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Qaysari, 'Abd al-Muhsin al-.
Sharh al-'Arud al-Andalusi. [Medina, Nejd, Ottoman Empire], [Sept. 1734 CE =] Rabi' al-Thani 1147 H.
4to (165 x 213 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 53 pp. on 28 ff. 19 lines, per extensum, written in a Naskhi script in black ink, some words in red, some marginal notes. Contemporary half leather binding over marbled boards with fore-edge flap. A manuscript on Arabic prosody and metrics, forming a commentary on the well-known prosodic manual "Kitab al-'Arud al-Andalusi" by Abu al-Jaysh al-Ansari al-Qisti al-Andalusi (d. 626 H / 1229 CE). - The commentator Al-Qaysari, who flourished in Anatolia in the 14th century CE, both condensed and expanded on the work of Al-Jaysh, with the aim of providing a summary for students as well as adding his own perspective on the study of poetic metre and verse. He dedicated his effort to Emir Süleyman bin Tashun, an important political figure in Anatolia, who had commissioned the book. After a traditional introduction and long foreword, Al-Qaysari's work contains quotations from the original text, which he then juxtaposes with his own opinions. For his commentary, Al-Qaysari also drawn upon the standard works of Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (who first systematized the art of Arabic prosody) and Al-Khalil's student Al-Akhfash al-Avsat. - By tradition, Arabic prosody ('Arud) scans poetry not in terms of syllables (as in most Western languages), but in terms of vowelled and unvowelled letters, which are combined into larger units, which in turn make up feet. Sixteen types of metre are distinguished, some very common, others exceedingly rare. - The present copy was written in the early 18th century CE by a scribe who names himself as Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ez-Zuhri es-Shirvani al Madani, a scholar who is known to have resided in Medina all his life. On the recto of the first leaf are a few later pencil notes which erroneously attribute the work's authorship to Al-Madani himself, though the copyist did indeed add several notes of his own supercommentary in the margins. - Binding a little rubbed; hinges chipped and weakened in places, interior very well preserved with minimal staining or smudging. A fine example. GAL I 310, 8 & S I 544, 9. Cf. Joan Maling, The Theory of Classical Arabic Metrics (1973). Ernest N. McCarus, "Identifying the Meters of Arabic Poetry", in: Al-’Arabiyya 16.1/2 (1983), pp. 57-83.
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Daumas, Melchior Joseph Eugene.
Les chevaux du Sahara et les moeurs du désert [...]. Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1858.
8vo. (4), II, 3-438 pp. Original printed wrappers of the identical fourth edition. Fifth edition of General Daumas' work on all aspects of the Arabian horses of the Sahara desert. With commentary by the Algerian Sufi saint and military and religious leader Abd-el-Kader (1808-83), the Emir of Mascara who founded the Algerian state and led the Algerians in their struggle against French domination, and in 1847 was imprisoned with his family by the French government in the fortress of Lamalgue in Toulon. - Divided into two parts, the book includes extensive information on the principles of Arabian cavalry, military costumes of horsemen, celebrated Arabian horse breeds (Haymour, Bou-ghareb, Meizique), how to choose and acquire one's horse, nutrition, hygiene, the meaning of the variously coloured equestrian attires, rigging, veterinarian medicine and illnesses, crippled horses, castration, various kinds of military attacks in the desert and how to execute them, tribal wars, as well as ostrich, gazelle, and falcon hunting. - Daumas (1803-71), a French general of the first cavalry division, was posted to Algeria in 1835, which Charles X had invaded five years previously. Daumas participated in 18 Algerian campaigns, including those of Mascara and Tlemcen. Between 1837 and 1839, Daumas resided in Mascara as consul and personally got to know the Emir of Mascara. While in Algeria, Daumas learned the Arabic language and became one of the French army's leading experts on Arab culture in North Africa. Tribesmen came to respect him for his skills on horseback. In April 1850 he became director of Algerian affairs at the Ministry of War in Paris. - Contemporary handwritten ownership by the French scholar Paulin Malosse to half-title. Occasional light foxing. A fine copy of this equestrian classic. Mennessier de la Lance I, 349. Huth 178. Boyd/P. 33. Cf. Gay 1524. Not in Podeschi.
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Hermalin, D[avid] M[oyshe].
Muhamad. A shtudium fun dem ershaynen, leben und thetigkayt fun dem Musulmanishen gezets-geber un die rezultaten fun zayn religyon. New York, Hebrew Publishing Co., [early 1900s].
8vo. 64 pp. Contemporary half cloth. Very rare second edition of this Yiddish-language study of the Prophet Muhammad, essentially a reissue of the Meir Chinsky edition of 1898. It includes not only a biography of the Prophet and a discussion of the Qur'an and of Islam, but also chapters with a specifically Jewish perspective, such as on the Jewish population of Arabia (especially in Mecca and Medina), on Muhammad's "dreadful revenge on the Jews", etc. The author published similar accounts on Jesus of Nazareth ("Yeyshu Hanoytsri: zayn ersheynen, leben und toydt: algemeyner iberblik vegen der entshtehung fun kristenthum") and Sabbatai Zevi ("Der Terkisher Meshieh: a historish romantishe shilderung iber dem leben und virken fun Shabtay Tsvi"). The highly versatile journalist, novelist, and playwright D. M. Hermalin (1865-1921) was born and educated in Bucharest, where he worked for various newspapers before being compelled to leave Romania and emigrating to the United States at the age of twenty. Here, he taught French and Hebrew and achieved distinction as a much-admired family page editor for Yiddish newspapers such as the "Folks Advokat", the "Yiddisher Herold", and the "Wahrheit". He wrote thrillers, but also translated Tolstoy, Maupassant, Zola, Bocaccio, and Shakespeare into Yiddish; his 1901 translation of Goethe's "Faust" was the first complete Yiddish version. - Stamps of ownership of the Jewish Socialist Branch of Chelsea as well as the Chelsea Labor Lyceum Association Library to lower pastedown and several pages, including the title-page. Shelfmarks to front pastedown and title-page. Extremities slightly rubbed, paper browned and brittle. - No copy in trade records; online library catalogues list copies at the British Library, Brandeis University Library (Waltham, MA), Yivo Institute for Jewish Research (New York), and the Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati). OCLC 122983891.
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[Hydrographic Office].
Persian Gulf. Western Sheet. No. 2837b. London, British Admiralty, 1948.
Standard issue, 695 x 1025 mm. Scale 1:876,000. Fine nautical chart of the western portion of the Arabian Gulf. With 3 inset maps of Kharg and Khárgu, Jezirat Halul anchorage, and Sheikh Shu'aib, as well as 18 small panoramic coastal views. - The chart provides details of Qatar and Bahrein as well as of parts of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Major labelled localities include Basra, Kuwait and Kuwait Harbour, Bushire, Al Qatif, Doha and Muharraq. Further, the chart marks the Anglo-Persian oil pipeline as well as landmarks including Dilam fort and several tombs. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys between 1821 and 1934; it was first published in 1862 and saw several corrections up to 1948. - With a single fold. A few faint pencil notes. Upper left corner slightly creased.
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Marty, Claude.
Est-il vrai de dire que la membrure du cheval anglo-arabe est légère et insuffisante? (Un chapitre de contribution à l'étude de l'anglo-arabe). Toulouse, (Saint-Cyprien), 1909.
4to. XII, 127, (8) pp., final blank page. Front flyleaf included in the pagination. Original printed wrappers. With dust jacket. Only edition, very scarce. - Noted essay on the physique of the Anglo-Arabian horse, challenging the theory of its over-lightness and insufficiency - the "gravest and most unjust" criticism levelled against the breed. Prepared by the vice-president of the prominent Toulouse stables "Écurie coopérative du Midi", Claude Marty. Of the utmost rarity: a single library copy traceable internationally (French National Library). - The main part of this work is made up of highly informative tables, displaying the distribution of the various breeds in the French, Algerian, Spanish, and Prussian cavalry forces, specifying their origins, as well as weights and body measures, and occasionally even stating their given names. Several other tables show the use of the Anglo-Arabian for public transportation in Toulouse. The work concludes with remarks on the Anglo-Arabian's high bone density and their physical ability to set vehicles in motion. - Ownership stamp of the Bibliothèque de Trélissac to half-title. Dust jacket somewhat worn, minor tears. A few pages loosened. A good copy of this important work rarely seen in the trade. OCLC 457358123.
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[Palestine]. - Stephan, St[ephan] H[anna] / ‘Afif, Boulos.
Palestine by Road and Rail. A Concise Guide to the Important Sites in Palestine and Syria [...]. Jerusalem, (Ahva), 1942.
8vo. 94, (1) pp., final blank page. With a folding plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and a folding map of Palestine and southern Syria. Original printed wrappers. Very rare pocket guide to the Holy Land, prepared for British soldiers serving in Mandatory Palestine, encouraging them to explore sites of religious and historical interest in "a land of diversity" that can be "bewildering at times to the newcomers" (p. 5). - The book describes the most prominent landmarks of Jerusalem and its surroundings, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, the Via Dolorosa, the Muristan, the Zion quarter, Gethsemane, and Jericho, as well as Bethlehem and Hebron, and gives directions to and accounts of other places including Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beirut, Nazareth, Damascus, and Baalbek. In addition, it contains a short history of Palestine and a chronological list of events from 2,600 BC to the Lebanon's declaration of independence in 1941. - Wrappers slightly soiled. Plan lightly waterstained; pp. 77-80 torn at lower margin without loss to text; paper evenly browned throughout. A good copy. Only two library copies traceable internationally (National Library of Israel and Stanford University Library). OCLC 234128765.
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Taymur Mirza (Husam ud-Dawlah) / Phillott, Douglas Craven (transl.).
The Baz-Nama-yi Nasiri. A Persian treatise on falconry [...]. London, Bernard Quaritch, 1908.
8vo. XXIV, 195 pp., final blank page. With 25 numbered illustrations mainly depicting falcons and hunting and hawking scenes, including frontispiece and of which several full-page. Contemporary full cloth with giltstamped spine-title and illustration of a hunt to front cover. First edition. One of 500 copies of this rare Persian treatise on falconry, giving a detailed account of falcons as well as hunting-birds in general, translated by Douglas Craven Phillott. The translator's introduction gives an account of the author, a prince of Persia (d. 1874), and his book. "An excellent translation [...] A valuable addition to a falconer's library, whether or not he be interested in hawking in the East" (Barber). - Corners and spine ends lightly bumped; small tears to cloth in the upper part of the spine. Bookplate of G. J. B. Barry, depicting a falcon, to pastedown. A rare and very important work by a falconer who flourished in the middle of the 19th century. Schwerdt IV, 92. Barber 14.
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[Turbah Karbala].
"Sheah Relique". Description of a Turbah Karbala. N. p., ca. 1830, or 1st half of the 19th century.
12mo. 1 p. Manuscript in the form of a folded letter entitled "Sheah Relique" that originally enclosed a so-called turbah, here described as follows: "Turbot. A relique of the Sheah Musulmen when they pray they kiss it. It is formed of the earth of Kerbela or Naguf Ashraf a place consecrated to the Shrine of Hussain son of Ally son in law of Mohamed. They place such faith in this that they believe it will keep them from all evils and I hold it from a Persian's own mouth that if a gale of wind was to arise and the ship in imminent danger of being lost, by throwing the smallest particle of this into the sea it would instantly subside". - A turbah is a small piece of soil or clay, often in the form of a seal with imprints, that is used by Shia Muslims during daily prayers to symbolize their connection to the earth. The most favoured soil for the creation of turbahs is that from the site of the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali in Karbala, Iraq, as mentioned in the manuscript. In contrast to what the description suggests, not only soil from Karbala or Najaf Ashraf, another holy city of Shia Islam in Iraq, can be used for a turbah. However, apotropaic properties such as safeguarding against calamities have been ascribed to the "turbah Karbala". - Two worn pieces of leather that originally held the turbah described in the text are still enclosed. On English paper with watermark from 1828. Minor foxing and stains; traces of folds and several large tears not affecting the text.
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Aa, Pieter van der (ed.) / Gottfried, Johann Ludwig (falsely attributed to).
De aanmerkenswaardigste en alomberoemde zee- en landreizen der Portugeezen, Spanjaarden, Engelsen en allerhande natiën: zoo van Fransen, Italiaanen, Deenen, Hoogh- en Nederduitsen als van veele andere volkeren. Voornaamenlyk ondernomen tot ontdekking van de Oost- en Westindiën, midsgaders andere verafgelegene gewesten des aardryks. The Hague and Leiden, widow of Engelbrecht Boucquet and sons, Jan van der Deyster, and Boudewijn and Pieter van der Aa, 1727.
8 vols. 1mo and folio. With 7 (of 8) engraved frontispieces (lacking that of volume 4), 4 engraved dedications, 117 engraved maps on 61 leaves, 7 engraved plates and 502 engravings in text. Further with 127 (of 128) title-pages (including a general title-page, a title-page to 7 (of 8) volumes, lacking that of volume 4, and 118 for the separate works). Volume 1-3 & 5-8: contemporary mottled calf, gold-tooled spine and board edges; volume 4: modern calf. Large paper copy of the so-called "folio-edition" (although here mostly printed as 1mo) of Van der Aa's voluminous collection of important voyages to the East and West Indies and other countries, undertaken by all European countries, other than the Dutch. Including voyages by Acosta, Balbi, Cabot, Cavendish, Chester, Columbus, Cortes, Coutinho, Da Cunha, Drake, Evesko, Frobisher, Gallonye, Da Gama, Garay, Garcia, Gilbert, Jenkinson, Harcourt, Herberer, Magallanes, Mildenhal and Cartwright, Mouette, Petelin and Andrasko, Raleigh, Saris, De Soto, etc. - The work is falsely attributed on the title-page to Johan Lodewijk Gottfried, by Van der Aa, most likely because he made good money publishing Gottfried's "Chronicle" in 1702. In reality Gottfried had nothing to do with the present work. The work was edited and co-published by Pieter van der Aa, known for his ambitious projects. Where other publishers were primarily concerned about the profits, Van der Aa wanted to publish outstanding books. For the present series of travels he either reused and revised older Dutch translations or had the original accounts translated for the first time into Dutch. In 1706 he already started publishing the translated voyages both in small (8vo) and large instalments (folio or 1mo), and a year later he published a 28-volume set of the 8vo editions. The folio editions were afterwards issued and divided in four large collections of two volumes each. The present issue, is a reissue of these four collections with their own independent title-pages and frontispieces, and ads a new general title-page and list of subscribers. - While all sets seem to be described as "folio" the present set is printed mainly as 1mo, with some occasional quires in folio. And as the large editions of the two volume sets were available on normal paper (80 guilders) and on large paper (100 guilders; Hoftijzer, p. 43), it seems very likely the present set is one printed on large paper. All leaves are unwatermarked and the 1mo leaves are only slightly trimmed (measuring 396 x 238 mm with the tranchefiles often still visible) the folio leaves are trimmed more and don't have visible tranchefiles. The fourth volume is from a different set which is trimmed down much more, but also combines both 1mo and folio leaves. - Some occasional spots, a couple minor restorations and a few wormholes; a very good set, but with the fourth volume from a different and heavily trimmed set (though printed on the same large paper), in a modern binding and lacking the frontispiece and the title-page to the volume. The seven volumes with contemporary bindings slightly worn along the extremities and with some minor wear on the sides, but otherwise very good. Cordier (Sinica) 1942f. Muller, America 1889. Sabin 3 (note). Tiele, Bibl. 10. For Van der Aa: P.G. Hoftijzer, Pieter van der Aa (1659-1733), Leids drukker en boekverkoper (1999).
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'Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi / Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (ed.).
(Kitab al-Mu'jib fi talkhis akhbar ahl al-Maghrib). The history of the Almohades, preceded by a sketch of the history of Spain, from the time of the conquest till the reign of Yusof ibn-Ta´shifi´n, and of the history of the Almoravides. Now first edited from a MS. in the Library of Leyden, the only one extant in Europe. Leyden, S. & J. Luchtmans, 1847.
8vo. XXII, 290, 8 pp. Contemporary full blue cloth with remains of a printed spine title. First edition. Entitled "The Book of Wonder, or the Summary of News of the Maghreb", this is the best-known work of the Moroccan historian 'Abd al-Wahid (1185-1250): a personal and at the same time neutral account of Almohad rule from its foundation to the 13th century, but also of the preceding dynasty of the Almoravids, with a summary of Al-Andalus history from the Muslim conquest until 1224. The book is written in a lighthearted spirit with many anecdotes; 'Abd al-Wahid explained that his intention was to inform and entertain the students in a summarized way since academic history books tend to be overly lengthy which can sometimes bore the reader. The work also contains valuable information about 'Abd al-Wahid's contemporary Ibn Rushd (Averroes), whom he may have known personally, as well as information directly taken from the Almohad archives, various princes and accounts of events that the author witnessed. A number of details point to Egypt as the place of writing, and the author himself states that he completed the work on 15 July 1224. Dozy's important edition of the Leyden MS. was republished in 1881. - Corners and spine-ends a little bumped. Occasional quite insignificant foxing; uncut and untrimmed as issued. Provenance: removed from the library of Carberry Tower, the Scottish castle mansion owned by the Elphinstone family from the 1860s to the 1960s, with bookplate and shelfmark to front pastedown. GAL I, 322. For Dozy's editions of historical texts on the history of Muslim Spain see Fück, p. 182.
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Abd-al-Halim al Qaysari (Suwaylim-Zadah).
Bahghat al-albab fi 'l-asturlab (and other works). No place, [1733/34 CE =] 1146 H.
4to (170 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 77 ff. Black and occasional red ink, 21 lines, per extensum, extensive marginalia throughout, a few smaller interleaved sheets of commentary. Contemporary brown papered boards with rebacked leather spine. An extensive Arabic astronomical manuscript in seven parts, comprising: - 1. (fols. 1-18) a rare treatise on the astrolabe, providing the names of its various parts and segments and instructions as to its use, by Abd al-Hakim al-Qaysari (Sweilam Zadeh, Abdalhalim al-Qaysari Söylemzade). - 2. (fols. 19-33) Muhammad Abi Bakr (Sajjili Zadeh), Taeliqat ealaa risalat al-adab 'l-i-Tash Kabry Zadeh (a commentary on Tashkoprizadeh). - 3. (fols. 34-42) Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Arabshah al-Isfara'ini (d. 944 H/1537 CE), Sawf ealaa risalat alayjy. - 4. (fols. 43-62) Ahmed bin Omar bin Ali, Hashiat ealaa Tash Kabry Zadeh (brief remarks on Tashkoprizadeh). - 5. (fols. 63-66) Ejalat kfayyt liwasayil alssayilin liwazayif alkalam (Sufficient urgency for the questioners' means for speech functions). - 6. (fols. 67-71) Sharah alshamsya (Explanation of the sun). - 7. (fols. 71-77) Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qaz Abadi, Sharah risalat al-adab li-'l-Barkawi (Explanation of the commentary on manners by al-Barkawi). - Binding a little stained; paper slightly brittle along the edges, but clean. Cf. GAL S II, 1017.
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Ibn Miqlash al-Wahrani, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad.
Sharh Muqaddamah al-Ajurrumiyah [Commentary on the Al-Muqaddima al-Ajurrumiya of al-Sanhaji]. Northern Africa, [15 Feb. 1729 CE =] 16 Rajab 1141 H.
4to (156 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on strong laid paper. 154 pp, 24 lines per extensum, calligraphy in beautiful and fine Maghribi in brown ink, titles in yellow, emphases words are in yellow, red, or green. Bound in late 19th century marbled boards with cloth spine. Uncommon commentary by Ibn Miqlash al-Wahrani on a versification of the "Ajurrumiya", the famously popular outline of Arabic grammar written by Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Da'ud as-Sanhaji Ibn Ajurrum (d. 723 H / 1323 CE in Safar). A Northern African manuscript from the early 18th century CE, colophon signed by the scribe Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Ramadan ibn Isma'il al-Hariri and dated 16 Rajab 1141 AH, "at the time of the noon prayer". - Numerous marginal annotations; modern pencil pagination. Binding rubbed, old stamp to front endpaper, otherwise well preserved. Cf. GAL II, 237ff.
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Abu Bakr al-Hasan ibn al-Hasib al Harasi (Albubater).
[Kitab al mughni fi 'l-mawalid, latine]. Liber genethliacus, sive De nativitatibus, non solum ingenti rerum scitu dignarum copia, verum etiam iucundissimo illarum ordine conspicuus. Nuremberg, Johann Petreius, 1540.
4to. (148) pp. With a small floral vignette on the title-page and two woodcut initials. 18th century full vellum with gilt title label on spine. First edition under this title, and the definitive edition of the Renaissance. Al-Hasan is "often quoted in astrological works of the Christian middle ages under the name Albubather. He flourished about the middle of the third century A.H., for Ahmad b. Abi Tahir Taifur (died 280 = 893) mentions him in his Kitab Baghdad as a contemporary" (Suter). Notable is the scholar-printer responsible for the work: Johannes Petraeus was soon to cement his historical reputation by printing Copernicus's "De Revolutionibus" (1543). In the present work, Petraeus offers his own justification for printing the work of Al-Hasan alongside such luminaries, for "true majestic Astronomy is on a higher level than the things intelligible to students. However this should not dissuade them from its handmaiden, Astrology, as its fruits and rewards are adjudged to be pure, and itself offering many advantages" (preface to the reader). Astronomy was properly regarded as being essential for deriving accurate figures needed for the sciences of Astrology and Prognostication; a heavily annotated copy of this edition of Al-Hasan is known from Tycho Brahe’s library (cf. Prandtl, Die Bibliothek des Tycho Brahe), and Robert Westman has argued that Copernicus not only embraced astrology but sought to defend it in his "De Revolutionibus" ("Copernicus and the Astrologers", Dibner Library Lecture, 2013). - The important 9th century astrologer and physician Abu Bakr al-Hasan is best known for this work on casting nativities, or divination as to the destinies of newborns, which was "translated by Salio of Padua in or around 1218. The work is extant in a least seven manuscripts and four early printed editions from 1492 to 1540. A treatise in 206 chapters on nativities (birth horoscopes) providing answers to a wide number of questions pertaining to the twelve houses" (The Warburg Institute, Bibliotheca Astrologica Latina). The questions range from correct aspects of insemination and conception to the effects of delayed birth; the effects of the moon and planets on the pregnancy; the feeding of the newborn; and even whether the birth will take place "modestly" or "immodestly". According to Al-Hasan, if Mars and Mercury align, the newborn will unfortunately be a liar; he also gives guidelines for how to determine whether the offspring will be pious; whether they will be a "hypocrite"; intelligent; gifted with a keen memory; foolish; faithful; generous; greedy; jealous; beautiful; argumentative; a fornicator; a thief; a sodomist (chapters 37 & 38); and prone to chastity or prone to sins against nature. - OCLC shows one copy in US libraries, at Brown. - Minor dampstaining to blank margin of a handful of leaves, more pronounced on fol. b4, otherwise only very light browning. Contemporary annotation to fol. h1r, a few modern pencil underlinings and marginal marks. 20th century bookplate of the Italian writer Enrico Gaetani to pastedown. VD 16, A 59. Zinner 1732. Houzeau/Lancaster II, 3941. Lalande p. 60. Sarton I.603. Aboussouan 6. Rosenthal 3352. Graesse I, 60. Suter, H., "al-Hasan", in: First Encyclopaedia of Islam III, p. 274f. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation (Berkeley, 1956), pp. 136f., no. 1. Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums VII, p. 123, no. 1.3. Cf. GAL S I, 394.
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[Abu Dhabi - State Visits to Pakistan].
Photograph archive and album: "Visit to Lahore of His Highness Sheikh Zaid bin Sultan Alnahayyani the ruler of AbuDhabi (16th to 28th November, 1967)". Pakistan, 1967 and 1970.
An archive of 183 photographs: 133 loose b/w photos (ca. 30 x 25 cm), 30 smaller photos (ca. 5 x 6 cm) numbered and mounted together on a single sheet of paper, and 20 photos in the album. Original black half morocco, with green cloth sides with title and emblem of Pakistan's United Bank Limited on upper board. Includes numerous rolls of original medium format negatives. A trove of unpublished photographs depicting two official visits to Pakistan by HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The earlier one, in 1967, is documented by a separate photo album containing images of the visit to Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, between 16 and 28 November 1967. (Almost 20 years later, in 1986, Sheikh Zayed would donate a hospital to the city, now the "Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex", which is one of the premier medical institutions in the country.) The album opens with a picture of HH Sheikh Zayed arriving in his car; later pictures show him being honoured and presented with an album very similar to the present one, and in the company of officials representing Pakistan's UBL bank (United Bank Limited). - The 30 small photographs show an audience with Sheikh Zayed as well as a banquet in his honour, attended by various Pakistani dignitaries including Agha Hasan Abedi (1922-95), the illustrious founder of UBL. These photos, apparently clipped from a set of medium format contact prints, are mounted on a sheet of coated black photographic paper. - The largest set in size and number shows the state visit that took place on 20-22 January 1970 at the invitation of President Yahya Khan (1917-80). It provides extensive documentation of how the large Abu Dhabi delegation is formally received by Yahya Khan, who served as president of Pakistan between March 1969 and December 1971. Many show HH Sheikh Zayed shaking hands with and speaking to President Yahya; others show the airport reception, formal dinners, speeches, but also informal conversations, members of the delegation handling falcons, and numerous high-ranking Abu Dhabi retainers. Among the persons depicted is again Agha Hasan Abedi, but there are also several pictures of Butti Bin Bishr, secretary to Sheikh Zayed, and of Ahmed Bin Khalifa Al Suwaidi, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE and the Personal Representative of Sheikh Zayed. - President Yahya Khan had been "one of the very first international leaders to reach out to Sheikh Zayed after the UAE had been founded and had, prior to this, in July 1970, been instrumental in creating an agreement to provide technical assistance to the then Trucial States. With the December 1971 union agreement approaching, Pakistan was quick to forge even closer ties, and Khan had been one of the first foreign leaders to offer his congratulations and reiterate his country's support when the UAE was born. Full diplomatic ties were then quickly established, and Pakistan became one of the first to extend recognition to the new country [...] All his life Sheikh Zayed had held a personal affinity for Pakistan. He had hunted there extensively, came to know the people, its culture and lands, and enjoyed close ties with leaders" (Wilson). - Binding of the album slightly rubbed. Some of the loose photographs slightly scuffed along the edges, occasional nicks or slight tears, but on the whole in excellent state of preservation. The majority of the photographs are entirely unmarked, save for the odd Arabic inscription or stamp on the reverse. A fine, unpublished set, entirely unknown and without counterparts in the UAEhistory, Keystone or Hulton/Getty press photo archives. From the estate of Azhar Abbas Hashmi (1940-2016), Pakistani financial manager and eminent literary patron with close ties to Karachi University. Long with UBL, Hashmi would serve as the bank's vice-president before founding several important cultural organisations and becoming known as a man of letters in his own right. It was because of Hashmi’s close connections to the Gulf states that Abu Dhabi provided funds to build the Karachi University’s faculty of Islamic studies, along with Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre and Jamiya Masjid Ibrahi. Cf. Graeme H. Wilson: Zayed - Man Who Built a Nation (Dubai 2013), pp. 111f.
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Abu Ma'shar Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Balkhi (Albumasar).
Introductorium in astronomiam Albumasaris abalachi octo continens libros partiales. (Venice, Giacopo Penzio de Leucho for Melchiorre Sessa, 5 Sept. 1506).
4to (165 x 224 mm). (64) ff.; complete with final blank. With woodcut illustration on title, woodcut initials, 43 small woodcuts in the text (22 repeats), 2 diagrams, and printer's device on final leaf verso. - (Bound with) II: Albumasar de magnis coniunctionibus annorum revolutionibus ac eorum profectionibus octo continens tractatus. (Ibid., 31 May 1515). (94) ff. With woodcut illustration on title, woodcut initials, 270 woodcuts in the text, 2 diagrams, and printer's device on final leaf recto. Contemporary French full calf on four raised double bands. A humanist sammelband comprising two attractive, finely illustrated Venetian editions of key astrological works by the great Arab astronomer Abu Ma'shar, who furnished the West with Aristotelian thinking. These 12th-century Latin versions of Abu Ma'shar's immense introduction to astrology, "Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir 'ala 'ilm ahkam al-nujum" (translated by Hermann of Carintha), and of his book on planetary conjunctions, "Kitab al-qiranat" (translated by John of Seville; for both cf. GAL I, 221f.), were previously published only by Erhard Ratdolt at Augsburg in 1489. Both of Penzio's Venetian editions are rare; of the first, a single copy is known in the trade since 1952 (sold through us in 2017). - Of all the Arabic writers on astrology, the most imposing is Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abû Ma'shar (c. 787-886), known in the West as Albumasar. Born in Balkh (now Afghanistan), he travelled to Baghdad during the caliphate of al-Ma'mum (813-33) and there became the main rival of al-Kindi, the father of Arab philosophy, though principally he "devoted himself to the account and justification of astrology [...] He drew together into one great synthesis many ancient traditions Indian, Greek, and Iranian. The Greek influence consisted of the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Theon. Yet he also drew on Syriac Neoplatonic sources and on al-Kindi for a general metaphysics" (Hackett, "Albumasar", in Gracia & Noone, eds., A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages, p. 102). Abu Ma'shar was an important influence on such thinkers as Albert the Great and Roger Bacon, who commonly referred to him as the "auctor in astronomia", granting him the same status in astronomy that Aristotle enjoyed in philosophy. - Binding somewhat rubbed; extremities and spine professionally restored. From the library of the French theologian and scholar Nicolas Maillard (documented 1508-65), an admirer of Erasmus of Rotterdam, whom he knew and with whom he corresponded, with his autograph humanist ownership "Mallarii kai ton philon" at the top of the first title-page. 17th century ownership of the Barnabites of Annecy ("Collegii Annessiatensis congregationis Sancti Pauli") below the woodcut; a few 18th century bibliographical notes on the pastedowns. Later in the collection of Arthur Brölemann (1826-1904), bibliophile and president of the Tribunal de Commerce de Lyon, with his engraved bookplate on front pastedown. His library was dispersed by his great-granddaughter Blanche Bontoux (Mme. Étienne Mallet) in 1926. I: Edit 16, CNCE 822. Adams A 567. Gaselee, Early printed books in Corpus Christi Cambridge, 166. Essling I, 525. Isaac 12913. BM-STC Italian 345. DSB I, 35. Graesse I, 60. Caillet I, 154. The Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. S, no. 31, and p. 30. Panzer VIII, 380, 344. - II: Edit 16, CNCE 823. Adams A 566. Isaac 12926. BM-STC Italian 345. DSB I, 36. Graesse I, 60. Houzeau/L. 3821. IA 102.834. Sander 215. Essling I, 449. Caillet I, 154. Honeyman Coll. 57. The Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. S, no. 32 ("Augsburg" in error). OCLC 31479499.
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Al-Qalasadi, Abu'l Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad bin 'Ali al-Qarshi al-Basti.
Kashf al-asrar ‘an ilm huruf al-ghubar [Treatise on arithmetics]. Morocco / North Africa, [12 April 1893 CE =] 25 Ramadan 1310 H.
4to (187 x 234 mm). Arabic manuscript on wove paper. 49 ff., 16 lines per extensum within blue and gilt rules. Written in brown maghribi with headings and emphases in gold, blue and red; numerals written in red; one illuminated headpiece in colours and gold. Pretty contemporary brown leather binding with gilt borders and recessed central medallions and corner pieces, stamped in relief and outlined in gold. Green endpapers. Prettily calligraphed and bound manuscript treatise on mathematics and arithemetics, being a compendium of the author’s larger work entitled "Kashf al-jilb?b 'an 'ilm al-hisab", copied in the late 19th century CE in Northern Africa, very likely in Morocco. - The author Abu'l-Hasan ibn Ali al-Qalasadi (1412-86) was a Muslim Arab mathematician from Al-Andalus; Franz Woepcke singled him out as one of the most influential voices in algebraic notation for having taking "the first steps toward the introduction of algebraic symbolism". Al-Qalasadi was born in Baza, an outpost of the Emirate of Granada. He received his education in Granada, but continued to support his family in Baza. He wrote numerous books on arithmetic and algebra, eventually retiring to his native Baza. His algebraic works provided precise mathematical answers to problems of everyday life, such as the composition of medications, how to calculate the inclination of irrigation canals, and the explanation of frauds linked to measuring instruments. Others belonged to the ancient tradition of judicial and cultural mathematics, including a collection of little arithmetical problems presented in the form of verse riddles. - Occasional insignificant foxing and browning; very well preserved. GAL I, 266, 2.
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Abul Hasan Ali ibn abi Rijal, al-Shaibani (Albohazen Hall).
De iudiciis astrorum libri octo [Kitab al-bari' fi ahkam an-nujum]. Basel, Sebastian Henricpetri, (March 1571).
Folio (250 x 310 mm). (28), 586, (2) pp. Contemporary blindstamped full calf; spine rebacked. Second Henricpetri edition of this elaborate system of astrology, edited by Antonius Stupa. Abul Hasan Ali ibn abi Rijal (also known as Haly or Hali, and by the Latinized versions of his name, Haly Albohazen and Haly Abenragel), probably born in Cordoba, flourished in Tunis from ca 1020 to 1040, where he served as court astrologer to Prince Al-Muizz Ibn Badis. His "Distinguished Book on Horoscopes from the Constellations" enjoyed a great reputation, and he was celebrated as "Ptolemaeus Alter" and "summus astrologus". The work was translated from Arabic into Castilian by Judah ben Moses, upon orders of King Alfonso X of Spain, and - in 1485 - from the Castilian into Latin, by Aegidius de Tebaldis and Petrus de Regio. A manuscript copy containing five of the eight books of a translation into Old Castilian by Yehuda ben Moshe Cohen survives in the National Library of Spain. "De Judiciis Astrorum", a Latin translation of the Old Castilian manuscript, was first published in Venice in 1485 and became an important source in Renaissance Europe for the understanding of medieval astrology. - Spine and binding repaired; some duststaining to the first pages. Entirely complete: VD 16 cites 20 ff. of prelims in error; all digitized copies entirely agree with the present specimen. Removed from the Ampleforth Abbey library in North Yorkshire with their bookplate to pastedown. A good copy. VD 16, A 1884. Cf. BM-STC German (1551 ed.). M. H. Fikri, Treasures fron the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, Bibliography, no. 26 (1551 ed.). Honeyman I, 54 (editio princeps). Not in Adams.
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[Ahmet Ibn Sirin].
[Kitab al-Jawami - French]. Apomazar des significations et evenemens des songes, selon la doctrine des Indiens, Perses et Egyptiens. Paris, Jean Houzé (de l'imprimerie de Denys du-Val), (6 Oct.) 1581.
8vo. (8), 312, (8) pp. With woodcut device to title page. Contemporary limp vellum. Extremely rare French edition of the "Kitab al-Jawami", an Arabic work on the interpretation of dreams by an "Achmet, son of Seirim" - almost certainly identical with the 8th century Muslim mystic Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Sirin. The work survived in a Greek translation ("Biblion oneirokritikon") prepared in the 12th century. This is the French translation of Leunclavius's Latin edition, published by Wechel at Frankfurt in 1577: Leunclavius had erroneously attributed the work to "Apomazar" (Albumasar, i.e. Ga`far Abu Ma`sar al-Balhi), which mistake he later acknowledged, though it is repeated by the present edition. "The author Ahmed served as interpreter of dreams to Caliph Al-Mamun around 820 [...] The mediaeval conflation of medicine with astrology originated with the Arabs. Through the Salernitanian school, which had many Arabic works translated, the notion reached Europe in the 11th century, where it remained predominant as late as the 17th and 18th century [...] In 1577 J. Loewenklau published a Latin translation of the Oneirokritiká of Ahmed, whom he calls Apomasar" (cf. Schöll). - Some waterstains and edge flaws, especially to the first and last leaves. 17th c. handwritten ownership of the Discalced Carmelites of Bordeaux on title page; a few old annotations in ink. Several small defects to the vellum binding have been repaired. While the 1577 Latin edition (which Caillet calls "rarissime") has been auctioned three times since 1959, no copy of the present French edition is known in auction records internationally. Caillet I, 153 (note). Graesse, Bibl. mag. et pneum. 97 ("1580" in error). OCLC 1218171. Not in Adams or BM-STC French. Cf. GAL I, 66. Schöll, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur III, 487.
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[Air Services - United Arab Emirates].
Treaty Series No. 94 (1972). Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for Air Services between and beyond their respective Territories. London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1972.
8vo. 11 pp. Original wrapperless covers. Agreement between the UK and the Government of the United Arab Emirates regarding the operation of airlines between the two countries. Such an agreement had become necessary following the Emirates' independence in 1971, when the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired.
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Baydawi, Abu Muhammad bin 'Umar bin Muhammad bin 'Ali al-.
Anwar al-tanzil wa-asrar al-ta'wil. Safavid Persia, [1585 CE =] 993 H.
4to (180 x 236 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 546 ff. (foliated in a somewhat later hand), 23 lines per extensum, written in black naskh, with chapter headings and emphases in red. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. Rare, complete late 16th century Arabic manuscript of the "Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil" ("The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation"), better known as "Tafsir al-Baydawi". One of the most popular classical Sunni Qur'anic interpretational works (tafsir), it was composed by the 13th-century Muslim scholar al-Baydawi (d. 1319?), who flourished in Persia. The "Tafsir al-Baydawi" is considered to contain the most concise analysis of the Qur'anic use of Arabic grammar and style to date and was hailed early on by Muslims as the foremost demonstration of the Qur'an's essential and structural inimitability ("i'jaz ma'nawi wa-lughawi") in Sunni literature. Due to its fame and influence, the work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and significant, and many commentaries have been written on Baydawi's work. According to the contemporary Islamic scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad, the work "became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all tafsirs" and it is to be regarded as "the most important commentary on the Qur'an in the history of Islam". - Paper rather browned; some waterstaining to margins of the first 70-odd leaves and occasionally beyond. The first 130 pages are closely annotated in the margins by a near-contemporary owner with several additional annotated sheets (some folding) pasted in. Old waqf stamps to recto of first leaf. Restored binding uses original cover material, showing traces of worming. Removed from the Kutub Khana-i-Sultani (Sultani Library), one of the libraries the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, established in 1926 at Dera Nawab Sahib in south Punjab. GAL I, 417.
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Haddad al-'Abbadi, Abu Bakr bin Ali al-.
Al-siraj al-wahhaj. Mecca, [1636-1661 CE =] 1046-1071 H.
Folio (210 x 290 mm). 2 volumes bound in one. Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 166 ff; 273 ff. (foliated in a later hand), 40 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. Fiqh commentary on the famous and much-glossed Hanafi manual "Mukhtasar al-Qudurii" (known among Hanafi scholars simply as "al-Kitab") of Abu al-Husayn Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Quduri al-Baghdadi (362-428 H). The author of this commentary, Abu Bakr bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Haddad al-Zubaidi al-Yamani (d. 800 H / 1397 CE), was a Hanafi jurist and exegete. He hailed from the people of Abadieh, from the villages (Wadi Zabid) in Tihama, historically in Yemen but today mostly in Saudi Arabia. - The first volume, copied in 1046 H (1636 CE), has an ownership inscription of Abdullah bin Hassan Al-Afif Al-Kazaruni, a Hanafi jurist from Mecca, dated 1063 H (1653 CE). The second volume has an inscription stating this was commissioned by him in 1071 H (1661 CE). - Handwritten table of contents on the preserved original flyleaves. Some light browning and brownstaining throughout; a few repairs; old waqf stamps and inscription to first page of both parts; marginal annotations throughout. The restored binding uses the prettily stamped original cover material. Removed from the Kutub Khana-i-Sultani (Sultani Library), one of the libraries the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, established in 1926 at Dera Nawab Sahib in south Punjab. GAL I, 175; II, 189; II S, 250.
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Al-Qabisi, Abu Al-Saqr 'Abd al-'Aziz Ibn 'Uthman Ibn 'Ali (Alchabitius) / Naibod, Valentin (ed. & comm.).
[Libellus Isagogicus - Al-madkhal]. Enarratio elementorum astrologiae, in qua praeter Alcabicii, qui Arabum doctrinum compendium prodidit [...]. Cologne, Arnold Birckmann's heirs, 1560.
4to. (32), "171" (recte: 471), (1) pp. With printer's woodcut device to title page, two initials and 19 woodcut diagrams in the text. Slightly later vellum. First edition of this important commentary on al-Qabisi's most influential work, "al-Madkhal" (the text of which is included in the Latin translation of Joannes Hispalensis prepared in 1144): an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy, the astrological science of casting nativities, or divination as to the destinies of newborns. The author, known as "Alchabitius" in the Latin tradition, flourished in Aleppo, Syria, in the middle of the 10th century. "Although al-Qabisi's education was primarily in geometry and astronomy, his principal surviving treatise, 'Al-madkhal ila sina'at ahkam al-nujum' ('Introduction into the Art of Astrology') in five sections [...], is on astrology. The book, as the title indicates, is an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy; its present usefulness lies primarily in its quotations from the Sassanian Andarzghar literature and from al-Kindi, the Indians, Ptolemy, Dorotheus of Sidon, Masha'allah, Hermes Trismegistus, and Valens. Although completely lacking in originality, it was highly valued as a textbook" (DSB). "Together with the writings of Abu Ma'shar and Sacrobosco's 'Sphaera mundi', 'al-Madkhal' became Europe's authoritative introduction to astrology between the 13th and the 16th century [...] In 1560 the commentary of Naibod (also known as Nabod or Naiboda) appeared in Cologne. This professor of mathematics had previously published the first book of Euclid's 'Elementa' and his own treatise on arithmetics. For his commentary he relies mainly on Ptolemy, Bonatti and Regiomontanus. Its wide circulation bears evidence to the vivid interest which al-Qabisi's astrology engendered as late as the early 17th century A.D." (cf. Arnzen, p. 96 & 106f.). Naibod (1523-93) taught at the universities of Cologne and Erfurt, adhering to the Ptolemaic principles. His commentary on al-Qabisi was banned by the Catholic church. Naibod is said to have discovered a new method to prognosticate a man's fate, but was unable to avert his own murder in spite of his having presaged it (cf. Jöcher III, 806). - Slightly browned but a good copy. Provenance: 1) Contemporary handwritten ownership "Joannis Roberti Aurelii" on the title page, probably by Jean Robert of Orléans who in 1557 published "Sententiarum juris libri quatuor". 2) Later in the famous collection of the Polish theologian Józef Andrzej Zaluski (1702-74), with his stamp on the title page. With his brother, Zaluski founded the Bibliotheca Zalusciana, the first Polish public library, dispersed in 1795. 3) The book was subsequently acquired by the Warsaw industrialist Jan Henryk Geysmer (1780-1835) (his stamp on the foot of the title). 4) Bookplate of the composer Robert Curt von Gorrissen (1887-1978) on front pastedown. VD 16, N 14. Adams N 3. BM-STC German 642 Houzeau/Lancaster 4882. Zinner 2239. Thorndike VI, 119f. BNHCat N 2. Grassi p. 483. Dewhirst I.1, 781. Hamel II, 187f. Cantamessa 5437. DSB XI, 226. R. Arnzen, "Vergessene Pflichtlektüre: Al-Qabisis astrologische Lehrschrift im europäischen Mittelalter", in: Zft. für Geschichte der arab.-islam. Wiss. 13 (2000), pp. 93-128, at p. 112 no. 6. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from The Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe (Qatar 2009), nos. 9f.
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Al-Qabisi, Abu Al-Saqr 'Abd al-'Aziz Ibn 'Uthman Ibn 'Ali (Alchabitius).
[Libellus Isagogicus - Al-madkhal]. Preclarum su[m]mi in astroru[m] scientia principis Alchabitii opus ad scrutanda stellaru[m] [...]. Venice, Petrus Liechtenstein, 1521.
4to. 64 ff. With several diagrams and woodcut initials in the text and the printer's full-page woodcut device on the final page, printed in red and black. Modern limp vellum with ties. "Early edition of Alchabitius' 'Introduction to the Mystery of Judgments from the Stars', with the 'modern' version by Antonius de Fantis. Sessa issued the same work at the same time, but Liechtenstein's edition is superior and especially esteemed for the fine woodcut in black and red (printer's mark) at the end" (Weil). Translated by Joannes Hispalensis (in 1144), with the commentary of Joannes de Saxonia. "Although al-Qabisi's education was primarily in geometry and astronomy, his principal surviving treatise, 'Al-madkhal ila sina'at ahkam al-nujum' ('Introduction into the Art of Astrology') in five sections [...], is on astrology. The book, as the title indicates, is an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy; its present usefulness lies primarily in its quotations from the Sassanian Andarzghar literature and from al-Kindi, the Indians, Ptolemy, Dorotheus of Sidon, Masha'allah, Hermes Trismegistus, and Valens. Although completely lacking in originality, it was highly valued as a textbook [... The] Latin version was commented on by Joannes de Saxonia at Paris in 1331" (DSB). - Title slightly smudged; occasional light waterstaining. From the library of Curt Wallin with his armorial bookplate on the pastedown. Rare; a single copy in auction records since 1975. Edit 16, CNCE 834. Adams A 24. BM-STC 1. BM I, 307. IA 102.864. Essling 301. Sander 223. Houzeau/Lancaster I, 3848. DSB XI, 226. Weil, Cat. VI, 29. OCLC 46413115. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from The Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe (Qatar 2009), nos. 9f.
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(Al-Qazwini, Zakariya ibn Mahmud) / Ideler, Christian Ludwig (ed.).
[Aja'ib al-makhluqat.] Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Bedeutung der Sternnamen. Ein Beytrag zur Geschichte des gestirnten Himmels. Berlin, Johann Friedrich Weiss, 1809.
8vo. LXXII, 452 pp. Near-contemporary half cloth with giltstamped red spine label. Edges sprinkled in red and blue. First edition. - A rare and scholarly investigation of the Arabic origins of star names, incorporating the first edition (with a German translation) of the relevant part of the famous "Aja'ib al-makhluqat" by the astronomer Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203-83), which contains a description of the 48 constellations of Ptolemy and is hailed by Brockelmann as "the most valuable cosmography in Islamic culture" (GAL). Taking Qazwini's text as his guideline, the Prussian astronomer Ideler (1766-1846) provides a detailed commentary elucidating the respective Greek, Latin, oriental, and modern names of the stars. The final chapter is an essay on the Arabic nomenclature of celestial bodies, tracing the names' origins to the ancient nomadic Arabs (Bedu). Although Ideler was not an orientalist and claimed merely a scholarly working knowledge of Arabic, he had the advice of Oluf Gerhard Tychsen and Georg Beigel. The resulting text edition, translation and critical study were highly praised by Fück, who called the annotations "excellent". - Some browning throughout as common; professional repairs to spine. Old stamp and shelfmark of the Boston Arts Academy Library to title; handwritten ownership "J. Johnson / Jan.y 1930" to pastedown. Schnurrer p. 466f., no. 404. Fück 160 ("1810" in error). Kayser III, 248. OCLC 11828254. Cf. GAL S I, 882.
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Al-Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya (Rhazes) / Alexander Trallianus.
[Kitab al-Gadari wa 'l-Hasbah - latine.] Libri duodecim; Razae de pestilentia libellus. Strasbourg, Rémy Guédon, 1549.
8vo. (48), 662, (2) pp. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on verso of final leaf. 18th century half calf with marbled boards and title giltstamped to spine. First Latin edition of this collection, published in Greek by Stephanus in Paris the previous year (itself a translation from Syriac): the twelve books on medicine by Alexander of Tralles, the first parasitologist in medical history (and the younger brother of Anthemius, architect of the Hagia Sophia), issued with al-Razi's classic treatise on smallpox and measles ("Kitab fi al-Jadari wa al-Hasaba"), also known as "Peri loimikes" or "De pestilentia": the first book ever published on smallpox. Indeed, al-Razi was the first physician in the history of medicine to differentiate between smallpox and measles, and consider them as two different diseases. The influence of his diagnostic concepts on Muslim medicine was very clear, especially on Ibn Sina. This work gained great popularity in Europe and was also translated into French, English and German; Brockelmann states it saw some 40 Latin editions between 1498 and 1866. - Al-Razi (also known as Rhazes; 850-923 or 932) is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna; he also conducted alchemical experiments. According to his biographer al-Gildaki, he was blinded for refusing to share his secrets of chemistry. - Binding lightly rubbed. Light brownstaining throughout, with a waterstain to the upper edge. A misprint has been overpasted with replacement text on pp. 40f. ("imo interdum mors talium potionem comitatur"). Rare; only two copies in auction records internationally since 1950. VD 16, A 1786. Muller III, 448, 7. Ritter 36. BM-STC German 20. Wellcome I, 209. Durling 148. GAL S I, 419, no. 3. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, No. 44 (Venice 1555 ed.). Not in Adams.
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Shafei, Abi Abdallah Hashim ibn Abdelaziz al-Mohammadi al-.
Fath Al-Rahmani fi dhikr al-Salat ali Ashraf al-Khalayeq al-Ensani. [East Africa or Near East, ca. 1790 / later 18th century].
4to (178 x 240 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. (136) pp. Calligraphic text with cursive writing in red ink, black and gold in a frame of double red rules, 15-23 lines, frontispiece on double page, 4 banners. Contemporary blindstamped red morocco binding with fore-edge flap. Arabic manuscript on the virtue of prayer upon the Prophet Muhammad. The very neat cursive calligraphy is finely executed in three inks: black, red and gold (the latter having taken on an olive green hue). The manuscript begins with the last three suras of the Qur'an, followed by the Asma ul-Husna, an introduction, and a prayer. A superb frontispiece on a double page (pp. 5-6) is executed in black ink on a red background within polychrome frames. The one on the right-hand side, decorated with five outward-facing arches in the margins, gives the names of Allah, of the Prophet, and of his four caliphs; the panel on the left indicates the name of the manuscript and its author, "Abi Abdallah Hashim ibn Abdulaziz al-Mohammadi al-Shafei". The titles of each of the six chapters are written in red ink or gold, followed by the "Bismillah" in larger calligraphy. The first colophon, at the end of the first chapter, is calligraphed in red ink in a banner; the other three colophons, arranged within triangular tiers, announce the end of each chapter and repeat the name of the author. The text ends with the "Qasida" to the glory of the Prophet. The analysis of the document and the use of the term "Shafei" suggest that its author was an imam trained in the Shafiist school of jurisprudence, one of four schools (madhhab) of jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, based on the teaching of Imam Al-Shafi'i (767-820) and his followers. This "madhhab" is widespread in Yemen and around the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia), as well as in Kurdistan and Egypt. Binding and paper suggest a date in the second half of the 18th century.
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Ali Akbar Khitai.
[Ketay-Nama]. Tercüme-i târih-i nevâdir-i Çin Mâçîn [Translation of the rare history and descriptions of China]. Istanbul, Tophâne-i Âmire Litografya Destigâhi, [1854 CE =] 1270 H.
8vo (145 x 215 mm). 70 pp. In Ottoman script within rules, lithographed throughout. The heading (serlevha) and borders of the first double page are printed in gilt. Bound in contemporary wrappers, taken from a volume, and stored loosely within protective giltstamped cloth boards (modern spine). First and only printed edition of one of the earliest Islamic travel accounts of China and the first description of the Silk Road in the Islamic world, pre-dating even Ibn Battuta's Rihla. - The present work, one of the most complete descriptions of Ming Dynasty China in the 16th century, was originally written in Persian in 1516. Completed and issued soon after Khitai reached Istanbul in 1520, it was later translated into Turkish by Hezârfen Huseyin (d. 1691) and became influential also in the Turkish-speaking Muslim world. According to the colophon, the book was finished on the last day or days of Rabî I 922 (3 May 1516), while the preface contains a panegyric on Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520-66). - Based on the author's personal observations, the book's 20 chapters discuss roads, cities and castles, stores, brothels and prostitutes, eunuchs, legislation, administration, jails, law and law-abidance, the military, agriculture, magazines, the imperial throne, the various religions, celebrations, entertainments, wonderful arts and strange cures, schools, persons from the West, Qalmaqs, gold, silver and currency, as well as Chinese temples and other matters. Thus Ali Akbar's book conveyed to a reader of the 16th century a fair impression of China: as a guidebook it could serve as a companion especially for Muslim merchants travelling along the Silk Road. - The Chinese scholar Lin Yih-Min describes Ali Akbar as a "Turkish businessman" (58) who probably journeyed only to Central Asia, where he gathered the information for his book before returning then to Turkey. The book was dedicated to Sultan Suleiman, and as the author's name suggests a Shi'ite background, it is possible that Ali Akbar may have wished to impress on the Ottoman court the difficult conditions of the Shi'ite community living in Istanbul, among a dominant Sunnite community. - Also known as the "Khataynameh" ("Book on China"), the work aroused considerable interest not only in the Ottoman Empire but also in Europe in the 19th century. The book's immediate impact is difficult to estimate, but astonishingly the Ottoman Empire, here referred to as "Lumi", would figure quite prominently in Chinese sources after a first embassy arrived in Beijing in 1524, four years after the book was first issued; other embassies followed until 1618. Thus, it is entirely possible that Ali Akbar's book had a direct influence on Ottoman diplomacy and commerce in China and Central Asia. - A few holes in the last leaf (minor loss of a few letters); some browning. A few contemporary pencil marginalia and calligraphic examples on the last blank page. Overall a good copy. Özege 20686. Cf. Ralph Kauz, "One of the Last Documents of the Silk Road: The Khataynameh of Ali Akbar", The Silk Road 1 (2005), p. 59f. Lin Yih-Min, "A comparative and critical study of Ali Akbar’s Khitây-nâma with reference to Chinese sources", Central Asiatic Journal 27 (1983), pp. 58-78.
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Ali ibn Abi Talib / Stickel, Johann Gustav (ed.).
[Amtal `Ali Ibn-Abi-Talib]. Sententiae Ali Ben Abi Taleb, arabice et persice, e codice manuscripto vimariensi. Jena, Cröcker, 1834.
4to. XV, (5), 80 pp. Modern red half cloth with giltstamped title to spine. The sayings of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad and one of the central figures in Shia Islam, who ruled as the fourth caliph from 656 to 661. Text in Arabic, Persian, and Latin. Based on a Weimar manuscript, this was an early effort by the German scholar J. G. Stickel (1805-96), a student of Silvestre de Sacy, to establish himself as an oriental philologist at Jena University. - Deaccessioned from the Bamberg University Library with their stamps and shelfmark label. OCLC 4423742.
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[Alphabetum arabicum].
Alphabetum arabicum. Rome, typographia Medicea, 1592.
Small 4to (146 x 206 mm). 64 pp. With printer's woodcut device on title-page. 19th century red boards. Only edition of this early milestone of Arabic typography from the Roman Medici Press, including a Latin treatise on Arabic script. The Medici Oriental Press, the first printing press in Europe dedicated to printing books in an Arabic typeface, was founded in Rome under the direction of Giovanni Battista Raimondi and the patronage of Pope Gregory XIII. For the Arabic types, Raimondi commissioned the famous typefounder Robert Granjon: "In a few years Granjon had cut a large number of oriental characters, following superb calligraphic designs provided by Raimondi. On September 6, 1586, he completed the small Arabic typeface [...] Because cutting the Arabic typefaces took such a long time, establishment of the Medici Press went slowly. Though the contracts formally setting up the press were signed on March 6, 1584, the first book to bear its imprint did not appear until 1591. Legible and much more 'oriental' in feel than those of de Gregorii, Postel or Spey, this face was not improved upon until the time of Ibrahim Müteferrika in the early 18th century [...] Once underway, however, the Medici Press was very productive. In 1592 it issued a prospectus of its Arabic type faces under the title 'Alphabetum arabicum' - a 64-page masterpiece of design which not only displays Granjon's beautiful types, but contains a careful Latin Essay on the Arabic writing system" (Lunde). Until 1610 Raimondi printed a mere eight works with Granjon's types, "all equally rare" (Smitskamp 29b), before a long hiatus ensued - probably due to the sluggish distribution of the works in the Orient, where everything produced in the West, and especially any printed specimen of Arabic script, was received with the utmost caution (cf. Fück 55). Even Smitskamp cites only four other productions of the Medici Press, but not this exceptionally rare one. One of the only three other copies known to have appeared in the trade was even thought to be incomplete by Sotheby's, since Adams's collation - based on the Trinity College copy - cites a 24-page appendix that is, in fact, an independent Medici Press grammar bound with the Trinity 'Alphabetum'. - Binding worn and rubbed; spine rebacked. Interior somewhat dust-soiled throughout with occasional light dampstaining; a few marginal annotations on the verso of the title cropped by binder. Title-page with minute wormhole affecting one word on verso; a small hole to the last leaf with loss of a few letters; stamp of a monk to margin of final page. Front pastedown has 1880s bookseller ticket by G. A. Young & Co. of Edinburgh pasted in. An entirely complete copy of an important and excessively rare publication. Adams A 780. BM-STC Italian 36. Schnurrer 41. Edit 16, CNCE 1227. OCLC 47816774. Lunde, Paul, "Arabic and the Art of Printing", in: Aramco World 32/2 (1981) (with illustration). J. Balagna, L'imprimerie arabe en occident (Paris 1984), p. 135. Le Livre et le Liban (mentioned on p. 190; no copy in the catalogue). Not in Smitskamp or Fück.
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Alpini, Prosper.
De plantis Aegypti liber. [...] Accessit etiam liber de Balsamo alias editus. Venice, Francesco de Franceschi, 1592.
4to. 2 consecutively paginated parts. (4), 80 (but: 84), (8) ff. (Pt. 2 has separate title page). With woodcut printer's device to title-page and 50 large woodcut plant illustrations (many page-sized). 18th century marbled wooden boards. All edges sprinkled in red. First edition of the earliest treatise on the native Egyptian flora, the author's most important scientific work. The Italian physician and botanist Alpini (1553-1617) spent three years in Egypt studying botany and hygiene as a companion to the Venetian Consul Giorgio Emi. He was "among the first of the Italian physician-botanists of the 16th century to examine plants outside the context of their therapeutic uses. Today this work is best known for containing the first European illustration of the coffee plant" (Hünersdorff). Alpini writes: "I saw in the garden of Halybey the Turk a tree [...] which is the source of those seeds, very common there, which are called Ban or Bon; from them everyone, Egyptians and Arabs alike, prepare a decoction which they drink instead of wine and which is sold in public bars just as is wine here and they call it 'Caova'. These seeds are imported from the Arabian peninsula [...]" (f. 26r, transl.). The coffee plant is pictured on f. 26v, captioned "Bon". - Binding rather rubbed and bumped (especially the spine); trimmed somewhat closely at upper edge; occasional brownstaining throughout with the odd waterstain; slight defect to title page repaired by a former owner. A good copy from the library of Karl Martin and Siri Hilda Karolina Norrman (1900-95) with their joint bookplate on front pastedown. Edit 16, CNCE 1244. BM-STC Italian 20. Adams A 803. IA 103.853. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 32. Gay 1678. Wellcome I, 233. Durling 179. Nissen 20. Pritzel 111. Mueller 5 (& plate I). Hünersdorff I, 29-32.
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Alpini, Prosper.
De plantis exoticis libri duo. Venice, Giovanni Guerilio, 1656.
4to. (16), 344 pp. Engraved architectural title with portraits of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, 145 finely etched and engraved botanical plates in the text, ornamental initials. Contemporary blind-tooled calf with gilt spine. Edges sprinkled red. Third edition (in fact, a re-issue with changed title page date only) of Alpini's further observations on exotic plants. The specimens here presented were collected primarily in Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean, including many xerophilous plants from Egypt and scores of plants not mentioned in earlier works. The first edition was published posthumously in 1627 and was edited by the author's son, Alpini Alpini. The work (in all its editions) is much rarer than the author's better-known "De plantis Aegyptii". "Date altered by hand [from 1629] to MDCLVI" (Krivatsy). - Prospero Alpini (1553-1617), an Italian physician and botanist, travelled through Greece, Crete, and Egypt from 1580 to 1583 with the Venetian Consul Giorgio Eno. He worked as a medical advisor and took the opportunity to carry out botanical investigations. His work includes the first European recognition of the medicinal value of coffee and introduced banana and baobab. "Alpini became professor of botany at Padua after having spent three years in Egypt" (Garrison/M., p. 992). - Binding rebacked, showing some light wear to extremeties, but a good, clean copy. Provenance: removed from the Large Library at Goodwood House (Chichester, West Sussex) with bookplate on front pastedown; latterly in the collection of Cornelius J. Hauck (his tree bookplate dated 15 March 1944). Nissen BBI 21. Krivatsy 241 (copy 2). Cf. Pritzel 112. Not in Wellcome, Waller, or Osler.
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Alpini, Prosper & Bontius, Jacob.
De medicina Aegyptiorum, libri quatuor. Et Iacobi Bontii In Indiis archiatri, De medicina Indorum. Editio ultima. Paris, Nicolaus Redelichuysen, 1645.
Small 4to (225 x 175 mm). 2 parts in one vol. (11), 150, (25) ff. 39, (1) ff. Title-page printed in red and black; woodcut chapter initial and head-tail pieces, 2 text illustrations and 3 full-page woodcuts. Full vellum, title gilt on spine red label. Somewhat later edition of the first important work on the history of Egyptian medicine. Alpini (1553-1617) was an Italian physician and botanist who spent three years in Egypt studying botany and hygiene as a companion to the Venetian Consul Giorgio Emo. This work is considered "one of the earliest European studies of non-western medicine. Alpini’s work dealt primarily with contemporary (i.e. Arabic) practices observed during his sojourn in Egypt. These included moxibustion - the production of counter-irritation by placing burning or heated material on the skin - which Alpini introduced into European medicine [...] Alpini also mentioned coffee for the first time in this work" (Norman). Jacobus Bontius (Jacques de Bondt, 1592-1631), whose work on Indian medicine is included, was a Dutch physician and botanist. He travelled to Persia and Indonesia to study the botany of the area. He was the first to study cholera on the island of Batavia in 1689, before it was known in Europe, and died on Java. His botanic and medical works were published after his death by Pisonius. He "was probably the first to regard tropical medicine as an independent branch of medical science. He spent the last four years of his life in the Dutch East Indies, and his book incorporates the experience he gained there. It is the first Dutch work on tropical medicine and includes the first modern descriptions of beri-beri and cholera" (Garrison/M. 2263, citing the 1642 first edition). - Binding slightly brownstained in places. Small tear to 3rd leaf, not affecting text; occasional browning. Caillet 230. Krivatsy 236. Wellcome II, 36. Hirsch/Hübotter I, 101 & 627. Hunt 161 (note). Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 32. Osler 1796. Waller 12509. Cf. Garrison/Morton 6468. Norman 39 (1591 first edition); Heirs 384 (1646 edition) and 463 (1642 edition).
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Anthony, John Duke.
Arab States of the Lower Gulf: People, Politics, Petroleum. Washington D.C., The Middle East Institute, 1975.
8vo. X, 273, (1 blank) pp. With two black and white maps on the endpapers. Brown cloth with publisher's illustrated dust jacket. First and only edition of a thorough description of the history of the nine Arab states of the Lower Gulf, that gained independence in 1971, just four years before the publication of this book. The author has managed to discuss the individual politics of each state and that of the bigger picture, making this a handbook for all who wish to learn more about Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain). The several infographics that are used to explain the political structures are very helpful in this respect. Oil plays a key role in the relationship between the individual states and this is intricately laid out by the American author. Because this book was written in such a key moment in the history of the region, it has gained much importance. The author Dr. John Duke Anthony is a leading figure in United States-Arab relations and has held many influential government positions in this field. Amongst others, he is the founder and president of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and he is part of the United States Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy's Subcommittee on Sanctions. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies. In the years leading up to this publication the author has conducted first-hand research on the Lower Gulf region's political and socio-economic structures, obviously with oil playing a major role. The fruits of this research are presented in this book, offering the reader a comprehensive overview of a complex subject. This book was published in The James Terry Duce Memorial Series, which started in 1966. The first and second volumes were on North Africa and Jerusalem respectively, this is the final volume of the series. - Ink annotations in the margins throughout. A good copy with the original dustjacket well preserved. OCLC 1700964.
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[Arabian Gulf].
Weather in the Indian Ocean to Latitude 30° S. and Longitude 95° E. Including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Volume II. Local information. Part 9 Coast of East Africa from the equator to Cape Delgado [...]. London, Meteorological office, Air Ministry, 1940.
4to. 63 pp., final blank page. With map frontispiece and several illustrations and tables in the text. Contemporary printed wrappers. Stapled. First edition. Rare climatological study originating from a series of meteorological handbooks of the Indian Ocean issued by the British government between 1940 and 1944. The three-volume series, comprising a total of 12 parts, was prepared by the Meteorologial Office, Air Ministry, in cooperation with the Naval Meteorological Branch, Admiralty, London; it was reprinted for the U.S. Navy as late as 1980. The ESSA Technical Memorandum of 1969 mentions another reprint in 1945. - The present volume is the last of nine parts of volume II, covering the climate of the East African coast from the equator to Cape Delgado, discussing tropical cyclones and depressions, winds, visibility, clouds, rain and hail, temperature, humidity and other meteorological events. The frontispiece shows a map of the relevant area; additional diagrams illustrate surface winds and higher winds, as well as the amount of clouds and rainfall. The tables show the general climate in Mombasa, Tanga, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Kilwa, and Lindi, as well as the monthly frequency of wind direction and force at sea and in the upper air, and the visibility at coastal stations. - Library shelfmark in pencil, as well as a mounted blank loaning sheet to final blank page. 7 combinations of letters and digits in black felt pen to lower cover. Traces of a shelfmark label and a cancelled inscription to front cover. Not a single copy in auction records. U.S. Department of Commerce, ESSA Technical Memorandum EDSTM10, A Note on Climatology of Thailand and Southeast Asia, 164, 19. OCLC 1181290135.
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Arabian Peninsula. - Brown, Glen F[rancis].
[United States Geological Survey of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]. Arabian Peninsula. Map I-270 B-1. Washington, D.C., The Survey (U.S. Geological Society), 1958.
1380 × 1216 mm. Lambert conformal conic projection, constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:2,000,000. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Framed and glazed. A highly detailed map of the complete Peninsula, the first modern map in 1:2,000,000 scale: the rare preliminary edition, issued five years before the officical release. Based on the groundbreaking series prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arabian American Oil Company under the joint sponsorship of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. State Department, "a unique experiment in geological cooperation among several governments, petroleum companies, and individuals" (Seager/Johnston). Also includes the territories of today's Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. "The plan for a cooperative mapping project was originally conceived in July 1953 [... By 1955] there was established a cooperative agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Department of State, and the Arabian-American Oil Co. to make available the basic areal geology as mapped by Aramco and the U.S. Geological Survey" (ibid.). The plan provided for 21 maps on a 1:500,000 scale in both geologic and geographic versions; "a peninsular geologic map on a scale of 1:2,000,000 was to conclude the project [...] The first geographic quadrangle was published in July 1956 and the last in September 1962. While preparation of the geographic sheets was in progress, a need arose for early publication of a 1:2,000,000-scale peninsular geographic map. Consequently, a preliminary edition was compiled and published in both English and Arabic in 1958" (ibid.). While the revised, final version that appeared in 1963 ("I-270 B-2") would incorporate some additional photographic, topographic and cultural data, the exceedingly uncommon present, preliminary edition is surprisingly complete in virtually all respects - a testament to the precision with which Aramco's cartographers proceeded from the very first. Includes a key with symbols for water pipelines, desert watering points, oil fields, pumping stations, refineries, and a glossary of Arabic names. - "Although the search for oil, gas and minerals was ultimately to drive geological survey work across the region [...], in its early years it was the need for water that was the catalyst for Saudi Arabia's resource exploration. In 1944 King 'Abd al-'Aziz approached the United States for a technical expert who could assist with the identification and plotting of the kingdom's natural resources, particularly its groundwater reserves. The individual who arrived, Glen F. Brown, was one of the pioneers of a partnership between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the government of Saudi Arabia that was to span the next five decades and play an important role in the development of the kingdom [...] By 1954 the Saudi Ministry of Finance, USGS and Aramco were working together to produce the first full series of geographic and geologic maps of the country. The first of their type in the Peninsula, these were published [...] in both Arabic and English versions, and the information they contained formed the basis of subsequent Saudi national development plans. To this day, all modern maps of the kingdom trace their roots back to these first publications" (Parry). - Some insignificant browning; a few slight edge defects professionally repaired. Altogether in fine condition. James V. Parry, "Mapping Arabia", in: Saudi Aramco World 2004/1, p. 20ff. OCLC 30099393. O. A. Seager/W. D. Johnston, Foreword to the Geology of the Arabian Peninsula series (U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 560-A-D, 1966).
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[Arabic Medicine].
The Sudhoff Collection of the History of Arabic Medicine, deaccessioned from the Department of the History of Medicine of the University of Leipzig. Various places, 1855-1941.
74 catalogued items, comprising 88 volumes of printed books. In Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Swedish, and Syriac. A highly important ensemble of books on early Islamic medicine and science, assembled by one of the most renowned medical research institutes of its age, comprising not only rare historical and bibliographical studies, but also many first printed editions of crucial scientific texts in Arabic, frequently in the form of doctoral theses that remain almost impossible to find in libraries. Several titles, such as Steinschneider's "Introduction to the Arabic Literature of the Jews" (published in no more than 20 copies, "for private circulation" only), have not been seen on the market in decades, making the present offering a unique opportunity to acquire some of the most elusive relevant literature published in the late 19th and early 20th century. - Established in 1906, the Karl Sudhoff Institute in Leipzig was the first institute for the study of the history of medicine established worldwide. Its founder Karl Sudhoff (1853-1938) is regarded as one of the 20th century's foremost historians of medicine. A practicing physician for most of his life, Sudhoff published more than four hundred articles as well as many monographs, edited standard works and editions of original manuscripts. He was personally involved in building the institute's library and thus in assembling the present collection. - The 88 volumes offered here include numerous relevant issues of scholarly journals as well as journal articles. They often unite within a single volume several items published separately but forming a clear thematic unit, sometimes bringing together between two covers material that appeared at various times and in several places but was intended by the author to be considered as a whole. Deaccessioned from the Department of the History of Medicine of the University of Leipzig, most books bear the usual shelfmarks and stamps, but are otherwise in fine condition. - Catalogue available upon request.
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[ARAMCO].
Arabian American Oil Company. Dental Assistance Plan. [San Francisco], (Aramco, 1983).
8vo. (2), V, (1), 18, (6) pp. Original printed wrappers. Rare information booklet for Aramco workers, outlining the dental care expense benefits extended to the company's full-time salaried or retired employees and their dependents under Aramco's dental insurance plan. - Well preserved.
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[Aramco].
Dhahran. Scale 1:500,000. Dhahran, Aramco, 1954.
985 x 645 mm. Scale 1:500,000. Key in English. Printed on cloth. Blueprint map of the Gulf, showing Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and parts of Qatar. The map pays particular interest to oil and gas exploration, detailing the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, the old tapline survey route, and the offshore terminal and refinery at Ras Tanura, as well as the Jafurah basin, the largest natural gas field in the Kingdom stretching 170 by 100 kilometers. - Among the most notable places are Hofuf, Dhahran, and Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia, as well as Manama, Awali, and al-Muharraq in Bahrain. Labelled locations in the displayed portion of Qatar's coast include Hawar Island, Dukhan and Salwa. The map illustrates trails, roads, and airstrips, as well as topographical features such as dunes, sand and gravel patches, and sabkhas. - The sheet was prepared as a working document by Aramco and the U.S. Geological Survey to help them in the early stages of comprehensive nationwide mapping and exploration work for the Saudi Government. First published in May 1953, the present map was revised in February 1954. - Two minor brown spots; upper left edge a little toned and frayed.
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[ARAMCO].
Saudi Arabian road map. Dammam, Al-Mutawa press company, 1973.
Large folding map (60 × 90.5 cm), printed in light orange with darker purple, depicting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its main roads. With on the right the title in both Arabic and English and a table with the distances from one city to another. Large folding map, published by the Arabian American Oil Company, depicting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It depicts the country’s roads, trails, railroads, roads that are still under construction and proposed roads, as well as cities, villages, airports and deserts. The table on the right shows the distance in kilometres from several towns and cities to some of the major cities: Buraidah, Dhahran, Dammam, Hofuf, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh and Ta’if. - Slightly discoloured along the folds, with only some very minor tears along the folds. Otherwise in very good condition
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Aramco.
Two photos of Aramco airplanes. [Probably Dhahran, ca. 1950s].
100 x 74 mm and 95 x 70 mm. Two Douglas DC-3 aircraft (registrations N720A and N726A) in their 1950s or early 1960s Aramco livery.
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[Aramco - Map of Saudi Arabia].
Western Area. Scale 1:1,000,000. [Dhahran, Aramco / USGS, 1953].
760 x 750 mm. Scale 1:1,000,000. Relief shown by hachures, spot heights, submarine contours, airports and airstrips, mining activity, and land routes. Key in English. Printed on cloth. Blueprint map of Saudi Arabia covering 20-26° N and 38-45° E, extending from the Nejd to the Red Sea coast including Jeddah and Yanbu al-Nakhal. It pays particular attention to geological features, showing the lava fields of Harrat Rahat, Harrat Kishb, Harrat Khaybar, Harrat Nawasif, Harrat Buqum and Harrat Hadan, as well as the Uruq Subay dunes and the tribal areas of Bilad Zahran and Bilad Ghamid. Among the most prominent labelled cities are Mecca with its environs (Muna, Shumaysi), Medina, Jeddah and Taif; the Darb al-Hijaz (Riyad-Jeddah Road) is named. - The sheet was prepared as a working document by Aramco and the US Geological Survey to help them in the early stages of comprehensive nationwide mapping and exploration work for the Saudi Government. - Slightly toned along folding lines and right margin.
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Ardoynis, Santes de.
De venenis. Venice, Bernardino Rizzo for Johannes Dominicus de Nigro, 19. VII. 1492.
Folio (420 x 280 mm). (4), 101, (1) ff. Later calf with gold- and blind-tooling. First edition of a work on poisons, compiled by Sante Arduino (or Ardoini) of Pesaro. "[T]he elaborate compendium on poisons in eight books which Sante Ardoini of Pesaro compiled in the years, 1424-1426, from Greek, Arabic and Latin works on medicine and nature, and which was printed at Venice in 1492, and at Basel in 1518 and 1562 [...] Although Ardoini quotes previous authors at great length, his work is no mere compilation, since he does not hesitate to disagree with such medical authorities of Peter of Abano and Gentile da Foligno, and refers to his own medical experience or observation of nature at Venice and to what fisherman or collectors of herbs have told him. He also seems to have known Arabic, and his occasional practice of giving the names of herbs in several Italian dialects is of some linguistic value" (Thorndike). Arduino makes extensive use of the works by Avicenna (Ibn Sina), who "held a high place in Western European medical studies, ranking together with Hippocrates and Galen as an acknowledged authority" (Weisser). Among the numerous other sources he used are Galen, Avenzoar (Ibn Zuhr), Rasis (al-Razi), Andromachus, Albucasis (Al-Zahrawi), Serapion the Younger and Dioscorides. - A very good copy, with only a few marginal waterstains. Binding slightly rubbed along the extremities and with a few scratches on boards. Hain-Copinger 1554. Goff A-950. Ohly-Sack 233. Walsh 2186. Proctor 4963. BMC V, 403. GW 2318. Thorndike III, 545. ISTC ia00950000.
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Armillary sphere with celestial globe.
Rotating celestial globe, surrounded by four pivotable concentric rings, the uppermost with ornamental mount. Arabic, [1713 CE] = 1125 H.
Engraved and etched gilt brass with lettering in Arabic. Total height from ring to base 53 cms. Exceptionally large armillary sphere with rich calligraphical and ornamental decoration as an image of the universe. The celestial sphere is surrounded in the centre by rings with the signs of the zodiac (outside) and various planet symbols. The names of the zodiac signs and months are engraved in Arabic. Signed and dated by the artist, an "Alexander", in the year H 1125. A nearly identical object is kept at the Globe Museum of the Austrian National Library at Vienna (item GL. 214), there classified as "Persian/Arabic". While simple celestial globes are not uncommon in the trade, elaborate specimens of the present size (53 cms) are very rare. - Slightly soiled and corroded, but almost not rubbed.
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Assemani, Simone.
Globus caelestis Cufico-Arabicus Veliterni Musei Borgiani [...] illustratus. Praemissa ejusdem De Arabum astronomia dissertatione et adjectis duabus epistolis Cl. Josephi Toaldi. Padua, typis Seminarii, 1790.
Small folio (216 x 294 mm). (16), CCXIX, (9) pp. With 3 large folding engraved plates. Contemporary green half calf with gilt spine and marbled covers. Only edition of this rare study decribing a celestial globe with Cufic lettering in the Borgia Museum at Velletri. The book also contains a dissertation on the astronomy of the Arabs, with Arabic excerpts from the works of Ahmed al-Farghani (Alfraganus; cf. GAL I, 221), one of the most famous mediaeval Muslim astronomers. Simone Assemani (1752-1821), a great-nephew of Joseph Assemani, the cataloguer of the oriental manuscripts in the Vatican library, is best known for his catalogue of the manuscripts and Cufic coins in the Naniana in Venice (cf. Fück 125). - Calf somewhat worn at spine-ends and hinges. Old library shelfmark label pasted on inside of upper cover. A fine copy. Brunet VI, 8185. DG 7.9265. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, no. 13 (with full-page illustration).
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[Astronomical manuscript].
Three Persian treatises on astronomy. [Probably Iran], [1844 CE =] 1260 H.
4to (180 x 220 mm). Persian manuscript on polished oriental paper. (16), 1 blank, (23), 1 blank, (13), 1 blank ff., 17-20 lines, per extensum, text enclosed by red and black rules. Black ink with red emphases. With numerous ink diagrams in the text. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. A mid-19th century Persian manuscript comprising three treatises on astronomical matters, illustrated throughout with diagrams in red and black ink and containing several tables. - Some worming throughout the text but not affecting legibility. Corners bumped. A loose slip of paper inserted at the beginning mentions three titles which do not appear to correspond to the works here contained.
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[Astronomy].
Astronomical manuscript in Arabic. No place, ca. 1790, or late 18th century CE / ca. 1200 H.
4to (170 x 227 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 42 written pp., 19-24 lines, per extensum, black and occasional red ink with red underlinings. With several astronomical diagrams in the text. Modern brown cloth binding with the original 18th century blindstamped leather covers pasted on the boards. An Arabic astronomical manuscript on quadrants in three parts, comprising: 1. Muhammad ibn al-Sheikh al-Hamid, Risalat al-kura (dhat al-kursi). - 2. Sabat Al-Mardini, Risalat mukhtasirat fi aleamal bialrabe alshamalii almaqtue (A brief treatise on the work in the northern quadrant). - 3. Sabat Al-Mardini, Risalat fi aleamal bialrabe almajib al-risalat al-fathiat fi al'aemal al-jibia (A treatise on work in the responding quadrant). All parts include detailed astronomical tables and diagrams in ink. - Well preserved manuscript in a professionally restored modern binding.
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[Austrian Toy Theatre].
The Caravan to Mecca. The Halt in the Desert. Vienna, M. Trentsensky / London, A. N. Myers & Co., [before 1856].
Folio (387 x 242 mm). 49 hand-coloured illustrations on 6 plates and hand-coloured folding lithographed backdrop (desert scene; ca. 580 x 224 mm). Original blue wrappers with lithographed cover label. Charming Mignon Theatre of the kind popularized by the Viennese publisher Trentsensky around the mid-19th century and distributed throughout England by their London agent Myers, & Co. on the corner of Oxford and Berners Street. The desert landscape backdrop is to be populated by the pilgrims, camels, resting horses, etc., with plants, a large tent, a cooking fire, and many other details, all to be cut out from the present set of plates. Issued as "Exercises in Colouring", this set was clearly coloured by a trained contemporary artist rather than a dilettante. - The front cover is stained, spine splitting, but the plates are clean and well-preserved. Rarely encountered complete, well-coloured, and in the original state. Another example, prominently featured in the 2012 Hajj exhibition at the British Museum, was cut and mounted. Hajj. Journey to the heart of Islam. London, British Museum 2012, p. 125 (fig. 125).
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Azpeitia de Moros, Luis.
En busca del caballo árabe. Comisión á Oriente. Turquia. - Siria. - Mesopotamia. - Palestina. Madrid, Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1915.
Large 8vo. 297, (7) pp. With photographic illustrations in the text throughout and a lithographed map showing the sailing route in blue. Original publisher's printed paper wrappers. Rare first edition in Spanish, in the original publisher's paper wrappers, of this important work on Arabian horses, describing a voyage made in 1904 of a Spanish commission to Turkey, Syria, Mesopotamia and Palestine, to observe thoroughbred Arabian horses. The party returned to Spain with 33 Percherons, of which 27 were considered to be first-class horses. In the present work, the Spanish cavalry commander Luis Azpeitia de Moros describes their journey, their contact and negotiations with the people there, and the horses they bought. Azpeitia's account is lavishly illustrated with photographs, all with Spanish captions printed below, of not only the areas they visited and their inhabitants, but also of the several horse specimens they bought, with their name and place of purchase in the printed captions. - The present work was used as reference source by Gladys Brown Edwards in her work on the history of the Arabian horse (The Arabian: War Horse to Show Horse) (Boyd/Paul, p. 11); an English translation of the work appeared in 2001 (In Search of the Arabian Horse), and an Arabic one was published in Riyadh in 2007 (Al-Bahth `an al-husan al-`Arabi). Altogether the very rare first edition of an important work on Arabian horses, even more rare when offered with its original wrappers, as the present copy, which are illustrated with drawings of scenes of the voyage. - Wrappers a little browned and somewhat foxed (including the edges), spine slightly damaged (especially at the head) and partly cracked. Some very minor foxing throughout, but otherwise still in good condition. A very rare work on Arabian horses.
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Baha'addin al-'Amili.
Tashrih al-aflak [Anatomy of the celestial spheres]. [Central Asia, 18th century].
8vo (160 x 252 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 12 pp. on 7 ff., ca. 18 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. With numerous red and black ink diagrams in the text. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. The "Tashrih al-aflak", known as "general outline of astronomy" or "anatomy of the celestial spheres", is a summary of theoretical astronomy. The philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer and poet Baha' al-Din (953-1030 H / 1547-1621), a native of Baalbek, relocated to Iran with his father. Having completed his studies, he is said to have travelled for 30 years before settling in Isfahan, where he was highly respected as Sheikh al-Islam at the court of Shah Abbas. In the present treatise he affirmed a view in support of the positional rotation of the Earth. Baha' al-Din was one of the first Islamic astronomers to advocate the feasibility of the Earth's rotation in the 16th century, independent of Western influences. - Noticeable duststaining throughout; edges remargined. The restored binding uses the stamped original cover material. GAL II, 415, 6.
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[Bahrain].
Taqrir muqtarah an insha’ Quwwa Bahariyya li-Dawlat al-Bahrayn [Sketch proposal to build a Naval Force for the country of Bahrain]. [Bahrain, mid-1970s].
Hand-drawn military map and organizational flowchart, 1.37 x 1.45 m. Coloured ink and watercolour on paper. Accompanied by 9 original photos. Unique hand-drawn chart of Bahrain's naval force as it was projected in the early and mid-1970s, including two large maps: firstly, of the island's location in the Gulf showing the Navy's planned 200-mile range as well as strategic points throughout the Gulf, and secondly, a smaller scale map showing the defensive coastal artillery firing range and radar ranges reaching out to the north and east of Qal'at al-Bahrain, Galali, and East Sitra bases around Manamah. An inset flowchart shows in detail the organization of Bahrain's Navy, to be headed by the Commander of Naval Forces, presiding over the branches of Supplies and Exercises (Engineers, Supplies, Medical Office), of Operations, Planning, and Signals (all commanded by the Chief of Staff), as well as the Naval Armed Forces proper (Fleet, Special Forces, and Coastal Artillery). The extensive annotation describes the maritime theatre of war around Bahrain, identifies vital targets (Port Sulayman, oil terminal, national airport, oil wells and storage tanks, refinery) and crucial points to be observed, and sketches the projected scope of the navy: initially a small fleet of armoured motor vessels with radar-guided automatic ordnance, later to be upgraded with surface-to-surface rocket launchers with a tactical range of ca. 180 nautical miles. The planning stage is to encompass some 2 to 3 months, followed by a development stage of about 3 years and an implementation phase of another year. - The chart is accompanied by a set of nine original mid-1970s photographs of members of the Egyptian General Staff who assumedly were closely involved in advising the government of Bahrain on the structure and implementation of their new Naval Forces, which became fully operational in 1979. - A fine survival, undocumented and at the time undoubtedly a closely guarded military secret.
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