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Stirling, Walter Francis.
"Arab Types". Album of Arabian portrait photographs. Syria, ca. 1918.
8vo. 15 black and white photographs captioned in white, plus one repeat in a smaller print. Original board album, acquired from "M. Arthur, Beyrouth". Paper label to upper cover: "Arab Types. Syria". Small but fascinating collection of portrait photographs showing Arabian nobles as well as commoners, all captioned and the subject often identified by name and tribe. The photos, many of which are executed as highly expressive profile studies, were taken and assembled by Lt. Col. Walter Francis Stirling (1880-1958), Chief of Staff to T. E. Lawrence. While the present photographs were taken during his time with Lawrence, whom Stirling revered, it is not his British comrades but rather the striking features of the sheikhs and bedouins on which this collection is focused. Among the images are "Sheik Gawaileh of Nejd, one of Lawrence's Bodyguard", and "Sheikh Hamondi, Friend of Lawrence"; others are more ominously identified as "Yezidi Shepherd, Devil worshipper" or "Bad type of Hadadiyim Tribesman". Of many noble tribesmen here depicted, such as Fauraz ibn Sha'laan, Emir of the Ruwalla, or Sheikh Daham al-Hadi, Paramount Sheikh of the Shammar tribe, these probably constitute the only photographic record. - Stirling was trained at Sandhurst and served in the Transvaal operation during the Boer War before being seconded to the Egyptian Army in 1906. He spent five years patrolling with an Arab battalion on the Eritrean and Abyssinian borders. Throughout WWI he served at Gallipoli and the Palestinian campaign until he was appointed chief staff officer to Lawrence of Arabia, who called him "Stirling the imperturbable". In 1937, Stirling would reflect on his famous wartime comrade: "From then [early 1918] throughout the final phase of the Arab revolt on till the capture of Damascus, I worked, travelled, and fought alongside Lawrence [...] We sensed that we were serving with a man immeasurably our superior [...] In my considered opinion, Lawrence was the greatest genius whom England has produced in the last two centuries [...] If ever a genius, a scholar, an artist, and an imp of Shaitan were rolled into one personality, it was Lawrence." In 1919 Stirling became advisor to Emir Feisal and Deputy Political Officer in Cairo, then acting governor of Sinai and Governor of the Jaffa district in Palestine before moving to Albania in 1923 to take up a position advising and assisting in the reorganisation of the Albanian Ministry of the Interior.
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Sulayman al-Tajir / Abu Zaid Hasan ibn Yazid, al-Sirafi / Reinaud, Joseph Toussaint (transl.).
[Silsilat al-tawarik]. Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans l'Inde et à la Chine dans le IXe siècle de l'ère chrétienne; texte Arabe imprimé en 1811 par les soins de feu Langlès [...]. Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1845.
2 vols. 18mo. (6), CLXX, 154 pp. 105, (1), 202 pp. With Arabic title-page printed in red and black. Contemporary tanned half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. First edition in French of two Arabic travels to China and India. The text was translated from the Arabic by the French orientalist and professor Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795-1867). The Arabic text was first printed in 1811, under supervision of the French linguist and orientalist Louis-Mathieu Langlès. - The first volume starts with an introduction to the text, followed by the translation. The main text can be divided into two sections. The first account is based on statement from a merchant called Suleyman, who is said to have travelled to India and China in the years 851-852 (237), however, the actual author of the text is unknown. The following account is written down by Abu Zayd al-Hasan al-Sirafi. Al-Mas'udi, "the Herodotus of the Arabs", mentions al-Sirafi in one of his works, stating that he met him in the year 915-916 (303) in Basra, Iraq. Al-Sirafi tells us he was commanded to verify and extend the earlier account. The date of the second account is unclear, but it was probably written in the first half of the 10th century. The text gives a lively account of the life in China and India, with "… the first foreign descriptions of tea and porcelain, and a whole panorama of Chinese society, from the Son of Heaven and Confucian ethics down to toilet paper and bamboo urinals" (Mackintosh-Smith). The second volume gives notes to the translation, followed by the Arabic text. Added to the Arabic text are two extracts from works by Al-Mas'udi, including his "Muruj al-dhahab". - With owner's inscription on title-page. Sides slightly rubbed. A very good copy: only some minor browning. Cordier (Sinica) 1924f. Hage Chahine 3965. T. Mackintosh-Smith & J. Montgomery (eds.), Two Arabic travel books (2014), pp. 4-17.
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Survey of Palestine.
Palestine Survey Maps. [Jerusalem?], 1942-1945.
490 x 725 mm. Various editions, 16 coloured sheets. Scale 1:100,000. Reliefs shown by contours, hachures and spot heights. Publisher's pictorial wrappers. Rarely found in such a complete group, these topographical maps document an important phase of the Survey of Palestine which was a direct result of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. - "The cadastral survey proceeded in fits and starts, through the Great Revolt of 1936-1939 and World War II. By the end of the mandate, the land was settled in less than 20 percent of Palestine, primarily in areas where Jewish colonies were established, such as the coastal plain, the Marj Ibn Amer valley, and north of Lake Tiberias by the Jordan River. The topographical maps were completed for all of Palestine, excluding the lower Negev. These were very valuable for military purposes during World War II" (Sitta). - Showing the district and sub-district boundaries, plus roads, notable buildings, police stations, minarets, in some cases Sheikh's tombs etc. The maps are as follows: 1. Metulla; 2. Haifa; 3. Safad; 4. Zikhron; 5. Nazareth; 6. Jaffa, Tel Aviv; 7. Nablus; 8. Yibna; 9. Ramle; 10 Jerusalem; 11. Gaza; 12. Hebron; 13. Dead Sea; 14. Rafah; 15. Beersheba; 16. Jebel Usdum. - A little edgewear and toning to wrappers; ownership inscription to each upper wrapper. Sitta, Salman Abu, [review] "A Survey of Palestine under the British Mandate, 1920-1948", in: Journal of Palestine Studies 35.2 (Winter 2006), p. 102.
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Suwaydi, Muhammad Amin.
Hadha kitab Saba'ik al-dhahab fi ma'rifat qaba'il al-'Arab [The book of gold bars: the knowledge of Arab tribes]. Baghdad, dar al-tiba'ah, dar al-salam, [1864 CE] = 1280 H.
4to (235 x 325 mm). (1), 118 pp. Lithographed throughout; pp. 8-97 comprise a continuous genealogical tree. Contemporary plain black cloth-covered boards with black sheepskin spine. First edition: a rare and important work on the genealogy of the Arab tribes, also an early, graphically sophisticated lithographic effort from the Arab World. The "Book of Gold Bars" by the prominent Iraqi theologian and historian Suwaydi (1786-1831) is a revised and expanded interpretation of the "Dictionary of the Arab Genealogy" by the legendary Medieval Egyptian scholar Ahmad ibn Ali Qalqashandi; notably, Suwaydi continued the genealogical profile up to modern times. The book seeks to trace the genealogy of the Arab peoples, and the branches of their tribes, from Biblical times up to the age of Muhammad and then to the modern era. The introductory text (pp. 1-7) is followed by the grand, 90-page genealogical table and ultimately by an alphabetical reference section and analytical section (pp. 98-118). - Suwaydi is thought to have commenced preparation of the work as early as 1814, although he did not complete the treatise until 1830 or 1831, shortly before his death. Highly regarded in its time, for some years a small number of manuscript copies circulated in Islamic academic circles. The present publication represents the first printed edition of the work. The second edition was published in Bombay in 1877 (and is likewise rare), while several subsequent editions appeared during the 20th century. - Covers slightly stained. Last 3 leaves with light tide-marking to outer margins and some sporadic light stains elsewhere, but overall in a good clean condition, a few leaves with short marginal tears some closed with discreet old restoration. Very rare: we can trace only six institutional examples (British Library; University of Cambridge; Bibliothèque de Genève; Yale University Library; University of California at Berkeley; National Library of Israel). No examples have appeared on the market over the last generation. OCLC 708712572 & 32728624. British Library: Asia, Pacific & Africa 14548.c.5. Yale University Library: CS1129.A2 S8 1864. On early lithography in Iraq, cf. A. Al-Rawi, Media Practice in Iraq (2012), passim.
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Suyuti, Jalal al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr al-.
De proprietatibus, ac virtutibus medicis animalium, plantarum, ac gemmarum, tractatus triplex [...]. Paris, Sebastian & Gabriel Cramoisy, 1647.
8vo. (24), 179, (17) pp. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title label to spine (faded). First Latin translation of this three-part pharmacological treatise on the nature and effect of medicines gained from animals, vegetables, and minerals (including some quite superstitious material), published under the name of the mediaval Egyptian polymath Abd al-Rahman Al-Suyuti, whose "versatility stands out as unique in the history of Arabic literature" (GAL II, 144), but probably assembled from various Arabic sources. The first part, covering animals, is likely Al-Suyuti's own "Diwan al-Hayawan", translated by Abraham Ecchellensis after a manuscript in Cardinal Mazarin's library; the authors and manuscript sources of the following two parts remain unidentified. Within the notes, this edition uses several Greek, Hebrew, and even Arabic interspersions in the type. - Some browning to paper. 18th century French note on lower flyleaf; handwritten duplicate note and stamp to title-page. Insignificant paper flaws to pp. 103-106, merely affecting the pagination; small edge tear in p. 151f.; loss to lower margin of last leaf but one of the index (not touching text). Krivatsy 11586. Choulant 389. Wellcome II, 2. Ebert I, 9151. Krüger, Bibliographia botanica 35. Catalogue of the Library of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London 145.
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Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste.
Collections of travels through Turky into Persia, and the East-Indies. Giving an account of the present state of those countries. London, Moses Pitt, 1684.
Folio (214 x 310 mm). 6 parts in one vol. (18), 264 pp. (2), 214 pp. (2), 66 pp, (2). (12), 14, (4), 15-46, (4), 47-87, (1) pp. (6), 113, (1) pp. 154, (2) pp. With 17 full-page engr. plates, 13 folding plates, and numerous text illustrations (including plates of Arabian coins, the great name of Allah, and other Arabian inscriptions). Contemporary calf, spine rebacked. Rare first collected edition of Tavernier's works, profusely illustrated with a fold-out map of the Arabian Gulf, an unusual, large map of Japan, and a fold-out map of the Great Moghul. Comprising: 1) The First Book of Monsieur Taverner's [!] Persian Travels; 2) The Six Trabels of John Baptista Tavernier [...] Through Turky and Persia to the Indies: 3) A Relation of Japon; 4) A New and Particular Relation of the Kingdom of Tunquin; 5) A New Relation of the Inner-Part of the Grand Seignor's Seraglio; 6) The History of the Late Revolution of the Dominions of the Great Mogol. A rare and interesting account of Turkey, Persia, India, Japan, Tonkin, and Formosa. "The Persian Gulf is the most dangerous Gulf I know, by reason of the shallowness and sharp promontories that point out into Sea [...] The Merchant would be glad to find a way through the Coast of Arabia to get to Mascate [...] Elcatif a Sea Town in Arabia, where there is a fishery for Pearls that belong to the Emir of Elcatif" (pt. I, p. 95; "Qatif" being an oasis in Saudi Arabia). Chapter XI (p. 49) of the first part deals with the breeding and nature of camels; chapter III (p. 64) mentions a voyage to Mecca; chapter XXIII (p. 255) deals with the island of Ormus (with the map of the Arabian Gulf). - The second part begins with a discussion of Arabian currency and is illustrated with plates of Arabian coinage. The most important story is perhaps that of “The Imam of Muscat Pearl - That Surpassed in Beauty All Other Pearls in the World”. In chapter XVIII of book II, "Of Pearles and the places where to find them" (p. 145), Tavernier states: "In the first place, there is a Fishery for Pearls in the Persian Gulf, round about the Island of Bakren. It belongs to the King of Persia, and there is a strong Fort in it, Garrison'd with three hundred men." Tavernier then narrates: "There is a wondrous Pearl in the possession of an Arabian Prince, that took Mascate from the Portugals. He then call'd himself Imenhect Prince of Masscaté; being known before only by the name of Aceph Ben-Ali Prince of Norennaé. It is but a small Province, but it is the best of all in the Happy Arabia. Therein grow all things necessary for the life of man; particularly, delicate fruits, but more especially most excellent Grapes, which would make most incomparable Wine. This Prince has the most wonderful Pearl in the world, not so much for its bigness, for it weighs not above twelve Carats and one sixteenth, nor for its perfect roundness, but because it is so clear and so transparent that you may almost see through it. The Great Mogul offer'd him by a Banian forty thousand Crowns for his Pearl, but he would not accept it." The use of the phrase "clear and lustrous as to appear translucent" seem to indicate a white or colorless pearl, the most sought-after color in pearls, with an optimum of lustre and orient caused by the reflection and refraction of light, respectively. The surface quality of the pearl must be exceptional and almost blemish-free in order to characterize it as a specimen surpassing in beauty all other pearls in the world, at that time. The fact that the pearl was in the possession of the Imam of Muscat in the mid-17th century indicates without any doubt that the pearl originated in the most ancient pearl fishing grounds in the world, the Arabian Gulf, most probably in the kingdom of Oman itself, at its very doorstep - on the pearl banks situated closer to the country's shoreline in the Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz. Oyster bearing reefs were well distributed throughout the Gulf, but were greater in abundance on the Arabian side of the Gulf than the Persian one. The pearls are depicted on a plate opposite page 150: "Figure one is of a Pearl which the King of Persia bought at the Fishery of Catifa in Arabia. It cost him 32,000 Tomans, or 1,400,000 Livres of our Money, at forty-six Livres and six Deneers to a Toman. It is the fairest and most perfect Pearl that ever was yet found to this hour, having no defect". Blackmer 1632. Wing T251A, T252, T253. Campbell (Japan) 28. Cox I, 275f. OCLC 6071990. Cf. Wilson 223. Howgego T14. Severin 104-113. Not in Atabey or Weber.
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Tayler, William.
Sketches Illustrating the Manners and Customs of the Indians and Anglo Indians. London, Thomas McLean, 1842.
Large folio (545 x 375 mm). (16) pp. With 6 hand-coloured lithographed plates and a lithographed title. Contemporary half calf with cloth sides, gold tooled title on front cover. First and only edition of an ethnographic study of native Indian people by William Tayler (1808-92), who was at the time Acting Salt Agent of the Central Division of Cuttack for the East India Company. He dedicated his work to "Lady William Bentinck" (born Lady Mary Acheson, 1809-50), who was the wife of the Governor-General of India. The illustrations were drawn by Tayler himself, who was an amateur artist and drew much of the Indian daily life that he encountered. He selected the present 6 drawings to be published and had them lithographed by J. Bouvier. The first 3 plates not only show the ways of Indian people, but even more so the luxurious life of the English in India. The first plate, "The Young Civilian's Toilet" shows a young man relaxing while being treated by several servants, who are named "Anglo-Indians". The room is strewn with objects of leisure. The next 2 plates, "The Young Ladies Toilet" & "The Breakfast" show equal scenes. The other 3 plates are more ethnographic in nature, showing native Indians in their everyday life: "Women grinding at the mill"; "the Sunyasees" (Sannyasis) & "The village barber". Tayler later became a controversial figure for his excessively harsh oppression of Indian people when he was the commissioner of Patna. - Spine and covers slightly worn, pages a little frayed, some foxing on the text pages. Dedication page browned. Plate 2 detached and inserted loosely. Plates in good condition. Abbey, Travel 465. Bobins I 272. H. K. Kaul, Early Writings on India 454. Prasannajit De Silva, Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India, c. 1785-1845 (2018), pp. 116-119.
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Teixeira, José / Munday, Anthony (transl.).
The Strangest Adventure That Ever Happened. Containing a discourse concerning the successe of the king of Portugal Dom Sebastian, from the time of his voyage into Africke when he was lost in the battle against the infidels, in the yeare 1578, unto the sixt of January this present of 1601. London, Frances Henson, 1601.
8vo. 90 pp. (without the final blank leaf). Small woodcut device on title, woodcut decorations and initials. Fine 19th century mottled calf by Lloyd, with gilt arms of Sebastião Pinto Leite, Conde de Penha Longa (motto "Superabo") to both covers, gilt fillets and faux raised bands to spine, compartments tooled in gilt, two red lettering pieces. Leading edges gilt; inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. First English edition of this rare work, containing an account of the failed invasion led by the young king of Portugal, Dom Sebastian, to the north of Africa, his defeat and death, and the political unrest that ensued. - Sebastian, the 24 year-old King of Portugal, invaded Morocco in 1578 with an army of 18,000 men. The army was crushed by the forces of Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi at the battle of Alcacer Quibir and King Sebastian was killed. The fact that he had left no successor paved the way for a series of impostors claiming the throne, only to be captured and executed (ultimately, the Spanish king would accede to the throne of Portugal). Teixeira's work narrates the machinations of the fourth such impostor, a Calabrian by the name of Marco Tullio. - Bound for the Portuguese politician and entrepreneur Sebastião Pinto Leite (1815-92), Conde de Penha Longa. Bookplate of the Fox Pointe Collection Library of Dr. & Mrs. Howard R. Knohl to pastedown. Joints of the fine binding slightly rubbed. Lightly browned throughout; title-page and verso of final leaf lightly dustsoiled. Overall in excellent condition. Rare at auction, the last copy being sold in 1991. BM-STC 23864. OCLC 32330439.
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Teixeira, Pedro, [Mir Khwand and Turan Shah].
Relaciones de Pedro Teixeira d'el origen descendencia y succession de los reyes de Persia, y de Harmuz, y de un viage hecho por el mismo autor dende la India Oriental hasta Italia por tierra. Antwerp, Hieronymus Verdussen, 1610.
8vo. (8), 384, (8), 115 [but: 215], (17) pp. With a woodcut on title-page, a woodcut initial and some woodcut tailpieces. 17th century marbled calf with gilt label to richly gilt spine, red edges. First edition of a "history of the kings of Persia compiled from the Persian histories of Mir Khwand and Turan Shah" (Howgego), in the original Spanish, by the Portuguese merchant and adventurer Pedro Teixeira (1563-1645?). It is one of the earliest European sources to mention Qatar, relating to the pearl fishery in the region: "The pearl fishery at Bahren begins some years in June, but generally in July, an lasts all that month and August … They generally go a fishing to Katar, a port on the coast of Arabia, 10 leagues to the southward of the Island Bahren. As soon an oyster is brought up, they open it, and take out the pearl. The pearls of this sea surpass all others in goodness and weight…" (English translation). The work is divided into three parts. The first, which is the largest, deals with the kings of Persia. It is a summarized translation of the voluminous Rawzat al-Safa by the Persian historian Mir Khwand (ca. 1434-1498), and is probably the first translation of the text into an European language. The second part is a translation of the Ayyibud emir Turan Shah's (d. 1180) chronicle of the kings of Hormuz, a text which is today only extant in translations. Though Teixeira's adventures started in 1586, he reached Hormuz in 1593, where he resided for several years to study its history. Both parts contain a chronological account of the kings, but also provide a more general history of the area. The last and third part contains an account of Teixeira's later travels from India to Italy in 1600-01 and 1604-05, visiting China, Mexico and the Middle East. In his preface Teixeira states that he originally wrote the work in Portuguese, but that it was translated into Spanish to appeal to a wider audience. The work appeared in a French translation in 1681, and extracts appeared in an English translation appeared in 1711, followed by a translation of the full text in 1715. - Binding slightly rubbed and with a small defect to upper spine. Slightly browned, otherwise immaculate copy in its first binding. Howgego, to 1800, T19. Maggs Bros., Spanish books 1014a. Not in Blackmer.
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Tellez (Telles), Balthasar.
The travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia: containing [...] travels in Arabia Felix, wherein many things of that country [...] are treated of, as a particular description of Aden, Moca, and several other places [...]. London, J. Knapton, 1710.
4to. (4), 264, (16) pp. With engraved map of Ethiopia, including part of the Red Sea and the source of the Blue Nile. Modern calf, gold-tooled spine, with red morocco title-label, and the sides blind-tooled in a panel design. Rare first English edition of Tellez's influential historical account of Ethiopia and Arabia. It is a digest of the accounts of all the Jesuit travellers to Ethiopia and Arabia, including Paez, De Montserrat, Almeida, Lobo and Mendes. It includes an account of the travels of the Jesuit missionaries Pédro Paez and Antonio de Montserrate, who were captured off the Kuria Muria islands on a mission from Goa to Ethiopia in 1590 and subsequently taken to Yemen, where they were held captive until 1596. After being sent to San'a by way of Melkis and the Wadi Hadramaut, then after three years taken to Al Mukha (Mocha), where they were forced to serve as galley slaves, they were finally ransomed in 1596 and returned to India. Paez discovered the source of the Blue Nile and is said to have been the first European to have tasted coffee in Al Mukha. - The work further includes a detailed description of Aden (Yemen) as well as of the Ethiopia-Adal War (1529-43), during which Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi led several expeditions against the Ethiopian emperor until most of Ethiopia came under the power of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal. The present English edition is based Almeida's "Historia geral de Ethiopia a alta" (1660), edited by Tellez. - With early owner's inscription ("W. G. Patchell") on title-page. Quires 2D and 2E transposed; a couple of millimetres shaved off the outer border of the map; a faint waterstain throughout; some leaves foxed and some occasional spots. A good copy. ESTC T133244. Paulitschke 1137. Cf. de Backer/Sommervogel VII, 1908-1910. Howgego, to 1800, A65 (Almeida).
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Theodosius of Bithynia.
Kitab al-ukar [Sphaerics]. Kabul, [1909 CE =] 1327 H.
4to (170 x 254 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 111 pp. (paginated in a later ballpoint hand), 11 lines, per extensum, black and red ink, written space ruled throughout with several sets of coloured borders. With numerous diagrams in the margins. Contemporary blindstamped full calf. An early 20th century Arabic manuscript of the "Sphaerics" by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Theodosius of Bithynia (ca. 169-100 BCE). Unknown in the West during the Middle Ages, the "Sphaerics" proved instrumental in the restoration of Euclidean geometry to Western civilization when the book was brought back from the Islamic world during the crusades and translated from Arabic into Latin. - The present manuscript was written in Afghanistan under the rule of Habibullah Khan, a reform-minded Emir who attempted to introduce modern medicine and other technology to his country. The prettily blindstamped binding would also appear to be of Afghan origin. - Paper a little browned and brittle; traces of former block-stitching; some of the first few leaves transposed during re-binding, according to the later ballpoint pagination.
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[Torinus, Albanus (ed).].
De re medica huic volumini insunt [...]. (Colophon: Basel, Andreas Cratander, 1528).
Folio. (12), 125, (1) ff. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on final page, two pages with decorative woodcut borders (built up from 4 blocks, some with initials I.F.), and woodcut initials throughout. 18th-century half calf, with marbled paper in a tree pattern on sides, gold-tooled spine with the coat of arms of the Russian Tsars. First edition of a collection of four medical works, compiled by the Swiss physician Albanus Torinus (1489-1550). The main part of the work consists of "De re medica", also known as "Medicina Pliniana", a very popular medical text during the Middle Ages. Compiled in the fourth century by an anonymous author, it is generally ascribed to Plinius Valerianus, also called pseudo-Plinius, since it mainly derived from Pliny the Elder's "Historia naturalis". Consisting of five books, it gives various medicines and treatments for different diseases, ailments, wounds, tumours etc. The book also draws heavily from the works of Galen and Dioscorides, all highly esteemed in the Arabic world. - The work also contains three other medical works from different authors. "The contents are all either spurious works or later compilations from genuine works of the authors to whom they are attributed" (Durling). It starts with an introduction to "the art of healing", ascribed to Soranus of Ephesus. The second text is by Oribasius, a Greek medical writer from the fourth century BC. According to Durling, the text is an extract from the first chapter of his "Euporista ad Eunapium". The work closes with a botanical text, "De virtutibus herbarum", ascribed to Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, but written by an anonymous author from the 4th century, known as Pseudo-Apuleius. In one of the manuscripts Torinus used, the text was ascribed to the famous Italian physician Antonio Musa Brassavola (1500-55), an expert on the works of Galen and heavily influenced by his work. - The editor, Torinus, was appointed professor of practical medicine at the University of Basel after receiving the degree of doctor in medicine in Montpellier. He translated many Greek texts into Latin, or Latin works into the vernacular, including Vesalius' "De humani corporis fabrica". - From the library of the Russian tsars, with its letterpress library label with shelf number on pastedown and the coat of arms on the spine. With the place and date of printing added in manuscript on the title-page. Paper on boards slightly chafed, binding with traces of use along the extremities, corners bumped and spine restored. First five leaves with a minor water stain, but otherwise a very good copy. Adams S 1461. Durling 4351. Parkinson 2410.
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Tucher, Hans.
Gründtlicher und Eigentlicher Bericht der Meerfart [...] gen Venedig, Jerusalem, zu S. Katharinen Berg, Sinay, Alexandria, un[d] wider gen Nürnberg gethan, was wunders er zu Wasser und Land, und was sich die Bilger in dem heyligen Landt, auch in der Wüsten biß zum Roten Meer, leyden müssen, erfaren hat […]. Frankfurt, Georg Rab & Weygand Han, 1561.
4to. 75, (1) ff. - (Bound with) II: Fabri, Felix. Eigentliche beschreibung der hin unnd wider farth zu dem Heyligen Landt gen Jerusalem, und furter durch die grosse Wüsteney zu dem Heiligen Berge Horeb Sinay, darauß zuvernemen was wunders die Pilgrin hin und wider auff Land und wasser zu erfahren und zu besehen haben. [Frankfurt, David Zöpfel], 1556. 219, (1) ff. With a title woodcut depicting a pilgrim with two camels. Contemporary blindstamped leather over wooden boards. I: A fine Renaissance edition of Tucher's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, undertaken in 1479-80 and first published by Schönsberger in Augsburg in 1482. Tucher (1428-91) was a wealthy Nuremberg merchant who moved in humanistic circles; "his travel report is remarkable in several respects: geographically, because it provides a different, non-traditional route from Jerusalem to Mt. Sinai. Tucher departed from Gaza like Breydenbach, Count Solms, and Felix Fabri in 1483, and seems to have crossed the Tih by the pass el-Mureikhy (which he calls 'Roackie'). But Tucher's stations in the desert denote a different route and are even more difficult to reconcile with the known localities. In historical respect, Tucher's account is remarkable for abstaining largely from the fabulous and for revealing a sense of factual reporting, even though much space is given to miraculous episodes, as might be expected from a text of this genre and age. Finally, it is of linguistic interest" (ADB). - II: Editio princeps of Fabri's pilgrimage account. Felix Fabri, a native of Zurich and a Dominican preacher at Ulm, describes his two pilgrimages made to the Holy Land, the first in 1480, as chaplain to Georg von Stein, and the second in 1483-84 as chaplain to Johannes Truchsess von Waldburg, as part of the same party as Breydenbach. - Title-page of Tucher frayed. Some light staining throughout. Worldcat lists 3 copies of Tucher in the US, and 5 copies of Fabri. Not a single copy of Tucher in auction records; a copy of Fabri in a modern binding commanded £4140 at Sotheby's in 1998. I: VD 16, T 2164. Röhricht 390. ADB XXXVIII, 766. - II: VD 16, F 136. Röhricht 395 ("Ulm").
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[United Arab Emirates].
Al Sharjah. Series K563 (GSGS 4851) NG-40-9 & 10, Edition 1. [London], D. Survey, War Office and Air Ministry, 1957.
Colour-printed map, ca. 600 x 835. Scale 1:250,000. An extremely detailed map of what are today the northernmost six Emirates of the UAE (at the time of issue, the Trucial States): Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Ras al Khaimah, and Fujairah, also marking the names of all the tribes holding power in the various areas. Issued by the Geographical Section, General Staff (GSGS) as part of their 1:250,000 scale map series of Arabia. The GSGS, also known as MI 4, operated under the Director of Military Operations and Intelligence. Its role was to supply maps to the British armed forces, collect data on foreign survey networks, provide training, and prepare survey data for Expeditionary Force mobilisation. - Old folds, some staining. Numerous pin-holes to corners from former wall mounting; an old ballpoint penstroke. Otherwise well preserved.
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[United Arab Emirates].
S.E. Arabia. Series GSGS 4802, Sheet 1 [Trucial Coast]. Edition 2-GSGS. [London], D Survey War Office and Air Ministry, 1956.
Large colour-printed map, ca. 113 x 84 cm. Scale 1:500,000. A highly detailed large scale British military map, showing the coast from Doha (Qatar) to Ras Al-Khaimah (modern-day UAE). - Old folds, some creasing to bottom margin, and one small closed tear to left margin, otherwise very good.
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[United Arab Emirates].
S.E. Arabia. Series GSGS 4802, Sheet 1 [Trucial Coast]. Edition 2-GSGS. [London], D Survey War Office and Air Ministry, 1956.
Large colour-printed map, ca. 113 x 84 cm. Scale 1:500,000. A highly detailed large scale British military map, showing the coast from Doha (Qatar) to Ras Al Khaimah (modern-day UAE). - Old folds, some creasing to margins and corners, 10 cm closed tear to bottom margin, a few other small closed tears, otherwise good. With "Additions drawn by: - Sgt Newman 17:11:61. 1 Troop 19 Topo Sqn R.E.", marking additional camps, old oil camps, place names and airstrips (old, extant and "possible"), mainly in the desert areas of Abu Dhabi.
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[United Arab Emirates].
Strait of Hormuz (548). GSGS 4695. Edition 2. London, War Office, 1955.
Coloured R.A.F. aeronautical chart. 738 by 573 mm. Scale 1:1,000,000. An excellent official British aeronautical chart of the Strait of Hormuz, covering part of Oman, a large section of the coastline of the United Arab Emirates (including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah) and Hormuz Island. It was issued by the Geographical Section, General Staff (GSGS) as part of their 4695 series of 1:1,000,000 scale maps. The GSGS supplied maps to the British Armed Forces (in this case the R.A.F.), collected data on foreign survey networks and prepared survey data for Expeditionary Force mobilisation. - Light weakening and edge flaws to folds, but generally well preserved.
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[United Arab Emirates].
USAF Pilotage Chart. Ash Sharigah (548 D). Trucial Oman. Washington, DC, Aeronautical Chart Service, U.S. Air Force, 1948-1950.
Colour-printed map, 554 x 733 mm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:500,000., Lambert Conformal Conic Projection. Relief shown by contours, shading, gradient tints, and spot heights. Key printed on verso. Rare, advanced first edition of this U.S. Air Force aeronautical chart of what would be, within less than a quarter of a century, the bulk of the United Arab Emirates: Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and the city of Abu Dhabi to the south, based on aerial photography. "This chart is prepared for use at night under white, ultra-violet, red, and amber lights" (note). Released November 1948, with additions to February 1950 (advance edition). - Blindstamp of the American Geographical Society. Stamps to corners, not affecting the image ("Map Room Copy", "Obsolete", "Gift From Publisher"). Folded; in very good condition.
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[United Arab Republic].
Kharitat al-Jumhuriyah al-'Arabiyah al-Muttahidah (Map of the United Arab Republic). Damascus, Matba'at al-hukumiat bi Dimashq, [ca. 1958].
Colour-printed political and physical map, ca. 134 x 94 cm. Scale 1:2,000,000. Mounted on cloth. Rare, detailed Syrian-printed map of the short-lived United Arab Republic, which aimed to unite Egypt and Syria politically in 1958. Although it effectively ceased to exist with the Syrian coup of 1961, Egypt continued to use the name until 1971. - Cartography by Niqola Zariq and Izzat Saydawi. Shows borders, rivers, valleys, principal, secondary and desert roads, railways, oil pipelines, capitals, provinces and centres, important cities and villages. The areas, population, railway length, cultivated lands and provinces of Syria and Egypt are specified separately. The Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia is shown as far as Al Lith, south of Jeddah. - The declaration of the United Arab Republic bolstered the trend towards Pan-Arabism, and confrontational attitudes toward neighbouring states increased. The province of Hatay, on the Turkish border, is shown on Syrian territory, reflecting ongoing disputes over claims on Hatay beginning after the end of the First World War. Similarly, Israel is designated "Palestine" in the Palestinian territories. - Some stains; wrinkled with several edge tears and chips. Folded.
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[United States Geological Survey of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]. Bramkamp, Richard A. / Ramirez, Leon F.
Geographic Map of the Central Persian Gulf Quadrangle Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-209 A [and] B. Washington, D.C., U.S. Geological Survey, [1959-1961 CE =] 1378-1380 H.
2 sheets (A, combined map of geography and geology; and B, geography only) in full colour, both covering the same section the Arabian Peninsula. Ca. 103 x 103 and 83 x 100 cm, folded. In original printed envelope. English and Arabic. Scale 1:500,000; relief shown by hachures and spot heights. The only two sheets of the groundbreaking series covering today's UAE - the remaining parts of the Emirates were skipped in the survey prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and Aramco and were therefore never published. The first to produce a full series of geological and geographical maps of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the venture was instrumental in establishing the country as a major global force in the production of natural resources and must count as "a unique experiment in geological cooperation among several governments, petroleum companies, and individuals" (Seager/Johnston). - The area here covered is the eastern portion of Qatar and the westernmost area of Abu Dhabi, including the island of Sir Bani Yas and the adjoining border territory of Saudi Arabia. Indeed, this is the only map in the series to show any portion of today's United Arab Emirates: the land to the eastward was still beyond the focus of oil exploration in the mid-1950s and was omitted from the mapping project. - The importance of the present map within the series is underscored by the fact that its joint authors, R. A. Bramkamp and L. F. Ramirez, were Aramco's foremost geologists. Together with Glen F. Brown, a veteran of the industry who also had been in the region since the 1940s and who would oversee the venture, Bramkamp had in February 1955 planned the entire programme, laying down everything from the scales of maps, the areas of responsibility, and types of terrain representation to the bilingual names. As Aramco's chief geologist, Bramkamp was responsible for the compilation of the areas within Arabia where the sediments crop out. This responsibility fell to Ramirez following Bramkamp's early death in September 1958. - The surveyors divided the Peninsula into 21 quadrangular sections (numbered I-200 through I-220), each to cover an area 3 degrees of longitude and 4 degrees of latitude. All maps were produced on a 1:500,000 scale and issued in two series: a combined map of geography and geology (marked by the appendix 'A') and a map of geography only ('B'). "High altitude photography [...] was [...] completed in 1959 [...] This controlled photography resulted in highly accurate geographic maps at the publication scale which then served as a base for the geologic overlay. The topography of the sedimentary areas was depicted by hachuring and that of the shield region by shaded relief utilizing the airbrush technique. The first geographic quadrangle was published in July 1956 and the last in September 1962 [...] The first of the geologic map series was published in July 1956 and the final sheet in early 1964" (Seager/J.). - Although it was the search for oil, gas and minerals that "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 [...] 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" (Parry). The project was considered highly important by Ibn Saud, and its aims encompassed all aspects of cartography. It was to enable not only the search for natural resources but also aid in advances for agriculture, civil and military engineering and general infrastructure projects. The results were seminal for the mapping of the region: "To this day, all modern maps of the kingdom trace their roots back to these first publications" (ibid.). - Lower left corner of 'B' map chipped (no loss to text or image); printed sleeve somewhat rubbed with a 1960s few pencil annotations, otherwise a very clean set in excellent state of preservation. A single map of the quadrangle to the immediate west of this, I-208 (the 1958 'A' sheet only), showing Dhahran and Ras Tanura, is currently being offered on the market at £25,000. James V. Parry, "Mapping Arabia", in: Saudi Aramco World 2004/1, p. 20ff. 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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[United States Geological Survey of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia].
Saudi Arabia Landsat Image Maps (1:250,000). 20 maps. [Reston, VA] / Jiddah, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources, 1979-1981.
20 maps, 84 x 53 cm or larger. Printed in brown tones. Transverse Mercator projection, constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:250,000 scale. All but two in their original printed orange envelopes. The joint NASA/USGS Landsat Programme started in the early 1970s, providing the longest continuous space-based record of the Earth’s surface. Of the 25 maps in 1:250,000 scale produced during 1979-81, 20 are included here (wanting 2, 3, 4 [IR 301, 302, 303], 13 [IR 312], 16 [IR 315]). They cover the stretch of the Red Sea coast from just below the Gulf of Aqaba to just below Jeddah, and inland from Jeddah towards Dammam via Riyadh. Comprises individually: - 1 (IR 300): Jabal Al Hasir Quadrangle, Sheet 19F, 1979; 5 (IR 304): Jibal Hayil Quadrangle, Sheet 17E, 1980; 6 (IR 305): Al Qunfudhah Quadrangle, Sheet 19E, 1980; 7 (IR 306): Wadi Hali Quadrangle, Sheet 18E, 1980; 8 (IR 307): Jizan Quadrangle, Sheet 16F, 1980; 9 (IR 308): Jibal Al Qahr Quadrangle, Sheet 19G, 1981; 10 (IR 309): Bi’r Idimah Quadrangle, Sheet 18G, 1981; 11 (IR 310): Jaza’ir Farasan Quadrangle, Sheet 16E, 1980; 12 (IR 311): Wadi Bishah Quadrangle, Sheet 20F, 1981; 14 (IR 313): Al Lith Quadrangle, Sheet 20D, 1981; 15 (IR 314): Wadi Tathlith Quadrangle, Sheet 20G, 1981; 17 (IR 316): Turabah Quadrangle, Sheet 21E, 1981; 18 (IR 317): Ar Rawdah Quadrangle, Sheet 21F, 1981; 19 (IR 318): Jabal Tarban Quadrangle, Sheet 21G, 1981; 20 (IR 319): Rabigh Quadrangle, Sheet 22D, 1981; 21 (IR 320): Al Muwayh Quadrangle, Sheet 22E, 1981; 22 (IR 321): Zalim Quadrangle, Sheet 22F, 1981; 23 (IR 322): Wadi Ar Rika’ Quadrangle, Sheet 22G, 1981; 24 (IR 323): Al Mulayh Quadrangle, Sheet 22H, 1981; 25 (IR 324): Al Ji’lan Quadrangle, Sheet 21H, 1981. - Envelope and map of no. 10 stamped with initials and date (TRU May 1981) and a couple of nicks to map edge, otherwise excellent throughout. G. J. Vranas, List of Interagency Reports submitted by the US Geological Survey Saudi Arabian Mission to the Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources from 1965 to the beginning of 1992 (Open File Report USGS-OF-92-2. Interagency Report 844 (Jiddah: Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Directorate General of Mineral Resources, 1412 AH/1992 AD), pp. 71, 26-29.
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Valeriani, Domenico / Segato, Girolamo.
Nuova illustrazione istorico-monumentale del basso e dell'alto Egitto. Including: Atlante monumentale del basso e dell'alto Egitto. Florence, Paolo Fumagalli, 1836-1837 (text) & 1837-1841 (plates).
2 text vols. (8vo) and 2 plate vols. (large folio). (2), 491, (1), (4) pp. 788, (6) pp. text. With engraved portrait of Segato as frontispiece in the first text volume and the plate volumes with 160 engraved and aquatint plates (7 double-page), including 51 tinted and/or coloured by a contemporary hand; many plates contain multiple illustrations, making 309 illustrations in total. Contemporary green (text vols.) and brown (plates vols.) half morocco, sewn on 3 recessed cords (text vols.) and 4 tapes (plates vols.), "agate" chemical marbled sides. First edition of a beautiful series of illustrations of Egypt and classical Egyptian monuments, with the accompanying text volumes giving detailed information on each illustration. The illustrations show maps, costumes and views of both ancient and modern Egypt. The scientist and Egyptologist Girolamo Segato (1792-1836) began working on a new description and depiction of Egypt, selecting illustrations from the works of Denon, Grau and Rosellini, and also including his own original drawings. After his premature death his collaborator Domenico Valeriani finished the work and provided the accompanying texts. - Segato is best known for his technique similar to mummification, this technique of petrification remains mysterious, despite numerous studies and attempts to imitate, as he destroyed all his documentation before his death. - The text and plates volumes with marginal foxing throughout, minor except in the preliminary leaves. Otherwise in good condition. The binding slightly rubbed along the extremities, damage to the upper right corner of the first plates volume, resulting in a stain on the front endpapers, and the upper half of the sides on the second plate volume faded, otherwise good and structurally sound. Blackmer 1521 (plate volumes only, erroneously noting 159 plates). Blackmer sales cat. 984 (160 plates). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 301. ICCU 0154707. For Segato: Almagia, "Segato, Girolamo" in: Treccani Enciclopedia Italiana (online ed.).
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Valle, Pietro della.
Reiss-Beschreibung in unterschiedliche Theile der Welt, nemlich in Türcken, Egypten, Palestina, Persien, Ost-Indien und andere weit entlegene Landschaften. Geneva, Johann Herman Widerhold, 1674.
Folio. 4 vols. bound as 1. [20], 218, [12], [2 blank]; [4], 236, [12]; [4], 244, [13], [1 blank]; [6], 231, [17] pp. First title-page printed in red and black, each title-page with Widerholds's woodcut device (motto: "Gradatim ad sidera tollor"). With 31 engraved plates (1 folding), including frontispiece and portraits of the author and his wife, by Jean Jacques Thourneyser. Further with woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, factotums and several small woodcuts in the text. Contemporary vellum, manuscript spine-title, blue sprinkled edges. First edition in German of Pietro della Valle's deservedly famous narrative of his travels in the Middle East, with an excellent account of Muscat and the Arabian Gulf and references to Dibba. Della Valle, an Italian nobleman, sailed from Venice in 1614 to Istanbul, where he arrived in August 1614, spending a year to explore the city. He continued to Rhodes, Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo, crossing the Sinai desert to Jerusalem, Damascus and Aleppo. From there Della Valle proceeded to Isfahan (Iran) to meet the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I. He sojourned in Persia until early 1623, witnessing and commenting on the escalating conflict between Shah Abbas and the Portuguese empire. In 1621 he decided to return to Europe and set off for the Persian Gulf, but the Persian and English blockade prevented his sailing. By way of India he finally sailed for Muscat in January 1623, from which he crossed the Arabian Gulf to Basra, continuing overland to Aleppo, arriving in Europe in 1626. During his travels he wrote regularly to his learned friend in Naples, Mario Schipano. These 54 letters formed the basis of an account of his travels that was first published in Rome as Viaggi di Pietro della Valle from 1650 to 1658. "Della Valle displayed excellent narrative and descriptive skills, powers of acute observation, and a genuinely scholarly breadth of learning. He refused to comment on what he had not witnessed himself or checked against the best authorities [...] Della Valle's eighteen letters from Persia provide one of the most detailed sources of information for most aspects of Persian life in the second half of Shah Abbas' reign" (Gurney). - Engraved armorial bookplate on paste-down. Evenly browned throughout, some spotting, few quires in volume 3 with wormholes in gutter margin, not affecting the text, otherwise in very good condition. VD 17, 39:135561Q. Tobler, p. 95. Cf. Atabey 1269-1271 (other eds.); Blackmer 1712 (French ed.); Gurney, "Della Valle, Pietro", in: Encyclopaedia Iranica (online ed.).
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Valle, Pietro della.
Viaggi di Pietro della Valle il pellegrino. Venice, Paolo Baglioni, 1661-1664.
12mo. 4 vols. (40), 670 pp. (2) ff. (1 blank), 734, (34) pp., (2) ff. (1 blank), 792, (18) pp. 756, (24) pp. With a woodcut in the text of vol. 3, p. 193, and a full-page engraving on p. 361 of vol. 4 (both diagrammatic). Contemporary limp vellum with ms. spine titles; all edges of vol. 2 sprinkled in red. Early duodecimo edition of Della Valle's complete "Viaggi", published while the first complete edition was still under the press. Della Valle's account is highly sought after as one of the earliest printed sources for the early history of Dibba, the coastal region at the northeastern tip of the United Arab Emirates, today ruled by the Emirates of Fujairah and of Sharjah. - Pietro della Valle (1586-1652) left Venice in 1614 on a pilgrimage to Palestine, proceeding to Baghdad and then into Persia, where he married and sojourned in the court of Shah Abbas. While staying with the Sultan of Bandar Abbas, he "met the son of the ruler of Dibba who was visiting. From this he learned that Dibba had formerly been subject to the kingdom of Hormuz, but was at that time loyal to the Safavids who in 1623 sent troops to Dibba, Khor Fakkan and other ports on the southeast coast of Arabia in order to prepare for a Portuguese counter-attack following their expulsion from Hormuz (Jarun). In fact, the Portuguese under Ruy Freire were so successful that the people of Dibba turned on their Safavid overlords, putting them all to death, whereupon a Portuguese garrison of 50 men was installed at Dibba. More Portuguese forces, however, had to be sent to Dibba in 1627 as a result of an Arab revolt. Curiously, two years later the Portuguese proposed moving part of the Mandaean population of southern Iraq, under pressure from neighbouring Arab tribes, to Dibba" (UAE History: 2000 to 200 years ago - UAEinteract, online). "Della Valle displayed excellent narrative and descriptive skills, powers of acute observation, and a genuinely scholarly breadth of learning. He refused to comment on what he had not witnessed himself or checked against the best authorities" (Gurney). He continued his travels east to the coast of India, Goa and Muscat, and thence back to Aleppo by way of Basra. He reached Rome in 1626, where the original Italian text of his letters written to the Neapolitan physician Mario Schipano was published. Only the first volume, dealing with Turkey, saw print during his lifetime. The two-part volume II on Persia was released in 1658, four years after his death; in 1662 the Turkey volume saw a second edition, and the set was concluded in 1663 with the volume on India. A single-volume English translation of the Indian travels appeared in 1665. - Occasional slight brownstaining, otherwise fine. Röhricht 947, p. 238. Tobler 95. Weber II, 251. British Library STC II, 931. Cf. Graesse VII, 251. Atabey 1271 (1667 Baglioni ed., 3 vols. only). Blackmer 1712 (mixed French ed.). Macro 2233. Gurney, "Della Valle, Pietro", in: Encyclopaedia Iranica (online ed.).
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Van Lennep, Henry John.
The Oriental Album: Twenty illustrations in oil colors of the people and scenery of Turkey, with an explanatory and descriptive text. New York, Anson D. F. Randolph, 1862.
Folio. Tinted lithographic additional title by Charles Parsons, printed by Endicott & Co., 20 chromolithographic plates by Parsons after van Lennep, all printed by Endicott & Co. of New York. Expertly bound to style in half dark green morocco over period patterned cloth covered boards, spine lettered and decorated in gilt. A rare and important colour-plate book: one of the relatively few American costume books, and certainly the best such created in 19th-century America. This is a notable and unusual instance of the taste for the Ottoman or "Turkish" which manifested itself in the furniture of the period but seldom in books. In terms of American color-plate books, this is one of the only large projects from the 1860s, when the Civil War seems to have curtailed production of such lavish enterprises. "The one really big chromolithographic book of this decade [...] the art is simple, but [Charles] Parson's hand is obvious in the good lithography, and Endicott's printing is well done for its time" (McGrath). "Endicott achieved a rich variety of color which demonstrated the increased technical ability of American printers in the medium" (Reese). Henry Van Lennep was born in Smyrna, the son of European merchants. Educated, on the advice of American missionaries, in the United States, he returned to Turkey as a missionary in 1840, and spent most of the next twenty years in various parts of the Ottoman Empire. Returning to the United States in 1861, he turned his superb original drawings of Middle Eastern life into the Oriental Album. The plates include two scenes of Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire. Included are plates of "A Turkish Effendi", "Armenian Lady (at home)", "Turkish and Armenian Ladies (abroad)", "Turkish Scribe", "Turkish Lady of Rank (at home)", "Turkish Cavass (police officer)", "Turkish Lady (unveiled)", "Armenian Piper", "Armenian Ladies (at home)", "Armenian Marriage Procession", "Armenian Bride", "Albanian Guard", "Armenian Peasant Woman", "Bagdad Merchant (travelling)", "Jewish Marriage", "Jewish Merchant", "Gypsy Fortune Telling", "Bandit Chief", "Circassian Warrior", "Druse Girl". Bennett, p. 108. Blackmer Catalogue 1715. Blackmer Sale 1500. DAB XIX, 200. McGrath, pp. 38, 115, 162. Reese, Stamped with a National Character 97. Atabey 1274.
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Varthema, Lodovico di.
Die Ritterliche unnd Lobwirdige Reyß [...] sagend von den Landen Egypto, Syria, von beiden Arabia, Persia, India, und Ethiopia, von deren gstalt, sitten, Leben, Pollicey, Glauben unnd Ceremonien [...]. (Frankfurt/Main, Hermann Gülfferich), 1548.
4to. 220 unnumbered pp. Title-page and title woodcut printed in red and black; full-page woodcut on reverse of title-page and 44 woodcuts in the text by Jörg Breu the elder. Bound with eight contemporary pamphlets. Contemporary blindstamped leather over wooden boards. All edges red. Remains of two clasps. Sixth or seventh, still early German edition of Ludovico di Varthema's famous travels to Arabia, Persia, and India: the highly important and adventurous narrative containing the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. All early editions of Varthema’s account are exceedingly rare (even the 2013 Hajj exhibition at the MIA, Doha, only featured the 1655 reprint; cf. below). - Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502. In 1503 he reached Alexandria and ascended the Nile to Cairo, continuing to Beirut, Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where, adopting Islam and taking the name of Yunas, he joined a Mameluke escort of a Hajj caravan and began the pilgrimage to Mecca. Varthema was amazed by what he observed: "Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there", he begins, and arriving at the Great Mosque, continues, "it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the fragrances which are smelt within this temple." Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples [...] of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten hear-says." His good fortune did not continue unabated, however: after embarking at Jidda and sailing to Aden, he was denounced as a Christian spy and imprisoned. He secured his release and proceeded on an extensive tour of southwest Arabia. Stopping in Sanaa and Zebid as well as a number of smaller cities, he describes the people, the markets and trade, the kind of fruits and animals that are plentiful in the vicinity, and any historical or cultural information he deems noteworthy. Returning to Aden, and after a brief stop in Ethiopia, he set sail for India. In addition to visiting Persia, Varthema explored the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, including a stay at Calicut at the beginning of 1505. He also purports to have made extensive travels around the Malay peninsula and the Moluccas. Returning to Calicut in August 1505, he took employment with the Portuguese at Cochin and, in 1508, made his way back to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. - First published in 1510, Varthema's account became an immediate bestseller. In addition to his fascinating account of Egypt, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and the holy Muslim cities, "Varthema brought into European literature an appreciation of the areas east of India [...] which it had previously not received from the sea-travelers and which confirmed by firsthand observations many of the statements made earlier by Marco Polo and the writers of antiquity" (Lach, I. i. 166). "Varthema was a real traveller. His reports on the social and political conditions of the various lands he visited are reliable as being gathered from personal contact with places and peoples. His account of the overland trade is of great value in that we are made to see it before it had begun to give way to the all-seas route. He even heard of a southern continent and of a region of intense cold and very short days, being the first European probably after Marco Polo to bring back the rumor of Terra Australis" (Cox I, 260). - Bound at the end of the volume are eight rare contemporary pamphlets, including two concerned with the Ottoman wars, two others so rare that they are bibliographically unrecorded (a full list with references is available upon request). Binding is mildly rubbed and bumped; interior shows slight browning and fingerstaining with occasional edge damage. Pastedown has ownership and bookplate of the Bildhausen Cistercians, dissolved in 1803. VD 16, ZV 15159 (BSB copy lost). IA 113.553 (s. v. "Barthema", citing 212 pp. only: no more than six copies, all in Germany). Goedeke I, 379, 17, 7. Cf. Röhricht no. 574, p. 164; Cordier Indosinica I, 103; Röttinger 115 (all for Gülfferich's 1549 ed.). Cf. exhibition cat. "Hajj - The Journey Through Art" (Doha 2013), p. 90 (1655 Dutch ed. only). Blackmer 1719. Gay 140 (a 1556 Frankfurt ed). Cox I, 260. Macro 2239 (other eds.). Carter, Sea of Pearls, p. 68 (1520 ed.). Boies Penrose, p. 28-32. Not in Atabey, BM, or Adams.
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Varthema, Lodovico di.
Hodaeporicon Indiae Orientalis; Das ist: Warhafftige Beschreibung der ansehnlich lobwürdigen Reyß, welche der edel, gestreng und weiterfahrne Ritter, H. Ludwig di Barthema von Bononien aus Italia bürtig, in die Orientalische und Morgenländer, Syrien, beide Arabien, Persien und Indien, auch in Egypten und Ethyopien, zu Land und Wasser persönlich verrichtet [...]. Leipzig, Henning Groß, 1608.
8vo. (24), 402, (22) pp., final blank f. Title-page printed in red and black. With 21 folding engr. plates and woodcut device at the end. Contemporary vellum with ms. spine title. Traces of ties. Excessively rare first printing of Hieronymus Megiser's German translation: Ludovico di Varthema's famous account of travels to Arabia, Syria, Persia, Ethiopia, India and the East Indies; a highly important and adventurous narrative including the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. "Varthema's Itinerario, first published in 1510, had an enormous impact at the time, and in some respects determined the course of European expansion towards the Orient" (Howgego). The 1510 edition, published in Italian at Rome, had no illustrations. The illustrations in this early 17th century edition include a map of the Arabian Peninsula as well as a separate one of only the Gulf (both identifying "Catura", i.e., Qatar), a view of Aden, riders on Arabian horses, a view of Damascus and the Arab costume as worn in Syria, an elephant, etc. - Ludovico di Varthema or Barthema (ca. 1468-1517) sailed from Venice to Egypt in 1502 and travelled through Alexandria, Beirut, Tripoli and Aleppo, arriving in Damascus in April 1503. There he enrolled in the Mameluke garrison and proceeded overland to Khaybar, Medina and Mecca, thereby becoming the first European to enter the two holiest cities of Islam. His travels took him further to South Arabia, Persia, India, Goa, Cochin, and supposedly the Malay isthmus, Sumatra, Banda, the Moluccas, the Spice Islands, Borneo, Java and Malacca. It has often been suggested, however, that he never came further east than Ceylon and that the account of the rest of his journey was assembled from stories passed on by others, but even in these regions much of his information appears to be accurate. Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and of Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social and geographical aspects and details of daily life. He gives a detailed description of Mecca and the Islamic pilgrimage, and his description of the Hejaz (the west coast of Arabia on the Red Sea, including Mecca and Medina) is especially valuable as it pre-dates the Ottoman occupation of 1520. He finally returned to Lisbon in 1508. - Varthema's account became a bestseller as soon as it appeared in 1510 and went through about twenty editions in various languages in the next fifty years. It certainly provided many Europeans with their first glimpse of Islamic culture and of non-European cultures in general. This first edition of this translation is so rare that Röhricht doubted its existence. - Somewhat browned throughout due to paper. Several contemp. underlinings and marginalia in red and black ink. Contemp. ownership "Michael Thomas, Ao. 1635, 1 Octobris" on t.p. and note of acquisition ("const. 8 ggr") on flyleaf (with later ownership "A. U. D. S. 1715" and further provenance note "Aus des Vice Praesid. Fryers Erbschafft" on pastedown). VD 17, 39:129377V. Goedeke I, p. 379, no. 17, item 9 (note). Röhricht 574, p. 165. Cf. Cordier, Indosinica, col. 104 (1610 reprint only). Macro 2239f.; Gay 140; Blackmer 1719; Carter, Sea of Pearls, p. 68; Cox I, p. 260; Howgego, to 1800, V15 (other eds. only). D. F. Lach, Asia in the making of Europe I, pp. 164-166, 503, 593-594 & passim. Not in Atabey.
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Varthema, Lodovico di.
Itinerario de Ludovico de Varthema Bolognese nello Egitto, nella Soria, nella Arabia deserta, & felice, nella Persia, nella India, & nela Ethyopia. Le fede el vivere, & costumi delle prefate provincie. Et al presente agiontovi alcune isole novamente ritrovate. Venice, Francesco Bindoni & Maffeo Pasini, April 1535.
Small 8vo (94 x 143 mm). 100, (4) ff. With woodcut title illustration and woodcut printer's device to final leaf. Near-contemporary limp vellum with traces of a handwritten spine title. Still early original Italian edition of Ludovico di Varthema's famous travels to Arabia, Persia, and India: the highly important and adventurous narrative containing the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. All early editions of Varthema’s “Itinerario” are exceedingly rare (even the 2013 Hajj exhibition at the MIA, Doha, only featured the 1654 reprint; cf. below). - Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502. In 1503 he reached Alexandria and ascended the Nile to Cairo, continuing to Beirut, Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where, adopting Islam and taking the name of Yunas, he joined a Mameluke escort of a Hajj caravan and began the pilgrimage to Mecca. Varthema was amazed by what he observed: "Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there", he begins, and arriving at the Great Mosque, continues, "it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the fragrances which are smelt within this temple." Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples [...] of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten hear-says." His good fortune did not continue unabated, however: after embarking at Jeddah and sailing to Aden, he was denounced as a Christian spy and imprisoned. He secured his release and proceeded on an extensive tour of southwest Arabia. Stopping in Sanaa and Zebid as well as a number of smaller cities, he describes the people, the markets and trade, the kind of fruits and animals that are plentiful in the vicinity, and any historical or cultural information he deems noteworthy. Returning to Aden, and after a brief stop in Ethiopia, he set sail for India. In addition to visiting Persia, Varthema explored the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, including a stay at Calicut at the beginning of 1505. He also purports to have made extensive travels around the Malay peninsula and the Moluccas. Returning to Calicut in August 1505, he took employment with the Portuguese at Cochin and, in 1508, made his way back to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. - First published in 1510, Varthema's account became an immediate bestseller. In addition to his fascinating account of Egypt, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and the holy Muslim cities, "Varthema brought into European literature an appreciation of the areas east of India [...] which it had previously not received from the sea-travelers and which confirmed by firsthand observations many of the statements made earlier by Marco Polo and the writers of antiquity" (Lach, I. i. 166). "Varthema was a real traveller. His reports on the social and political conditions of the various lands he visited are reliable as being gathered from personal contact with places and peoples. His account of the overland trade is of great value in that we are made to see it before it had begun to give way to the all-seas route. He even heard of a southern continent and of a region of intense cold and very short days, being the first European probably after Marco Polo to bring back the rumor of Terra Australis" (Cox I, 260). - This edition includes the itinerary of the island of Yucatan (fols. 89ff.), repeated from the 1526 edition of Varthema: Juan Díaz's account of Juan de Grijalva's 1518 expedition to Middle America, first published in Venice in 1520. - Trimmed closely with occasional slight loss to the outermost letters of the page. Some browning and waterstains. The fine title woodcut, copied from Scinzenzeler's 1523 edition, shows Varthema seated on a bench in front of a building, writing on a globe, behind him a set of dividers; in the background is a landscape with a ship at sea and a castle. 17th century ink annotation to verso of last leaf. Rare; a single complete copy in international auction records since 1936. OCLC lists six copies only. Edit 16, CNCE 48228. BM-STC Italian 73. Macro 2239. Gay 140. Röhricht 574, p. 163. Cordier Indosinica I, 98f. Fumagalli 77. Harrisse 205. Sabin 98646. Alden, European Americana, 535/20. OCLC 56581916. Cf. Blackmer 1719. (1523 edition). Boies Penrose, pp. 28-32. Exhibition cat. "Hajj - The Journey Through Art" (Doha, 2013), p. 90 (1655 Dutch ed. only). Carter, Robert A. Sea of Pearls, p. 68 (1520 edition). Not in the Atabey collection. Not in Adams.
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Varthema, Lodovico di.
Itinerario de Ludovico de Verthema Bolognese ne lo Egypto ne la Suria ne la Arabia Deserta & Felice ne la Persia ne la India, & ne la Ethiopia. La fede el vivere & costumi de tutte le prefate provincie. Milan, Giovanni Angelo Scinzenzeler, (30 April 1523).
Octavo (185 x 130 mm). XLII ff. (A-E8, F2). Large woodcut on title with decorative woodcut border, putti above and below (Sander 7494 and pl. 93). Roman letter, numerous floriated white on black woodcut initials. Modern calf bound to style: covers with concentric frames in blind fillets, gilt fleurons at outer corners, central lozenge in gilt. Spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Second original Italian edition, second issue of Ludovico di Varthema's famous travels to Arabia, Persia, and India: the highly important and adventurous narrative containing the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. All early editions of Varthema’s “Itinerario” are exceedingly rare (even the 2013 Hajj exhibition at the MIA, Doha, only featured the 1654 reprint; cf. below). - Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502. In 1503 he reached Alexandria and ascended the Nile to Cairo, continuing to Beirut, Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where, adopting Islam and taking the name of Yunas, he joined a Mameluke escort of a Hajj caravan and began the pilgrimage to Mecca. Varthema was amazed by what he observed: "Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there", he begins, and arriving at the Great Mosque, continues, "it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the fragrances which are smelt within this temple." Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples [...] of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten hear-says." His good fortune did not continue unabated, however: after embarking at Jidda and sailing to Aden, he was denounced as a Christian spy and imprisoned. He secured his release and proceeded on an extensive tour of southwest Arabia. Stopping in Sanaa and Zebid as well as a number of smaller cities, he describes the people, the markets and trade, the kind of fruits and animals that are plentiful in the vicinity, and any historical or cultural information he deems noteworthy. Returning to Aden, and after a brief stop in Ethiopia, he set sail for India. In addition to visiting Persia, Varthema explored the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, including a stay at Calicut at the beginning of 1505. He also purports to have made extensive travels around the Malay peninsula and the Moluccas. Returning to Calicut in August 1505, he took employment with the Portuguese at Cochin and, in 1508, made his way back to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. - First published in 1510, Varthema's account became an immediate bestseller. In addition to his fascinating account of Egypt, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and the holy Muslim cities, "Varthema brought into European literature an appreciation of the areas east of India [...] which it had previously not received from the sea-travelers and which confirmed by firsthand observations many of the statements made earlier by Marco Polo and the writers of antiquity" (Lach, I. i. 166). "Varthema was a real traveller. His reports on the social and political conditions of the various lands he visited are reliable as being gathered from personal contact with places and peoples. His account of the overland trade is of great value in that we are made to see it before it had begun to give way to the all-seas route. He even heard of a southern continent and of a region of intense cold and very short days, being the first European probably after Marco Polo to bring back the rumor of Terra Australis" (Cox I, 260). - The fine title woodcut shows Varthema seated on a bench in front of a building, writing on a globe, behind him a set of dividers; in the background a landscape with a ship at sea and a castle. 18th-century collection shelfmark to title page. A very clean, appealingly-bound copy; a few minor traces of worming have been professionally repaired. Rare; only four copies in international auction records. OCLC lists five copies only (Yale, Trinity College Hartford, NYPL, BL, BnF). Cf. exhibition cat. "Hajj - The Journey Through Art" (Doha, 2013), p. 90 (1655 Dutch ed. only). BM-STC 73. Blackmer 1719. Gay 140. Röhricht 574. Cordier Indosinica I, 98. BM 2: 473 (96). Boies Penrose, pp. 28-32. OCLC 42438419. Cf. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 2239 (other editions only). Carter, Robert A. Sea of Pearls, p. 68 (1520 edition). Not in the Atabey collection. Not in Adams.
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(Varthema, Lodovico di.
The Navigation and v[o]yages of Lewes Vertomannus, Gentelman of the citie of Rome, to the regions of Arabia, Egypte, Persia, Syria, Ethiopia, and East India, both within and without the ryver of Ganges, etc. In the yeere of our Lorde 1503. Conteynyng many notable and straunge thinges, both hystoricall and naturall. Translated out of Latine into Engylshe, by Richarde Eden). London, Richard Jugge, 1577.
4to. (10), 466, (6) ff. With historiated woodcut initials. Splendid modern full navy blue morocco, bands on spine with title showing faded gilt, covers double-ruled gilt. The first English edition of Ludovico di Varthema's famous travels to Arabia, Persia, and India: the highly important and adventurous narrative containing the first printed eyewitness account of any place in today's United Arab Emirates. On his return journey from Mecca (which he was the first Westerner to describe), Varthema visited Ras al-Khaimah ("Giulfar") and portrayed the city as "most excellent and abounding in everything", with "a good seaport", and whose inhabitants are "all Muslims". While Montalboddo's famous anthology of discoveries, printed in 1507, contained the first printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, it was Varthema's work, published only three years later, that offered the first actual report from the region by a Western traveller who had visited the coast. All early editions of Varthema’s "Itinerario" are exceedingly rare (even the 2013 Hajj exhibition at the MIA, Doha, only featured the 1654 reprint; cf. below). - Varthema, a gentleman adventurer and soldier from Bologna, left Venice at the end of 1502. In 1503 he reached Alexandria and ascended the Nile to Cairo, continuing to Beirut, Tripoli, Aleppo and Damascus, where, adopting Islam and taking the name of Yunas, he joined a Mameluke escort of a Hajj caravan and began the pilgrimage to Mecca. Varthema was amazed by what he observed: "Truly I never saw so many people collected in one spot as during the twenty days I remained there", he begins, and arriving at the Great Mosque, continues, "it would not be possible to describe the sweetness and the fragrances which are smelt within this temple." Thanks to his knowledge of Arabic and Islam, Varthema was able to appreciate the local culture of the places he visited. Impressed and fascinated, he describes not only rites and rituals, but also social, geographical, and day-to-day details. "I determined, personally, and with my own eyes", he declares in the prefatory dedication, "to ascertain the situation of places, the qualities of peoples [...] of Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Felix, Persia, India, and Ethiopia, remembering well that the testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten hear-says." His good fortune did not continue unabated, however: after embarking at Jeddah and sailing to Aden, he was denounced as a Christian spy and imprisoned. He secured his release and proceeded on an extensive tour of southwest Arabia. Stopping in Sanaa and Zebid as well as a number of smaller cities, he describes the people, the markets and trade, the kind of fruits and animals that are plentiful in the vicinity, and any historical or cultural information deemed noteworthy. Returning to Aden, and after a brief stop in Ethiopia, he set sail for India. In addition to visiting Persia, Varthema explored the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, including a stay at Calicut at the beginning of 1505. He also purports to have made extensive travels around the Malay peninsula and the Moluccas. Returning to Calicut in August 1505, he took employment with the Portuguese at Cochin and, in 1508, made his way back to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope. - First published in 1510, Varthema's account became an immediate bestseller. In addition to his fascinating account of Egypt, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, and the holy Muslim cities, "Varthema brought into European literature an appreciation of the areas east of India [...] which it had previously not received from the sea-travelers and which confirmed by firsthand observations many of the statements made earlier by Marco Polo and the writers of antiquity" (Lach, I. i. 166). "Varthema was a real traveller. His reports on the social and political conditions of the various lands he visited are reliable as being gathered from personal contact with places and peoples. His account of the overland trade is of great value in that we are made to see it before it had begun to give way to the all-seas route. He even heard of a southern continent and of a region of intense cold and very short days, being the first European probably after Marco Polo to bring back the rumor of Terra Australis" (Cox I, 260). - Published as an extensive part of "The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies" - one of the first English versions of the significant collection edited by Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (Peter Martyr, 1457-1526). The first independently published English translation would not appear until 1863: Varthema's travelogue was included for the first time in the present translated edition of Martyr's "History". The translation, with some omissions, is that of Decades I-III of "De Orbe Novo" by Martyr, with additions from other sources, edited by Richard Eden and Richard Willes. Willes was a member of the Jesuits from 1565 to 1572 and was familiar with Maffei, the Jesuit chronicler whose account he drew on for this work. Under the benefaction of the Earl of Bedford, Willes expanded Eden's translation to include, apart from Varthema's travels, four Decades and an abridgement of Decades V-VIII; Frobisher's voyage for a Northwest Passage, Sebastian Cabot's voyages to the Arctic for the Moscovy Company, Cortez's conquest of Mexico, Pereira's description of China, 1565, Acosta and Maffei's notices of Japan, 1573, and the first two English voyages to West Africa. Also, this is the first account in English of Magellan's circumnavigation, as well as the first printed work to advocate a British colony in North America. - Sympathetically washed but not pressed; some minor repairs to title not affecting printed surface. Some remaining toning and staining in small areas of a few leaves. Generally a wide-margined and appealing copy. - Provenance: acquired from Quaritch in 1975 by Gregory S. Javitch (1898-1980), a Russian-born, Canadian leader in the land reclamation sector in Ontario. Javitch formed an important collection of 2,500 items entitled "Peoples of the New World", encompassing both North and South America, which was acquired by the Bruce Peel Special Collections at the University of Alberta. It was considered the finest such private collection in Canada at the time and formed the cornerstone of the library’s Special collections. The present volume remained in Javitch's private collection was acquired directly from his heirs. Howgego M65. Brunet I, 294. OCLC 5296745. LCCN 02-7743. Alden, European Americana 577/2. Church 119. Streeter Sale 24. Arents 23. Borba de Moraes, p. 33. Hill 533. BM-STC 649. Sabin 1562. Cordier, Japonica 71. Field 485. Cf. exhibition cat. “Hajj - The Journey Through Art” (Doha, 2013), p. 90 (1655 Dutch ed. only). Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 2239f. (other editions only). Not in the Atabey or Blackmer collections.
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Vernay, Charles.
Poésies nationales et religieuses Françaises, Italiennes, Turques et Persanes, 195 pièces orientales, leur traductions, et le texte Turc et Persan de 57 pièces [...]. Paris, Albert Franck (on back of half-title: printed by Firmin Didot frères), 1860[-1861].
With a lithographed portrait of the author, 5 lithographed facsimiles of the author's autograph manuscripts and 4 of the letterpress pages printed in gold. Extra-illustrated with 3 lithographed and 4 engraved Royal Folio illustration plates (including 2 portraits of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I). With: (2) Vernay, Charles. Poésies Turques et Persanes (cent quarante et une pièces) ... Paris, Albert Franck (below frame: lithographed by [Mathieu] Masson), "1858-1859" [= AH 1275]. With a letterpress wrapper-title in French, printed in gold, a lithographed Turkish and Persian wrapper-title (dated "1275" and "1858") and text in Turkish and Persian, lithographed from the autograph manuscript in Arabic script, all printed in gold, and a lithographed portrait of the author (the same as in ad 1). (3) Vernay, Charles. Nouvelles poésies Persanes et Turques ... Paris, Albert Frank, July 1860 (colophon: lithographed by [Mathieu] Masson, r. de Valois 48, Paris). A large 4to bifolium, with a lithographic facsimile of a 4-page autograph manuscript in Arabic script, printed on blue paper. (4-18) Vernay, Charles. [Miscellaneous publications in various formats, some letterpress, others lithographed facsimiles of the author's autograph manuscripts in French, Turkish and Persian, and including a 1-leaf autograph manuscript in Persian]. Paris, Firmin Didot frères and others, 1851-1858. 18 publications in 1 volume. Royal Folio (49.5 × 34.5 cm) with a few items in smaller formats. Contemporary diced, richly gold-tooled calf, each board with a double frame of rolls and stamps, a crescent moon and star inside each corner of the inner frame, blind-tooled turn-ins, green silk brocade endleaves. Unrecorded royal folio issues of two major editions of oriental poetry, bound together and with extensive supplementary material added, probably for presentation to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I: the first and only edition of the collected oriental poetry (195 pieces) of the French child prodigy orientalist, linguist and poet Charles Vernay; and the earlier lithographic edition of his 141 Turkish and Persian poems. In the former work, the Turkish and Persian poems are rendered both in the Arabic script and in French translation. It also includes a few poems in Italian and German. Even the 8vo issues of these two editions are very rare. The present Royal folio issues of the two main works were clearly never offered for sale. - Charles Vernay (1842-1866?) began publishing his writing at age nine and most of the present publications note the age at which he wrote them, ranging from 9 to 16. When Vernay was in Istanbul in 1861, he wrote a new dedication for the 1860 Poésies nationales et religieuses, addressed to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I, though Vernay had it printed in Paris. It explicitly notes that he is presenting a copy of "mon volume de Poésies Françaises, Italiennes, Turques et Persanes" to the Sultan. This suggests that the present copy of the two works together, with that dedication and many other additions, is the copy he planned to present. Since the dedication is dated 14 March 1861 and the supplementary Dixième chant mystique (also printed by Lainé and Havard) 20 April 1861 (only 2 months before Sultan's death), it is possible the Sultan died before Vernay had an opportunity to present the book to him. In addition to the extensive additional material inserted in the Poésies nationales et religieuses, and the supplement to the Poésies Turques et Persanes, the present copy has about 15 miscellaneous publications by Vernay bound between the two main works, some letterpress, some lithographic facsimiles of his autograph manuscripts in French, Turkish and Persian, and including a 1-page autograph manuscript in Persian. Some occasional foxing and an occasional marginal tear. The ink in the 5 lithographic facsimiles of very large Arabic script has eaten a few holes in the paper, and it and a few other lithographed leaves have offset onto the facing pages. But the book remains in good condition. The binding is worn at the hinges, shows some superficial damage on the front board near the fore-edge, and the first free endleaves at front and back have been creased and at the front its silk has been torn and repaired, but the binding also remains good and with the tooling clear. Ad 1: cf. Hage Chahine 4995 (8vo issue); WorldCat (7 copies of the 8vo issue); ad 2: cf. Browne, Hand-list ... Turkish (Gibb coll., Cambridge UL), (1906), 169; Hage Chahine 4994 (8vo issue); WorldCat (4 or 5 copies of the 8vo issue); ad 3: not found recorded; none of the 3 in Aboussouan coll.; Atabey; Blackmer; Diba, Persian bibliography; Lambrecht; Coll. Lazard; for Charles Vernay and his poetry, see also: Syed Tanvir Wasti, "On Charles Vernay and his 'Divan'", Middle Eastern studies LI (2015), pp. 789-803.
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Vincent, William.
The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea [...] Containing an Account of the Navigation of the Ancients [...] With Dissertations. London, A. Strahan for T. Cadell jun. and W. Davies, 1800-1805.
Large 4to. 2 vols. XII, 227, (1), 87, (3) pp. XII, (229)-559, (1), 83, (1). With engraved frontispiece in vol. 1, 8 engr. maps (6 folding), and 1 folding table. - (Bound with): The Voyage of Nearchus, and the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. Oxford, Cadell & Davies, 1809. XV, (1), 119, (1) pp. With 1 plate. Contemporary giltstamped English full calf; spines rebacked with original gilt labels. First edition of this rare Middle Eastern geography, published in two parts: 1. From the Sea of Suez to the Coast of Zanguebar; 2. From the Gulph of Elana, in the Red Sea, to the Island of Ceylon. Includes an extensive discussion of the Arabian Peninsula, including sections on Myos Hormus, the Wealth of Arabia, the Coast of Yemen, Aden, Mokha and Oman, Oriental Commerce by the Gulph, etc. Among the plates are a map of the western Arabian coastline, a chart of the Red Sea, and al-Idrisi's famous world map, "a pinnacle of mediaeval cartography as well as of the history of geographical research" (cf. Lex. z. Gesch. d. Kartographie, p. 325; Tooley II, 405). William Vincent (1739-1815) served as headmaster and later Dean of Westminster, and "ancient geography was the subject which Vincent made his chief study" (DNB). Also includes Vincent's edition of the Greek text of the voyage of Nearchus. - Covers rubbed; corners bumped. Traces of old stamps, removed from title pages and half titles. Somewhat browned and brownstained. From the library of the antiquary and bookseller Francis Drake (1828-85), a descendant of the like-named English navigator and privateer, with his engr. bookplate to pastedowns. A good, wide-margined copy. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 311. DNB LVIII, 364. Graesse VI/2, 325. OCLC 6388867. Not in Atabey, Blackmer, Aboussouan, Weber, Henze, etc.
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Visconti, Giammartino Arconati.
Diario di un viaggio in Arabia Petrea (1865). (Including:) Atlante per servire al Diario di un viaggio in Arabia Petrea. Torino, Vincenzo Bona, 1872.
Royal 4to (31 x 27 cm). 2 vols. 439; 46, (2 blank) pp. (vol. II, pp. 1-2 blank). With 2 title-pages printed in red and black, each with the author's wood-engraved decorated GAV monogram and motto; vol. 1 with 2 folding lithographed maps (1 printed in black, brown and blue, with the route coloured by hand in red, of the Sinai Peninsula; the other in black and white, of the city of Petra); 40 mounted albumen prints after paintings by Emile Pierre Metzmacher (mainly 11.5 x 16 cm), individually mounted with letterpress captions on the mount; and 2 engraved plates; vol. 2 with 6 numbered engraved plates of molluscs and insects. Set in roman and italic types, with incidental Arabic, and sans-serif Greek and Latin capitals to render ancient inscriptions. The Diario in the original publisher's maroon cloth with the author's crowned monogram gold-blocked on the front board and spine, and blind-blocked on the back board, with the title in gold on the spine. The Atlante in the original publisher's blue cloth, with the author's crowned monogram and the title gold-blocked on the front board, and the monogram in a larger size blind-blocked on back board. Both volumes with gilt edges, orange endpapers and with tissue guard leaves tipped in, protecting the albumen prints and engraved plates. Rare first and only edition of an Italian account of an 1865 expedition through "Arabia Petrea", meaning the Sinai Peninsula and adjoining parts of what are now Israel and Jordan, including the ancient city of Petra, now in Jordan, where parts of "Raiders of the Lost Arc" were filmed (the spectacular ancient buildings are carved into the solid rock walls of the cliffs and probably date from the 5th century BC to the 2nd century AD). - The photographically reproduced paintings show the author on camelback, numerous Bedouins, Arabs, Egyptians and Ethiopians as well as archaeological sites, monuments and topographic views. The plates in the second volume depict molluscs and insects, reflecting the author’s own research interests in the field of natural history, in addition to archaeology. The typography has been designed to suit the antiquarian subject, with Louis Perrin's Augustaux roman capitals on the title-pages, the main text set in what would then have been considered an "antique" style (types influenced by pre-1800 models) and sans-serif capitals used to represent the ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions. The author quite literally put his stamp on the work, with his crowned monogram not only on the title-page and binding, but also embossed in the paper, where it serves as a sort of watermark. - The book does not indicate the size of the edition, but since most of the illustrations are original albumen prints, there cannot have been many copies produced. The present copy may be a more deluxe binding than the Blackmer copy, also inscribed by the author to a woman, for it was in green cloth with only Visconti's single initial "V" on the front board. The volume with the Diario is a presentation copy with the author’s presentation inscription to a woman named Josephine. - Bindings slightly worn, the blue cloth a little stained. First and last leaves of both volumes browned, some foxing, some fly-leaves with a tear (not affecting the plates), the map of Petra stained due to oxidation, with some browning caused by the albumen prints on the facing leaves, but overall in good condition. Blackmer 1742. Gay 3650 bis. Macro 2254 (not noting plates): Not in Howgego, Ibrahim-Hilmy, or Weber.
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Vogüé, Melchior de.
Syrie centrale. Architecture civile et religieuse du Ier au VIIe siècle. Paris, J. Baudry, 1865-1877.
Folio (285 x 358 mm). 2 volumes. (4), 12, 154, (6) pp. (8) pp. With a total of 3 maps (2 in colour) & 152 mostly full-page plates, several with tinted lithographed backgrounds. Later red half morocco with giltstamped spine titles. First edition of this detailed study of Syrian decorative architectural art. "De Vogüé travelled with William Waddington in 1853 and 1854, exploring the area from Aleppo to Damascus, Palmyra and Basra. It was an important expedition and much new material was uncovered. The author became ambassador to the Porte in 1871" (Blackmer). - Occasional foxing to plates, but a fine set. Blackmer 174. Not in Weber.
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Wallin, Georg August (Yrjö Aukusti).
Första Resa fran Cairo till Arabiska Öknen i April 1845. Fragment. Helsingfors (Helsinki), (S. Baranovskij for) J. Simelius, 1853.
8vo. VII, (1), 126 pp., final blank f. With lithographed map at the end of the volume; printed notes of a Bedouin melody within the text. Green half calf with contemporary marbled boards and giltstamped title to rebacked spine. First edition, published posthumously. - Extremely rare account of Wallin's principal journey through Arabia, unknown to most bibliographers: "It was not until two years after his death", writes Henze, "that the report of his first (and most important) journey (performed in 1845, a year before the appearance of the first volume of Carl Ritter's 'Arabia') was published". This refers to the English "Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca", which was printed in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1854. In fact, an extensive account of the first leg of this highly significant journey was first given to the world in December 1853, but little more than a year after the author's passing. Of this Swedish-language book, edited by Berndt Otto Schauman, fewer than two dozen copies are known worldwide, 12 of which are in Finnish libraries (the remainder distributed throughout Sweden [4 copies], Germany [2 copies], Denmark, France, and the U.S.A. [a single copy each]). In contrast with the later JRGS publication, the present work includes an appendix rendering Arabic terms and phrases that occur throughout the text in the original language and script. - Like his more famous contemporary J. L. Burckhardt, Wallin was fluent in Arabic and, in local costume, was capable of passing for a scholarly sheikh. Indeed, the two explorers are often compared: "I see many points of resemblance between them, the same iron constitution, the same versatility, the same indomitable energy, the same imperturbable temper" (H. C. Rawlinson, quoted in Henze). Financially backed by his alma mater, the University of Helsinki, Wallin departed for the Middle East in 1843 and set out on his expeditions from Cairo under the name of Abd al-Wali. "In 1845, proceeding southeast across the wastelands of the Nafud Desert, he reached Ha'il then continued by force of circumstances southward to Medina and Mecca. From there he returned to Egypt" (Howgego). More precisely, he "moved eastwards from Wadi al-Araba, first touching upon the upper regions of Wadi Sirhan, then on to the oasis of Djuf ('Algawf') and crossed the central regions of Shammar, via Djobbah ('Gubbi'), the Great Nefud ('Nufood'), and Hail [...] Of Shammar and its inhabitants he provided the fullest account, unsurpassed by later travellers in its scholarly precision" (Henze). After his return to Europe in 1850, Wallin was made Professor of oriental languages at Helsingfors. His notes provide a detailed overview of the political and religious movements and the role of the different tribes in Palestine and especially in Saudi Arabia. - Stamped ownership "L. L. Cygnaeus, Helsingfors" to flyleaf. A fine, largely unbrowned copy. K.-E. Henriksson (A Wallin Bibliography), in: Studia orientalia 17 (1952), p. 13-16, at p. 13. OCLC 551923531. Cf. Macro 2262. Howgego II (1800-50), W12, p. 627. Henze V, 452 (all citing only the 1854 JRGS publication). Cf. Fück 198 (mentioning the journey). Not in Gay or Ibrahim-Hilmy.
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Wellsted, J[ames] R[aymond].
Travels to the City of the Caliphs, along the Shores of the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean. Including a Voyage to the Coast of Arabia, and a Tour on the Island of Socotra. London, Henry Colburn, 1840.
Large 8vo. 2 vols. XIII, (3), 405, (1) pp. VIII, 347, (1) pp. With 2 lithogr. frontispieces and a folding map of the Arabian Peninsula. Contemp. blindstamped cloth with gilt title to spine. Only edition. One of the best English 19th-c. accounts of Arabia and the Gulf. Wellsted's short career was almost entirely devoted to the surveying of the Red Sea, Arabia and Oman, undertaken on a number of expeditions between 1830 and 1837. On board the surveying ship Palinurus he was the first European to set foot in the interior of Oman. Starting late in 1835 from the easternmost point of Oman, Wellsted made his way westward through the Ja`alan region to the Wahibah Sands and then struck north up the Wadi Batha to Samad. There he was joined by Lieutenant F. Whitelock, also of the Indian Navy, who had set out from Muscat later. Together they reached Nazwa, the ancient capital of Oman, and climbed the lower slopes of the Jabal al-Akhdhar, in central Oman. In January 1836 they arrived on the Al-Batinah coast and then turned west, recrossing the Hajar mountains and emerging on the edge of the Dhaharah, the rocky steppe that stretches west toward the Rub` al-Khali. - Bindings rubbed; spines rebacked. Interior somewhat foxed as common. Removed from the Worcester Public Library. Rare; the Peter Hopkirk copy fetched £3,500 at Sotheby's (Oct 14, 1998, lot 1192). Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 2283. Howgego III, 635. Weber I, 67. Wilson 242. Henze IV, 476. Not in Gay, Blackmer, or Ghani.
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Welsch (Velschius), Georg Hieronymus (ed.).
Commentarius in Ruzname Naurus sive Tabulae aequinoctiales novi Persarum & Turcarum anni. Nunc primum editae è Bibliotheca, cujus accedit Dissertatio, de earundem usu. Augsburg, Johann Schönigk f. Theophil Göbel, 1676.
Small 4to. (14), 137, (19) pp. With engraved frontispiece and 22 engraved plates by Melchior Haffner. Contemporary calf. First facsimile edition of any oriental manuscript. 16 of the 22 finely engraved plates show a Persian perpetual calendar with Ottoman Turkish "commentarius" and floral borders. Welsch had acquired the ms. from Christoph Weikmann's Kunstkammer in Ulm. The remaining six plates are concerned with Arabian astronomy: astrolabe, orrery, zodiac, circular table of Sundays and names of the months in various languages. - The calculation of this calendar is today attributed to the 9th-c. Persian mathematician Wafâ al Buzjâni (cf. BSB München; Humboldt-Universität Berlin). The predominant attribution to one Turkish Sheikh Wafâ had been disputed by Babinger as early as 1927. Abu'l-Wafâ al Buzjâni is regarded as "the last great representative of the mathematics-astronomy school that arose around the beginning of the ninth century, shortly after the founding of Baghdad" (DSB I, 39). His astronomic oeuvre is preserved merely in fragments. The calligraphic commentary, however, is Turkish and (according to Babinger) was prepared by a 17th-c. magistrate, 'Ajn-i 'Alî Mueddinzâde. - Welsch (1624-77) was a physician and "a researcher of the very first magnitude [...] while the works of this polymath were mainly dedicated to the Arabian and Persian sciences, he also has provided proof of his close study of Ottoman Turkish. In this connexion, his important 'Commentarius in Ruzname Naurus' must be cited" (cf. Babinger 1919). Welsch's "Dissertatio" (with Arabic typeface) is aimed at the usefulness of the calendar for relative oriental chronology: he also compares the works of Schall von Bell and Andreas Müller on Chinese astronomy and chronology. - Bookplate of South Library on front pastedown. Occasionally browned. Zenker, Bibliotheca Orientalis I, 1077. Schnurrer 465. Babinger, Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen (1927), 116 & 141. Babinger, Die türkischen Studien in Europa, in: Die Welt des Islams VII, 1919, 117. Not in Balagna, L'Imprimerie Arabe en Europe.
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Whigham, H[enry] J[ames].
The Persian Problem. An examination of the rival positions of Russia and Great Britain in Persia with some account of the Persian Gulf and Bagdad Railway. London, Isbister and Co., 1903.
8vo. XVI, 424 pp. Folding map frontispiece and 2 full-page maps to the text, 2 as plates, 23 plates. Original sand buckram, title gilt to spine and upper board, top edge gilt. First and only edition. Important regional study of the Arabian Gulf, published in response to the grant of the Baghdad Railway concession by the Ottoman Government to a German-backed consortium. Assesses the economic, military and political implications of rival claims in the various states of the area. - Whigham was a well-connected Scottish author who emigrated to America and worked as drama critic on the Chicago Tribune, and as a war correspondent at the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese Wars. A close friend and correspondent of British Persian Gulf opinion-makers Lord Curzon and Sir Percy Cox, Whigham wrote the book, based on his extensive travels in the region, at the request of Lord Curzon, who had "advised [him] to go to the Gulf [and] instructed his subordinate officials in that part of the world to give me all the assistance in their power". Whigham is probably best remembered as a prominent amateur golfer, winner of the second and third US Amateur Championships, and author of "How to Play Golf", the first golf instruction manual illustrated from action photographs. Diba Collection 1978, 227. Wilson 243. OCLC 2987283.
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Wiedemann, Eilhard / Hauser, Fritz.
Über die Uhren im Bereich der islamischen Kultur. Halle, Ehrhardt Karras für die Akademie in Kommission bei Wilh. Engelmann in Leipzig, 1915.
Folio. 272 pp. With 136 text illustrations. Modern half cloth with gilststamped spine title. Study of mediaeval Arabic clock-making techniques, based on published works and unpublished Arabic manuscripts. - Perfectly preserved in a modern private library binding. OCLC 4703118. Nova Acta: Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop.-Carol. Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher, Bd. C Nr. 5.
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[World Map - Islamic Manuscript].
Map of the world centred on the Arabian Gulf, showing seven mosques or minarets. Northern India or Kashmir?, ca. 1790 / late 18th century copy of a 16th century (?) original.
500 x 420 mm. Oval manuscript map in ink and watercolour (blue, brown, green and red; map image including water 295 x 380 mm, the land alone 220 x 305 mm) on a half sheet of extremely large Dutch laid paper (watermark: D&C Blauw IV), with dozens of features labelled in Persian (written in black ink in the nastaliq script) and with animals (including elephants and a dragon), people and 4 European ships. Framed and matted. An 18th century manuscript copy, in colour, of a lost map in the Islamic tradition, with dozens of inscriptions in Persian and extensive pictorial imagery showing numerous mosques, elephants in southern Africa, eastern India and what may be northern Bengal or part of Southeast Asia, snakes and a dragon (with four feet and two pair of wings) in East Asia, birds north of the Caucasus and people in Europe north of the Alps. The regions with people and animals (excluding the dragon and snakes) are also the only regions shown wooded. The oval land is surrounded by oceans with a European ship at each of the four cardinal compass directions: three 3-masted ships flying flags with St George's cross (used by the crusaders, Knights Templar and English and French troops from the 12th century and by the Genoese and others from the 13th century: while it is not St George come to slay the dragon, these European ships in an Islamic map remain a puzzle), and at the south a 2-masted ship with no rectangular flag, all four ships accompanied by rowboats. Inlets can be identified as the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea (?) and another in the Far East. A wide straight band of mountains runs west to east from coast to coast, apparently representing the Alps, the Caucasus and the Himalayas, with a few additional mountains in southern India and elsewhere. One can clearly see the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as well as the rivers of the Indus and Ganges valleys. After one passes beyond Bengal it becomes more difficult to identify the topographic features that ought to represent Southeast and East Asia: there is no island to represent Japan, and the peninsula that faintly resembles Korea seems more likely to be China. While some pictorial elements and lettering are designed to be viewed from various sides as one turns the map, there is a distinct bias in the lettering and some of the pictures for west at the head, which is quite unusual (most Islamic maps have south at the head). - We have found no record of any closely similar map, but the topography certainly owes something to the traditional Islamic world maps, perhaps by the 10th-century Abu al-Hasan al-Harrani or his followers such as the 15th-century Ibn al-Wardi. Like most maps in the Islamic tradition (including those of al-Bakri and al-Istakhri), these follow the Greek tradition of Anaximander (6th century BC) in depicting the world as an almost perfectly geometric circle surrounded by the great river or sea Oceanus, and also representing other features with abstract forms. They show the Nile running into the Mediterranean and (almost as its continuation north of the Mediterranean) a channel leading to the Black Sea, which continues via the river Phasis to the northern coast, forming a boundary between Europe and Asia. The present map is much more naturalistic, with an oval form and irregular coastlines. The inlets and rivers also have more naturalistic forms, and the map shows much more detail than do the traditional Greek and Islamic maps (one can recognize Qatar and Ceylon/Sri Lanka, and one of the two islands in the Mediterranean probably represents Crete (is the other Ceylon, Sicily, an oversized Malta, or something else?). Yet in spite of its greater detail and naturalism, its geography is in some ways less accurate than that of its more abstract ancestors. Like the al-Harrani and al-Wardi maps, the Nile has an L shape (though not rigidly geometric like theirs), but the southern end connects to the Red Sea and the northern end passes east of the Mediterranean, continuing directly into the channel leading to the northern coast (with no graphic distinction between the Black Sea and the channel to Oceanus). The Nile also appears to contain an enormous island, but the tower at its northern end might possibly represent the 13th-century minaret at Luxor. The Mediterranean appears as a triangular inlet without even a bulge to suggest Greece or Italy, which many Islamic and Greek maps show clearly. Africa and India extend no farther south than the Arabian Peninsula, with only the Red Sea and the Gulfs separating them. Some Mughal maps, such as that of Sadiq Isfahani (ca. 1647), share the more naturalistic depiction, and Isfahani also depicts Ceylon similarly, but his map shows few geographic or topographic similarities. - Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the present map is the depiction of mosques and minarets, which are so detailed that many can be identified even without recourse to the Persian inscriptions. The rectangular wall of the Great Mosque at Mecca appears clearly with the Ka'bah in the centre and four minarets, one at each corner. This also suggests a latest possible date for the lost original, for three more minarets were added in quick succession, apparently between 1603 and 1629. A recent study suggests that the Ka'bah began to appear in Islamic maps only ca. 1450 (Karen Pinto, "Medieval Islamic maps", 2016, not seen, but cf. Arnoud Vrolijk in Mols & Buitelaar, eds., "Hajj: global interactions through pilgrimage", 2015, p. 216), suggesting that the lost model for the present map with many mosques, some shown in detail, was at least several decades later. This evidence for a date, combined with the naturalistic depiction, suggests the lost model for the present map might have originated in the Islamic realms of 16th-century India. The Great Mosque at Medina is also clearly depicted. Pending more information about the Persian inscriptions (which apparently name regions, cities, mosques, topographic features and curiosities), we can only guess at the other mosques or minarets. We noted one perhaps at Luxor. Two on the eastern side of the Euphrates might be at Basra and Aleppo (with some pyramids in between), while one in North Africa looks like the Great Mosque at Taza and the other might be at Fez. There may some buildings in East Asia, by the mountains near the dragon, but they may merely be smoke or flames from what appear to be burning rocks. A couple of other sites show fortress-like walls (in red in the northern parts of the Arabian Peninsula and India) without a mosque or minaret. - The map is stunning as a work of art, a fusion of age-old tradition with modern techniques of illustration and figural representation, executed in pastel colours with the mountains and ships in several shades of brown, Oceanus and the inlets light blue, the rivers grey, the forests and dragon green and occasional small details in red or pink. In spite of its large size, the map is drawn on a half sheet, so that the whole sheet would measure at least 84 x 50 cm, considerably larger than Imperial and one of the largest sheet sizes produced in the 18th century. The chainlines are about 28.5 mm apart. The watermark or countermark would fall in the middle of the map image, so that it is not identifiable in the framed map. One can make out only some diagonal lines that might belong to a letter W. The map is numbered "No 95" in an 18th-century hand at the upper left, so it may have once been part of a manuscript atlas. - Formerly folded once horizontally and vertically. In very good condition. An 18th century copy of a lost 16th century (?) Islamic map of the world, showing seven mosques or minarets, unlike any other map known to us.
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Yahya Naci Efendi.
[Introducing electricity through experiments]. Constantinople, [1812 CE] = 1227 H.
8vo (222 x 150 mm). 16 ff., mostly with 24 text lines to each page (text area 155 x 70 mm). Written in excellent Naskh script with black ink on waxed paper. Headings and highlighted words in red. Two (folded) plates on velin paper (watermark: A. Stace 1802). With carefully executed pen-and-ink drawings with notes in red (167 x 194 mm each). Contemporary red half leather. Covered with Ebru paper, with leather edges and marbled endpapers. The original Ottoman Turkish manuscript of one of the most important texts in the history of electrical engineering and science: the complete treatise on electrical fluid, as drafted by the Turkish engineer Yahya Naci the same year. "In the early 19th century, the teaching of science at the Imperial Engineering School in Istanbul was mostly based on the material translated from textbooks compiled for the French 'grandes écoles'. Translations and compilations were generally made by the professors of the school. Yahya Naci Efendi (d. 1824), a lecturer in French language and sciences, compiled in 1812 a treatise introducing the properties of electricity through experiments. His aim was also to show that the lightning flash and the thunderbolt were electrical phenomenons. Yahya Naci's main source was the chapter on electricity of Mathurin-Jacques Brisson's (d. 1795) 'Traité Elémentaire de Physique', a popular book of physics in French colleges. This translation is important because Yahya Naci endeavoured to create Ottoman terms from Arabic regarding electricity and because it points to the initiatives in introducing experimentation in the teaching in the Imperial Engineering School" (Günergün, cf. below). The colophon states the name of the scribe as "Yahya Naqi" and the date "Zilqa'da 1227 H.", proving that the present volume contains the author's long-lost original manuscript. - In very fine condition; only a few insignificant spots. Feza Günergün, Deneylerle elektrigi tanitan bir Türkçe eser: Yahya Naci Efendi'nin Risale-i Seyyale-i Berkiyye'si. In: Osmanli Bilimi Arastirmalari IX/1-2 (2007-2008), pp. 19-50.
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Yaqut al-Rumi al-Hamawi / Wüstenfeld, Ferdinand (ed.).
Jacut's geographisches Wörterbuch aus den Handschriften zu Berlin, St. Petersburg und Paris [...]. Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1866-1873.
4to. 6 vols. 12, 942, (2) pp. (4), 968, (2) pp. (2), 936 pp. (2), 1048 pp. (2), 66, 512 pp. VII, one blank, 262, one blank leaf, VIII, 265-781, one blank page, (2) pp. With 6 letterpress plates in vol. I. Near-contemporary half cloth over marbled boards with giltstamped volume numbers to spine. 2 volumes bound with the original printed wrappers. First edition, rare. The 19th century classic edition of Yaqut's famous geography, prepared by the German orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (1808-99). The four volumes of Arabic text are completed by annotations and indexes in volumes V and VI, including "some 12,000 persons, many with additional bibliographical references" (cf. Fück). Composed between 1224 and 1228 and considered a literary geography, Yaqut's work is essentially an alphabetical index of place names from the literary corpus of the Arabs. The geographical descriptions are enriched with historical, ethnographic, and associated narrative material, historical sketches and accounts of Muslim conquests, names of governors, monuments, and local celebrities. - The four volumes of text are removed from the library of the Munich Franciscan monastery, with their stamp of ownership to versos of title-page or flyleaf. Later in the collection of the German historian Else Reitemeyer (b. 1873) with her handwritten ownership to flyleaves (vols. I-IV). German title-page and foreword of first volume (12 pp.) bound between pp. 480 and 481. Extremities occasionally very slightly rubbed. Last 20 pages of volume V pierced near right margin (not touching text). In all a very well preserved copy of this monumental series. Fück 193f. OCLC 3423433. Not in Zenker.
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[Yemen] - Jacob, Harold Fenton, British army officer and Political Agent (1866-1936).
A collection of papers from the Yemen Residency. Mostly Aden, mainly 1911-1917, with additional material to 1925.
Correspondence, memoranda, and notes in English and Arabic. 2 typescript pp. in-folio, 15 handwritten pp. in-4to, 32 handwritten pp. in-8vo. A collection of prewar and wartime notes and correspondence, some labelled "secret", from the desk of the longtime First Assistant Resident in Aden, Lt. Col. Harold F. Jacob, who served in this capacity from 1910 to 1917 (and, once the War started, was also Chief Political Officer to the Aden Field Force). - In a classified report to a superior concerning tribal allegiances in Yemen and the threat of an Ottoman incursion, dated 30 June 1915, he writes: "Interviewed the Abdali Sultan at Lahej yesterday and the following is what I have been able to elicit. 1. The Sheikh Ibn Nasir Mukbil appears to be particularly anxious to secure our armed presence on the Haushabi border and Sheikh Husen Saleh the Azraki (our stipendiary) and Ali Ba Saleh the Haushabi Sultan's Minister seem to be willing tools in his hand to effect that purpose. It must be remembered that Ibn Nasir Mukbil is still friendly to us or rather his unfriendliness is not proved. [...] It is hard to prophesy correctly in Arabia, and from a distance, since Arab politics change in so kaleidoscopic a fashion, but I am inclined to believe, even if there be certain hostile Turks and Arabs at Al Dareja, that the situation is not so critical as our friend the Abdali Sultan would have us believe. [...] [A]s the Sultan of Lahej is able to procure at this stage 600 camels in 2 days I am strongly in favour of our engaging them since, if hostilities open, he will find it extremely difficult to raise these numbers [...]". - A telegram draft of 10 January 1917 to the General Officer Commanding Aden, likewise "secret", Jacob writes: "Idrisi quite ready conclude supplementary agreement as outlined by Secretary of State (stop) [...] Says Farasan is part & parcel his sea-board and expects British protection from all outside interference (stop) Says British flag, however, as repugnant on Farasan as would be at Jizan and likely draw Turkish vengeance as implying cession of Islands to us; further will preclude future favours qua arms from France and Italy (stop) I fully sympathize with both agreements and believe presence of flag will place Farasan in category of annexation subject to 'post-bellum' adjudication (stop) [...]". - Also, several items of Arabic correspondence, often with Jacob's handwritten translation into English underneath. Also, a quantity of 8vo pencil notes in English and Arabic, some in the hand of another officer (possibly the Aden Resident) and as early as 1911, often not easily legible, apparently referring among other subjects to "Philby", "How Turks lost the Yemen", etc. - Jacob spoke Arabic fluently and knew the Qur'an intimately. As Political Agent in Aden and in the Hinterland he served on Lord Allenby's staff as an advisor on South West Arabia, where he became acquainted with Lawrence of Arabia. In 1915 he published a book on Southern Arabia, "Perfumes of Araby. Silhouettes of Al Yemen". - Edges brittle; some browning and folds, but altogether a well-preserved survival.
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Yuhanna ibn Sarabiyun (Serapio maior).
Iani Damasceni Decapolitani summae inter Arabes autoritatis medici, therapeutice methodi, hoc est, curandi artis Libri VII. partim Albano Torino Vitodurano paraphraste, partim Gerardo iatro Cremonensi metaphraste. Basel, Heinrich Petri, (March 1543).
Folio (205 x 290 mm). (24), 491, (1) pp. 17th century black-tinted vellum binding using an earlier liturgic musical manuscript. Important Latin edition of this Arabic medical compendium (first printed, also in Latin, in 1479), with additions by Gerard de Cremona. It provides a collection of opinions voiced by Greek and Arabic physicians on pathology and therapeutics. "No Arabic printed edition exists so far" (cf. Choulant). The third-century doctor Yahya bin Sarabiyun, son of a Bagarma physician, wrote his great medical work "Al-Kunnas" in Syriac, but it was soon translated into Arabic by scholars such as Musa Ibrahim al-Haditi and ibn Bahlul. There exist manuscripts in twelve and in seven books. "The seven-book edition was frequently printed in Latin translations as 'Breviarium' and 'Practica therapeuticae methodus'. Albanus Torinus, the editor of the Basel 1543 edition, called him Janus Damascenus, for which reason he has been confused with the well-known theologian of that name. He is also often mistaken for his younger namesake, Serapio junior" (cf. GAL I, 233). Some catalogues even ascribe this work to the Baghdad physician Abu-Zakariya Yuanna Ibn-Masawaih. - Slight waterstaining; some unobtrusive worming to upper cover and flyleaves. Binding rubbed; extremeties bumped with chipping to spine-ends. A wide-margined copy. Provenance: 1677 ownership of the pharmacist and medical student Joseph Franz König on front pastedown; later in the library of Bonifacius Brix von Wahlberg, court physician to the Princes of Fürstenberg, in the later 18th century (his ownership on the title page). VD 16, Y 11. Adams I 14. BM-STC German 932. GAL I, 233 & S 417. Durling 4778. Choulant, Handb. p. 347. Not in Waller.
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Yuhanna (Yahya) Abu Zakariya ibn Masawaih (Mesue).
De re medica libri tres, Jacobo Sylvio interprete. Lyon, Guillaume Rouille, 1550.
8vo. (16), 421, (1) pp., final blank leaf. With woodcut printer's device to title-page and numerous woodcut initials. 19th century marbled boards. Fine, widely received Lyonnaise edition of Mesue's pharmaceutical handbook, translated into Latin by Jacques Dubois, the teacher of Vesalius. The author's frequently reprinted treatises bore an immense influence on the development of pharmacy in early modern Europe. Although the identity of Masawaih (Mesue) remains unclear, he was likely a Persian Christian physician who headed the Baghdad hospital and served as personal physician to several caliphs (though he may also be a collective pseudonym of several Arabic medical writers of the 10th and 11th centuries). Products of the mediaeval Islamic world, the works attached to his name contained many innovations that provided the basis for the theory and practice of pharmacy for centuries and perfectly met the demands of the developing medical marketplace of mediaeval Europe. - Occasional browning; an irregular paper flaw to the upper edge of the title with slight loss to author's name (apparently removing a contemporary ownership). Binding rubbed; spine professionally repaired. Provenance: 1) an illegible ink ownership, dated 1636, stricken out on front pastedown; 2) another illegible ink ownership, dated 21 August 1818, on lower pastedown; 3) 19th century ink ownership of Arthur Rénaux to front pastedown. Durling 3144. Wellcome 4280. Brunet III, 1675. Not in BM-STC French. Cf. GAL I, 232; S I, 416. Hirsch I, 171f.
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Yuhanna (Yahya) Abu Zakariya ibn Masawaih (Mesue).
De re medica libri tres. Jacobo Sylvio medico interprete. Cum annotationibus & scholiis eiusdem. Index locupletissimus cum capitum, tum omnium quae scitu digna sunt operi praefixus est. Paris, no printer, 1553.
8vo. 248, (4) ff. With emblematic woodcut device to title (apparently showing Abderus being devoured by the mares of Diomedes) and several woodcut initials. Contemporary full vellum with traces of ties. Uncommon and finely produced edition, by an unidentified Parisian printer, of Mesue's pharmaceutical handbook, translated into Latin by Jacques Dubois, the teacher of Vesalius. The author's frequently reprinted treatises bore an immense influence on the development of pharmacy in early modern Europe. Although the identity of Masawaih (Mesue) remains unclear, he was likely a Persian Christian physician who headed the Baghdad hospital and served as personal physician to several caliphs (though he may also be a collective pseudonym of several Arabic medical writers of the 10th and 11th centuries). Products of the mediaeval Islamic world, the works attached to his name contained many innovations that provided the basis for the theory and practice of pharmacy for centuries and perfectly met the demands of the developing medical marketplace of mediaeval Europe. - Slight brownstaining with some marginal worming near the end of the text. Loss of corner to fol. Aa3 (not affecting the text). Durling 3145. OCLC 14308627. Not in Wellcome, Adams or BM-STC French. Cf. GAL I, 232; S I, 416. Hirsch I, 171f.
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Yuhanna (Yahya) Abu Zakariya ibn Masawaih (Mesue).
Opera. De medicamentorum purgantium delectu, castigatione, & usu, libri duo [...]. Venice, Lucantonio Giunta, 1581.
Folio (230 x 338 mm). 2 parts in 1 volume. (8), 272 ff. (6), 277, (1 blank), (12) ff. With 39 woodcut illustrations in text. Near-contemporary full vellum on four raised bands with giltstamped red spine label. Second illustrated edition, the first with the commentary of Costaeus, of the collected works of the Arabic physician Mesue the Younger (also known as Masawaih al-Mardini) in Latin, with commentaries by Mondino de Liuzzi, Christoph de Honestis, Jacobus Sylvius, Giovanni mardi and Johannes Costaeus. - The work includes the "Canones universalis", dealing with treatment regimens; the second part, "De simplicibus", about the properties of various pharmaceutical drugs; and the Grabadin, "the most popular compendium of drugs in medieval Europe, and [...] used everywhere in their preparation" (Garrison). "The esteem in which these works were held is shown by the fact that a Latin translation of both was one of the first medical works to be printed (Venice, 1471)" (ibid.). - Binding stained; rubbed and chipped at extremeties. Interior shows occasional brownstaining. Modern flyleaves browned and brittle. Provenance: bookplates of the American botanist Edward Sandford Burgess (1855-1928) and of the Horticultural Society of New York, identifiying this volume as part of the bequest of the American attorney and plant collector Kenneth Kent MacKenzie (1877-1934). Durling 3131. Adams Y 10. BM-STC Italian 739. Edit 16, CNCE 27626.
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[Arabian American Oil Company].
El Hasa. Sheet No. 7. Washington, DC, Aeronautical Chart Service, U.S. Air Force, 1950.
Lithographed map, ca. 99 x 137 cm. Scale 1:1,000,000, Conformal Conic Projection. Rare U.S. Air Force aeronautical chart of the Arabian Gulf detailing Saudi Arabia with Al Hasa Oasis, the Qatar Peninsula, Bahrein, parts of Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, as well as the Saudi-Kuwaiti and Saudi-Iraqi neutral zones. Other details include Tapline road, Kuwait road, geological features like the Dibdiba gravel plains, and the Rub al-Khali desert. The most prominent labelled cities include Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait, Bushire and Shiraz. - The map was prepared by the USAF Aeronautical Chart Service with the 1950 copyright belonging to Standard Oil Company. SOC subsequently licensed their copyright to Aramco. - With a single fold. Somewhat toned. Several larger tears to lower margin; a tear in right margin repaired with old adhesive tape.
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[B.O.A.C. - Pakistan].
Fly B.O.A.C. Pakistan. [London, 1953].
Vintage lithographed poster backed on linen. 1060 x 680 mm. Tiger-themed poster by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in association with Qantas Empire Airways, South African Airways, and Tasman Empire Airways. An early document of modern aviation in Pakistan, which had gained independence only in 1947, after the Partition of the British Indian Empire, which awarded separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions. Affiches Air-France-2006, p. 149.
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Burton, Isabel.
The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine and the Holy Land [...]. London, Henry S. King & Co., 1875.
4to. 2 parts in one vol.: X, 376; (4), 340 pp. With 2 portrait frontispieces, 2 chromolithographed plates and one folding map of Syria. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped spine and spine label; giltstamped emblem of the Edinburgh Collegiate School to upper cover. Leading edges gilt. All edges marbled. Bound by Seton and Mackenzie of Edinburgh. First edition of Lady Isabel Burton's first book, detailing a journey made with her husband Sir Richard Francis Burton to Syria, Palestine and the Holy Land between 1869 and 1871. A remarkable work of travel literature from a female point of view, intending "to convey an idea of the life which an Englishwoman may make for herself in the East" (p. VII). It includes detailed descriptions of Damascus, the Hajj, Palmyra and Beirut, as well as dervish dances, a Muslim wedding, and a Turkish bath. With portraits of Isabel and Richard Francis Burton. - Extremities very slightly rubbed. A fine copy in an appealing binding. Weber I, 724. Cf. Blackmer 246 (2nd ed.). Not in Atabey.
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