av Kulturen. [Lund], 1936.‎

‎8vo. 258-274 pp. With several black-and-white photographic illustrations. Original plain wrappers with title-label, bound within contemporary full cloth with giltstamped calf label to spine. Swedish paper about the collection of ancient Egyptian textiles woven in the "dukagång" technique, kept at the "Kulturen" museum in Lund. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. With detailed descriptions of the cloth fragments as well as a bibliography on the subject. - 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. - In near-mint condition. OCLC 36400924.‎

‎Lamm, Carl Johan.‎

‎The Marby Rug and Some Fragments of Carpets Found in Egypt. Särtryck ur Orientsällskapets årsbok 1937. [Stockholm, 1937].‎

‎4to. (2), 51-130 pp. With several black-and-white photographic and schematic illustrations. Original printed wrappers bound within contemporary full cloth with giltstamped spine-title, signed by R. Numans. Scarce essay on medieval carpet weaving in Egypt, particularly on the so-called Marby Rug, the oldest preserved oriental carpet in Sweden discovered in 1925 in the abandoned church of Marby in the province of Jämtland. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. In an attempt "to fix the place of the Marby rug in the early evolution of Oriental carpet knotting", the essay discusses 29 fragments of carpets obtained from antiquity dealers in Cairo, including Abbasid rugs, carpets of the "Konya" type, chiefly Seljuq, and Anatolian carpets of the 14th and early 15th centuries, as well as Anatolian or Caucasian carpets of "nomad" type, Mamluk carpets, and Anatolian "Holbein" carpets of the 15th century. - 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 Swedish Oriental Society's yearbook. In near-mint condition. OCLC 472515825.‎

‎Mehmed V Resad, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1844-1918, ruled 1909-1918).‎

‎Berat certificate for Salahaddin Bey. Istanbul, [9 June 1916 =] 7 Saban 1334.‎

‎Black ink on paper, ca. 34 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. Certificate showing that Salahaddin Bey, auditor of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), was awarded the Navy Aid Medal (in nickel) for his donation of 2024 Kurus to the Ottoman Naval Society. - As the Ottoman Empire dominated important waterways during the First World War, the government sought to strengthen its navy's defensive capabilities while fighting on many fronts on land. For this purpose, The Ottoman Naval Society was established. To finance the building of new ships, a campaign was initiated which was joined by many notables, including Sultan Mehmed Resad himself and state officials. The Navy Aid Medal was awarded to supporters who pledged a certain donation to the project, and the recipients' names were published in the press. - Meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity. Folded with tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.‎

‎[Royal Air Force - Middle East].‎

‎Report on flight from Baghdad to Egypt. RAF 31st Wing Headquarters, Baghdad, 22. III. 1919.‎

‎Folio (210 x 340 mm). 4 pp. Typescript. Lively report of an eventful flight taken by Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), Civil Commissioner of Mesopotamia, aboard one of two RAF aircraft leaving Baghdad on 25 February 1919 bound for Cairo. Bad weather conditions and repeated engine trouble resulted in several emergency landings and delayed the journey, which Wilson eventually had to complete by train. - The first day of the trip involved heavy wind and a failing petrol pump causing the pilots Boyd, Nuttall and Lapraik to land and fix the pump near Tadmur before carrying on to Damascus, where they remained for three days of heavy rain. Upon continuing the journey on 28 February, one of the engines failed and the planes were forced to land in "difficult country". As repair seemed hopeless, Boyd decided to fly Wilson on to Ramleh and then return for Nuttall and Lapraik: "The taking off proved a difficult undertaking as the machine was firmly bogged, and the engine fall out would not move it. The Arabs however rendered enthusiastic assistance. About 200 of them surrounded the machine, and in spite of the fact that most of them pulled in different directions [...] after an hour's work and much shouting, succeeded in moving it to a comparatively firm piece of ground, from which it was possible to take off [...]". - When the aircraft got hopelessely bogged again near Tulkarm, Wilson continued his journey by train. In the meantime, Nuttall and Lapraik, who "were hospitably entertained by the Arabs", succeeded in a makeshift repair of the first plane's engine and picked up Boyd. The return flight to Baghdad with two substitute aircraft proved much smoother, involving only minor repairs and no emergency landings off the runway. The 500 mile distance between Damascus and Baghdad was completed in a non-stop flight of 4 hours 10 minutes "which probably constitutes a World's Record". - Slightly dampstained near right margins; a little foxed and creased. Traces of a rusty paper pin. A rare survival.‎

‎Taylor, Robert, British military officer (1788-1852).‎

‎Autograph letter signed. Baghdad, 9. VII. 1838.‎

‎8vo. 8 pp. on 2 bifolia. To W. Cabell, regarding the potential independence of Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the British occupation of Kharg Island. - A fascinating letter, composed at a time of great tumult in the Near and Middle East. It relays news of important events and evidences the willingness of the British to use force to implement their policy in the region. Lieut. Col. Robert Taylor went to India as a cadet in 1803 and did not return to England for over forty years, serving as Political Resident at Basra (1819-21) and Baghdad (1821-43). His library was purchased by the British Library in 1860 and forms the bedrock of its Arabic-language collection. - Writing from Baghdad, Taylor addresses W. Cabell of the India Board Office in London. He first informs Cabell of two loads of missing post; one outgoing tranche "lost by dromedaries running away with the bags and throwing their riders", and the mail from India "robbed by a party of Wahabis". He then notes Ottoman alarm at "the threatened independence of Mohamed Ali", and comments at length on relations with Persia, which were extremely tense due to the ongoing siege of Herat by Qajar and Russian forces: "Our envoy [John McNeill] ... was not listened to; while the Russian [Count Simonich] & his staff conducted their approaches to the fortress which was expected to fall." In response, the British occupied Kharg Island with a "small force ... not exceeding 500 men", thereby threatening military intervention. Reporting that it had "instilled a wholesome fear into the Persians", Taylor advocates the use of gunboat diplomacy elsewhere "to produce similar effects". - Official correspondence relating to Persia and the Gulf region is rarely found outside of institutional archives such as the India Office Records. This example is interesting on a number of levels, not least for showing how Britain's aggression in the first decades of "The Great Game" manifested in the Gulf. - A few later pencil annotations in a different hand; pages a little dusty.‎

‎Preziosi, Amadeo.‎

‎Stamboul. Souvenir d'Orient. Paris, Imp. Lemercier, 1861.‎

‎Oblong folio (498 x 370 mm). Lithographed title-page, 29 chromolithographed plates, protected by tissue guards. Original green cloth with blind-ruled and ornamental borders to both covers and gilt Tughra of Sultan Abdulmejid I to the upper cover. First edition, second issue. - Complete suite comprising 29 chromolithographs with captions in French and English, depicting life scenes and views of Istanbul: a druggist's shop, Turkish ladies walking, a guard house, carriage, silk bazar, sweetmeat shop, water carrier, the Bosporus, a coffee house, whirling dervishes, etc. The Maltese painter Preziosi (1816-82) is known for his watercolours and prints of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and Romania. In 1842 he moved to Constantinople, where he remained until his death. - Some foxing, more extensive on title-page. Covers slightly rubbed, but generally in fine condition. - Provenance: The title-page bears a handwritten inscription in French from Catinca Nico de Catargi, a member of the notable Wallachian family Catargiu, to "la Comtesse Han" (i.e., the German writer Ida Countess von Hahn-Hahn, 1805-80), dated 16 April 1865. Atabey 999. OCLC 70296476. Cf. Blackmer 1353 (1865 ed.); Colas 2422 (1858 ed.).‎

‎Fessler, [Ignaz Aurelius].‎

‎Institutiones linguarum orientalium, hebraeae, chaldaicae, syriacae et arabicae. Breslau, Wilhelm Theophil Korn, 1787-1789.‎

‎8vo. 2 parts in one vol. VIII, (3)-159, (1); (2), 118, (2) pp. With 20 (10 folding) numbered plates. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine and spine-label. First edition of this important early grammar of Semitic languages. Contains an introduction to Hebrew, Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic, including conjugation tables for regular and irregular verbs. - Appointed to teach oriental languages and the Old Testament in Lemberg (Lviv), Fessler prepared the present work as a textbook for his lectures. - Contrary to the indication on the title-page, an Arabic chrestomathy by Johann Gottfried Eichhorn was not published with this work. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Paper evenly browned throughout. Contemporary handwritten ownership of the Swedish theologian Johan Gustaf Bergius (1720-1805) to lower pastedown. Unidentified early 19th century ownership stamp "COG" to front pastedown. OCLC 69349977.‎

‎Ockley, Simon.‎

‎An account of the authority of the Arabick manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, controverted between Dr. Grabe and Mr. Whiston [...]. London, H. Clements, 1712.‎

‎8vo. 31 pp., final blank page. Disbound. Very scarce pamphlet in which the Cambridge orientalist Ockley (1678-1720) endeavoured to clear himself of the charge of sympathising with William Whiston's Arian tendencies. Ockley translated the Second Book of Esdras from an Arabic manuscript in the Bodleian Library for Whiston's controversial work "Primitive Christianity Reviv'd" (1711), but issued his translation separately in 1716, so as to emphasise his disagreement with Whiston. In the present account Ockley states that he was hesitant to prepare the translation, stressing that he "was loath that any thing with [his] Name to it should be extant only in his [Whiston's] Heretical Volumes" (p. 31). - Margins slightly worn; lower right corner of last page clipped, no loss to text. Rarely seen in the trade. OCLC 563593889. DNB XLI, 364.‎

‎[Alf layla wa-layla - French]. Galland, Antoine (transl.).‎

‎Les Mille et Une Nuits. Contes arabes, traduits en Français par M. Galland [...]. Paris, Ledentu, 1832.‎

‎12mo. 8 vols. XXIV, 334; (4), 356; (4), 356; (4), 353, final blank; (4), 348, (2); (4), 353, (3); (4), 425, (3); (4), 410, (2) pp. With 36 engraved plates, including 8 frontispieces. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine and spine-title. All edges marbled. Illustrated edition of Galland's highly influential French translation of the Arabian Nights, complete in eight volumes. Published simultaneously with the slightly more common 1832 edition by Hiard. Not a single copy of the Ledentu edition traceable at auction within the last decades. - Adapted to Parisian tastes, Galland's translation of the "Nights" had been first published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717, and "was quickly translated into English and German. It enjoyed a most remarkable success throughout Europe, perceptible even in children's literature, and contributed significantly to the new image which enlightened Europeans entertained of the Islamic East: after Galland, this was no longer the home of the Antichrist and of accursed heresy, but rather the ever-constant Orient beneath an eternally fair sky, boasting splendid colours and unheard-of wealth, Caliphs, Viziers, and Kadis, harems, fairy-tale princes, fairies and genies, sorcerers and sages, a world of fantastic adventure and outrageous incidents" (cf. Fück). - Extremities slightly rubbed; occasional light spotting and a few minimal edge flaws; pp. 47-50 of volume VII loose. A charming set. Chauvin IV, 24. Cf. Fück 101. OCLC 82688412.‎

‎[B.O.A.C. - British Overseas Airways Corporation].‎

‎Set of photographs. [Middle East and Africa, ca. 1952].‎

‎5 original black and white photographs. 68 x 44 mm to 104 x 74 mm. On Velox photographic paper. Rare original photos of five aircraft on the runway. Includes one of the few surviving images of the G-ALYU de Havilland Comet - the plane that in May 1952 completed the world's first passenger jet service from London to Johannesburg. Less than two years later G-ALYU was scrapped and its fuselage used for metal fatigue research following the crash of another B.O.A.C. Comet in January 1954. All Comet 1 aircraft were grounded in April 1954. - Among the other depicted aircraft is a Handley Page Hermes IV, registered G-ALDM. The Hermes IV model entered service with B.O.A.C. in 1950, taking over from the Avro York on the West Africa service from London to Accra via Tripoli, Kano and Lagos, with services to Kenya and South Africa commencing before the end of the year. - Pencil annotations to versos. Somewhat warped; slightly toned. Some notable specimens of aviation photography.‎

‎Boscovich, Rugjer Josip.‎

‎Giornale di un viaggio da Costantinopoli in Polonia [...]. Bassano & Venice, Remondini, 1784.‎

‎4to. XXIV, 231 pp., final blank page. Original Italian carta rustica binding, spine reinforced with paper and bearing a handwritten title-label. First Italian edition of this detailed report of a journey from Constantinople to Poland via Bulgaria and Moldavia. A snapshot of the Ottoman Balkans and their varied inhabitants in the mid-18th century, enriched with an intriguing description of the ruins of Troy. - The journey was untertaken by the Jesuit polymath Boscovich (1711-87) together with the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte Sir James Porter (1710-86). Boscovich, who is today celebrated for having anticipated features of atomic physics as early as 1758 in his "Philosophiae naturalis theoria", had travelled to Constantinople in 1761 with the Venetian ambassador Pierre Correro to observe the transit of Venus. As he arrived late and failed to observe the transit, Boscovich accompanied Sir James on his return to England via Poland, the outbreak of war between Austria and the Ottoman Empire having rendered other routes impassable. From Poland Boscovich then proceeded to St Petersburg, where he was elected a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ill health soon compelled him to return to Italy. - Couched as a travel diary, the account covers the entirety of Boscovich's journey to Poland from 25 May to 15 July 1762, describing in detail the small villages and towns he visited. From Ragusan merchants to Greek princes, and the quality of 'eau de vie' in Bulgar villages, Boscovich notes details with the detached skill of the scientist. The account of the 'mihmandar', the Ottoman official assigned to act as a guide-cum-minder for diplomatic travellers within the empire, is a particularly substantial one. The work concludes with an account of the ruins of Troy as observed by Correro in 1761, as well as a brief summary of Boscovich's forthcoming magnum opus, the five-volume "Opera pertinentia ad opticam et astronomiam" (1785). - The "Journal" was first published in French in 1772; the present edition is the first in the original Italian. An alleged 1772 Italian edition recorded by De Backer/S. appears to be a ghost. - Hinges and head of spine worn. Binding somewhat foxed and loosened in places. A light waterstain to the lower corner of a few leaves. Acquired in 1890 from the Italian bookseller Franceschini as noted on front pastedown. Untrimmed, wide-margined copy. De Backer/S. I, 1844, 87. DSB II, 331. Whyte, Boscovich, p. 220. OCLC 20041024. Cf. Atabey 137 (1772 ed.). Not in Blackmer or Weber.‎

‎Götz, Hermann.‎

‎Eine Orientreise. Leipzig, E. A. Seemann, 1901.‎

‎4to. VI, 294 pp., final blank leaf. With watercolour frontispiece, 5 (instead of 7) watercolour plates, and numerous black and white photographic illustrations and sketches in the text. Contemporary half calf library binding with giltstamped spine, leatherette covers and shelfmark label. First edition. Richly illustrated travel report describing Egypt and the Nile, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. This "altogether satisfactory book of travel" (Luzac) describes an extensive trip undertaken in the late 1890s by the German painter Hermann Götz, the Director of the Grand Ducal School for Arts and Crafts in Karlsruhe. - In Genoa Götz boarded a steamer to Port Said, from where he proceeded to Cairo, Thebes, Luxor, and Aswan, then on to the Lebanon and Syria, stops including Beirut and Baalbek, Damascus and Haifa; he eventually reached Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and the Dead Sea. The lovely watercolours, reproduced after works by the author himself, show the statue of the wife of Ramesses II in the temple of Luxor, the entrance to the temple in Medinet-Habu, the ruins at Baalbek, and a bazaar in Jaffa, as well as atmospheric sunset scenes on the shores of the Nile and on Mount Olivet. The photographic illustrations show famous landmarks including the Pyramids, the Cairo citadel, the Dome of the Rock, and the windmills of Alexandria, as well as bazaar and street scenes, local types, views of the Nile, and group portraits of Götz's travel companions. - Spine very lightly rubbed. Tear to the upper edge of the title-page; pp. 63f. somewhat damaged and stained. Still a good copy of this entertaining travelogue seeking to encourage Europeans to travel the Middle East. Kainbacher I, 57. Luzac's Oriental List and Book Review XII, 236. OCLC 315953018.‎

‎Philoxenus of Mabbug / Vaschalde, Arthur Adolphe (ed.).‎

‎Philoxeni Mabbugensis tractatus tres de trinitate et incarnatione (Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalum. Scriptores syri. Textus. Series secunda. Tomus XXVII). Paris / Leipzig, Poussielgue / Harrassowitz, 1907.‎

‎4to. (4), 271 pp., final blank page. Contemporary half vellum over marbled boards with giltstamped spine, giltstamped spine-label, and and handwritten shelfmark to spine. First edition, rare. Historic edition of the notable Syrian treatise on incarnation and the Trinity. In Syriac type. - Pencil annotations to pp. 33-69. Stamps of ownership of Joseph A. Nelson and the library of St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, to title-page (the latter also to lower flyleaf). OCLC 652404559.‎