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Hussein, Saddam.
[On the Revolution and Women. Second edition]. Baghdad, [Revolution Publications, 1979].
12mo. 85, (3) pp. Original wrappers with lettering. A rare pamphlet in Arabic, containing Saddam Hussein's speech on the role of women in revolutions. The speech was given in 1977, two years before Saddam formally came to power in 1979. The pamphlet was reprinted in the year of his election. With this speech Saddam touched the problem of women's liberation vs. strong local traditional values in the time of the Arab national struggle. In the 1970s Iraqi women had free access to the education, voting rights, could own property and were encouraged to pursue posts in high positions, but during the following decades the importance of the traditional patriarchal family started undermining these rights. - Wrappers slightly stained and with soft folds, old signature on the top of the title-page, otherwise in good condition. Rare; we could not find any institutional examples.
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Hyde, Thomas.
Mandragorias, seu Historia Shahiludii, viz. ejusdem origo, antiquitas, ususque per totum Orientem celeberrimus. Oxford, Theatro Sheldoniano, 1694.
8vo. 3 parts in one volume. (72), 184, (4), 71, (1), (14), 278 pp. With 12 engravings in the text, 3 folding plates and several woodcuts. 19th century mottled boards, spine ruled in gilt, titled in gilt on black leather spine label. All edges speckled. First edition of this important work dedicated to oriental games from Arabia and Persia as well as from India and China, including backgammon, draughts and dice. Includes the first scholarly account devoted to the history of chess, as well as Asian board games from Arabia, Persia, India, and China, including backgammon, draughts, and dice. Two folding plates illustrate chessboards; further in-text illustrations show the various types of game pieces in Caxton-era England, Turkey, and India. The second and third parts explain the history of dice and many other Chinese games. - Contains numerous texts in Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, and other languages. "Ouvrage curieux. Les exemplaires n'en sont pas communs" (Brunet). Hyde was an orientalist and later became Bodleian Librarian. - Binding lightly rubbed at extremities, outer front hinge splitting, small paper library label on lower spine. Paper repair to top right edge of front free endpaper and to reverse of largest folding plate. Interior gently toned, edges of folding plates lightly rubbed, a few inked and penciled notes on front endpapers. Graesse III, 403. Von der Linde I, 88-90. Cordier (Sinica) 3142. Wing H3875 & H3877. ESTC R1348.
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[Islamic World]. El-Menoufi, Abul Faid (ed.).
The Islamic World - Le Monde Islamique - Al-'Alam Al-Islami. (A Monthly Magazine of Islamic Studies). Cairo, [1949-1951 CE =] 1369-1371 H.
3 volumes (Moharam 1369, Alqueda 1370, Moharam 1371). 32, 18 pp. 26, (2) pp. 26, (2) pp. Illustrated coloured printed wrappers. Staple-bound. Three rare issues of the Egyptian monthly "The Islamic World", published by the Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Abul Faid El Menoufi (1882-1972) in Arabic as well as (for features in the early issues) in English and French. El-Menoufi founded several Sufi-leaning Islamic periodicals through which he campaigned against the British occupation of Egypt. - The three issues at hand contain, inter alia: 1) Moharam 1369 (October 1949): an article in Arabic with statistics for the 1369 pilgrimage, articles in English ("Medina and the Mosque of the Prophet") and French ("Introduction au Livre de l'Existence"). - 2) Alqueda 1370 (August 1951): an illustrated article in Arabic about the pilgrimage of the late Muhammad Labib al-Battanuni in the year 1327 (1909), described in his book "Al-Rihlat al-Hijaziyya". - 3) Moharam 1371 (October 1951): an article in Arabic on the performance of the 'Umrah and Hajj pilgrimages, with a paragraph on the visit to Mecca by King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud for the performance of an 'Umrah and the return of Prince Faisal from his official visit to London. - Some fraying to wrappers; old rust stains from staples. A well-preserved ensemble of a very rare periodical. OCLC 459477009.
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Kiepert, Heinrich.
Specialkarte vom westlichen Kleinasien. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer, 1890.
Folio (365 x 545 mm). 14 (instead of 15) maps (lacking no. 11). Contemporary black half-leather binding over brown cloth. Kiepert's map of the western part of Asia Minor: the personal copy of Paul Gaudin, the archaeologist and engineer in charge of the completion of the Hejaz railway. - In the margins, the numbers of the adjacent maps are written in blue pencil. On maps VIII and IX the route of the railway line as well as the names and numbers of the stations between Alasehir/Philadelphia and Karahissâr/Afiûn were added by Gaudin in red ink. - Binding rubbed. Interior in good general condition despite some minor soiling, tears and pinholes. Also included are maps of Turkey, drawn on tracing paper, showing the route of the Smyrna-Panderma and Smyrna-Afion/Karahissar railway lines. - Provenance: from the library of the archaeologist, collector and railway engineer Paul Gaudin (1858-1921), in charge of the completion of the Hejaz railway in the first decade of the 20th century and later a major donor to the Louvre Museum. OCLC 32646128.
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Lari, Muhi al-Din.
Futuh al-Haramayn [Description of the Holy Cities]. [India or Persia, late 19th or early 20th century].
Royal folio (380 x 506 mm). Persian manuscript on paper. 140 pp., 9 lines in 2 columns to the page, first leaf and final 3 pp. blank save for the borders. Large Nasta'liq calligraphy in black ink, chapter headings in red. Text enclosed within blue, black, gilt and red borders. Title in red to fol. 2r, large 'unwan headpiece on fol. 2v, column separator decorated with gilt floral designs on fols. 2v-3r, 2 meticulous gilt and coloured colophon decoration on fol. 69r. With a total of 18 coloured illustrations of the Holy Sites (7 full-page, the remainder half-page or larger). Splendidly ornamented embroidered cloth binding with pink morocco edges and pastedowns and fore-edge flap. Monumental manuscript copy of the first Islamic guidebook for the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, which Muhi al-Din Lari (d. 1526/27) completed in India in 1505/06. The book provides instructions on the Hajj pilgrimage rituals and descriptions of important sites that Muslim pilgrims can visit, including of the Kaaba in Mecca. Whilst no early illustrated Indian copies are known, the work began to be widely copied with often lavish illustrations from the later 16th century onwards, mostly in in Ottoman Turkey. - The 18 large-scale illuminations in the present manuscript show the holy sites, locations between Medina and Mecca, and the various stages of the Hajj. The illustration of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca shows the Kaaba, the areas assigned for worship by the various branches of Islam, as well as the doors to the sanctum, minarets, and two rows of colonnades. - In excellent state of preservation throughout.
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[Mesopotamia].
Photograph album of Iraq, the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea. [Middle East, ca. 1914].
Oblong 4to (ca. 215 x 167 mm). 103 original photographs (ca. 40 x 58 to 53 x 78 mm), mounted under grey paper mattes with rectangular, oval, and circular windows on 24 cardboard pages. Captioned in English. Bound in contemporary blindstamped full cloth with giltstamped cover title "Photographs". Private photo album composed by a British soldier or engineer active during the Mesopotamian Campaign of the First World War. It contains not only pictures of landmarks like the Baghdad railway station, the British Residency, the Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad, and the Whiteley Bridge in Basra, as well as street and river scenes, but also shows the military aircraft of the Entente (frequently after a crash), as well as portraits of pilots and the collector's comrades, including two lieutenants resting on a blanket in a meadow. Other motifs include more sinister themes such as the gallows on the Baghdad market square, but also a group of smiling soldiers bathing in the Gulf of Aden, the shorelines of Kut al Amarah and Kurnah, the Arabian Gulf, and the Red Sea. - With round green pagination labels. Album produced by W. Johnson & Sons in London. Binding slightly rubbed. Occasional traces of glue; a few marginal tears; the paper pasted on the cardboard loosened in places.
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Mirza Shafi Vazeh / Bodenstedt, Friedrich von (transl.).
Aus dem Nachlasse Mirza-Schaffy's. Neues Liederbuch. Berlin, A. Hofmann & Comp. (Stich und Druck von L. C. Zamarsky in Wien), (1873).
4to (175 x 221 mm). (III)-XIIV, (15)-217, (1) pp. Text printed within elaborate coloured and gilt borders in the decorative orientalist style. Publisher's full cloth, sumptuously decorated and gilt, floral endpapers. All edges red. Silk divider. First edition of this German translation of Vazeh's poems. - Mirza Shafi Vazeh (1794-1852) was a classical Azerbaijani poet in both Persian and his native Caucasus language. Beginning in 1850, the German poet Friedrich von Bodenstedt (1819-92), who took oriental language lessons from him, published translations of Vazeh's poems. - Sumptuously produced in the oriental style by the renowned Viennese press of Ludwig Carl Zamarski. Lacks the half-title, otherwise perfect. OCLC 72064332.
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Muhammad Atma Omar Mode Homa Faqih Camal.
[Book of Shafiism]. [Probably Ottoman Arabia], [1806/07 CE =] 1221 H.
Folio (245 x 326 mm). 202 pp. Arabic manuscript written in Ruq'ah script. Single column, 11 lines, with extensive glosses above, outside, and interlinear. Black ink, emphases (name of Allah) in red. An annotated sketch of the Kaaba on one page; occasional small ornaments. Contemporary blind-stamped decorated binding. An early 19th century summary of the principles and tenets of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam, as laid down by Al-Shafi'i in the 9th century, with extensive examples, written in six parts (with a total of 44 chapters) on Taharah (purity), Salah (prayer), Funeral, Zakat (alms), Fasting, and the Hajj. The glosses comprise verses from the Qur'an, hadiths, prayers, instructional matter, and brief naratives. - Contents: the book of Taharah (purity) discusses the rules of cleanliness, with chapters on water (cleansing, ablution, washing the dead, tayammum), miswak (how and when to use water), wudu (detailed obligations), masah (wiping), how to use the toilet, recommended times for performing ghusl (full ablution), tayammum, najis (unclean foods), etc. - The book of Salah discusses the duty of prayer, prayer times, details of how to perform prayer, the duties of the Imam, the differences in prayer for men and women, how to dress, difference in private parts for men and women; circumstances that invalidate a prayer, etc. - The book of Funeral discusses how to treat the dead and dying, bathing and shrouding the deceased, the requirements and procedures of funeral prayer, burial, condolences and lamentations. - The book of Zakat (obligatory alms) discusses to whom and how zakat should be given, with the various types of zakat: money, land property, precious metals; but also zakat al-fitr (Breaking the Fast of Ramadan) and sadaqah (voluntary charity). - The book of Fasting discusses the duties of fasting, what those should do who cannot fast, and circumstances that invalidate the fast. - The book of Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) distinguishes hajj (the major pilgrimage: fard, obligatory) and umrah (the minor pilgrimage: sunnah, traditional). Various chapters discuss the time of the hajj, Ihram (the sacred state into which a Muslim must enter in order to perform the pilgrimage), and a pilgrim's duties on the hajj. This part, perhaps the most striking point of the study, includes an annotated sketch of the Kaaba that indicates "The gate of the Kaaba", "The Rukn al-Yamani" (Yemeni Corner), "The Rukn al-'Iraqi" (Iraqi Corner), "The Hajar al-Aswad" (Black Stone), "Al Multazam" (a place where prayer is acceptable), "Maqam Ibrahim" (the station of the Prophet Abraham), "The Rukn ush-Shami" (Levantine Corner), and " The Shadherwaan" (a structure built to protect the foundation of the Kaaba from rain water). - Various notes on the first and last page of the manuscript: verses from the Qur'an at the beginning, according to tradition, and expressions of reverence for the Shafi'i scholar Imam al Haramayn (the master of the holy cities Mecca and Medina) at the end, also indicating the author of the work. Some leaves loosened; some edge flaws and brownstaining, mainly confined to the edges as margins; altogether very well preserved. Cf. Muhammad ibn Idris Shafi'i & Majid Khadduri. Islamic Jurisprudence: Shafi'i's Risala (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1961).
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Page, Théogène François, French naval officer (1807-1867), captain of the frigate La Favorite.
The correspondence archive of Théogène François Page. Arabian Gulf, France, East Asia, Tahiti, Brasil, and elsewhere at sea, 1830s-1860s.
Mostly 8vo, a few items 4to and folio. 94 autograph letters (signed) by Page, 81 letters addressed to Page. - II: Copy book with 144 letters by Page to the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies, as well as to other officials, in his own handwritten transcript. 4to. Bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards. - III: Protocol of a hearing of the Suez Canal Company. 4to. (230) ff., numbered 190-425. Extensive correspondence archive kept by the prominent French naval commander during his voyages across the globe, from the Arabian Gulf to Madagascar, Rio de Janeiro, French Polynesia, China, Vietnam, and Japan. Crucially, the archive includes detailed official instructions for the first French diplomatic mission ever made to the Gulf, carried out under Page's command by the frigate La Favorite, which departed from Brest on 3 June 1841. The mission's importance is shown in perspective by a letter to Guy-Victor Duperré (1775-1846), Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies, wherein the French officials admit to their hitherto fruitless efforts to establish a relationship with the Gulf states: the writer discusses the difficulties experienced in installing a French consulate at Bushehr, while British efforts to establish themselves in the Gulf region have proved so successful. The letter emphasizes that the French interests in the region lie mainly in monitoring British advances: "Quant à nous, les tentatives que nous avons faites, à différentes reprises, pour établir des relations avec la Perse par le golfe, ont toujours été infructueuses. Le gouvernement du Roi [...] créa, l'année dernière, une agence consulaire à Buschir; mais les difficultés que ce projet a rencontrées de la part du gouvernement persan n'en ont pas permis l'execution, et les choses restent ce qu'elles ont été jusqu'à ce jour [...] Mais il ne saurait nous être indifférent d'y surveiller la marche et les agrandissements de l'Angleterre, et tel est le principal objet de l'apparition que doit y faire la corvette la Favorite sous le commandement de Mr. Page [...]". - Among other destinations, La Favorite is to visit Muscat, with which France has enjoyed previous relations, as they have managed to establish a consulate in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which has proved useful in extending commercial relations with the Imam: "Il est, sur la route du golfe Persique, un point de la côte d'Arabie que la corvette la Favorite aura également à visiter. Je veux parler de Mascate, dont le souverain a entretenu autre fois des relations directes avec la France. L'Etablissement d'un consul à Zanzibar [...] ayant paru propre à favoriser l'extension du peu de rapports commerciaux que nous avons avec les états de l'Iman [...]". Finally, the writer mentions a developing interest in Abyssinia, referring to the 1839 expedition led by Théophile Lefebvre, that involved pearl fishing: "L'attention est eveillée en France, depuis quelques années, sur l'Abyssinie [...] Je n'ai pas besoin de rappeler ici la mission d'exploration confiée [...] à Mr. Lefêbvre [...] dans laquelle il a été accompagné par [...] un agent qu'une maison de commerce envoyait faire des essais sur la pêche des perles [...]". - Page's private correspondence includes 57 letters to his wife from China, Japan, and Vietnam, discussing such matters as his health, political subjects, and the atrocities of the Second Opium War of 1860, mentioning dispossessions and people fleeing their homes: "Ces pauvres gens me font pitié [...] La guerre entraine forcèment des misères sans nombre [...] Les alarmes qu'on répond, les menaces des anciens maîtres, les fuites, les démènagements, les dépossessions forcées [...] Je me sens mal à l'aise à la vue de toutes ces femmes qui pleurent prêt de leurs toits en débris [...]". Page also provides picturesque accounts of the scenery, including a striking comparison of Japan to Tierra del Fuego: "Ainsi que la terre de feu à l'extrémité méridianale de l'Amérique, le Japon semble avoir été jêté sur la flanc orientale du grand continent d'Asie sur le Pacifique par une dernière convulsion de notre globe". - Furthermore, the archive includes 23 amicable autograph letters by the naval officer and pilot of the "Artémise", Joseph-Eugène de Poucques d'Herbinghem (1807-1900), to Page, most of them written at Cherbourg: "Il faut un chirurgien pour l'artemise qui part pour trois ans. Les cinq ou six pelerins de la confrèrie [...] s'evaporent comme une volée d'etourneaux [...]". - The collection is topped off by 144 transcript letters, the bulk issued in Papeete, as well as a protocol of a hearing of the Suez Canal Company and the French constructor Alphonse Hardon, who had exceeded the costs agreed on, which subsequently led to the termination of his contract in 1862. Finally, a report on Mexico and Buenos Aires, several poems, notes on Henry Bird (born in 1767), who was captured by American natives in 1811, a short travelogue from La Habana, several pages entitled "Notes supplementaires", all in Page's handwriting, as well as a medical certificate, Page's death certificate, some pencil sketches, and a few more brief documents are loosely enclosed. - Extremities of the copy book somewhat rubbed; letters very well preserved. An impressive collection, containing rich material reflecting a high-ranking naval officer's private throughts on French foreign affairs and on his own role therein.
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[Palestine - Railroads].
Photograph album of Palestine during and after the First World War. [Palestine, 1916-1922].
4to. (25) ff., (7) blank ff. With 100 black and white photographs of various sizes (between ca. 75 x 105 and 90 x 145 mm), 96 of which mounted, 4 loosely inserted. A few captioned in ink on the photograph or on verso. With original hand-drawn map of Palestine in ink, crayon and ballpoint on graph paper loosely inserted. Contemporary giltstamped half cloth with a mounted reproduced drawing to lower board, showing an elegantly dressed group of people. Private photo album composed by a British engineer stationed in El Qantara, Egypt, possibly a member of the Royal Engineers, who constructed a new railway from Qantara to Romani and eastward through the Sinai to El Arish and Rafa on the border of the Ottoman Empire in January 1916. During World War I, Kantara, as it was referred to by the Allied troops, was the site of Headquarters No. 3 Section, Canal Defences and Headquarters Eastern Force during the latter stages of the Defence of the Suez Canal Campaign and the Sinai Campaign of 1916. The massive distribution warehouse and hospital centre supported and supplied all British, Australian and New Zealand operations in the Sinai from 1916 until final demobilization in 1919. - Taken on trips to Palestine between 1916 and 1922, half of the photographs focus on railroad motifs, exhibiting railway bridges, including the bridge crossing the Suez Canal in El Qantara, train stations, and tracks under construction, as well as rather spectacular accidents with locomotives and waggons fallen over in the desert. One picture depicts a decorated train of British soldiers bearing the sign "Demob special goodbye" leaving after the Armistice. The other half mainly shows views of Jerusalem, including close-ups of landmarks such as the Tombs of the Kings and the interior of Ascension Church, as well as steam ships in the Suez Canal and a "Turkish Gun". Although not identified by name, the engineer can be seen posing in several photographs, sometimes wearing a British uniform. The manuscript map shows the railway line from Qantara to major cities including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Nazareth, at one point crossing into Syria and reaching Beirut. - Hinges broken; extremities slightly rubbed; crack on spine measuring ca. 5 cm. A few photos as well as the map with small marginal tears and creases. Bookplate of the British businessman and railroad enthusiast William Hepburn McAlpine (1936-2018), and stamp of ownership of Arthur Lord-Castle, who was associated with the Narrow Gauge Railway Society in 1956, to front pastedown. A unique survival.
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[Qur'an].
Kashmiri Qur'an manuscript. [Kashmir, ca. 1800].
Folio (205 x 312 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 53 ff., 33 lines to the page written in minute ghubar script in black ink, verse separated by a gold roundel, surah heading in red thuluth on gold background, margins illuminated with gilt discs or lozenges inscribed in red and enclosed within ornamental borders dotted in blue; fols. 1b-2a with a double-page illuminated frontispiece, lavishly coloured and gilt. Contemporary blindstamped and gilt black leather binding; spine rebacked. Marbled pastedowns. A fine, complete Qur'an manuscript, written in meticulous ghubar script and with pretty illumination, originating from the Kashmir region in the late 18th century. The characteristic calligraphy is known as "ghubar", or "dust script", for the minuscule size of its rounded letter forms. Created around the 10th century, it was first used for information and commands conveyed by carrier pigeon. Even the present, more generous form fits the entire Holy Qur'an into a slim folio of only fifty-odd pages. - Edges occasionally very slightly chipped but generally very fine. Binding well preserved with modern spine. The central compartment of the pretty binding shows a Qur'anic verse (Surah 56, verse 79: "to be touched only by the purified") stamped in blind three times on both covers.
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Rakbani, Omar al-.
Kitab rihlat alsayf: Rihlat al-Hijâz [The Book of Summer Trips: Journey in Hejaz]. Tunis, Tlili Press, 1947 CE = 1316 H.
8vo (148 x 206 mm). 56 pp. Original printed pink wrappers. Omar Rakbani (1904-62), a professor at Ez-Zitouna University, was a Tunisian historian and tutor of Muslim girls. Fond of travelling, he published several accounts of his journeys through Europe, North Africa and the East in a series entitled "Summer Trips". This sixth booklet in the series is devoted to his visit to the Hejaz in 1947, when he performed the Hajj to Mecca. - Slight fraying to wrappers; slight waterstain. Extremely rare: a single copy in OCLC (National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco, Rabat). OCLC 929787399.
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Sanusi, Muhammad (ibn 'Uthman) as- / Shanufi, 'Ali (ed.).
[Ar-rihla al-hijaziyya]. Ar-rihla al-higaziyya. Relation de voyage au Higaz. Texte arabe établi et annoté avec introduction en français [...]. Tunis, Societé Tunisienne de Diffusion, 1976-1981 CE = 1396-1402 H.
3 vols. Large 8vo (178 x 245 mm). 344, (1), 15 pp. 557, (3) pp. (3)-400, (4) pp. All with a portrait frontispiece and numerous halftone illustrations throughout. Printed original wrappers (Arabic cover printed in green and black). - Includes: Chenoufi (Shanufi), Ali. Un savant Tunisien du XIXème siècle: Muhammad As-Sanusi. Sa vie et son oeuvre. Tunis, Imprimérie Officielle, 1977. 8vo. 244, (4) pp. With portrait frontispiece and several halftone illustrations. Printed original wrappers. First edition of this valuable account of a 19th century Hajj. - Muhammad as-Sanusi was an important law teacher at the University of Ez-Zitouna in Tunis, remembered as a scholar who was part of the late-19th century "Nahdha" Muslim reformist movement. Dismissed from civil service in 1881 for opposing the French Protectorate in Tunisia, he decided to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1882/83. His journey took him to Hejaz via Italy, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and finally back to Tunisia via Malta. He kept extensive notes on the customs of the countries visited, the persons he met, and the technological advances of Europe - particularly describing the railway, which in his opinion made it possible to "bring cities and believers closer together". His manuscript travel diary, a valuable perspective by a North African outsider on his Western and Middle Eastern contemporaries, was long neglected until it was rediscovered and published for the first time in 1976. - Bindings a little rubbed and bumped, but altogether a good, unmarked set. Includes the biography of As-Sanusi by the editor of his travelogue, the Tunisian scholar 'Ali Shanufi. Mahfoudh III, 251 A. Abdesselem, Historiens Tunisiens, 407 ff. OCLC 10523199, 6247132.
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Sayyid Efendi Muhammad / Mohammed Brugsch (ed.).
[Ad-Durra al-'abbasiyya]. Die abbasidische Perle. (Ein Katechismus für ägyptische Schulen). Heidelberg, Julius Groos, 1925.
8vo. IV, 46 ff., 70 pp. (= counted as a total of 116 pp.), 1 blank page. Original coloured paper boards with printed cover label. Only Geman edition (published in German and Arabic parallel text) of this brief catechism of the tenets of Islam, written by Sayyid Muhammad, professor of Arabic in Nazareth and first published in Cairo (al-Matba'ah al-Kubra al-Amiriyah) in 1911. The German translation and vocalisation as well as the word index are by Mohammed Ibn-Brugsch (1860-1929). Includes a preface by Sadr-ad-Din, the Imam of the mosque in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. - Published as vol. 1/3 within the series "Der islamische Orient, 2e Abt.: Arabische Schriften, E. Religion und Ethik". Extremely rare: only two copies known in libraries internationally (Basel and Leiden universities). - Appealingly bound in the style of the famous Insel Bücherei. An immaculate copy from the collection of Friedrich Pfitzner with his exlibris stamp to the title-page. OCLC 604591995.
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Ansari Shirazi, Ali ibn Husayn [Zayn-e-Attar].
Ikhtiyarat-i Badi'i [Selections for Badi'i]. [India, 1666/67 CE =] 1077 H.
Tall 8vo (158 x 288 mm). Persian manuscript on paper. 278 ff. Nastaliq text in black and occasional red ink, handsomely ruled in red and blue, with occasional marginal notes and further ownership notes on exterior leaves. Modern blank endpapers. Bound in full 20th century red ochre leather, stamped in blind. One of the most important books on pharmacology written in Persian in the Islamic era. Ansari Shirazi (1329-1403) was a famous physician of the Mughal period, serving at the court of Sultan Jalal ud-Din Shah Shuja (1333-84). During Ansari Shirazi's years at court the Sultan was a patron of the poet Hafez (1325-90), icon of Persian poetry, whom Ansari Shirazi would have known personally. Another esteemed acquaintance appears in the title of this particular book, "Selections for Badi". The work is dedicated to a woman, allegedly a Persian princess named Badi al-Jamal about whom little is known. - The work itself is a gem of Persian medical literature: scholars have claimed that "in the history of Persian medicine, the book 'Ikhtiyarat Badiei' is considered the most important book written in Persian", citing the large number of sources and remedies it provided the mediaeval reader, though some irrational fallacies are noted as well: "In three entries in Ikhtiyarat Badiei, the author has illustrated some superstitious ideas, namely that 'If the food is poisonous, and the weasel finds out, it will shout and its hair will stand on its end' and says: 'looking at zebra is good for the eyesight'" (Ghazi Sha'rbaf, 99). - The scribe responsible for copying the text was Muhammad Qasim Quraishi Siddiqui, who is known to have been active in India in the 17th century. A few minor stains and soiling; altogether a well-preserved and vital piece of Persian scientific history. Cf. Javad Ghazi Sha’rbaf et al., "Introducing the Book Ikhti-yarat Badiei: An Investigation Over its Importance in the Pharmacology of the Islamic Period", in: Journal of Research on History of Medicine 9.2 (2020), pp. 95-102.
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Arab Bureau, Baghdad.
Arab Tribes of the Baghdad Wilayat. Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1919.
Folio (212 x 335 mm). (2), 276, IX, (1) pp., final blank, with one folding plate (counted as p. 152). Contemporary half cloth with original printed boards, issued thus. Gertrude Bell's personal copy of this excessively rare manual on the social, political and economic structures of the Arab tribes living in the Baghdad Vilayet (Province) as drawn up in July 1918, only months before the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire ended the old administrative divisions and led to the formation of several new states - indeed, to the creation of the modern Arab world. - Arranged alphabetically by the names of the tribes, this handbook - essentially a carefully compiled and redacted British intelligence file printed for the use of British Political Officers and their assistants in a region then undergoing dramatic upheavals - offers surprisingly detailed information on the tribes' origins, loyalties and internal quarrels, the locations of their settlements, strength of their possessions, economic and bargaining power, as well as their kinships, often including genealogical tables. The names of the tribes' leaders are given in full, frequently also in the original Arabic. - Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), who had firsthand experience among the tribes, signed her name in pencil ("Gertrude Lowthian Bell") on the front free endpaper. Several neatly pencilled additions to some of the entries are likewise in her hand: next to the name Fahad ibn Hadhdal she notes that he died and the name of a "rival" (this underlined), apparently a "bin Dughaiyin" (p. 16). In another entry she notes that Jazza' ibn Mijlad "blockaded Turks in North for allies in 1st war" (p. 17) and that the A'marat prefer to winter near al-Hafan. There are several references to her fellow political officer, St John Philby, and a correction that the Al-Dulaim are "all Sunnis" (p. 265), and none Shi'ahs. - Gertrude Bell was a traveller, political actor, and archaeologist who was a key player in the nation-building after World War I, especially in Iraq. She founded the Iraq Museum, translated Persian poetry, and advised the British government's foreign policy at nearly the highest level. It is little surprise that she would have owned one of the few copies of this important source, containing otherwise nearly unobtainable population statistics as well as details on the political history of a region in which traditional tribal feuds became mingled with international high politics. Considering the limited scope of intended distribution and the sensitive nature of the information contained, it is safe to say that this invaluable compendium never had more than a very limited press-run; indeed; only three copies are known today in libraries worldwide, and none with such unique provenance. - Covers rubbed, title-page brittle and reinforced with two library stamps carefully removed but still faintly visible. A closed tear to the folding map. Later in the collection of the American missionary turned political biographer Harry J. Almond (1918-2007), with his handwritten ownership in ink next to Bell's own. In all very well preserved. No copy in auction records. OCLC: 921927074, 729268761.
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[Baqi / Fuzuli / Hayali (et al.)].
Mirda-i gonca-dehen-i Iala-zar [Rosebud Shawls of the Tulip Bed]. [Probably Western Anatolia, ca. 1580 - later 16th century CE].
8vo (125 x 197 mm). 206 ff. (foliated in pencil 1-204 + 1 endpaper in an early 19th century hand). Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper (largely polished paper, but including 18 leaves of silhouette paper with a floral pattern in pink and mint green) in several hands. Contemporary limp leather with remant impression of library chain. Handsome manuscript collection of the most important poets of the Ottoman classical period, including but not limited to Bâkî (1526-1600), Isa Necati (d. 1509), Muhammad ibn Sulaiman Fuzuli (1480-1556), Hayâlî (c.1500-57), and Yahya Efendi (1494-1570). The eighteen leaves of silhouetted paper are an important preservation of a popular but rarely preserved mediaeval and early modern book decoration practice. To dye silhouetted paper, Ottoman papermakers used stencils or pads of felt to bleed designs into the paper itself, creating a beautiful, airy impression of colour and pattern on which a scribe would write. These were high-cost, coveted items in both the East and the West. Perhaps consequently, this manuscript, likely produced in Western Anatolia, had by 1596 made its way to Silesian Breslau (Wroclaw), in what is now Poland. An elaborate librarian's inscription, dated and signed "G. Scheidt", identifies its new home as the library of the Church of St Mary Magdalene. - The inscription notes that the text was donated to the library by "Fridrich von Schliwicz und Klein Wandriß zu Zieserwicz". Friedrich von Schliewitz was a Silesian nobleman who gifted a total of five Turkish manuscripts to St Mary Magdalene Library in 1596, all of which received chains of libri catenati (the remnant punched hole of which is visible on the leather covers of this manuscript) and the elaborately painted crest commissioned by the library from Breslau painter Matthias Heintze (d. 1622). Georg Scheidt (d. 1601) was a teacher at the Mary Magdalene grammar school between 1569 and 1575 before becoming a librarian to the local church library (cf. Zeitschrift des Vereins p. 218, and Schönborn, p. 28). After his death he was replaced by Christoph Sarcephalus, who completed the inventory which forms the library's earliest known catalogue (cf. Garber, p. 568). - The present manuscript itself boasts numerous marginal notes in an early hand, as well as marginalia on fol. 109, depicting a horse in red ink. Covers a bit worn, some early paper repairs. In all a well-preserved and well-travelled early modern text. - Provenance: from the collection of the Turkish-German artist Nedim Sönmez (b. 1957), of Izmir, a specialist for decorated paper, to whom it belonged since 1988. Previously the manuscript had been in a private German collection in Bremen. Carl Brockelmann, Verzeichnis der arabischen, persischen, türkischen und hebräischen Handschriften der Stadtbibliothek zu Breslau, no. 31. Cf. Klaus Garber, Bücherhochburg des Ostens, in: Garber (ed.), Kulturgeschichte Schlesiens in der Frühen Neuzeit I, p. 568. Carl Schönborn, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Schule und des Gymnasiums zu St. Maria Magdalena in Breslau, p. 28. Zeitschrift des Vereins für Geschichte und Alterthum Schlesiens 13.13 (1876), p. 218.
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[Biblia arabica - AT - Psalmi].
[Kitab zubur Da'ud al-Malik wa-al-nabt]. [London, printed by Samuel Palmer, for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1725].
8vo. (6), 230 pp. (without terminal blank). Title within double rules, added ruling in red. 18th-century (probably English) gilt-tooled red half morocco, contrasting morocco lettering-piece, blue paper boards. A rare London-printed Arabic translation of the Psalms of David by 'Abdallah ibn al-Fadl al-Antaki, taken from the revised and corrected edition published at Aleppo by Athanasius, Patriarch of Antioch, in 1706. For this SPCK edition marginal notes, the Decalogue and Lords Prayer have been added. - This work, which represents the first separate British edition of the Psalms in Arabic, was printed by Samuel Palmer (1692-1732), prepared for the press by Sulaiman Ibn-Ya'qub as-Saliliyani, with a new Arabic font produced by a young William Caslon. The project was beset with difficulties: conceived in 1720, it took five years to come to fruition. The intention, as is printed in the preface of "An extract of several letters relating to the great charity and usefulness of printing the New Testament and Psalter in the Arabick language" (London, 1725), was to "preserve and propagate the Christian Faith among our Brethren in Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and other Eastern Countries from whence we first received it". - As William Brown notes "the whole impression, consisting of upwards of six thousand copies, was sent abroad, so that a copy of it is now rarely to be seen" (The History of Missions or, Of the Propagation of Christianity Among the Heathen, Since the Reformation. Philadelphia, 1816). Darlow/Moule enumerates the impression more exactly to 6,250 copies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the work's intended use, ESTC locates copies at just four British libraries (BL, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford), two in Europe (Berlin State Library and the Dutch State Library), and a single location in North America (General Theological Seminary). - A trifle rubbed and marked, else a handsome copy with occasional marginal notes in pencil, marking to margins. Darlow/Moule 1654. ESTC T154998 (with erroneous pagination).
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Bidwell, Robin [Leonard] (ed.).
The Affairs of Arabia 1905-1906. London, Frank Cass and Co. Ltd., 1971.
Small folio (216 x 335 mm). 2 vols. LII, (2); IX, (1), 154; XI, (1), 116; VI, 82 pp. With 1 map. (6), VII, (1), 50, (2), 51-78; VI, 81, (1); V, (1), 93, (1); VI, 77, (1); IV, 40 pp. Original red cloth with gilt title to spine. Facsimile edition of eight collections of confidential documents from Britain's Foreign Office on affairs in the Arabian Gulf and beyond in 1905-1906. A goldmine of information, these secret intelligence communiques include direct communication with or discussion of key historical figures, including Sheikh of Abu Dhabi Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (1835-1909), Sheikh of Bahrain Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa (1848-1942), his son and heir Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa (1872-1942), and his nephew Ali ibn Ahmad-Khalifa; Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1875-1953) and his father Abdul-Rahman ibn Faisal al-Saud (1850-1928), Sheikh of Qatar Ahmad bin Muhammad Al-Thani (1853-1905), "effective ruler of Qatar" Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani (1825-1913), and Abdul-Rahman ibn Idan (an "agent of the Shaikh of Qatar in Bahrain"); Sultan of Muscat and Oman Faisal ibn Turki (1865-1913); and names British "agents" active in Bahrain and Muscat. - The Foreign Office Confidential Print - the basis of this collection - was started as the quickest and most convenient method of circulating important mail within the Foreign Office. It is thus not an edited compilation of documents but a collection of reports shown almost exactly as they arrived in Whitehall, providing a rare glimpse into British Intelligence and Arabian affairs. - Binding a little tender, otherwise in good condition. Removed from the Library of the University of Texas at San Antonio with requisite stamps and shelfmark labels to spines. OCLC 584226. Nos. 8472, 8482, 8548, 8561, 8668, 8709, 8767, 8883.
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Burn-Murdoch, John Francis, British Major General (1859-1931).
Collection of manuscripts on military expeditions in North Africa and along the Nile. Cairo and other places, [1884-1885].
Mostly 8vo and 4to. Ca. 206 pp. A loose collection of letters, diary entries, telegram slips, inserted sketch maps, and related paraphernalia. Includes: A Map of the Nile, From the Equatorial Lakes to the Mediterranean, Embracing the Egyptian Sudan (Kordofan, Darfur, &c.) and Abyssinia (London, Stanford, 1883). Folding coloured map of the Nile, inscribed by Burn-Murdoch. Burn-Murdoch, who rose to the rank of Major General, commanded, among other things, the cavalry in Egypt as a member of the Royal Dragoons. Part of his estate is in the National Army Museum, London. The collection offered here is in several hands, largely that of Burn-Murdoch himself, partly (probably also a little later) by others, especially the sections marked "copy" on the cover sheet. - "March from Aswan to Wada Halfa" is written on one cover; another piece is untitled, but describes a military operation near Tunis. Several sketch maps are inserted. Some of the sheets are numbered by hand, showing some sections to be partly incomplete. The overarching perspective of the collection is predominantly a military one, with geographical and meteorological commentary only mentioned in connection with military matters. However, in some letters to his father, Burn-Murdoch does add a few hints of daily life: "I am writing this in great luxury as I have got hold of an old wine cask and have constructed a kind of armchair out of it". He chats casually about seeing the pyramids of Giza, and subsequently "had a very hot walk from the Pyramids into Cairo", describes witnessing an accident which led to a drowning in the Nile, and notes that they were eating well enough, having had two cooks, though "one of whom deserted at the Pyramids". Also included is a hand-coloured map, presumably once in Burn-Murdoch's ownership with his name inscribed on the front cover of its case. - Overall in good condition, with some light wear. Despite the gaps, it gives an impressive picture of the life of British colonial troops in North Africa before 1900.
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Damiri, Muhammad ibn Musa.
Kitab hayat al-hayawan al-kubra. [A Zoological Lexicon]. [Ottoman provinces, 18th century and 1615 CE =] 1024 H.
2 volumes. 8vo (160 x 216 mm / 160 x 205 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. First volume: 340 ff.; title-page with gilt borders. Second volume: 178 ff. Script in black naskh with occasional words, phrases, and punctuation in red. 19th century leather and morocco with fore-edge flaps, stamped in blind. An important Arabic bestiary and the most famous work of al-Damiri (1341-1405), little known in the West. In the "Hayat al-Hayawan", al-Damiri alphabetically lists over nine hundred animals mentioned in the Qur'an or known in Muslim literature; his extensive commentary explains the use of such animals in medicine, tradition, and ancient poetry: whether they can lawfully be eaten, and their role in folklore and superstition. - Al-Damiri was a Muslim writer from Mamluk-era Egypt, and his other works are largely on canon law. His natural history, however, is considered his most influential and popular writing. - The first volume is not dated or signed, but was written in the Ottoman provinces in the 18th century; the second volume was completed by the scribe Umar ibn Abd al-Da'im ibn Umar al-Dandi on the 15th of Muharram 1024 H (14 February 1615 CE). Covers a little worn, spines professionally rebacked, some light paper repairs and soiling. A scarce and appealing piece of mediaeval zoology; complete in two volumes dating from the 17th and 18th century. Cf. GAL II, 137/8.
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[Gulf Administration Reports].
Appendices to the Administration Report on the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Maskat Political Agency for 1896-97. [Series title at head: Selections From the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department. No. CCCXLVII. Foreign Department Serial No. 92]. Calcutta, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1897.
Folio (212 x 333 mm). Publisher's original blue printed boards, black cloth spine hand-lettered. Appendices to the annual "Administration Report" on the Gulf region which the British Political Residents submitted to the Indian Viceroy and Governor. The bland official title belies the true value of the series, which has been called "a mine of information on the development of the modern Gulf" (Cambridge Archive Editions). Regularly the reports contain political details of the local sheikhdoms as well as trade information. - The present appendix volume contains the meteorological tables for the year 1896/97 as well as, crucially, the year's trade reports for the entire Gulf region. The issue notes widespread lower trade revenues, which it diagnoses as due to an Indian plague and subsequent quarantines of port cities, as well as ongoing political unrest in Qajar Iran following the assassination of the Shah, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the previous year. The volume provides carefully detailed charts of imports and exports for Bushire, Lingah, Bunder Abbas, Bahrain, the Arab Coast of the Gulf, and Shiraz. Though most exports dropped, the value of Bahrain's in fact had gone up since the previous year, with its most valuable exports being coffee, rice, and printed cottons to Turkey and the especially valuable export of pearls to India. On the Arabian Gulf Coast, principal exports were, again, pearls, though these were largely bound to "Persian ports". Those on the Arab Coast also benefitted from the mother o' pearl shell trade, one of the least impacted by the upheavals of India and Qajar Iran. - The "Administration Report on the Persian Gulf" was published under various titles annually between 1875 and 1957. Original specimens are almost unobtainable in the trade. - Provenance: removed from the London Library, with their printed label on the upper cover and their stamps (in blind and printed) on title-page and final leaf, accompanied by cancel stamps. Macro, p. xii (s.v. "RAPA": Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency). OCLC 224558510. ZDB-ID 768652-3. Cf. the 1989 Cambridge Archive Editions reprint.
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Hafiz, Hamdi / Sharqawi, Mahmud.
'Uman wa-imarat al-Khalij al-'Arabi [Oman and the Arabian Gulf Emirates]. Cairo, Lajnat Kutub Siyasiyah, 1957.
8vo. 78, (2) pp. With 7 half-tone photographic illustrations on 2 plates. Orange and white wrappers, titled in black. From a series published in the 1950s whose stated aim was to examine contemporary international political, social, and economic problems from an Egyptian perspective. This twenty-third title in the series focused on the Arabian Gulf and the United Arab Emirates, including chapters on the role of the UAE in the modern world, a chapter on future visions for the Arabian Gulf, and - rather presciently - a chapter on the new era of oil, which at the time had barely begun. - Preceding this volume were books on the Suez Canal (which had just been nationalized) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Discussed in simple terms are the histories of Oman and the Emirates; in addition to the above, brief chapters are included on Sa‘id bin Sultan (1791-1856), Thuwaini bin Said al-Busaidi (1821-1866), Salim bin Thuwaini al Busaidi, Azzan bin Qais, Faisal bin Turki (1864-1913), and Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (1875-1953). - Some leaves uncut, others slightly stuck together. Includes four pages of photographic illustrations of contemporary daily life. OCLC 316086724.
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Ibn al-Nafis al-Qarashi, Ala'addin Abu 'l Hasan Ali / Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Kitab al-Mujaz fi al-Tibb [A Summary of Medicine]. [Central Asia, probably ca. 1550 CE / mid-16th century CE or later].
Tall 8vo (104 x 220 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. (1), 185, (1) ff. Naskh script in black and occasional red ink, with catchwords and extensive marginal notes in a contemporary hand. 19th century leather, ruled and decoratively stamped in blind. Popular and influential mediaeval Arabic handbook for medical students by the great Damascus anatomist Ibn al-Nafis (1210-88). Long considered a commentary on Avicenna, this is now viewed by scholarship as an original work which also discusses Avicenna's ideas, and thus as "an independent book meant to be a handbook for medical students and practitioners, not as an epitome of Kitab Al-Qanun of Ibn Sina as thought by recent historians" (Abdel-Halim, 2008). One of the author's most widely received works, it provides a useful sum of medical knowledge to aspiring physicians of the mediaeval and early modern periods alike. It was still being copied centuries on from the death of Ibn al-Nafis, who is famous for first describing the pulmonary blood circulation, thereby anticipating by many centuries the efforts of William Harvey. - Not dated by the scribe, but one of the ownership dates on the first leaf is dated Shawwal 1100 AH (July/August 1689 CE), and the date of copying would be estimated around 950 AH, or possibly later. Covers lightly scuffed, interior shows marginal paper repairs and slight trimming to outermost marginal notes. The main text is clean and unmarred. GAL I, 493, 37, 2 & I, 457 (s. v. Ibn Sina). Rabie E. Abdel-Halim, "Contributions of Ibn Al-Nafis (1210-1288 AD) to the Progress of Medicine and Urology. A Study and Translations From his Medical Works", in: Saudi Medical Journal 29.1 (2008), pp. 13-22.
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Ibn al-Nafis al-Qarashi, Ala'addin Abu 'l Hasan Ali / Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Sharh Qurashi. Tashrih al-ad'a al-murakkabbah min kitab al-Qanun [The Commentary of Qurashi. Anatomy of the Compound Organs from The Canon of Medicine]. Central Asia, [12 Nov. 1674 CE =] 13 Sha'ban 1085 H.
8vo (127 x 214 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 80 ff. Part 2 (of 2). Black and occasional red ink, with catchwords and a few marginal notes in a contemporary hand. 19th century limp red morocco. Rare and important 17th century manuscript of the most famous work of Ibn al-Nafis (1210-88), written at only twenty-nine years of age. Unlike the author's two other commentaries on Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine, the "Sharh Qurashi" is extremely uncommon. The present part includes his most important contributions to medicine and anatomy: in describing the pulmonary blood circulation, he anticipated by many centuries the works of the 17th century scientists Marcello Malpighi and William Harvey. - Ibn al-Nafis "was the first person to challenge the long-held contention of the Galen School that blood could pass through the cardiac interventricular septum, and in keeping with this he believed that all the blood that reached the left ventricle passed through the lung. He also stated that there must be small communications or pores ('manafidh' in Arabic) between the pulmonary artery and vein" (West, 1877). In his commentary, "pulmonary circulation was described, for the first time, in much detail [...] this circulation was not described by Galen, and only Al-Akhawayni had provided some accurate details about it. He contradicted Galen's reports on the presence of a pathway of 'invisible pores' or a visible hole between the right and left cavities, and stated that blood moves to the lung through vena arteriosa (pulmonary arteries). There, it mixes with air and is filtered, then it moves back to the left cavity via the arteria venosa (pulmonary vein)" (Alghamdi, 1001). Many of al-Nafis's statements remain accurate to medical science today, making this work one of the most groundbreaking of its era. - Morocco binding somewhat rubbed and lightly soiled, with a few small closed tears to extremities. A tiny paper flaw in margin of f. 19 and old paper repair to edge of f. 53. Exterior leaves slightly browned and brittle, with some wear and soiling to edges. A well-preserved and highly unusual survival of a major text in the history of medicine during the Islamic Golden Age. GAL I 493, 37, 7. M. Alghamdi et al., "An Untold Story: The Important Contributions of Muslim Scholars for the Understanding of Human Anatomy", The Anatomical Record 300 (2017), pp. 986-1008. J. B. West, "Ibn al-Nafis, the Pulmonary Circulation, and the Islamic Golden Age", in: Journal of Applied Physiology 105 (2008), pp. 1877-1880.
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[Ibn Khalsun, Muhammad ibn Yusuf].
Kitab al-aghdiya fi hifz al-sihha [On Nutrition and the Preservation of Health]. Paris, 1615.
4to (200 x 144 mm). 81 pp. French manuscript, black ink on watermarked laid paper. 19th century blindstamped half calf with smooth spine, title lettered in gilt. A hitherto unknown French translation of an Arabic medical and philosophical text by a 13th century author from Al-Andalus: part of the first sections of the third chapter from the "Kitab al-Aghdiya", or the "Book of Food and the Preservation of Health", by Ibn Khalsun (ca. 1203-88). This chapter discusses general hygiene and personal health, that is to say, the body and spirit in their entirety. The present manuscript fragment is entitled "Traicté des choses non naturelles" ("Treatise on matters not natural"), meaning the things necessary for human life that are part of the external, material world, such as air, food and drink, including paragraphs on wine and sleep. It provides no information as to its source, but there was at the time no French edition of the work, and this would appear to be an entirely original, albeit unfinished, effort at translating an Arabic manuscript. The first published French translation was that included with the critical edition published in Damascus in 1996. - According to the Andalusian scholar Ibn al-Khatib (1313-74), Ibn Khalsun was originally from Rueda in Spain and lived in Malaga and Granada where he was part of the Nasrid ruler Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Yusuf's court (1272-1302). This is his only recorded work on medicine. - Some worming to the wide margins. Binding slightly rubbed at extremeties. Provenance: from the library of the French writer Jules Claretie (handwritten note dated 1919); subsequently owned by Dr. René-Albert Gutmann (1885-1981), and acquired from his heirs.
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Jackson, Kate.
Around the World to Persia. Letters Written While on the Journey as a Member of the American-Persian Relief Commission in 1918. New York, printed only for private circulation among friends (by the New Era Printing Co., Lancaster, PA), 1920.
8vo. (2), 76 pp. , final blank leaf. Cloth-backed boards with paper title labels on front cover and spine. Privately published collection of letters from wartime Persia in 1918, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "To Maddalene and Murray Franklin with love from Kate Jackson". - Kate Jackson wrote a series of letters to her sister in the United States while she and her husband were travelling "to Persia as members of the American-Persian Relief Commission": while "quite personal in character, they present a picture of experiences under somewhat unusual conditions and during a very memorable period" (from the prefatory note by A. V. Williams Jackson). Few copies were printed, not for publication, but intended simply to be given to friends. - In the letters themselves, Jackson discusses studying Persian, her voyage via Japan and Bombay, being the only woman on a troopship up the Tigris, meeting Syrian and Armenian refugees on the way out of Baghdad, and the reports she has heard on the Armenian genocide, and describes the celebration of the Armistice in Tehran. - Covers somewhat worn, otherwise an inscribed copy in good condition. OCLC 10350636. Not in Wilson.
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Kirmani, Mirza Muhammad Karim Khan.
Two treatises on astronomy: Khulasa al-taqwim (Summary of the Calendar) and Risala al-Mizan (A Letter on Balance). Qajar Iran, [July/August 1856 CE =] Dhu'l-Qa'da 1270 H.
8vo (145 x 204 mm). Two treatises bound together: the first in Persian with occasional captions in Arabic, the second in Arabic. Manuscript on polished paper. 45 ff., 18-22 lines. Nastaliq and naskh script in black and red, written space ruled in red and blue, with numerous charts in red, blue, and black and chart headers in blue woodblock print. Folio 10 features moveable slips to complement a chart. 19th century full leather over wooden boards, covers decorated with lacquered gold leaf and illustrated with an astrolabe quadrant; top edge of upper cover recessed at the centre; a flower-shaped inlay to the upper cover is lost. Finely rendered and beautifully bound work on astronomy and timekeeping by Haji Mirza Muhammad Karim Khan-i-Kirmani (1810-73). Karmani was a Shaykhi-Shia scholar, a distant cousin to Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar (1769-1834), and a 19th century polymath with mastery of a whole field of Islamic and philosophical sciences, including alchemy, medicine, optics and music. - The first treatise presented here is "Khulasa al-taqwim", a calendar summary in the form of tables for ikhtiyarat, or selections: it thus guides the reader through the selection of auspicious moments in a given day, the station of the moon and the zodiac in the heavens, and describes the solar and lunar calendars, the hours of the day and night, and knowledge of horoscopes. - The second is "Risala al-Mizan", which focuses on the use and construction of astrolabes. Karmani had a particularly keen interest in the engineering behind the astrolabe, a distinctly Muslim invention which is perhaps the greatest technical triumph of the mediaeval world. Indeed, Karmani went on to invent his own version of the astrolabe. Both calendrical knowledge and astrolabe engineering require keen mathematical and geometric knowledge, the study of which is aided by the numerous and often complex charts made available to the reader throughout. One such chart features two movable slips, still fully intact and functional, which practitioners may slide up and down to match up with the chart and aid their calculations. The binding on this volume is particularly striking, as it is illustrated with diagrams of astrolabe quadrants on a field of glittering copper leaf. - Light wear to covers, slightly delicate binding. A well-preserved and uncommonly early copy of Kirmani's astronomical writings. The only comparable manuscript copy to have appeared on the market is a later specimen in a very similar binding, dating from 1312 H/1895 CE, which sold at Christie's (Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Sale, 27 April 2017, lot 16), commanding £21,250.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' X. China, [ca. 1790 - later 18th century CE].
8vo (200 x 288 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 50 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within red double rules, punctuation in red, gold rosette verse markers outlined in black, surah headers in gold, gold and polychrome marginal decoration, opening bifolium with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. Restored 18th century red leather with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in blind. Beautifully illuminated Qur'an Juz' (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in 18th century China. Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. The section of the Qu'ran copied here is the tenth Juz', which comprises surah 8, al-Anfal ("The Spoils") and surah 9, al-Tawbah ("The Repentance"). These two surahs form a set, and are best read as a pair. Both give an account of battles: al-Anfal describes the Battle of Badr, while al-Tawbah describes the Battle of Tabuk. - Covers fully rebacked, with some mild warping; some paper repair and reinforcement. Altogether a fine example of the Chinese Muslim manuscript tradition. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XXIX. China, [ca. 1780 - 18th century CE].
8vo (180 x 252 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 58 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within double red rules, punctuation in red, black outlined gold rosettes between verses, headers in gold text on red ground, opening bifolium with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. 18th century full red leather with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in blind. Handsomely illuminated Qur'an Juz (one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Qur'an is divided) written in 18th century China. - Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Indeed, many major cities in China, such as Xi'an (or Chang'an, as it was known during the height of the Silk Road) and Beijing, boast a long and rich Muslim history. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. Juz' 29, the penultimate Juz' of the Qu'ran shown here, begins with surah 67, al-Mulk (The Sovereignty), and closes with the fifty lines of surah 77, al-Mursalat (The Emissaries). - Binding rebacked and spine and endpapers professionally replaced; subtle paper repairs; some later pagination marks. Altogether a beautiful example of the Chinese Muslim manuscript tradition. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Qur'an Juz'].
An illuminated Qur'an, Juz' XXX. Xi'an, China, [Oct/Nov. 1594 CE =] Safar 1003 H.
4to (163 x 220 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 56 ff. Script in bold black sini, 5 lines within double red rules, punctuation in red, surah heading in red, opening and closing bifolio with red, blue and black and gold illuminated panels around three lines of text. Early full calf with fore-edge flap, elaborately ruled and stamped in gilt. A finely illuminated Qur'an Juz', written in China in the 16th century by Abd Allah bin Yunus al-Sini, in the city of Xi'an. - Xi'an has a long history of Muslim culture, stretching back to the Tang dynasty. Indeed, Arab presence in China dates back as far as the first Caliphate: the Prophet's companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is traditionally credited with introducing Islam to China as ambassador in 650. Xi'an itself boasts a well-known Muslim quarter; by the time this Juz' was written in the Ming Dynasty, Da Xuexi Street and the Huajue Great Mosque were well-established parts of the thriving Muslim district. Qur'an sections written by Chinese Muslims show the Chinese influence clearly in both the decoration and the script, which is derived from naskh. - This thirtieth and final Juz' is also the most commonly memorized. It begins with surah 78, al-Naba’ (The Tidings), and concludes with the 114th and final surah of the Qu'ran, al-Nas (Mankind). The themes are generally apocalyptic, contrasting the moment of judgment with the beauty of Allah's creation. The Surah al-Nas, a brief six lines, is one of the most famous and best beloved. - Binding professionally rebacked, some subtle paper repairs; altogether a striking manuscript. Provenance: Private UK collection formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
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[Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al- (Rhazes)] / Giachini, Leonardo.
In nonum librum Rasis Arabis medici ad Almansorem regem, de partium morbis eruditißima commentaria. Basel, Peter Perna, 1563 - (1 Feb.) 1564.
4to. 2 parts in 1 volume. (24), 454, 134 pp., (1 blank leaf), (72) pp. Woodcut initials; printer's woodcut device in two sizes to title and last page. Contemporary limp vellum (spine and edges renewed). Author's name inked on lower edge of text block. First edition of this detailed commentary on the famous ninth book of the "Kitab al-tibb al-Mansuri", a treatise dedicated by al-Razi (also known as Rhazes; 850-923 or 932) to Almansor, the Prince of Chorosan. "The manual, known as 'Nonus Almansoris', was popular among mediaeval physicians" (cf. GAL S I, p. 419). The work discusses special pathology but excludes pyrology and was one of the most popular textbooks at medical schools and faculties well into the Middle Ages (cf. Hirsch/H. I, 171). Rhazes is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna; he also conducted alchemical experiments. According to his biographer al-Gildaki, he was blinded for refusing to share his secrets of chemistry. - The Italian physician Leonardo Giacchini (1501-47), who composed this commentary, practised at Lucca until 1543 and later taught at the University of Pisa. His other works are collected in part two of the volume, with its own title-page, dated 1563. - Vellum rippled, spine replaced, edges rebacked. Some light dampstaining, inkstains, and general soiling to interior; edges of some marginal notes have been trimmed. - From the library of the Italian physician Giambattista Giovanetto Morello from Tavagnasco (Piedmont), whose doctoral dissertation was published at Turin in 1779 (a single copy known, in the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria Torino); his autograph ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, "Joanettus medicus a Tavagnasco", is dated 10 February 1780. Numerous marginal notes throughout in two hands, one belonging to the 17th century, the other apparently that of Giovanetto. VD 16, G 1940. BM-STC German 359. Adams G 581 (part 2 only). Wellcome 2823. Durling 2094.
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Redhouse, J[ames] W[illiam].
A Tentative Chronological Synopsis of the History of Arabia and its Neighbours From B.C. 500,000 (?) to A.D. 679. London, Trübner & Co., 1887.
8vo. 36 pp. Contemporary green cloth wrappers titled in gilt. A chronology of the Arab world spanning from Babylonian origin myth to the accession of Yezid, son of Caliph Mawiya I of Damascus in 679. Redhouse (1811-92) first sketched out his timeline while he was preparing a translation and commentary in the East India Office of a manuscript called the History of the Resuliyy Dynasty and the Kings of Yemen to the death of Melik Eshref II. He decided to publish his chronology separately in order to reach a wider audience, and so as to make it available to scholars who might find further use for it. Much of the early entries are by necessity semi-mythical, but Redhouse adds historical notes where possible, occasionally alongside his own personal commentary, such as in his entry for 12 BC wherein Hassan, son of Tubba' the Middle, king of Yemen, "uses the Macbeth strategem of boughs of trees to make the advance of his army against the place", or in 189 CE when he notes with some confusion, "The Saracens defeat the Romans; their first mention in history. (Who were they? Arabians have always been well known)", and at roughly 300 CE notes that "Lu'eyy b. Galib [...] ninth ancestor of Muhammed, wrests the principality of Mekka [...] out of the hands of the 'Ezdite tribe of Khuza'a. (It remains in the hands of his descendants to the present time, A.D. 1887)". - During his career Redhouse served the Ottoman government as interpreter to the Grand Vizier, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and sat on the Naval Council. He was additionally involved in attempts to negotiate treaties for Britain and the Ottomans with Persia. In his retirement his focus turned entirely academic. - A little light wear, binding somewhat delicate. OCLC 5590516.
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[Sanusi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf].
Kitab al-sughra fi’ al-tawhid. [The Smaller Tract on the Principles of Faith, or, The Lesser Creed]. North Africa, [1780 CE =] 1194 H.
4to (152 x 210 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 57 ff. Leaves have been numbered in pencil, though incorrectly. Brown and red ink with occasional blue and yellow, ruled in red, gilt pointer in the margin marking the beginning, and ending with the name of the Prophet Muhammad written in yellow and black. Marginal notes in a modern red ink. Modern brown morocco with fore-edge flap. Modern endpapers. A theological treatise more commonly known as "Al-Sanusiyyah Al-Sughra" (The Short Version of As-Sanusiyyah) or as "Umm al-Barahin" (The Mother of All Proofs). Mohamed ibn Youssef Sanoussi (1435/36-1490) was a North African theologian who lived as a mystic in Tlemcen, Algeria. Unlike Averroes or al-Ghazali, Sanusi espoused a democratic and rational conception of theology that appealed not to the elite but to any man endowed with reason. He sought to establish practical faith through logical proof. - As stated in the colophon, the present manuscript was copied by one Ahmad ibn Ali. Recto of first leaf somewhat soiled, with later ink notes and paper repairs; the beginning of the text on the verso is only slightly affected. Light soiling and inkblots throughout, with a few marginal wormholes and dampstains. Later marginal notes; verso of f. 56 has text which is not contained in ruled margins and has thus been trimmed slightly along fore-edge. Cf. GAL II, 8.7.4.
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Sha'rani, 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad.
Mukhtasar tadhkirat al-Suwaydi [The Epitome of Suwaydi's "Memorandum Book"]. Ottoman Egypt, [9 Sept. 1696 CE =] 11 Safar 1108 H.
8vo. 2 parts in 1 volume. Arabic manuscript on paper. 144 ff., 1 leaf of index. Text in black naskh with important words and phrases in red, occasional marginal notes. 19th century three quarter red boards with red morocco spine, ruled and lettered in gilt. An uncommon epitome of a 13th century medical treatise by 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad Sha'rani (1492/3-1565), known primarily for his mystical writings. While Al-Sha'rani famously founded an Egyptian order of Sufism, Sa'rawiyyah, which remained active until the 19th century and wrote extensively on religious law and Sufism; his interest in medicine is less well known. This book, which discusses a treatise by the physician Al-Suwaydi (1204-92), is unique among his works as a scientific text, and is important in forming an idea of Al-Sha'rani as a man of numerous intellectual interests, equally able to debate religious law and explain medical recipes and procedures. Indee, these were not interests at odds with each other: magical and occult remedies are prominent throughout the text. Al-Sha'rani retains some of Al-Suwaydi's stylistic choices as well, most noticeably the organization of the medical recipes by body part to be treated: the work starts with ailments of the head and proceeds down the body to end with the feet. - This specimen was copied on Sunday, the 11th of Safar 1108 AH by the scribe Muhammad Muhyi al-Din Abi al-Anas al-Shafi'i al-Miliji al-Ash'ari al-Sha'rani. Two of the ownership entries are dated 1251 and 1322 H, and annotations and notes at the end with an added index in Maghribi script suggest that it was last owned by a physician in Morocco or elsewhere in North Africa. - Boards somewhat worn, a few minor stains and wormholes. Index has been reinforced. An interesting medical work from a Sufi theologian. GAL II, 335f.
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Shinshawri, Baha al-Din Muhammad al- / Ha'im, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-.
Kitab al-Murshidah wa Sharhuh [The Book of the Guide with its commentary]. Cairo, Ottoman Egypt, [28 May 1614 CE =] 18 Rabi II 1023 H.
8vo (154 x 208 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 267 ff. (final 6 leaves are supplied in a 19th century hand). Naskh script in black and red, with many numerical charts and calculations in text and margins. Rebacked contemporary red morocco, ruled and stamped in blind. Commentary on a work by the Egyptian mathematician Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ha'im (ca. 1352-1412), the "Murshidat al-talib ila asna al-matalib fi ilm al-hisab" ("A student's guide to the summit of learning on the science of mathematics"). Al-Ha'im is famous for his contributions to mathematics, especially in the field of early algebra. The author of the commentary, Baha al-Din Muhammad al-Shinshawri (d. 1590), finished this work in 1587. The present copy was completed by the scribes Abd al-Rahman bin Wali Allah and Shihab al-Din al-Wiqay al-Shinway al-Shafi' on Friday, the 18th of Rabi' al-Thani 1023 AH at Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque in Ottoman Egypt. - The text incorporates several small mathematical charts as well as marginal calculations, which provide a key insight into the development of mathematical notation and visual organization in the early 17th century. - Covers rebacked and spine replaced, along with final six leaves which were probably completed in Western Asia in the 19th century. Several small waqf stamps. A few paper repairs and marginal wormholes, otherwise well-preserved. Cf. GAL II, 125.
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Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn.
Sinai and Palestine. In Connection With Their History. London, John Murray, 1860.
8vo (150 x 214 mm). (2), LVIII, 560 pp. With 7 folding chromolithographed maps (one bound as a frontispiece) and 5 woodcut maps and plans in the text (some in colour). Early 20th century library cloth with title lettered to spine in gilt. Fifth edition. Stanley (1815-81) was a progressive Anglican priest and ecclesiastical historian who would go on to serve as Dean of Westminster from 1864 until his death. - "Stanley was able to make an extended tour of Egypt and the Holy Land in 1852 and 1853. Starting from Cairo he and his companions sailed up the Nile, which he found intolerably dull, but the great granite statues of Rameses and two other pharaohs at Thebes impressed him. They went as far south as Abu Simbel, but turned back to Cairo, climbed the pyramids, and then set out on camels for the Sinai peninsula, at that time visited only by the most intrepid of European travellers. In the monastery of St Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai they found the great German scholar Tischendorf, who on a previous visit had discovered there an important biblical manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus. After moving on to the Gulf of 'Aqabah, they turned up the defile that led to Petra, which Stanley pronounced to be a city not of bright colours, but of dull crimson, indigo, yellow, and purple. They reached Jerusalem on Easter eve 1853, from where they made expeditions to Nazareth, Damascus, Jericho, and the Dead Sea. The tour led to the publication of 'Sinai and Palestine' in March 1856, Stanley's powers of observation and description, together with the unfamiliarity of the places that he had visited, making the book an instant success. It reached a fourth edition within a year, and as late as 1881 was still being reprinted" (ODNB). - Occasional slight browning, but very well preserved in a later library binding. OCLC 3044873. Cf. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 257. Not in Gay.
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Theodosius of Bithynia.
Kitab al-ukar [Sphaerics]. Central Asia, [May/June 1592 CE =] Sha'ban 1000 H.
8vo (116 x 180 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 52 pp. on 28 ff. of very fine polished paper (8 ff. on pink paper), complete. Meticulous Naskh in black ink with occasional red; numerous diagrams in red in the margins and occasionally within the text itself. Bound with an astronomical treatise in Persian. 50 pp. Black ink with occasional red; several diagrams in red throughout the text. Altogether 59 ff. 18th century red morocco, ruled in gilt and stamped in blind, modern rebacking. A 16th 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 text is decorated throughout with geometric diagrams drawn in red ink with a delicate and exacting hand. Each is labelled, and many are quite intricately detailed, showing the geometric qualities of the sphere and progress to astronomical diagrams exploring orbits and planetary movement. This present manuscript was copied by Muhammad Taqi bin Aqa Jalal al-Kilani, dated to Sha'ban 1000 H. - Bound with another astronomical treatise, in Persian, written on somewhat coarser paper stock. Covers worn and rebacked, some dampstaining, otherwise very well preserved. A fine piece in the history of mathematics.
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Unsuri, Abu al-Qasim Hasan.
Masnavi-i Vamiq va 'Azra [Metiochus and Parthenope]. Persia, 1830.
Folio (212 x 324 mm). Persian manuscript on faintly ruled paper. 1 blank leaf, 336 pp. (168 ff.), 1 blank leaf. Text is complete, but last leaf is missing. 1 illuminated headpiece and 49 illustrations in ink and bright watercolour wash. Text in black, ruled in black, with important words and phrases picked out in purple. 19th century leather ruled and stamped in blind. Lavishly illuminated Persian manuscript depicting the romance which came to define the love story in Western literature. Composed by Abu al-Qasim Hasan Unsuri (ca. 961-1039), the original Persian was in fact lost, and preserved in a Turkish translation. Unsuri's version was itself based on what was already an ancient love story in his own time, the Ancient Greek novel "Metiochus and Parthenope", which also survives only in fragments. Though certainly derived from the Greek, like many Persian romances with Greek origins, "the nature of the relationship is not [...] the simple one of the earlier (Greek) material influencing the later (Persian) material, as the Greek novels contain a number of motifs and topoi which are identified within the narratives themselves as Persian in origin. The relationship between the love narratives of the two cultures appear, therefore, to have been one of mutual reciprocity over a considerable stretch of time" (Davis). - Some fragments of the original Persian do survive: Sa'id Nafisi collected 141 verses of "Wameq o 'Adra" that were used as evidence in Persian dictionaries, and 372 more verses were discovered by Mohammad Šafi' in the binding of an old manuscript in 1950 (Blois, 201). Unsuri's version was translated in the 16th century into Turkish by Shaikh Mahmud Lame'i, though in comparison with the earlier fragments, this is considered a loose translation of the original. However, it provides the source of most subsequent translations and most of what we know of "Vamiq va 'Azra", as a romance which underpins the genre. In literature both medieval and modern, the narratives of the original persist: lovers separated by a kidnapping, a virgin who must use a range of tricks to elude unworthy attempts on her chastity, an interrupted wedding, and a seemingly final separation with the (supposed) death of one of the lovers. In this way, "Vamiq va 'Azra" echoes down the literary ages. - Covers somewhat worn but professionally repaired; still tightly bound. Light soiling, otherwise a beautifully illustrated and uncommon manuscript. Richard Davis, "Greece IX. Greek and Persian Romances", in: Encyclopaedia Iranica XI, 339-342. Francois de Blois, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey. Vol. V: Poetry of the Pre-Mongol Period (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 2004), pp. 201-204.
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[Wilson, Arnold Talbot].
A Sketch of the Political History of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, With Special Reference to the Present Campaign. Calcutta, Government Press, 1917.
Small 8vo. (6), 43, (1) pp. Stiff green cloth wrappers titled in black. Extremely rare manual, marked "For Official use only" and prepared for the troops of the Indian Expeditionary Force "D", giving an account of the political and historical context of the British Mesopotamian campaign of World War I. - Expeditionary Force "D" was made up of Indian and British troops and is infamous for its doomed defense of the siege of Kut, where disease and starvation forced a surrender in April 1916. However, the pamphlet does not limit itself to Iraq, but crucially provides an entire chapter on the history of, and British interest in, the Arabian Peninsula, titled "Arabia - Our Left Flank", including an entire section on Abdulaziz Ibn Saud (1875-1953). The author summarizes the history of British presence in the Gulf, noting the sack of Ras-al-Khaimah in retribution for alleged pirate activity, after which "the climate forced [the British] to evacuate that position". The book further refers to the "maritime truce" imposed by Britain upon the Arabian Coast from "Masandam to Kuwait" in 1836 and notes that the suppression of the arms trade in Muscat was successful thanks to the regulations put in place by Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Muscat and Oman (1864-1913), the direct ancestor of Sultan Haitham. In more general terms the author describes "The rich oases of the Qasim, with their population of enterprizing merchants" and "the Hasa, coveted for its date groves and its ports on the Persian Gulf" which "was finally wrested from the Ottoman Government by Ibn Sa'ud in 1913". The author lists British treaties along the Gulf Coast, including with "the Shaikh of Bahrain" (Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, 1769-1849) in 1820 "and in 1798 with the chiefs of the Trucial Coast". - Cloth gently rubbed. Interior shows a hint of foxing, otherwise in very good condition. A single copy is listed in auction records, and that volume included a pencil note attributing authorship to Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), a captain in the British Indian Army. As then-acting civil commissioner for Mesopotamia who later became known for his strong opinions on the postwar fate of Iraq, he is not an unlikely candidate.
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Ahmad ibn Muhammad (ibn 'Arabshah).
Tarikh-i Timur Gürgan [The History of Tamerlane]. Qustantaniyah (Constantinople, Istanbul), Ibrahim Müteferrika, [1730 CE =] 1142 H.
4to (165 x 125 mm). (6), 129 ff. Early 19th century half calf with floral moirée paper covers. Yellow paper pastedowns. The sixth book printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika: an important eyewitness account of the life of Tamerlane (Timur), the successful and barbaric 14th-century Turkish conqueror. Translated into in Ottoman Turkish by Nazemi Zadeh from the original Arabic manuscript completed in 1437/38 by the Syrian author Ahmad lbn 'Arabshah (1392-1450), secretary to Sultan Ahmad of Baghdad. - Binding a little rubbed at extremeties. Occasional browning, depending on paper stock, but mostly a very good, clean copy on crisp paper. Özege 19929. GAL S II, p. 25. Ebert 292 (note). Brunet I, 117 (note). Toderini III, p. 75, no. V.
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[Bidpai].
Livre des lumières ou la conduite des roys, composé par le sage Pilpay Indien. Paris, Simeon Piget, 1644.
8vo (101 x 171 mm). (16), 286 pp., final blank leaf. Near-contemporary full red morocco binding, flat spine with gilt title and elaborate ornamentation, both covers bordered with triple rules, leading edges gilt, inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Extremely rare first French edition of the oriental tales known as "Kalila wa-Dimna" or "Anvari Suhaili", being the Persian version of the Fables of Bidpai (here comprising the prologue and the first four chapters). Translated by the great French linguist Gilbert Gaulmin (1585-1665) and his student and collaborator David Sahid d'Ispahan (whose is the only name given on the title). Bidpai (or "Pilpay") is the name of the Indian philosopher to whom the Arabic and Persian tradition attributes this famous collection, known in the Sanskrit tradition as "Panchatantra". It was translated into Latin as early as the 13th century. - This first French edition is of particular importance for popularising the fables in France and providing Jean de La Fontaine with themes for many of his later and most beautiful stories in his own fable collection, first published in 1678-79 (cf. Le Roux). - Volume ends with the note "Fin de la premiere partie", but all published. Provenance: old ink ownership "Bouhon or. de S. Sac" to title-page. Later in the library of the Lebanese-born entrepreneur Charles Kettaneh (1904-85) with his etched bookplate to the front flyleaf. Together with his brothers, Charles Kettaneh developed the export business of cars and other American luxury goods to the Middle East, where he established licenced dealerships. Passionate about travel, a fine scholar and knowledgeable about art, Kettaneh was a great collector and bibliophile; his library was remarkable for the rarity of the books rather than for their number. - Binding very slightly rubbed in places, but finely preserved. Contemporary bibliographical notes and the odd penstroke to the margin. A superb copy, not in trade records. Chauvin II, p. 33, no. 55A. Brunet I, 937. Graesse I, 421f. Barbier II, 1329. Le Roux de Lincy, Essai sur les fables indiennes et sur leur introduction en Europe (1838), p. 23f. OCLC 457066815.
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[Cairo Ware - Islamic Judaica].
Copper gilt tray. Probably Egypt, late 19th century.
Diameter: 31 cms. A beautiful copper gilt tray in a rounded flat form, engraved with geometric designs in the Mamluk revival style, the Star of David and Hebrew and Arabic lettering. - Exceedingly well preserved.
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[Concorde].
Envelope "Concorde - Inaugural Flight - Bahrain-London". Bahrain, [postmark: 22 Jan. 1976].
200 x 120 mm.
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Ibn Zunbul, Ahmed ibn 'Ali / Ahmet Süheyli Efendi.
Tarikh-i Misr-i cedid / Tarikh-i Misr-i al-kadim [A History of Modern and Ancient Egypt]. Qustantaniyah (Constantinople, Istanbul), Ibrahim Müteferrika, [1730 CE =] 1142 H.
4to (170 x 214 mm). (4), 65, 51 ff. Early 19th century half calf with marbled covers and fore-edge flap. Pink paper pastedowns. The seventh book printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika: a history of Egypt from antiquity to early modern times, prepared by the Turkish scholar Ahmed Süheylî (1562?-1632). The modern section (bound first, as usual) is in fact an Ottoman Turkish translation of the chronicle of the Ottoman-Mamluk war of 1516/17, "Fath Misr" (Tarikh as-sultan Selim al-Utmani ma'a as-sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri) by Ibn Zunbul (d. 1574/75). - Handwritten ownership of the French diplomat Louis Lagarde (dated 1923 CE) to front flyleaf. Occasional light browning and fingerstains, but mostly an excellent copy on good, crisp paper. Özege 19868-19869. GAL S II, p. 409. Toderini III, p. 85, no. VI.
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Katib Chelebi (Haji Khalifa).
Tuhfet ül-kibar fi esfar il-bihar. Qustantaniyah (Constantinople, Istanbul), Ibrahim Müteferrika, [1729 CE =] 1141 H.
Small folio (185 x 246 mm). (7), 75, (2) ff. With 2 (instead of 4) double-page-sized engraved maps and a double-page-sized compass rose plate, all in contemporary hand colour. Early 20th century half calf over marbled covers with title gilt to spine. The first illustrated printed Turkish book and the second work from the press of Ibrahim Müteferrika. Composed in 1656, this is a compilation containing in its main section a history of the Ottoman navy and naval wars, from the conquest of Constantinople down to the author's own lifetime. It includes an introductory geographical summary of the conditions around the Balkans and the Black Sea, a chronological list of all Ottoman admirals, a description of the administrative organisation of the navy and dockyards, regulations on sea battles, ships in the Ottoman navy, their equipment and maintenance, together with suggestions for improvement. - The maps show the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea (some edge flaws; rebacked; lacks the map of the Black Sea and the world map). Some browning and waterstaining throughout; ff. 17-18 transposed between ff. 4 and 5, ff. 25-28 between ff. 22 and 23. Watson 2. Atabey 898. Özege 21273. Babinger 12. Blackmer 1176. De Sacy III, 5017. Toderini III, p. 25, no. II.
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[Kitab Alf layla wa-layla].
Kitab Alf layla wa-layla. Vols. I and II. Bulaq, al-Matba’ah al-kubra, [1835 CE =] 1251 H.
Royal 8vo (262 x 194 mm). 2 vols. 710 pp. 620 pp. Printed in Arabic throughout, floral woodcut sarlawh to each volume, text within two-line frame throughout, titles in nasta'liq types. Bound in somewhat later half leather over marbled boards; spine on five raised bands with gilt title, volume number, and edition. Double endpapers. Housed in custom-made, half-cloth modern slipcase. First complete edition in Arabic of the Thousand and One Nights, and the first edition printed in the Arab world. Very rare, with seven copies only located in libraries worldwide (American University Beirut, British Library, Danish Royal Library, Harvard, Huntington, and Yale); none traced in auction records. The Bulaq edition was preceded by another two-volume edition printed at Calcutta between 1814 and 1818, which contained a selection of 200 "Nights" only; the German orientalist Max Habicht began his multi-volume, so-called Breslau edition in 1824, though it remained incomplete on his death in 1839, and at any rate used the Bulaq text as one of its many sources. The Bulaq edition was prepared by one ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sifti al-Sharqawi, probably from a single manuscript which is now lost. It proved "more correct than the garbled and semi-colloquial renderings given by the manuscripts used in the compilations of Calcutta I and Breslau", and was instrumental in stabilising the Thousand and One Nights corpus (Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, p. 44). It was the main source for Edward Lane’s pioneering English translation (1889-41) and for the last of the four historically important Arabic editions, published at Calcutta in 1839-42 (and known as "Calcutta II"). Bulaq and Calcutta II "superseded almost completely all other texts and formed the general notion of the Arabian Nights. For more than half a century it was neither questioned nor contested that the text of the Bulaq and Calcutta II editions was the true and authentic text" (Marzolph, The Arabian Nights Reader, p. 88). - The printing press at Bulaq, Cairo, founded in 1821 by Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, was the first indigenous press in Egypt and one of the first anywhere in the Arab world, its literary output catering to a keen export market and increased demand among the expanding professional classes of Muhammad ‘Ali’s Egypt. For the first few years the press used types cast in Italy, then France. "In 1826 Muhammad ‘Ali sent a delegation to Europe to study printing, and by the 1830s printing had reached a good technical level at Bulaq" (Kent et al., eds., Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 24, p. 63). The present edition exhibits the high standards of Bulaq printing, with the main text composed in authentic and legible naskh-style types, interspersed with attractive headings in nasta’liq. - Condition report: 19th-century bibliographical notes on a typed vignette mounted on the endpapers of each volume; bibliographical notes in pencil on endpaper of vol. 1. Handwritten tables of contents loosely inserted to both volumes, probably in Barbier de Meynard's hand in ink and pencil. A few marginal notes in Arabic and French written in pen and pencil throughout. Occasional spotting; pages very slightly yellowed due to age. A tiny hole throughout, at the upper inner corner of the framing rules. Vol. 1: Two small holes at the gutter of fol. [157]2 (pp. 627f.) and minute damage to the upper edge of the last 9 ff. Spine rubbed, upper compartment professionally restored. Vol. 2: A larger light stain to the margin of fol. [4]1 (pp. 13f.), moderately touching the text area but not affecting legibility. Insignificant worming to lower margin of the first 10 ff. Spine rubbed, front hinge professionally restored. Interior of both volumes is clean and firm, overall in very good condition. - Provenance: from the collection of the French oriental scholar Charles Barbier de Meynard (1826-1906) with his stamp and ownership inscription "Bibliothéque de Mr Barbier de Meynard" in both volumes. A member of the Société Asiatique and editor of "Dictionnaire Géographique de la Perse", Barbier de Meynard authored several books and articles and co-translated the 9-volume "Moruj al-dahab" ("Les prairies d'or") of Al-Masudi (Paris, 1861-77). His inscription "Donne par A. Dantan" in the first volume probably refers to Antoine Dantan, a member of the renowned French dragoman dynasty. Chauvin IV, 18, 20K. Brunet III, 1715. Graesse IV, 523. Fawzi M. Tadrus, Printing in the Arab World with emphasis on Bulaq Press (Doha: University of Qatar, 1982), p. 64. Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, p. 184. Heinz Grotzfeld. Neglected Conclusions of the "Arabian Nights": Gleanings in Forgotten and Overlooked Recensions. In: Journal of Arabic Literature, Vol. 16, (1985), pp. 73-87. Ulrich Marzolph (ed.). The Arabian nights in transnational perspective, Wayne State University Press 2007, p. 51.
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Krusinski, Judasz Tadeus, SJ.
Tarikh-i seyyah der bayan-i zuhur-i Agvaniyan ve-inhidam-i devlet-i Safeviyan. Qustantaniyah (Constantinople, Istanbul), Ibrahim Müteferrika, [26 August 1729 CE =] 1 Safar 1142 H.
4to (152 x 220 mm). 2 (instead of 7), 97 ff. (last two leaves mutilated; plus a fragment of the 5th leaf of prelims). Contemporary calf binding; papered spine with typed leather spine label; some loss to lower cover. The third book printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika: a contemporary history of the Afghan-Persian wars of the Safavid era that led to the fall of the Safavid dynasty and the Afghan occupation of Iran. This is the Ottoman Turkish translation of a work by the Polish Jesuit Judasz Tadeus Krusinski, who lived in the royal capital of Isfahan from 1707 to 1725/28, acting as an intermediary between the Papacy and the Iranian court as well as a court translator. Proficient in Persian and well acquainted with the nation and its people, he was a first-hand witness to the sack of the city by the rebellious Afghans in 1722, and his account makes him an important primary source on this particular period of the Safavid era. - Browned, fingerstained and waterstained throughout, several waqf marks; various edge tears and small chips. Lacks the first five leaves of the preliminaries (save for a fragment of the fifth); loss to upper edge of f. 33 (first line) and ff. 96-97 (several lines at the bottom of the page). Zenker 929. Özege 19897. De Backer/Sommervogel IV, 1264. Brunet III, 190. Ebert 4844 (note). Toderini III, p. 34, no. III.
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[Tarikh-i Hind-i gharbi].
Tarikh-i Hind-i gharbi al-müsemma bi-Hadis-i nev [A History of the Western Indies]. Qustantaniyah (Constantinople, Istanbul), Ibrahim Müteferrika, [April 1730 CE =] mid-Ramazan 1142 H.
4to (161 x 212 mm). (3), 91 ff. With 13 woodcut hand-coloured illustrations in the text (lacking the 4 double-page engraved plates). Contemporary half calf binding with marbled covers and fore-edge flap. Rare first edition of this illustrated history of the New World in Ottoman Turkish: the first book published in Turkey to contain illustrations, the earliest book about the New World published in the Ottoman Empire, and one of the first titles printed by a Muslim in Turkey. The contemporary colouring of the woodcuts, which depict curious oddities, fantastic creatures and the native people of the New World, lends this specimen a visual appearance very different from that of the rather plain copies in which this book is usually known (14 copies recorded by OCLC). The only similarly embellished copy of the Hind al-Gharbi we could trace is the one held by the Lilly Library. - "Although ascribed in Turkish bibliographies to one Mehmed Ibn Hasan üs-Su'udi, the authorship is uncertain [...] Despite the title, this is not a history of the West Indies. It opens with a general geographical and cosmological discussion, and follows with an account of the discovery of the New World, with considerable fantastic elaboration in the spirit of the more fabulous passages of Abu Hamid and Qazwini. Among the illustrations are depictions of trees whose fruits are in human form, long-snouted horses, mermen at battle with land-dwellers, and other men and beasts of nightmarish aspect" (Watson). - This work, which survives in a number of manuscripts (none as complete as this printed edition), was composed in Istanbul around 1580. After a synthesis of Islamic geographical and cosmographical writings (notably drawing from al-Mas'udi, who is the most frequently cited source, and Ibn al-Wardi, mentioned almost 20 times), the book relates the discovery of the New World. It is this Chapter 3, which comprises the final two thirds of the text, in which the unidentified author describes the explorations and discoveries by Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortés and Pizarro. As Goodrich's study of the book's sources shows, this section is derived directly from Italian editions of 16th century texts, particularly works by López de Gómara, Peter Martyr, Agustín de Zárate, and Oviedo, which the author excerpted, rearranged, and translated into Turkish. Complete copies are rare: the book was printed in an edition of only 500 copies, many of which were subsequently defaced or destroyed for contravening the Islamic dictum against representing living things. - The "Tarikh-i Hind-i gharbi" is only the fourth book printed in the Arabic alphabet in the Ottoman Empire, produced by Ibraham Müteferrika, an Hungarian convert to Islam who believed he could help arrest the decline of the Empire through his printing press. He established his shop in 1729 in the palace of the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha and was granted a license to print all but religious works (which remained the province of scribes). - A few corners or edges clipped or trimmed, remargined by an early collector. Lacks the engraved maps and astronomical chart present in some copies. Old inscription in Arabic (dated 1341 H) and ownership of the French diplomat Louis Lagarde (dated 1923 CE) to front flyleaf. John Carter Brown 463. Toderini III, p. 41, no. IV. Karatay 250. Sabin 94396. William J. Watson, "Ibrahim Müteferrika and Turkish Incunabula," in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 88, no. 3 (1968), pp. 435-441, no. 4. Özege 19828. OCLC 416474553. Cf. T. D. Goodrich, The Ottoman Turks and the New World (Wiesbaden 1990).
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[Tarikh-i Hind-i gharbi].
Tarikh-i yeni dunya [History of the New World, or America and the Indies]. [Turkish or Ottoman Balkans, Nov./Dec. 1770 CE =] Sha'ban [11]84 H.
4to (146 x 211 mm). Ottoman Turkish manuscript. 284 ff. of polished laid paper. Black naskh with occasional red; 19 lines within red rules; gilt and illuminated sarlowh on first text page. Signed by the scribe Darwish 'Ali. Early 19th century English binding with blind-tooled spine and fore-edge flap in the oriental style. A complete 18th century manuscript of what is famously the first Ottoman history of America. Composed by an unidentified Turkish author in the 1580s, the work is also known as "Tarikh-i Hind-i gharbi" ("History of the West Indies") and "Hadis-i nev". It enjoyed great popularity throughout the 16th and 17th centuries and was printed by Ibrahim Müteferrika in 1730, making it the earliest book about the New World published in the Ottoman Empire. This text appears to be the principal source of information about the Americas circulating in the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to the 18th century. - Binding somewhat rubbed at extremeties; interior well preserved with wide margins. Provenance: from the library of Frederick North, Earl of Guilford (1766-1827), first British Governor of Ceylon, Philhellene and founder of the first university in modern Greece (his engraved bookplate on the front pastedown); annotated on the flyleaf: "A history of the new world, or America & the W. Indies, written in 1184 A.H.". Old French catalogue entry, clipped and mounted on lower pastedown. The son of Lord North, Prime Minister under George III, Frederick North had travelled widely throughout the Mediterranean, visiting not only Greece and Italy, but also Constantinople and the Ottoman Empire, including Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. He gifted his large personal collection of printed books and manuscripts to the Library of the university he created in Corfu. Counter to his wishes, after his death the books were transferred to his heir, George Holroyd, 2nd Earl of Sheffield (1802-76), who had the collection auctioned in London in seven sales held between 1828 and 1835; a substantial part was acquired by the British Museum and still rests in the British Library. - An important text, in a copy with important provenance. Cf. T. D. Goodrich, The Ottoman Turks and the New World (Wiesbaden 1990). The same, "Tarihi-i Hind-i Garbi: An Ottoman Book on the New World," in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 107.2 (April-June 1987), p. 317.
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