‎Moyen orient‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 3 (1876). Communications from Dr. Kirk, respecting the suppression of the land slave traffic in the dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1876. [C.- 1521]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1876.‎

‎Folio. (2), 6 , (2) pp. Sewn. A report by British administrator John Kirk on the ongoing slave trade in the dominions of Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar. - Well-preserved. Bennett 502.‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 3 (1878). Correspondence with British representatives and agents abroad, and reports from Naval Officers, relating to the Slave Trade. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1878. [C.-2139]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1878.‎

‎Folio. XIV, 447, (1) pp., final blank. Publisher's printed blue wrappers. Rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents and officers on the slave trade, including extensive material relating to the traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a case of slave importation at Bandar Abbas; the question of suppression of slavery by Hajj pilgrims returning from Mecca and how the Ottoman government intends to counteract the same; the case of a dhow under French colours engaged in slave trade at Muscat, and concerning the release of a slave brought to Muscat by a French vessel, as well as a report to the effect that, "as regards the proceedings of Her Majesty's ships in the Persian Gulf, [...] affairs were generally quiet in thatr neighborhood" (p. 431). - A very good copy. Bennett 505. Wilson p. 210.‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 4 (1876). Correspondence with British representatives and agents abroad, and reports from Naval Officers, relating to the Slave Trade. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1876. [C.-1588]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1876.‎

‎Folio. XIII, (1), 360 pp. With a folding coloured map ("Sketch of northern dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar"). Sewn. Rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents and officers on the slave trade, including material relating to the importation of African slaves into Arabia through Jeddah and Hodeidah, with a report by Rear-Admiral Cumming that he has "even heard it whispered that some of the slaves sold to the Somalis are retailed by that tribe, the ultimate buyers being the Arabs of the Persian Gulf, and that they are taken by the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea" (p. 191). Also on the abuse of French flag by dhows, etc. - The map shows a portion of the Somaliland coastline. Slight edge chipping to first few leaves; stamp to t. p.; a good, clean copy. Bennett 503.‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 5 (1874). Reports on the present state of the East African Slave Trade. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1874. [C.-946]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1874.‎

‎Folio. (2), 19, (1) pp. Top edge gilt. Disbound. Rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents and officers on the slave trade, including an account of the murder, by slave traders, of the young schoolmaster and missionary student Benjamin Hartley on 28 January 1874. - Disbound from a volume of parliamentary papers but otherwise as issued, a very good clean copy. Bennett 497. Wilson p. 210.‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 6 (1874). Engagement of the Jemadar of Shuhr for the abolition of the Slave Trade in his dominions. Signed at Shuhr, November 17, 1873. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1874. [C.-985]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1874.‎

‎Folio. (2), 1, (1) pp. Bifolium. Full text of the agreement between the British and Sultan Abdullah bin Omer Al Quaiti, Jemedar of Shuhr (Ash-Shihr) in the Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut (Yemen) "to abolish and prohibit the import and export of slaves to or from the port of Shuhr". - Disbound from a volume of parliamentary papers but otherwise as issued, foxed.‎

‎[Slave Trade].‎

‎Slave Trade. No. 8 (1874). Correspondence with British representatives and agents, and reports from Naval Officers, relative to the East African Slave Trade. From January 1 to December 31, 1873. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1874. [C.-1064]. London, Harrison and Sons, 1874.‎

‎Folio. IV, 160 pp. Sewn, with remains of former spine. Rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents and officers on the slave trade, including the text of the treaty closed between the UK and Barghash bin Said, the Sultan of Zanzibar, for the suppresion of the slave trade. The Arabic dynasty of the Al-Saids ruled Zanzibar until the revolution of 1964. Barghash (1837-88), second Sultan of Zanzibar, was the son of Said ibn Sultan (1791?-1856), the last of the dynasty whose empire included not only Muscat and Oman, but also Zanzibar, where he had established his capital in 1840. Upon Said's death in 1856, quarrels ensued among his heirs, and his realm was divided: his third son, Thuwaini, succeeded him as Sultan of Muscat and Oman; and his sixth son, Majid, became Sultan of the wealthier Zanzibar, after whose death Barghash became Sultan. - Also includes an account of the murder of a British officer by natives; of a slave dhow run ashore at Ras Madraka on the coast of Oman; etc. Comprises: "Zanzibar" (pp. 1-108); "Reports from Naval Officers. - East Coast of Africa Station" (pp. 109-160). A good copy. Bennett 499.‎

‎[Slavery].‎

‎Der Sclavenhandel. La vente d'Esclaves. No place, ca 1800.‎

‎270 x 400 mm. Aquatint in contemporary hand colour, engraved by "J. L. T." after "J. R. P." Three partly exposed women before a large tent, being advertised and inspected by several men dressed in fine oriental garb. On the left is another woman whose price is under discussion, while the background shows date palms and two dromedaries. - Rather severely stained with waterstains and a few small holes in the blank margin; some scuff marks in the image; trimmed closely with loss to lower left corner. A very appealing print in unsophisticated condition. Rare.‎

‎[Soviet General Staff Maps] - Arabian Gulf (1:1,000,000).‎

‎General'nyí shtab. Abadan, Jel'-Kuvejt, Manama. 14-01-43. (And:) Bender-Abbas, Maskat. 14-01-44. [Moscow, General Staff], 1974-1985.‎

‎2 topographic maps, colour-printed. Lambert conformal conic projection, scale 1:1,000,000. In Russian (Cyrillic). Ca. 86 x 107 cm each. Extremely rare: the two massively-sized synoptic 1:1,000,000 maps covering the Arabian Gulf in its entirety, as published by the Soviet Union's General Staff of the army. Not to be confused with the Soviet Union's vastly smaller General Staff map quadrangles of the same scale which are aligned along the graticules, spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude and covering only roughly half the area shown by each of the present sheets. - Edited from information sourced during the years 1972-1983 by D. D. Trushin and I. A. Medvedev. Although not specifically marked as classified, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - A few insignificant edge flaws, but generally in perfect condition.‎

‎[Soviet General Staff Maps] - Iran, Iraq, Levant 1:200,000.‎

‎General'nyí shtab. (Iran, Iraq, Levant 1:200,000). [Moscow, General Staff], 1963-1991.‎

‎A total of 350 topographic maps, colour-printed, ca. 52 x 47 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale. In Russian (Cyrillic). The Soviet Union's 1:200,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing Iran, Iraq and the countries of the Levant: Palestine and Israel, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria and Jordan. From the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. Nearly complete, only a few quadrangles missing along the south-western border regions and two lacunae on the very north-eastern fringe. Assembled continuously, the quadrangles would form an enormous map spanning nearly 14 x 9 metres!. - Products of a massive, clandestine cartographic project begun under Stalin and ultimately encompassing the entire globe, the Soviet General Staff maps are today noted for their extreme precision. Indeed, even in post-Soviet times they provide the most reliable mapping for many remoter parts of the world: "Soviet-era military maps were so good that when the United States first invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, American pilots relied on old Russian maps of Afghanistan. For almost a month after the United States began a bombing campaign to help oust the Taliban government, American pilots were guided by Russian maps dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s" (Davies/Kent, p. xi). - Although the details of the cartographic programme evolved over the decades, its overall system and plan remained remarkably constant. "The basic quadrangle is the 1:1,000,000 sheet spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude. The quadrangles are identified by lettered bands north from the equator and by numbered zones east from longitude 180° [...] Each 1:1,000,000 sheet is subdivided into four 1:500,000 sheets (from northwest to southeast), labeled [by] the first four letters of the Russian alphabet" (ibid., p. 19-21). "Printing such large-format plans in so many colors with near-perfect print registration itself testifies to the skill of the printers in the military map printing factories across the former Soviet Union. The quality of printing reflects the level of training and the reliability of humidity-control equipment and the electricity supply at the time" (ibid., p. 6f.). - The 1:200,000-scale maps are specifically labelled "Secret" or "For Offical Use". Indeed, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - Light traces of folds and occasional wrinkles and small edge flaws, but altogether in excellent condition. Cf. J. Davies / A. J. Kent, The Red Atlas (Chicago/London, 2017).‎

‎[Soviet General Staff Maps] - Red Sea 1:200,000.‎

‎General'nyí shtab. (Red Sea 1:200,000). [Moscow, General Staff], 1975-1991.‎

‎A total of 86 topographic maps, colour-printed, ca. 58 x 45 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale. In Russian (Cyrillic). Nearly all of the Soviet Union's 1:200,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing the Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula: from the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. While there are a few lacunae in Yemen near the south-western tip of the Peninsula, most of the area is well-covered. Assembled continuously, the quadrangles would form an enormous map spanning ca. 8 x 4 metres. - Products of a massive, clandestine cartographic project begun under Stalin and ultimately encompassing the entire globe, the Soviet General Staff maps are today noted for their extreme precision. Indeed, even in post-Soviet times they provide the most reliable mapping for many remoter parts of the world: "Soviet-era military maps were so good that when the United States first invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, American pilots relied on old Russian maps of Afghanistan. For almost a month after the United States began a bombing campaign to help oust the Taliban government, American pilots were guided by Russian maps dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s" (Davies/Kent, p. xi). - Although the details of the cartographic programme evolved over the decades, its overall system and plan remained remarkably constant. "The basic quadrangle is the 1:1,000,000 sheet spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude [...] Each 1:1,000,000 sheet is [...] subdivided into 36 1:200,000 sheets in a six-by-six grid [... They] normally contain on the reverse side a detailed written description of the districts (towns, communications, topography, geology, hydrology, vegetation, and climate) together with a geological sketch map" (ibid., p. 19-21). "Printing such large-format plans in so many colors with near-perfect print registration itself testifies to the skill of the printers in the military map printing factories across the former Soviet Union. The quality of printing reflects the level of training and the reliability of humidity-control equipment and the electricity supply at the time" (ibid., p. 6f.). - The 1:200,000-scale maps are specifically labelled "For Offical Use". Indeed, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - Light traces of folds, occasional wrinkles and a few odd edge flaws, but altogether in excellent condition. Cf. J. Davies / A. J. Kent, The Red Atlas (Chicago/London, 2017).‎

‎[Sporting magazine].‎

‎Field Sports. Idle, Bradford, Yorkshire, Watmoughs, (1947).‎

‎8vo. 104 pp. With several black and white photographic illustrations in the text. Original printed wrappers. First edition. - The first 1947 issue of the "Field Sports" magazine, including essays on hawking, salmon fishing, hunting, rabbiting, and the study of footprints. Stunning wildlife photography shows eagles, mallards, seagulls, badgers, hounds, and salmons. The essay on falconry was prepared by the British author and broadcaster James Wentworth Day (1899-1983), who gives an atmospheric description of the tradition of hawking in England: "To see a party of falconers, some mounted and some on foot, hawks on fist [...] silhouetted against the sky-line of a Wilshire down, with all the green and noble emptiness of stubble, chalk down and misty hollow falling away at their feet in seemingly limitless immensity, is to see a page of English history reborn, to recapture something of the romance and colour of an earlier England [...]" (p. 33f.). - Advertisement on pastedowns. Extremities lightly bumped.‎

‎[Stereo views].‎

‎Mahogany stereoscope, with a collection of stereo images. Probably England, ca. 1900.‎

‎Collection of 48 stereoscopic views (double prints on cardboard) (ca. 86 x 178 mm each). Includes original contemporary stereo viewer with collapsible handle, sliding focus tray, and padded viewing chamber with lenses. An American-manufactured mahogany stereoscope (Perfecscope, Underwood & Underwood, New York) with 48 photographs showing scenes of town and country, architecture, figures, and war. Well preserved, rare with the turn-of-the-century stereoscope in perfect working order.‎

‎[Suez Canal].‎

‎Photos of the Suez Canal Area and British Soldiers at the end of WWII. Egypt, 1944/1945.‎

‎65 photos. 170 x 240 mm to 106 x 60 mm. No captions or others identifying marks on the photos or in the album. Several photographs removed. Black oblong album. Later twine tie. Egyptian motif on covers (camel, pyramid, palm trees). 4to. With a menu for the 1944 Christmas Dinner of the 111 Maintenance Unit of the Royal Air Force. Several photos show military personnel, probably from this unit, including one photo of what appears to be a whole unit standing at attention in front of one-story military buildings. There are also a number of photos of Egyptians. There is a photo of the top portion of the front page of the August 1945 issue of the "Egyptian Mail" which reported the Japanese Surrender to end World War II.‎

‎[Syria - Egyptian Expeditionary Force].‎

‎Damascus. [Probably Damascus], Field Survey Coy. R.E., E.E.F., 1918.‎

‎Bi-chrome printed map, 735 x 510 mm. Scale 1:10,000. Exceedingly rare first issue of the first map of Damascus published by the British Forces only a week after the Fall of Damascus. Drafted by the Royal Engineers from a "captured enemy map" and printed under the surveyors' supervision in the field, probably in Damascus, on a portable press carried by the Field Survey Company unit. - The ancient city of Damascus, one of the final prizes taken by the Entente Powers, was long a great cultural centre, the head of the Syrian Hajj Road, and more recently the northern terminus of the Hejaz Railway and the headquarters of the Ottoman-German forces in the Middle East. In the latter period of WWI, British forces met stiff resistance in Palestine, and it was only near the end of the conflict that they managed to break into Syria. British forces and their allies captured the Damascus on 1 October 1918. Lawrence of Arabia, who was part of the conquering force, was disappointed not to have been amongst the first Allied troops to enter the city, especially as he envisaged Damascus as the future capital of an independent and unified Arab state. - The British occupying force, commanded by Edmund Allenby, was suddenly in control of city of which they only possessed dated information. To ensure public order, to allocate military resources, and to deliver vital goods to civilians, the British command was in urgent need of an accurate, up-to-date map of Damascus. - All maps printed by Entente forces in the field in the Middle East during WWI are extreme rarities. The present map would have been issued in a only very small print run for the use of senior British officers, and printed on fragile paper in a large format, its survival rate would have been very low. We can trace only a single other example of the present first issue of the map, held by the British Library. The second issue, printed by the Survey of Egypt in 1919, is also extremely rare. - In very good condition, clean and bright, with just some minor creasing from having been rolled for many years. OCLC 557017180. British Library Cartographic Items Maps 48855.11.‎

‎[Syria and Iraq] - Schrämbl, F. A.‎

‎Euphrat und Tigris. Verfasst von Herrn d'Anville. Vienna, [Joseph Philipp Schalbacher], 1786.‎

‎Engraved map (plate size: 53 x 44.5 cm), with coloured borders. Engraved map showing the Near East, especially the areas of today’s Syria and Iraq. From Schalbacher’s and Schrämbl’s “Großer Allgemeiner Atlas”. A good, clean impression. Dörflinger/Hühnel I, 136, 97.‎

‎[Syria and Lebanon - French military cartography].‎

‎[Levant. 1:50,000]. Paris, Service Geographique de l'Armee, 1926-1939.‎

‎26 colour-printed topographic maps, sheets ca. 80 x 57 cm each or smaller. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:50,000. A rare set of 26 maps from the French military's atlas of the Levant, produced from the mid-1920s until the Second World War. Each highly detailed sheet is based on a quarter degree grid cell. The maps in the present ensemble focus on the environs of Aleppo (9 sheets), Latakia and Jableh (2 sheets), Hama and Homs (5 sheets), and Beirut and Sidon, east of the outskirts of Damascus (10 sheets). Considered products of military intelligence by the French government, the maps fell into German hands when Germany invaded France in 1940. The present maps were accessioned by the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin during the early 1940s and bear the Institute's stamps and pencil shelfmarks. - Individual titles: Alep, Amouk, Batroun, Beyrouth, Djeble, Djezzine, El Hammam, Halba, Hama Ouest, Harim, Homs, Jabal es Smane, Jebail, Kartaba, Lattaquie, Ouest D'El Bab, Ouroum es Soughra, Rachaya-Nord, Rastane-Mecherfeh, Rayak, Saida, Sfire, Tell Kalakh, Tell Rifat, Zahle, Zebdani. - Occasional edge and corner flaws, some wrinkling, duststaining and minor chips and tears to margins, but altogether well preserved. The supersized map of Beirut is folded down the centre. OCLC 49951650.‎

‎[Tangier].‎

‎Curiosa, e verdadeira noticia da famosa acçao, e inclyta victoria, que o famigerado espanhol, tenente General D. Diogo Maria Ozorio, Governador de Praça de Ceuta, alcançou contra os mouros no porto de Tangere [...]. Lisbon, Ignacio Nogueira Xisto, 1764.‎

‎4to. 8 pp. With 2 woodcut vignettes. Sewn. First Portuguese edition. Exceedingly rare account of an attack on an Ottoman corn vessel by Spanish forces in the port of Tangier in Morocco. Essentially an encomium of Domingo Pignatelli and the 42 men who approached the Ottoman ship under heavy fire. Simultaneously published in Spanish in the Gaceta de Madrid. - Near-contemporary foliation in ink (77-80), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. Slightly browned. BGUC Misc. 24, 488. Palau 66444. Not in OCLC.‎

‎[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.‎

‎[Third Arab-Israeli War (Six-Day War) - Photographs] Dony, Bianca.‎

‎Album with photographs showing parts of Israeli captured territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, parts of Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. Israel, 1967.‎

‎Oblong album (ca. 260 x 200 mm). 44 silver gelatin photographs (including 3 loose) in slightly varying sizes (ca. 18.5 x 24 cm). Grey faux-leather photo album consisting of 30 clear plastic inserts with a small white label on the front board: "42 x Israël 1967 23-24-25 Juli". A rare collection of fascinating original photographs capturing the first Western tourists in Israel and Israeli captured territories approximately a month after the Six-Day War in 1967 by Dutch journalist and photographer Bianca Maria Dony. The 44 photos in the album show the passenger ship SS Pegasus, soldiers, local people in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities, an early war monument, checkpoints, destroyed military vehicles and other remnants of the war. The album is from the archive of the photographer; some of these photographs were sold to and published in national (Dutch) and international newspapers and magazines, while others remained unpublished. - Bianca Dony was part of a group of 150 Christian tourists from various European countries, who were now - after the Israeli capture of these areas - able to visit the holy places in the old city of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other places that had previously been inaccessible. "It is perhaps self-evident to suggest that military conquest shares something with tourism because both involve encounters with "strange" landscapes and people. [...] The gradual dissolution of borders between Israel and its newly occupied territories in war's aftermath generated numerous new possibilities for Israeli travel to places that had been inaccessible since 1948. What resulted was a tourist event of massive proportions, passionately documented by the Israeli popular media of the period" (Stein, p. 647). The tourists in the present photographs were the first of many and Dony took this opportunity to not only document the trip itself but also the general aftermath of the war. - The Six-Day War is also known as the June War, the Third Arab-Israeli War, or Naksah, and it was a brief war that took place from June 5 to June 10 1967. It was a conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, including Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq, over Israel's supposed plan to invade parts of Syria and other neighbouring countries. The war ended in a decisive Israeli victory, which included the capture of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the old city of Jerusalem, and Golan Heights by Israel. The status of these territories has since then remained a major point of contention in the general Arab-Israeli conflict. - With an additional leaf in the inside front pocket of the album containing notes of how many photographs were sold to different newspapers and magazines (including 10 to the "Haagsche Courant"), written in blue and red ink and in pencil. Added to the first photograph in the album is a newspaper clipping from the "Jerusalem Post" with the headline "Haifa direct to old city for first time" about the first tourists visiting Israel after the Six-Day War. Some of the clear plastic inserts have small round white stickers on them with different abbreviations, connecting the photographs to the newspapers and magazines that (possibly) printed them (for example "HC" for Haagsche Courant etc.). 3 photographs are loosely inserted into the album and 2 of these are duplicates of other photo's in the album, the 2 duplicates contain a blue stamp "foto bianca dony 147 Malakkastraat Den Haag - Tel. 5582540 Giro 303814" and a manuscript caption in red ink on the back. Most other photographs are simply numbered in pencil on the back. This rare collection of 44 historically significant photographs is in very good condition. Cf. Rebecca L. Stein, "Souvenirs of conquest: Israeli occupations as tourist events", International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 40, no. 4 (2008) pp. 647-669.‎

‎[Torinus, Albanus (ed).].‎

‎De re medica huic volumini insunt [...]. (Colophon: Basel, Andreas Cratander, 1528).‎

‎Folio. (12), 125, (1) ff. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on final page, two pages with decorative woodcut borders (built up from 4 blocks, some with initials I.F.), and woodcut initials throughout. 18th-century half calf, with marbled paper in a tree pattern on sides, gold-tooled spine with the coat of arms of the Russian Tsars. First edition of a collection of four medical works, compiled by the Swiss physician Albanus Torinus (1489-1550). The main part of the work consists of "De re medica", also known as "Medicina Pliniana", a very popular medical text during the Middle Ages. Compiled in the fourth century by an anonymous author, it is generally ascribed to Plinius Valerianus, also called pseudo-Plinius, since it mainly derived from Pliny the Elder's "Historia naturalis". Consisting of five books, it gives various medicines and treatments for different diseases, ailments, wounds, tumours etc. The book also draws heavily from the works of Galen and Dioscorides, all highly esteemed in the Arabic world. - The work also contains three other medical works from different authors. "The contents are all either spurious works or later compilations from genuine works of the authors to whom they are attributed" (Durling). It starts with an introduction to "the art of healing", ascribed to Soranus of Ephesus. The second text is by Oribasius, a Greek medical writer from the fourth century BC. According to Durling, the text is an extract from the first chapter of his "Euporista ad Eunapium". The work closes with a botanical text, "De virtutibus herbarum", ascribed to Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, but written by an anonymous author from the 4th century, known as Pseudo-Apuleius. In one of the manuscripts Torinus used, the text was ascribed to the famous Italian physician Antonio Musa Brassavola (1500-55), an expert on the works of Galen and heavily influenced by his work. - The editor, Torinus, was appointed professor of practical medicine at the University of Basel after receiving the degree of doctor in medicine in Montpellier. He translated many Greek texts into Latin, or Latin works into the vernacular, including Vesalius' "De humani corporis fabrica". - From the library of the Russian tsars, with its letterpress library label with shelf number on pastedown and the coat of arms on the spine. With the place and date of printing added in manuscript on the title-page. Paper on boards slightly chafed, binding with traces of use along the extremities, corners bumped and spine restored. First five leaves with a minor water stain, but otherwise a very good copy. Adams S 1461. Durling 4351. Parkinson 2410.‎

‎[Trentsensky, Joseph].‎

‎Carawane nach Mecca. Vienna, Matthias Trentsensky (printed by E. Sieger), [ca. 1855].‎

‎Oblong folio (400 x 250 mm). With 19 (of 24) numbered leaves containing about 135 lithographic pen-drawings of people, animals, equipment & gear and goods, from a caravan travelling to Mecca, each drawing including a base so that one can cut them out, paste them on card stock, stand them up and arrange them in three-dimensional scenes. Lacking leaves 1-5 (of 24). Loose leaves in a later paper folder. All but the first five leaves of a very rare lithographic print series issued in parts. Most copies were probably cut up (and perhaps coloured) by children and destroyed in play. The human figures to be cut out include Turkish, Arabic, African and Near Eastern men and women (black and white) in Islamic clothing, including both masters and servants, some of the men with a variety of firearms, spears, daggers, pipes (straight pipes and hookah water-pipes), prayer rugs, and other gear and goods, and servants setting up a tent. There are also camels (both single-humped dromedaries and two-humped Bactrian camels), horses and donkeys, often with their gear for riding or for carrying loads. The wild animals include wolves, a hyena and an ostrich. Inanimate objects include containers for water, an incense burner, baskets, chests, barrels, camel saddles and much more. The series must have provided many children and adults with their first notion of Islamic society and culture and is rich in authentic details, such as a dromedary with its left front leg bent up and tied around the knee. Kleine Welt des Bilderbogens dates the series ca. 1855, just after Sir Richard Burton's famous successful visit to Mecca disguised as an Islamic Afghan in 1853 (he was one of the few Europeans who had ever visited Mecca and lived to tell of it). The complete series of 24 leaves comprised four groups of leaves, each leaf with the title, relevant subtitle and imprint (without date) at the foot: 1-6: Die Ueberbringung des heiligen Teppich. 7-13: Die Reise durch die Wüste. 14-16: Das Lager in der Wüste. 17-24: Die Gefahren der Wüste. The artist is not named. The drawings are printed on unwatermarked wove paper. Since the paper is fairly thin and the drawn bases have no folding tabs, the publisher probably intended the cut-outs to be pasted onto card stock with a folding tab at the foot of the base so that they could stand with no other support. - With an occasional pencil mark. Lacking leaves 1-5 (all but the last leaf of the first group), but otherwise in good condition (remarkable good considering the wear and tear that most such items see) and with the other three groups complete. The whole is slightly browned and the edges somewhat tattered (1 small tear slightly affects one camel and another very slightly affects one drawn base). Richly detailed lithographic drawings for about 135 paper cut-outs for a Caravan to Mecca. Kleine Welt des Bilderbogens: der Wiener Verlag Trentsensky (1977), 111. Katharina Siefert, ed., Paläste, Panzer, Pop-up-Bücher: Papierwelten in 3D (2009), with a chapter, "Die Carawane nach Mecca", pp. 31-38. Not in KVK; WorldCat.‎

‎[Trucial Cost Trade]. - Maclean, H. W.‎

‎Trade with the Muscat Region. Report on the Condition and Prospects of British Trade in Oman, Bahrein, and Arab Ports in the Persian Gulf. London, printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, (1904).‎

‎Folio. 10 pp. Sewn as issued. First edition of this rare and highly interesting commercial report. Maclean, Special Commissioner of the Commercial Intelligence Committee of the British Board of Trade, travelled to Muscat in February 1904 and made detailed notes on the trade of Oman (imports, exports, coinage, weights, freight and course of trade). He then visited Bahrain and gathered information on its increasing trade before returning to Karachi via Bushire and Kuwait. The notes on Bahrain provide a valuable insight into its economy, which - less than thirty years before the discovery of oil - still relied strongly on pearl fishing ("the annual value of pearls exported is estimated at £350,000 to £400,000"). - Extremities dusty and slightly fragile, otherwise very good. Withdrawn from the University of Hull with requisite stamps to cover-title. Rare; no copies in LibraryHub. WorldCat locates just one, at the University of Erfurt. Cd. 2281. Macro 1505. Wilson p. 133. OCLC 553574318.‎

‎[Tunisia].‎

‎Sousse & Sfax. Paysages & Types. Paris, L. Boulanger, [c. 1900].‎

‎Oblong folio. (4) pp., 8 printed illustrations in colour after photographs. Original printed wrappers. Fascicule 60 from the "Autour de Monde. Aquarelles, Souvenirs, Voyages", showing eight views from Tunisia. Depicts the cities and ports, the inhabitants, etc. - Slight edge defects, otherwise well preserved.‎

‎[Turbah Karbala].‎

‎"Sheah Relique". Description of a Turbah Karbala. N. p., ca. 1830, or 1st half of the 19th century.‎

‎12mo. 1 p. Manuscript in the form of a folded letter entitled "Sheah Relique" that originally enclosed a so-called turbah, here described as follows: "Turbot. A relique of the Sheah Musulmen when they pray they kiss it. It is formed of the earth of Kerbela or Naguf Ashraf a place consecrated to the Shrine of Hussain son of Ally son in law of Mohamed. They place such faith in this that they believe it will keep them from all evils and I hold it from a Persian's own mouth that if a gale of wind was to arise and the ship in imminent danger of being lost, by throwing the smallest particle of this into the sea it would instantly subside". - A turbah is a small piece of soil or clay, often in the form of a seal with imprints, that is used by Shia Muslims during daily prayers to symbolize their connection to the earth. The most favoured soil for the creation of turbahs is that from the site of the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali in Karbala, Iraq, as mentioned in the manuscript. In contrast to what the description suggests, not only soil from Karbala or Najaf Ashraf, another holy city of Shia Islam in Iraq, can be used for a turbah. However, apotropaic properties such as safeguarding against calamities have been ascribed to the "turbah Karbala". - Two worn pieces of leather that originally held the turbah described in the text are still enclosed. On English paper with watermark from 1828. Minor foxing and stains; traces of folds and several large tears not affecting the text.‎

‎[Turkey - early photographs.] Robertson, James D.‎

‎Album of early photographs of Constantinople. Constantinople (Istanbul), 1853-1857.‎

‎Oblong folio (488 x 292 mm). 1 leaf (calligraphic ink title), 21 salt paper print photos including two panoramas. Near-contemporary Qajar lacquered papier-mâché binding, likely Persian, with court motifs on both panels, front flyleaf with sticker of "E. Picart, Papétier, 14 Rue du Bac, Paris". Pink and silver decorative floral endpapers. Early, uncommonly extensive album of photographs of Constantinople (including some of Athens and Crimea), most signed by the photographer, James Robertson, created during his stay in Istanbul between 1853 and 1857. Of the 21 photographs present, no fewer than 14 show Constantinople and Scutari: they include a magnificent panorama of the city and across the Golden Horn, seen from Camp Daoud Pasha, sweeping views of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and other mosques, the ancient hippodrome with its obelisks, views of the Seraglio, Nusretiye Mosque and Tophane Square, the Fountain of Ahmed III, Süleymaniye Mosque, street scenes, etc. Comparable albums with Constantinople photographs by Robertson are located at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (including the magnificent four-volume album of the Comte de Paris), the Getty Research Institute, Harvard (12 photographs, of which only a few show Constantinople), and other institutions with loose prints such as Princeton (four photographs, one of Constantinople) and the State Library of Victoria (31 photos, of which only four are of Constantinople). In all this is one of the strongest albums known with Constantinople content. The five photographs of Athens include a view of the Acropolis, the Tower of the Winds, the Erechtheion, the Parthenon, and the Temple of Hephaestus (Theseion); the latter two photographs are also in the large Robertson album at the Getty. Two final images show Sevastopol in Crimea (the docks and a large, cloth-backed panorama). Each image is accompanied on the opposite leaf by a handwritten French caption of the place recorded. - Far too little is known about the pioneering Scottish photographer James Robertson (1813-88), who moved at an early date to Constantinople to take the position of Chief Engraver for the Royal Mint, as part of the modernization of the country. He was related by marriage to the younger Felice Beato, a pioneer of 19th century photography, with whom he later opened a studio and recorded the Crimean war, the earliest conflict to be thus recorded. It is possible that the Beato brothers - Felice and Antonio - learnt their craft from Robertson; this album, however, pre-dates that partnership, as the photographs are signed by Robertson only. From 1853 onwards, a collection of Robertson's photographs was published with the title "Photographic Views of Constantinople" (by Joseph Cundall at the Photographic Union). - Upper cover shows severe chipping to polychrome lacquer; lower cover in better condition though also with defects. In excellent condition internally, photographs in general in good to very good prints, a few a little faded. N. Perez, Focus East: Early Photography in the near East (1839-1885), New York, 1988, pp. 210f. R. Taylor, Impressed by Light: British Photographs from Paper Negatives, 1840-1860, p. 363. J. Hannavy, Encyclopedia of 19th Century Photography, pp. 1200f.‎