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Bellarmin, Robert, SJ.
[Yulpana meshihaya]. (Dottrina Cristiana breve, syriace). Rome, Typis Sac. Congreg. de Propaganda Fide, 1665.
8vo. (4), 49, (1) pp. With woodcut printer's device on title page (Christ sending the Apostles forth to spread the Gospel). Modern wrappers. Very rare translation of Bellarmino's "Dottrina Cristiana breve" (the abridgement of his abridged catechism) into Syriac, translated by Ya'kubh Binyamin. With the exception of the imprint, the text surrounding the printer's device on title page, and the imprimatur on the t. p. verso, which are in Latin, the text is entirely in Syriac printed in the Estrangelo alphabet. In 1613, the Arabic version of Bellarmino's "Doctrina Christiana" had inaugurated the famous Typographia Savariana as their first book printed with Arabic types. - Only 4 copies listed by OCLC. BL Italian (17th cent.) II, 755. OCLC 792777103. This edition not in de Backer/Sommervogel, Schnurrer, or Smitskamp.
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Bergman, Franz Xaver, sculptor (1861-1936).
Bronze statue of an Arabic Qur'an scribe. [Vienna, ca 1930].
Coloured two-part bronze, cold painted. Ca. 205 x 117 x 105 mm. A scribe in oriental costume, seated on a carpet with a large removable Qur'an on a bookrest. - Recognised for his great attention to detail and use of wonderfully vibrant colours, works from Bergman’s foundry are highly prized today by collectors worldwide. F. X. Bergman was the son of a Bohemian metalwork chaser and finisher who had moved to Vienna in 1860, there founding a small bronze factory. At the turn of the century, his son Franz Xaver inherited the company and opened a new foundry, basing many of his early bronzes on designs from his father’s workshop and producing an eclectic mix of oriental, erotic and animal figure bronzes. Bergman used a cold painted technique, whereby cast bronzes were decorated in several layers of polychrome ‘dust paint.’ These layers were not fired to fix them to the bronzes, hence they are ‘cold painted’. - Very slightly rubbed. An appealing work, likely from the artist's late phase.
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[Biblia arabica - Psalmi].
Kitab al-Mazamir. Dayr al-Shuwayr, Kisrawan, Lebanon, St. John the Baptist Monastery, 1839.
8vo. 354, (14) pp., wanting final blank. Contemporary blindstamped brown calf. Rare Psalter from the printing office of the Melkite monastery of St. John the Baptist at al-Shuwayr in the Lebanese Kisrawan mountains, operative between 1734 and 1899, during which time it produced in all 69 Arabic books, including re-editions (cf. Silvestre de Sacy I, pp. 412-414; Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, pp. 179-181). Nasrallah counts 15 editions of the Psalter alone, the last (produced in 1899, the only as-Shuwayr Psalter in the Aboussouan collection) constituting the swan-song of that important press. "Le Psautier a longtemps été le livre classique unique des écoles d'Orient. Cela nous explique pourquoi il fut si souvent édité" (Nasrallah, p. 38). - Binding a little rubbed; some light browning and brownstaining (mainly confined to margins). A good copy. Not in Nasrallah.
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Boha-Eddin (Yusuf ibn Rafi Ibn Shaddad al-Mausili) / Albert Schultens (ed.).
[Sirat al-Sultan al-alik al-Nasr Salih al-Din]. Vita et res gestae Sultani, Almalichi Alnasiri, Saladini [...]. Grandiore cothurno conscripta ab Amadoddino Ispahanensi ex mss. Arabicis [...] Editit et latine vertit Albertus Schultens. Leiden, Samuel Luchtmans, 1732.
Folio. Four pts. in 1 vol. (30), 278 pp. (2), 64 pp. 26, (88, index) pp. Title-page printed in red and black, Arabic and Latin text in two columns. Original calf. First edition (reprinted in 1755). The eminent Arabian writer and statesman Bohaddin, better known in the East as Ibn-Sjeddad, "wrote several works on Jurisprudence and Moslem Divinity; but the only one that can be interesting to us is his 'Life and Actions of Saladin', which, with other pieces connected with the same subject, was published by Albert Schultens, at Leyden, in 1732, accompanied by a somewhat inelegant Latin translation, also by notes, and a Geographical Index. This work affords a favourable specimen of the historical compositions of the Arabs [...] The enthusiasm with which every thing about [Saladin] is narrated, and the anecdotes which the author, from his own personal knowledge, is able to communicate respecting that extraordinary character, give his work a great degree of interest" (Enc. Britannica, Suppl. II [1824], p. 352f). Schnurrer 148, no. 175. Gay 2238. Cf. Fück 107. Not in Smitskamp.
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Brosselard, (Charles).
Les khouan. De la constitution des ordres religieux musulmans en Algérie. Algiers, A. Bourget, August 1859.
8vo. 36 pp. Contemporary red half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. First edition of a work on the khouan, the brothers of Islamic "religious orders" in Algeria, written by Charles Brosselard (1816-1889). He describes the origin, hierarchy, organization and (initiation) rituals of seven influential Sufi brotherhoods. "A work of great learning and value" (Playfair). Brosselard had studied Arabic and later became a prefect at Tlemcen. - With author's presentation inscription to the French general Charles Cousin-Montauban, Comte de Palikao (1796-1878), who served as a cavalry officer in Algeria, on half-title. With an armorial bookplate on paste-down. Overall in very good condition, binding only very slightly rubbed along the extremities. Levtzion & Pouwels, The history of Islam in Africa, pp. 170, 184. Playfair, Bibliography of Algeria, 2099.
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[East India-Company].
The Law, Relating to India, and the East-India Company; With Notes and an Appendix. London, Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1855.
Small folio (240 x 296 mm). (4), 563, (1) pp. Modern half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped red label to spine. The most comprehensive and relevant edition of "a work which may almost be regarded as the standard one on the subject to which it is devoted" (Preface), i.e., the legal code in force within the provinces ruled by the British East India Company - a rule which would last until 1858, when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown would assume direct control. Numerous statutes concern the slave trade in the Arabian Gulf or regulate relationships with the local Arab Sheikhdoms, such as 12 & 13 Victoriae, Cap. LXXXIV: "An Act for carrying into effect Engagements between her Majesty and certain Arabian Chiefs in the Persian Gulf", citing the chiefs "Sultan Bin Sugger, Shaik of Ras-el-Khyma and Shargah in the Persian Gulf, the chief of the Joasmee Arabs", "Muktoom Bin Buttye, Shaik of Debaye", "Abdool Azeez Bin Rashid, Shaik of Eginan", "Shaik Abdullah Bin Rashid, Shaik of Amulgavine", and "Saeed Bin Tahnoon, Shaik of the Beni Yas, chief of Aboothabee", as well as "Shaik Mahomed Bin Khuleefa Bin Subman, chief of Bahrein", and the engagements they concluded with the British crown (pp. 414ff.). Other acts relate to engagements with "Syed Syf bin Hamood, the Chief of Sohar, in Arabia" (p. 437), with Seid Saeed bin Sultan, the Imaum of Muscat (pp. 220, 383), etc. - Very well preserved, in a modern binding in contemporary style. OCLC 3062490.
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[General Staff, India].
Tribal Lists of (1) Muntafik Ajwad (2) Muntafik Bani Sa'id (3) Bani Hakim. Catalogue No. O.A. 83. Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1917.
Folio (210 x 330 mm). (2), 65, (1) pp. Original printed boards, spine reinforced with cloth. Annotated tables of the tribes making up "Al-Muntafiq", a large Arab tribal league in southern and central Iraq then in struggle against British occupation. Edited from the Basrah Arab Bureau's confidential British government handbook "The Muntafik" published that same year. - Corners chipped; erased stamps; stamp and handwritten ownership of "Harry J. Almond, Arabian Mission" (American Mission School). Extremely rare; no copies in OCLC or the British Library.
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Hurewitz, J[acob] C[oleman] (ed.).
Documents of Near East Diplomatic History. New York, Near and Middle East Studies, School of International Affairs, Columbia University, 1951.
4to. XV, 332 pp. Published as a typescript printed on one side. Original cloth. An invaluable collection of primary source documents, mostly in English (a few in French), related to international relations and the Middle East. The volume is composed as an aid to students at Columbia University, using documents available from that library only, covering nearly every nation in the Middle East and their relations with European nations. Topics include the texts of commercial and territorial treaties (including regarding the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits), Napoleon's proclamation to the Egyptians, territorial negotiations, proclamations of goodwill and protection of foreign merchants, the Suez Canal concession, regulations for colonies in the region, the Baghdad railroad, the mandate for Palestine, World War I and World War II regional restructuring discussions, etc. Most documents are from the 19th and 20th centuries, with the earliest being "Capitulation with France of February 1535", and the most recent, "Nationalization of the Oil Industry in Iran, 2-30 May 1951." A brief commentary is provided before each document describing context and significance. These papers represent an enormously important work for scholars, students, historians and diplomats, bringing together, as they do, such core reference material. In 1956, Hurewitz would expand this collection to the two-volume publication "Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: a documentary record". - J. C. Hurewitz (1914-2008) did his graduate work at Columbia, making what was then an unusual decision to concentrate on the Middle East. He worked for the Near East section of the OSS during World War II, then worked successively at the State Department, as a political adviser on Palestine to the President’s cabinet and for the UN secretariat. As a Professor, Hurewitz began studying Middle Eastern politics in 1950, before the field had emerged as an academic discipline. From 1970 until his retirement in 1984, he was director of Columbia's Middle East Institute. - Handwritten ownership (dated Washington, October 1952) on half-title; later in the collection of the professor of oriental studies and Brandeis librarian Miroslav Krek (1924-2014), with his ownership stamp on the reverse. OCLC 5749457.
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[Magic lantern slides].
Large collection of more than 400 glass positives. Probably Scandinavia, early 20th century.
More than 400 glass slides depicting various motifs of coal mining, chemical processes, astronomy and topographical motifs from Asia, Africa, China, Europe and America. Housed in original wooden boxes. Includes 2 original projectors and 1 camera. Remarkable, encompassing collection of turn-of-the-century Magic Lantern slides. Several of the slides show cavalry horses: the "Krigen, 1848-1864" set includes (no. 45) an equestrian portrait of General Bülow, victor of the 1849 Battle of Fredericia, painted by Aug. Jerndorff; (no. 29) Friedrich von Schleppegrell riding at the battle of Isted; (no. 26) General Krogh on horseback (all V. Richter, Kopenhagen); no. 20. captioned "Pferdeablieferung" (horse delivery). A box labelled "København" includes: (no. 21) Brandmajoren rykker ud; (no. 20) a fire at the time of Frederik VI. Other slides show workhorses in Denmark and Sweden during haying-time or spreading manure, as well as works of the Danish painter Otto Bache: the Coronation of Christian IV in 1596; the conspirators escaping from Finderup on horseback after having murdered Eric V of Denmark. The collection also contains copies of paintings by various artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Rembrandt. Among the remaining slides, we find astronomic illustrations and pictures of observatories (Greenwich, Delhi, Potsdam, etc.); as well as numerous photographs and paintings of landscapes, people and architecture in Africa, Asia, Europe, China and America.
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[Maritime History - States General].
Recuëil van alle de placaten, ordonnantien, resolutien, instructien, lysten en waarschouwingen, betreffende de admiraliteyten, convoyen, licenten, en verdere zee-saaken. The Hague, Jacob, Paul & Isaac Scheltus, 1701-1773.
4to. 11 volumes. With a folding table in vol. 8. Contemporary vellum, numbered in manuscript on the spine, red sprinkled edges. Complete set of a compilation of all resolutions, ordinances, treaties and other statements and motions by the States General of the Dutch Republic, regarding all maritime matters. The collection starts in 1597 with the establishment of the five admiralties in the Dutch Republic and ends in 1771, although a few resolutions from the period of Habsburg rule (the oldest from 1487) have been included. Most of the resolutions concern trade, including the trade with the Baltic, East and West Indies, North Africa and the Turkish Empire, but also fishery, the equipage of battleships and the administration of the colonies in the West Indies, including slavery. Several tables give interesting information regarding the costs of the building and outfitting of ships and the formation of regiments for the colonies. One very large table presents the tariffs for all sorts of products, including numerous types of wood, glass, porcelain, fish and furs. - A collection of resolutions had been previously published in two volumes in 1689 and 1694. In 1701 an expanded volume 2, present in the current collection, was published, with volume 3 following in 1721. Interestingly, a new and much expanded volume 1 was published in 1730. The present set, published during a course of over 70 years, includes these expanded editions of volumes 1 and 2. All indexes have been bound in the corresponding volume, instead of in a separate index volume. - With the bookplates of the collector Jan Willem Six de Vromade (1874-1936), a descendant of the politically and culturally significant Six family, in the first volume, and of the Dutch politician and historian Leonard de Gou (1916-2000) in all volumes. Bindings slightly smudged. Somewhat browned and stained throughout, most notably volume 8, and with a small tear in the front flyleaf of volume 6. A very good set of an important source for Dutch maritime history. Elliott, Maritime History in the John Carter Brown Library (revised ed.) 1093.
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Nieuhof, Joan.
Het Gezantschap der neêrlandtsche oost-indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, Den tegenwoordigen Keizer van China [...]. Amsterdam, Jacob van Meurs, 1670.
2 parts in one volume. Engraved title page, letterpress title in red and black, 2 armorial engraved plates, 2 ff. of dedication, 208 pp. 258, (10) pp. With 111 engravings in the text, 1 folding engraved map, and 35 double-page-sited engraved plates. Full calf, spine and covers stamped in blind, spine label. Folio. Second Dutch edition (previously published in 1665) of this description of the 1655-57 embassy of Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, with a general account on China in part 2. The plates show views (including Batavia, Canton, Macao, Nanjing, and Beijing), plans, costumes, flora and fauna etc. - "The Dutch, being at the height of their power, having supplanted the Portuguese, desired to gain access to China and a portion of the Chinese trade. After much opposition the Government succeeded in sending merchants to try the pulse of the Chinese at Canton. Upon their report it was determined to despatch ambassadors from Batavia to the Court of Peking to solicit liberty to trade. This is the embassy written up by Nieuhoff, who was steward to the ambassadors" (Cox). - The selection of plates varies from copy to copy. The present one contains two engraved armorial plates not called for in the list of plates, but not the portrait (not mentioned there either) and also lacks the plate "Paolinxi". - Hardly browned of soiled; insignificant edge flaws at beginning and end. Map wrinkled, waterstained and with repaired edge tears. Cat. Nederl. Hist. Scheepvart Mus. 499. Cordier, BS 2345. Graesse IV, 675. Tiele 800. Cf. Boucher de la Richarderie V, 297; Cox I, 325; Henze III, 612.
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[Persian Gazette].
The News of the Majestic Government of Iran. Tehran or Shiraz?, [1868 CE =] Sha'ban 1285 H.
Folio (230 x 368 mm). Title, (6) pp., single column, lithographed throughout, with large Persian coat of arms on the title page (by Abu’l-Hasan Gaffari). Early issue of Persia's official government newspaper. Traces of folds; some edge chipping and tears to folds. Removed from the City Library Association, Springfield, MA, with their stamp to the title an handwritten note "The 'Persian Gazette", one of the only two in Persia - printed at Teheran - The Persian Coat of Arms".
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Razmara, Haji Ali.
Farhang-e joghrafia Iran (Farhang-e jughrafiya'e Iran). Artash, [1949-1953 AD =] 1328-1332 SH.
Folio. 10 vols. Vol. 1 red half cloth with printed boards, vols. 2-10 blue cloth. With altogether 65 maps, of which 59 folding, several plates, portrait and a few text illustrations. An important standard work of Persian topography: H. A. Razmara's monumental gazetteer, or geographical dictionary, of modern Iran, "compiled and published in ten volumes by the Geography Department of Iran's Military Staff during the years 1328-1332 Sh./1949-1953. The [...] work provides an extensive amount of geographical, environmental and rural settlements" (Yeroushalmi, p. 81). In Farsi throughout. - Paper somewhat browned; spine of vol 4 sunned. Some notes in pencil. Collection stamps "ex libris eurasiasticis Dr. Jan von Loon, Herlenii". An uncommon set.
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Ridinger, Johann Elias.
Arabisches Pferd. Cheval d'Arabie. Equus Arabiae. No place, 18th century.
Engraving. 285 x 357 mm. Matted. An Arabian horse led by a bedouin, engraved by the young Martin Elias Ridinger after a drawing by his famous father.
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[Royal Geographical Society].
The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. London, John Murray, 1831-1880[-1881].
56 volumes (vols. I-L in 51 volumes and 5 volumes of indices). Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (With:) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London: Edward Stanford, 1857-1878. Vols. I-XXII. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography. London: Edward Stanford, 1879-1892. Vols. I-XIV. Title to first volume torn and laid down, map and facing p. 664 of text damaged. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) Supplementary Papers of the Royal Geographical Society. London: John Murray, 1886-1890. Vols. I-IV. Contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt. (And:) The Geographical Journal including the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. London: R.G.S., 1893-1948. Vols. I-CXII only (in 109 volumes). Vols. 1-28: contemporary red/purple half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, spines gilt; vols. 29-112: original blue cloth, or contemporary cloth, gilt. Institutional bookplates to some pastedowns; blindstamps to some title-pages; ink stamps to some plates and maps. Complete set of all periodical publications of the Royal Geographical Society 1831 through 1948, comprising 203 volumes with thousands of plates and maps, many folding. - Founded in 1830, the Royal Geographical Society spearheaded efforts to accurately map and describe every corner of the known world. As lesser-known regions of the globe such as Africa and the Middle East began to emerge as major centres of global trade in the 19th century, the Society funded thousands of European expeditions to these areas in an effort to promote British commercial and scientific interests. Explorers of the Arabian Peninsula such as Henry St. John Philby (aka "Sheikh Abdullah"), Percy Cox, Theodore Bent, Gertrude Bell, Wilfred Thesiger (aka "Mubarak bin London"), and Bertram Thomas all reported directly to the Royal Geographical Society, and their accounts, often with accompanying maps, contributed enormously to the western interest in the economy and geography of these regions. Macro's "Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula" - the only major attempt to date to itemize the most important publications on the Arab World - draws heavily on the papers published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, especially for 19th century descriptions of the Arabian Gulf and its inhabitants. - Collected here is the entire run of publications issued by the Royal Geographical Society up to the mid-20th century - a full 203 volumes containing thousands of seminal articles, plates, and maps chronicling the modern mapping of the world. Its importance for the Arabian Peninsula is well-reflected in Macro's bibliography. Wilson's 1833 "Memorandum Respecting the Pearl Fisheries in the Persian Gulf", James Wellsted's "Observations on the Coast of Arabia between Rás Mohammed and Jiddah" (1836), and Felix Haig's "Memoirs of the Southeast Coast of Arabia" (1839) are among the earliest reports on those regions. Georg Wallin delivered a valuable report on the Hajj to the Society in 1854 in his "Narrative of a Journey from Cairo to Medina and Mecca"; William Palgrave is today regarded as one of the most important European explorers of the Peninsula, and his "Observations made in Central, Eastern and Southern Arabia, 1862-3" is found in the 1864 volume of the Journal. A lesser-known figure is Lewis Pelly, who in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society (1863) delivered a remarkably prescient lecture, "On the Geographical Capabilities of the Persian Gulf as an Area of Trade" - highlighting the future importance of the tribes and territories of the Gulf as global commercial centres, from Kuwait down to the coasts mainly controlled by "Arab pirates". He also contributed "A Visit to the Wahabee Capital, Central Arabia" (1865) - a fascinating, early account of Riyadh. - The 1890s saw a spurt of accounts of the Gulf in the Journal by Theodore Bent including "The Bahrein Islands, in the Persian Gulf" (1890), "Expedition to the Hadhramaut" (1894), and "Exploration of the Frankincense Country, Southern Arabia" (1895). Also of note was an important study of the historical importance of Gulf ports such as Bahrain, discussed in Arthur Stiffe's 1897 article "Ancient Trading Centres of the Persian Gulf". From this point on contributions on the Peninsula become too numerous to list: among them are Frank Clemow's "A Visit to the Rock-Tombs of Medain Salih and the Southern Section of the Hejaz Railway" (1913); Sir Percy Cox's "Overland Journey to Maskat from the Persian Gulf" (1902) and his fascinating account of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, "The Wahabi King" (1928); Gertrude Bell's "A Journey in Northern Arabia" (1914); Lees's "The Physical Geography of Southeastern Arabia" (1928); Holt's "The Future of the North Arabian Desert" (1923); Harry St. John Philby's "Account of Explorations in the Great South Desert of Arabia" (1933); Cheesman's description of the Arabian coastline between Qatar and Bahrain, "From Oqair [Al Uqair] to the ruins of Salwa" (1923); Bertram Thomas's "A Journey into the Rub' al-Khali" (1931) and "The Southeastern Borderlands of the Rub' al-Khali" (1929); Lees's "The Physical Geography of Southeastern Arabia" (1928); and Cochrane's early aerial surveys of Southern Arabia ("Air Reconaissance of the Hadhramaut", 1931). We also find several papers by R. E. Leachman - "the second Lawrence", murdered in Iraq in 1920 - including his "Journey Across Arabia" (1913) and "A Journey through Central Arabia" (1914). Wilfred Thesiger, who drew attention to the borderlands between present day UAE and Oman, contributed "A New Journey in Southern Arabia" (1946); "Journey through the Tihama, the Asir and the Hijaz Mountains" (1948); and "Across the Empty Quarter" (1948) to the Journal, and we also find K. C. Jordan's "adjustments" to Thesiger's map of Southeastern Arabia in Vol. 111 (1948).
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Rycaut, Paul.
Histoire de l'etat présent de l'Empire Ottoman: contenant les maximes politiques des Turcs [...] Traduit de l'Anglois de Monsieur Ricaut [...] par Monsieur Briot. Paris, Sébastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1670.
Folio (218 x 282 mm). (12), 382, (2) pp. With separate engraved title-page, 21 engravings in the text, 3 engraved headpieces and 3 engraved initials. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped spine (rebacked preserving the original spine). The rare first French edition (first issue, in-folio) of Sir Paul Rycaut‘s famous Turkish chronicle, drawn from various authentic sources and from the author‘s own observations. "His most important work [...] presents an animated and, on the whole, faithful picture of Turkish manners" (DNB). "This work is regarded as one of the best of its kind with respect to the religious and military state of Turkey" (Cox). "Provides an account of the society and political system of the Ottoman Empire with unprecedented thoroughness" (cf. Osterhammel, Die Entzauberung Asiens, 32). "An extremely important and influential work, which provides the fullest account of Ottoman affairs during the 17th century" (Blackmer). The attractive engravings depict dignitaries and persons of various ranks in their costumes, also including the illustration of a turban. "Rycaut was appointed consul in Smyrna, where he resided for eleven years. His information on the Ottoman Empire was taken from several sources: original records, and from a Polish resident of some nineteen years at the Ottoman court" (Aboussouan). - 18th century ink ownership of Paul Lignon de Brassac on title page; additional ownership ("Dr. Lignon") and notes on flyleaf. Some browning fingerstaining, mainly confined to margins; slight worming affecting upper edge of first two leaves. Binding rubbed; corners bumped. A wide-margined copy. Weber II, 330. Goldsmith R 1262. Aboussouan 806 (lacking a leaf). Graesse VI/1, 108. Cf. Atabey 1069. Blackmer 1464. Lipperheide Lb 19 (all 2nd ed.). Hiler 770 (1686 English ed.). Howgego R 92 (Rouen 1677 ed.). Cox I, 210. Not in Colas.
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Barros e Sousa de Mesquita de Macedo Leitao e Carvalhosa, Visconde de, Manuel Francisco de Santarem.
De l'introduction des procédés relatifs à la fabrication des étoffes de soie dans la Péninsule hispanique sous la domination des arabes; recherches précédées d'un examen sur la question de savoir si ces procédés y étaient ou non connus avant le IXe siècle de notre ère. Paris, Maulde & Renou, 1838.
8vo. 64 pp. Burgundy paper spine. First and only edition. Discusses trade in silk and attempts at silk production in various parts of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal, Valencia, Murcia, etc., from ancient times until the 1820s, with some emphasis on the efforts of the Arabs. The second Visconde de Santarem (1791-1856) has been called "the greatest figure in the history of Portuguese cartography" (Cortesão, History of Portuguese Cartography I, 23); in fact, it was Santarem who coined the term "cartographia". He travelled to Brazil with the royal family in 1807 and held various diplomatic posts; he also served as Keeper of the Royal Archives at Torre do Tombo from 1824 until 1833, when he was dismissed for political reasons. Although he spent the rest of his life in Paris, his standing with the Portuguese government later improved to the point that the government funded many of his publications, and appointed him Keeper of the Torre do Tombo without requiring him to return to Portugal. Porbase locates copies at the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Innocêncio V, 435-438. OCLC 458944557.
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Temple, Richard.
The Storming of Schinaass. London, W. Haines, 1813.
Hand-coloured aquatint plate by Clark after Temple. 330 x 485 mm. From the exceedingly rare series "Sixteen views of places in the Persian Gulph", engraved after drawings taken by Richard Temple, a private in his Majesty's 65th regiment during the British attacks against the tribes of the Gulf in 1809. The port of Shinas is located near the border between Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Abbey 389, no. 17. Al-Qasimi, The Myth of Arab Piracy in the Gulf (Milton Park, 1988), pl. 15.
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Torquatus, Antonius.
Prognosticon de eversione Europae & alia quaedam, quorum catalogum sequens docebit pagina. Antwerp, Martin Nutius, 1552.
8vo. 51 ff. (without final blank). Printer's woodcut device on title page. Attractive modern boards. Second edition thus (previously published in 1544) of this collection of smaller treatises on Europe and the Orient. Göllner calls this "a chronicle of contemporary history, spanning the years 1480 through 1532, fuelled by a calculated optimism". Contains the "Prognosticon" by the Ferrarese physician A. Arcoato (ff. 2-10), about the Turkish threat to Europe; A. & C. Cella's "Europae descriptio" (ff. 11-22r); F. Titelmans' "De fide ... Aethiopum" (ff. 22v-28r); D. a Gois, "Legatio Magni Indorum Imperatoris presbyteri Ioannis ... 1513" (ff. 28v-45r), and two treatises on the Ottoman Empire. - Some loss to final leaf (though not to text) professionally remargined. BM-STC Dutch 199. Adams 811. Göllner III, 341.
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[View - Middle East].
Mountainous landscape with Middle Eastern and classical Roman ruins, 6 shepherds with their flocks, several figures riding dromedaries and one riding a donkey, (date?) palms, lakes, etc. [Palestine?, ca. 1910?].
An enormous panoramic view drawn in coloured gouaches on a single, continuous roll of unwatermarked wove paper (70 x 583 cm), the drawing running to the edges of the paper. Rolled and stored in a cardboard tube. A panoramic view of what appears to be a fantasy Middle Eastern landscape, with spectacular mountains in the background, a body of water near each end, and a wide variety of buildings and ruins, some clearly classical Roman and others Middle Eastern. The combination of classical Roman architecture with dromedaries and other Middle Eastern features places it very likely in Palestine, but we have not been able to identify specific buildings. The most distinctive ruin, a round Roman temple with five columns on the viewer's side (perhaps a third of the circle), an entablature above them and a vertical base below them, looks more like the Temple of the Vesta at Tivoli than like any known temple in the Middle East (the columns are not rendered in sufficient detail to determine their order, but they are almost certainly not Ionic and are probably Corinthian). There are also classical Roman aqueducts. The six shepherds with their flocks all wear broad-brimmed hats and have staffs, and two are blowing long, slightly curved horns. Several additional figures with broad-brimmed hats and staffs might be pilgrims, one together with what is presumably his wife. - With a 33 cm tear into the left edge, slightly affecting a mountain and the top of a tree, a few insignificant and much smaller tears and with pin holes about 1 cm from the edges from mounting on a wall, but otherwise in very good condition and with the colours fresh and bright. A spectacular panoramic view of the Middle East, including many classical Roman ruins.
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Walsh, C. W. / Holton, G. F.
Views Around South Persia. A Selection of Camera Studies of Native Types and Views Around Southern Persia, Including the Abadan Refinery of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. Bristol & London, Vandyck Printers, [mid 1920s].
Oblong 8vo. 53 printed photographs on 27 ff. printed in sepia to rectos only, contained in original printed card covers with oval window. A remarkable series of photographs of the peoples and places of South Persia (modern Iran and Iraq). The first leaf - which contains the title with a small portrait of a street seller - is followed by four leaves showing views of the Abadan Refinery. The remaining leaves show scenes in Mohammerah (now Khorramshahr), Shatt-el-Arab, Dizful (Dezful), Ahwaz (Ahvaz), as well as artistic views of the coast ("Moonlight on the Shatt-el-Arab", "Sunset in the Gulf"). There are also further portraits of street sellers and other local people (dervish, snake charmer, barber). The booklet closes with a view of the "Pumping Station, Tembi" which served the Abadan refinery, "The road up to the oil fields", and a view of the Ctesiphon Arch. An uncommon and nicely produced view-book of the area. - Minor spotting to first leaf, creasing to upper wrapper but contents generally in good, clean condition.
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Weir, James.
[Turkey: Constantinople]. 3 watercolors. Constantinople, March 1806.
1) 260:340 mm. 2) 260:350 mm. 3) 260:360 mm. James Weir (d. 1820) was Captain of Marines on HMS Audacious from 1795 to 1800, and was also an accomplished watercolourist. His drawings show 1) "The Seraglio from the Marmora March 1806", 2) "The Seraglio at Constantinople from the harbour", and "7 towers Constantinople 19 March 1806".
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[Zrecin, J.].
Beschreibung der Kaiserstadt Constantinopel, ihrer Umgebungen, Sitten und Gebräuche. Nebst einem Anhang, die türkische Festungsstadt Schumla darstellend. Koblenz, Wilhelm Mainzer, 1829.
8vo. VI, 41, (1), 8 pp. With 4 folding lithographed maps and 3 plates (2 folding). 19th century half cloth. Second edition of this German description of Constantinople, its environs and local customs, expanded by two plates. "The author, Zrecin, is mentioned in the Mainz edition [...], but the wirk seems to have been edited by C. V. Sommerlatt whose name occurs at the end of the preface in this edition. An enlarged edition appeared at Coblenz in 1829" (Atabey). Contains a map and a view of Constantinople, a map of European Turkey, a view of the fortress of Shumen, one portrait of Sultan Mahmud II, a "copy of a Turkish firman", and a letterpress plate enumerating the "Muslim articles of faith". - Occasional slight foxing; with faint marginal waterstains to final leaves. Ownership stamp of Walter Seydel (1946) on verso of title page. Blackmer 1872; Atabey 1356 (note).
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Moser, Henri.
Sammlung Henri Moser-Charlottenfels: Orientalische Waffen und Rüstungen. Leipzig, Karl W. Hiersemann, 1912.
Imperial folio (520 x 415 mm). 17, (1) pp. With additional coloured title in Persian and 44 coloured plates. Original blue cloth portfolio with gilt-embossed floral and oriental decoration. Marbled endpapers. Very rare monograph about Henri Moser's collection of oriental arms and armour. The present copy in German is no. 103 of a small press run of 125 German copies (total number of copies: 300). The outstanding plates, printed in colour by the Vienna Court Printing Office, show extraordinary pieces of Moser's precious collection containing over 1,300 weapons. The Swiss merchant and art patron Henri Moser (1844-1923) left Schaffhausen at the age of 23 and began travelling through Asia. During his expeditions he collected many pieces of art, weapons, armour, and hunting trophies. His remarkable collection was displayed at various museums throughout Europe. - Cloth portfolio splitting at hinges. A few insignificant edge flaws; some staining, mainly confined to the text fascicule, otherwise in excellent condition.
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[Mulnier, Jules / Nadar, Félix.
Galerie Contemporaine, Littéraire, Artistique. Paris, Ludovic Baschet, 1876-ca. 1878].
Folio (288 x 351 mm). 192 pp., profusely illustrated throughout, with 48 full-page Woodburytype plates mounted within printed borders on sturdy cardboard, 24 mounted Woodburytype plates in the text, and 2 plates printed in red. Bound in sumptuous red morocco for Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, elaborately giltstamped on spine and both covers. Leading edges gilt, inner dentelle gilt, marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. A striking collection of 72 woodburytype portraits of great artists and reproductions of their art, with accompanying biographical sketches, issued in undated instalments, then bound for and dedicated to Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879. The portraits include famous authors and officers such as Victor Hugo, Thiers, Georges Sand, Sarah Bernhardt, Alexander Dumas fils, Gounod, Daudet, Erckmann-Chatrian, Mac-Mahon, Coppée, Jules Janin, Velpeau etc. - but also Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French engineer whose Suez Canal was constructed and opened under Ismail's khedivate. The photographs are by Mulnier, Nadar, Carjat, Petit, and others, and printed by Goupil. The woodburytype is a photomechanical process capable of reproducing the continuous tones of photography with pigmented gelatin molded to a varying thickness. The speed and economy of woodburytypes, as well as their permanence (unlike traditional photographic processes that were subject to fading), made them a highly practical substitute for albumen silver prints in book publication or other situations where mass production was desirable. - Occasional slight foxing, but very well preserved altogether. The upper cover of the luxuriant red morocco binding bears the dedication: "A Son Altesse Ismaïl Pacha Khédive d'Égypte". Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, Ismail greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development, urbanisation, and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa. OCLC 17984963. Cf. Lucien Goldschmidt and Weston J. Naef, The Truthful Lens (1980).
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Forray, Iván / Heicke, Joseph.
Mekkai kalmár [Mecca tradesman]. Vienna, Reiffenstein & Bösch, [1850].
Hand-coloured lithograph (502 x 370 mm), some parts varnished with albumin, matted (620 x 478 mm). Colour lithograph by Joseph Heicke, showing a Hejaz merchant, based on a drawing by the Hungarian artist and traveller Iván Forray. - Some light duststaining and waterstaining.
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Kriehuber, Jos[eph].
Mahmoud II, Türkischer Kaiser. Vienna, Mathias Artaria (J. Häussle, L. Letronne), 1828.
Lithographic portrait (555 x 380 mm), matted (618 x 499 mm). Portrait of Mahmud II (1785-1839), the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. A fine likeness by the celebrated Viennese portraitist Joseph Kriehuber. - Some foxing.
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Peeters, J[acob].
Mahomet de IIII. Tegenwoordige Keyser der Turkhe Rijken en Landen. Antwerp, [1686].
Engraving (230 x 160 mm), matted (360 x 280 mm). Portrait of Sultan Mehmet IV (1642-93), the second longest reigning sultan in Ottoman history, pictured on horseback. From Peeters's series "Korte Beschryvinghe, Ende Aen-Wysinghe der Plaetsen in dessn Boeck, met hunnen teghenwoordigen Standt, pertinentelijck uytghebeldt, in Oostenryck" (1686).
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(Chiarello, Giambattista).
Historia degl' avenimenti dell' armi imperiali contro a' ribelli, et ottomani, confederationi, e trattati seguiti frà le potenze di Cesare, Polonia, Venetia, e Moscovia. Venice, Steffano Curti, 1687.
4to. (24), 575 (but: 577), (13) pp. With engr. title vignette, 6 folding engr. plates and folding engr. map. Contemp. Italian half vellum with giltstamped red spine label. All edges red. First edition of this rare chronicle of the Turkish wars of 1683-86, being an account of the imperial offensive against the Turks and their allies following the unsuccessful Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683 which led to the reconquest of Hungary and the capture of Buda in 1686. Includes an extensive account of the siege of Vienna, a fine map of Hungary, and plans of Vienna, Esztergom, Nové Zámky, Košice, Buda, and the bridge of Osijek. The second edition appeared in 1688 at the same press. - Some browning and brownstaining due to paper; occasional underlinings in red pencil. A very good copy. BM-STC Italian 225. Apponyi 1304. Kelényi 1162. Sturminger 966 & 3839. Not in Atabey.
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[Alf layla wa-layla - Dutch].
Duizend en een Nacht. Arabische vertellingen. Utrecht, C. van der Post jr., 1848-1850.
Large 4to. 3 vols. (4), VIII, 602, (2) pp. (4), 598, (2) pp. (4), 634, (2) pp. Contemporary half leather with marbled covers and giltstamped spines. Illustrated throughout with nearly 2000 wood-engravings. A finely illustrated Dutch edition by the bookseller, publisher and writer Hendrik Frijlink (1800-86), first issued in 1829. - Slight browning and foxing, but well preserved. Chauvin IV, p. 65, no. 168 ("1847-1849"). Burton VIII, 238. OCLC 63831066.
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[Allais, Denis Vairasse d' / Skinner, Thomas].
Geographisches Kleinod, aus zweyen sehr ungemeinen Edelgesteinen bestehend [...]. [Sultzbach], Abraham Lichtenthaler, 1689.
4to. (2), 362 pp. (but: 360 pp.; p. 176f. omitted); 100 pp. (complete). With engraved frontispiece (margins trimmed) and 16 engraved plates. Contemporary full vellum with ms. spine title. Leaves Bb2-4 and Cc1-2 supplied from another copy. The first German edition of Vairasse's "Histoire des Sevarambes" ("History of the Sevarambians"), translated from the French 1677-79 edition. This is an account of an imaginary journey to Australia, a utopian history in the style of Thomas Moore. Presented in the manner of the then-current geographical and anthropological works, the book provides a direct criticism of revealed and imposed religions, in particular of 17th century Catholicism. Remarkably, this edition also includes the first German publication of Thomas Skinner's slavery narrative entitled "The adventures of an English merchant, taken prisoner by the Turks of Algiers, and carried into the inland countries of Africa" ("Die Selsamen Begebenheiten Herrn T. S. Eines Englischen Kauff-Herrens, Welcher von den Algierischen See-Räubern zum Sclaven gemacht, und in das inwendige Land von Africa geführet worden"). - Lower margin of title torn with some loss, final two leaves torn and frayed without loss of text. Minor foxing to the plates; binding worn, edges somewhat defective. From the library of Swedish antiquarian bookdealer Björn Löwendahl (1941-2013). VD 17, 39:131551R. Holzmann/Bohatta II, 12150.
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[Arabian Nights]. Burton, Richard Francis.
A plain and literal translation of the Arabian Nights' entertainments, now entituled the book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. (Including: Supplemental nights). [London?], Richard Burton Club, [c. 1910].
17 vols. Royal 8vo (24 x 16 cm). With numerous illustrations (including the series by Albert Letchford), repeated on laid paper; the 17 frontispieces repeated in colour. Contemporary three quarter olive green morocco, gold-tooled spine, tops gilt. A handsome edition of Burton's "Arabian Nights", finely illustrated and printed in a limited edition of 100 hand-numbered copies. Bold to a fault, Richard Burton travelled to Mecca, explored the African Great Lakes, shocked his readers with his candid travel accounts, and gained fame and riches with his translation of the Arabian Nights. The first edition was published in 1885-88 and re-issued by the Burton Club shortly thereafter. The present edition is a reprint of the first Burton Club edition, illustrated with, among others, Albert Letchford's famous plates. - Spines slightly faded. Fine set, uncut and partly unopened. Cf. Howgego III, B98 (p. 146, first ed. 1885-88).
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[Bahrain - Falconry].
Original press photo (vintage). Bahrein, 1973.
294 x 203 mm. Captioned on the reverse: "Royal Falcons. Falcons belonging to the Amir of Bahrein perch on royal falconers' wrists at a racetrack near Rifaa al Gharbi. Between races pigeons and doves are released for the falcons to hunt down in a swift and violent chase over the heads of the crowd." - Slight wrinkling to edges, but well preserved.
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Barros, João de.
Decada primeira (-segunda) da Asia. Lisbon, Jorge Rodriguez for Antonio Gonsalvez, 1628.
Large 4to. 2 vols. (7), 208 ff. (5), 238 ff. Title vignettes (royal arms of Portugal). Uniform mottled calf with giltstamped red and green spine labels. All edges yellow. Second edition of the first two of the three "Decades" on Portugal's Middle Eastern enterprises (a fourth volume was produced posthumously in 1615, and the set was continued by other hands). "This is considered by Du Fresnoy as being a good edition" (Clarke, The Progress of Maritime Discovery, p. 132). The writer de Barros (1496-1570), head agent for the Portuguese overseas trade authority "Casa da Índia", managed to persuade King João III to commission from him a history of the Portuguese in India (including Asia and southeast Africa). The result, published between 1552 and 1563, earned him renown as one of the first great Portuguese historians, and the the title of a "Portuguese Livy". The 'Decades' contain "the early history of the Portuguese in India and Asia and reveal careful study of Eastern historians and geographers, as well as of the records of his own country. They are distinguished by clearness of exposition and orderly arrangement. They are also lively accounts" (Enc. Britannica). Books 2 and 3 of the "Decada Segunda" (fols. 21 ff.) offer a detailed narrative of Afonso de Albuquerque's expedition to the Arabian Gulf and his conquest of Ormuz in 1507; the island remained under Portuese occupation from 1515 to 1622. As vassals of the Portuguese state, the Kingdom of Ormuz jointly participated in the 1521 invasion of Bahrain that ended Jabrid rule of the Arabian archipelago. - Slight waterstaining throughout first volume; old handwritten ownership "Jose Joares E Britto" to title pages, with earlier ink ownerships obliterated (ink corrosion to title of vol. 2 and final leaf of vol. 1). A good set. Palau I.181b. Howgego I, B34, p. 91. Arouca B 56f. Löwendahl, Sino-Western Cultural Relations I, p. 42, no. 75. OCLC 4507939. Cf. Macro 474.
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[Bonnart, Henri & La Chapelle, Georges de la].
Marchand arabe. [Paris, 1750].
290 x 210 mm. Hand-coloured lithograph. Matted. Plate from "Recuel [!] de divers portraits des principales dames de la Porte du Grand Turc. Tirée au naturel sur les lieux". "Pour bien vendre sa marchandise / Il est adroit il est rusé / Fait argent de vielle chemise / Et rend neuf un habit usé".
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Burns, John James Douglas, Scottish naval surgeon (1815-1894).
[Naval logbook and diary]. Memorandum book. Mainly Eastern Mediterranean, but including South America, the Caribbean, London and other places, chiefly 1835/1836 to 1838, with a few later entries to 1844.
Small 8vo (100 x 155 mm). English manuscript on paper. 80 pp. (five days to a page, hand-ruled on blank sheets), with 8 pp. of printed matter ("a list of stamps, London bankers, interest tables, and other useful commercial information") bound first. Signed on the flyleaf (dated 1835) and on the title page. Original 1830s green roan. A remarkable naval logbook and diary kept by the young naval surgeon John Burns, documenting the voyages of four Royal Navy vessels, the H.M.S. "Harrier", the "North Star", the "Carysfort" and the "Sappho", to Ottoman ports throughout the Eastern Mediterranean during the final years of the reign of William IV and the early reign of Queen Victoria. Burns's ships frequently called at Constantinople, Pera and Tarabya, but also anchored at Tunis and Algier, as well as Alexandria (on Christmas Day 1840). Several of his brief entries tell of encounters and relations with local governors and dignitaries: "[3 Aug. 1837] Received the Persian Ambassador on board"; [8 Aug. 1837] Received French Ambassador on board"; "[14 April 1838] On board. Turkish frigate and brig arrived with the Pasha of Tunis". When passing the castles on the Dardanelles on 18 Nov. 1837, the ship "fired 19 guns", and upon entering Constantinople on 7 June 1837, the vessel pays its respects to Sultan Mahmud II: "Sailed from Therapia to Constantinople, manned yards and fired a Royal salute on passing the Sultans' Palace [...]". Upon their return to Tarabya a few months later, Burns remarks on the celebration of the Sultan's birthday: "[11 Dec. 1837] Sultans Birthday, lett [?] off rockets in the evening". When news of the Sultan's death reaches the ship less than two years later, Burns notes: "[29 June 1839] Uncertain reports of the death of the Sultan", and "[2 July 1839] Reports confirmed of Sultan Mahmouds death aged 69 reighned [!] 31 years." Burns also provides accounts of several military events, mentioning an "Insurrection at Pera, lying off it" on 10 August 1837, or the Battle of Nezib on 24 June 1839. Burns's training as a surgeon is called upon: "[11 Dec. 1836] Captain came on board, mastered, in the evening corporal of Marines broke both bones of leg immediately above ankle". Not always is Burns able to apply his medical skills with success: "[19 Dec. 1836] man killed by falling from the Mainmast head through lubber hole into the Basin"; "[18 Mar. 1837] Cook died of disease of chest". Yet the diary also gives evidence of many less sensational episodes of everyday life aboard ship, containing remarks about dinner, lesser illnesses, and weather conditions. Other entries cover leisure activities such as walks ashore ("[21 July 1837] On shore of Sultan's Valley, had a Turkish bath"; [5 Dec. 1837] Went to Stamboul Bazaars, Galata, Pera") and visiting such sights as coastal castles or the ruins of Pompeii. Burns's allegiance to the British crown is always evident: "[14 July 1837] Fired 72 minute guns in the afternoon on the news of the death of the King which happ. on the 19th June", "[28 June 1838] Entered Toulon and celebrated the Queen's coronation", and "[15 July 1837] fired a royal salute in honour of the accession of Queen Victoria". - Burns joined the H.M.S. "North Star" on 1 Sep. 1836, sailing from Rio de Janeiro to England. Other voyages took the keeper of this diary further into the western Mediterranean, including the ports of Naples, Malta, and Barcelona. - Later notes and calculations on the final leaves and the insides of the covers; newspaper clippings on the lower paste-down announce the death of Burns's infant son in 1859 as well as the birth of his daughter in 1857 and of another son in 1860. A newspaper clipping announcing Burns's passing on March 10 [1894] is pasted on the flyleaf. Upper cover creased, occasional very minor paper flaws to edges, but in all a charming survival.
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Couto, Diego de.
Decadas da Asia. Lisbon, Domingos Gonsalves, 1736.
Small folio (222 x 302 mm). 3 volumes bound as two. (32), 605, (1) pp. (14), 607-931, (1), 75, (1) pp. (16), 625, (1) pp. All 3 title-pages printed in red and black. Contemporary full mottled brown calf with giltstamped red labels to finely gilt spines (not uniform). Edges sprinkled red. Continuation of João de Barros's famous work on Portuguese colonial history in the Orient. First published in 1602, this is the first edition to include decade IX. Do Couto (1542-1616), chronicler and custodian of Torre do Tombo, begins with Decada IV, in continuation of de Barros's Decada III. (When de Barros's own Decada IV was discovered and posthumously published in 1615, the work effectively acquired another treatment of the same period with a different text, both numbered IV). "The 'Decades' contain "the early history of the Portuguese in India and Asia and reveal careful study of Eastern historians and geographers, as well as of the records of [the author's] own country. They are distinguished by clearness of exposition and orderly arrangement. They are also lively accounts" (Enc. Britannica). - Vols. I and II bound in a single volume. Some worming to spine-ends, with traces of worming to inner margin of the final four leaves of vol. III. A clean copy. Innocencio II, 154. Monteverde 1900. Cordier, BJ, 34 and BS, 2309. Cf. Macro 763. Not in Samodães or Ameal.
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[Egypt - Coptic Rite].
Sacra Congregatio Eminentissimorum ac RR. DD. S. R. E. Cardinalium negotiis propagandae fidei praepositorum. Rome, typis Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1830.
8vo. 37, (1) pp., final blank leaf. Sewn without binding. Extremely rare publication of the rules of the Coptic Catholic Church, decreed in 1790 and printed in Latin and Arabic in Rome in 1830, following the Ottomans' permission that the Coptic Catholics of Egypt build their own churches: "In conventu habito die 15 Martii anni 1790 decrevit, infrascriptas regulas ab omnibus RR. Sacerdotibus tam saecularibus, quam regularibus ritus Coptici, vel in urbe Cayri, vel in superiori Aegypto commorantibus, esse observandas". - Paper flaws to second leaf, with minor loss to a few letters. No other copy could be traced in libraries internationally.
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Giorgi, Federico.
Libro [...] del modo di conoscere i buoni falconi, astori, e sparavieri, di farli, di governarli, & medicarli [...]. Milano, Filippo Ghisolfi, 1645.
12mo. 136, (8) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 10 woodcuts in the text. - (Bound with) II: Carcano, Francesco. Dell'arte del strucciero con il modo di conoscere, e medicare falconi, astori, et sparavieri, e tutti gli uccelli di rapina. Ibid., 1645. 82, (2) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 7 woodcuts in the text (2 full-page). - (Bound with) III: Manzini, Romano. Ammaestramenti per allevare, pascere, & curare gli uccelli. Ibid., 1645. 58, (2) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 8 woodcuts in the text. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. Fine sammelband containing three classic Italian works on hawking, falconry, and the care of birds in their final edition. I: "Well-known book" (Schwerdt), first published in 1547. The English author Turberville drew heavily on this work for his famous "Booke of Faulconrie or Hauking". - II: "A small book on hawking, by a practical falconer" (Schwerdt). - III: The third edition of a book "on bird catching and the care of birds. The first edition was published at Milan by Pacifico Pontio in 1575 and must be rare" (Schwerdt). "This little book relates solely to cage-birds [...] It is usually bound up with the books on Falconry by Francesco Carcano and Federico Giorgi, and might be supposed to relate to that subject" (Harting). - Bookplate of Hans Dedi von front pastedown. A good copy of this collection of rare works in a contemporary binding, in excellent state of preservation. I: Souhart 217. Harting 144. Cf. Schwerdt I, 207. - II: Schwerdt I, 94. Harting 142f. Souhart 86. - III: Schwerdt II, 7. Souhart 315. Harting 147.
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Gurmendi, Francisco de (transl.).
Doctrina phisica y moral de principes. [...] Traduzido de Arabico en Castellano. Madrid, Andres de Parra & Gaspar Garcia, 1615.
8vo. (8), 164 [recte: 160], (4) ff. Early 20th century half vellum with giltstamped red spine label and marbled blue boards. Edges sprinkled in red. First and only edition (not reprinted until 2004) of this rare and little-received example of the "education of princes" genre, translated into Spanish from an unknown Arabic source. "Francisco de Gurmendi learned Arabic in Madrid at the school of Marcos Dobelo, a Syrian who worked for a time as a translator of the 'plomos'. Gurmendi eventually achieved enough facility with the language to publish 'Doctrina phisica y moral de principes' (Madrid, 1615), a translation of an Arabic text" (A. K. Harris, From Muslim to Christian Granada [Baltimore 2007], p. 170). Recently, the work was the subject of a 2016 doctoral thesis at the University of Alicante: M. I. Llopis Mena, "Teoría política árabe y persa en la corte de Felipe III: la Doctrina Phísica y Moral de Príncipes de Francisco de Gurmendi". - Slight browning; paper flaws to title page (no loss to text). Exceedingly rare; not a single copy in auction records. Palau III, 433. OCLC 804490168.
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[Java]. Radermacher, Jacob Cornelis Matthaeus.
Naamlyst der planten, die gevondenworden op het eiland Java. Met de beshryving van eenige nieuwe geslagten en soorten, [...] I-III. Batavia, Egbert Heemen (vols. 1-2) and Pieter van Geemen (vol. 3), 1780-1782.
7 parts in 3 volumes, bound as 1. 4to. 60; 67, [1 blank], 88, 40; [4], 84 (lacking pp. 85-102), 42, [2], 70 pp. Lacking pp. 85-102 in vol. 3. Contemporary stiff paper wrappers covered with paste-paper (calico pattern), with blank paper title-label on front. Rare first and only edition of a catalogue of the plants found on the island of Java, Indonesia. The work was published in three volumes, the first containing descriptions of plants not recorded by Rumphius and Houttuyn and the second and third listing all the plant names in Latin, Dutch and Malay/Javanese, with reference to Linnaeus, the Malay/Javanese set in roman type. The volumes were printed at the presses of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Batavia on the island of Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia). - Jacobus Cornelis Matthieu de Radermacher (1741-1783), started as a Dutch merchant in service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and rapidly rose in position in the company. By 1781 Radermacher was named Commissioner for the Fleet and the Army, and Common Council of India. He was one of the founding members of Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen and a proponent of the establishment of the botanical gardens of Buitenzorg. In 1783 he left for Holland because of his health, but was murdered during a mutiny on his way home. - With a tiny tear in the second leaf and a couple of minor spots, otherwise in very good condition and only slightly trimmed, but lacking pp. 85-102 of volume three. Leaves E1-E2 of the same volume are included twice. The spine of the wrappers is tattered and its foot completely gone. Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 615. Pritzel 7392. Stafleu & Cowan 8501 (2 copies, both incomplete). STCN (2 copies). WorldCat (3 copies). not in Hunt. Johnston. for the author: NNBW II, cols. 1153-1154.
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[Knorr, Georg Wolfgang / Leinberger, Christian and Hoffer, Andreas].
Ein Trampelthier oder Dromedar [...]. Plate K. VI. [Nürnberg], 1767.
240 x 340 mm. Coloured print. Matted. Plate K VI from Knorr's "Deliciae naturae selectae oder auserlesenes Naturalien-Cabinet welches aus den drey Reichen der Natur zeiget, was von curiösen Liebhabern aufbehalten und gesammlet zu werden verdienet [...]". Begun by Knorr as early as 1751, it was continued by his heirs after his death in 1761. The book describes items from the great contemporary natural history collections. Cf. Nissen, ZBI 2227. Horn/Schenkling 12038. Hagen I, 426. Dean I, 696. Graesse IV, 35.
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Kuntz, Rudolf.
Abbildungen saemmtlicher Pferde-Racen, nach dem Leben gezeichnet, lithographirt und herausgegeben von Rudolph Kuntz mit naturhistorischer Beschreibung von E. d'Alton. 1. bis 4. Lieferung [= all published]. Stuttgart, Georg Ebner'sche Kunsthandlung, [1827-1832].
Oblong royal folio (536 x 445 mm). Engraved title-page, engraved dedication to Ludwig Wilhelm August, Grand Duke of Baden, (4), XX pp. of letterpress text, 25 plates (= 24 lithogr. plates of horse portraits and 1 anatomical plate). Contemporary half calf with handwritten cover label; publisher's original illustrated lithogr. wrappers bound within. First edition, self-published by the author in Karlsruhe, with Ebner's Stuttgart address pasted on the wrapper's upper cover. All that was published of this splendid and rare work about the principal breeds of horses, issued in what must have been a very small press run by Kuntz (1797-1848), Painter to the Court of Karlsruhe, Baden, who is also known for drawing the full-blooded Arabian horses of the Royal Württemberg Stud, the first Arabian stud in Europe. For the present work Kuntz made extensive travels in Hungary, London and Paris to draw his exquisite portraits of Arabian, Persian, Egyptian, Nubian, English and many other thoroughbred horses from life. - Binding professionally repaired at the edges. Interior somewhat foxed and fingerstained. From the officers' library of the Württembergian Uhlan (light cavalry) regiment no. 19. Nissen, ZBI 2328. Thieme/Becker XXII, 116. Wells 4313. Graesse I, 87.
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Lawrence, T[homas] E[dward], British explorer, intelligence officer, and writer (1888-1935).
Autograph letter signed ("TE Shaw"). Southampton, 18. VII. 1934.
8vo. 2 pp. and 2 lines on bifolium. "Dear Lady Young I wonder if you (and His Ex.) are still there? Your letter to me sat at 2 Smith Square (Sir H. B. not knowing my whereabouts) till last night, when I called and collected it. I am sorry. Most of my addresses are like that. Would you be so good as to register / T. E. Shaw / Clouds Hill / Moreton / Dorset / as my likeliest spot, in future? It represents my cottage on the heath, which will be home after March when the RAF bring themselves, not reluctantly, to dispense with my help? I'm sorry not to have seen you. I wanted, while you were yet in Nyasa-land, to beg of His Ex. The rectangular skin of a small (1 sq. yard) lion, for my hearth-rug. But Ronald Storrs whom I saw at Southampton about a month ago told me you had been promoted to his province, and that there were no lions. Ronald was physically a very sick man. Mentally he was fighting hard to keep brisk… too hard for his health, I fear. The wreck of an old companion is too near a sight for sorrow, even. I hope Africa suits, after your trial of Asia and Europe. My respects to the Governor! Tell him I saw the fraudulent Abdulla, the other day. Exactly as he was, body & mind. Now, that's the way. / Yours sincerely TE Shaw / A poor letter: but I picture you again in Africa, and my squib spluttering in the void". - Between 1916 to 1918, Abdullah I of Jordan worked with the British guerrilla leader T. E. Lawrence (with whom he had actually never jarred), and played a key role as architect and planner of the Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, leading guerrilla raids on garrisons. From 1921 until his assassination in 1951, Abdullah ruled Jordan, first as Emir under a British Mandate from 1921 to 1946, then as King of an independent nation from 1946 onwards.
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Lütfi Pasha / Tschudi, Rudolf (ed.).
[Asafname - German]. Das Asafnâme des Lutfi Pascha, nach den Handschriften zu Wien, Dresden und Konstantinopel [...]. Berlin, Mayer & Müller, 1910.
8vo. XXI, (1), 38 pp., 1 blank f., (2), 45, (1) pp. With a portrait frontispiece. Contemporary half calf with marbled covers and giltstamped red spine label. All edges red. Edition of the Turkish text (with the first German translation) of the "Asafname", a mirror for ministers written by the Albanian-born Ottoman statesman Lütfi Pasa (1488-1564), grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent. The translation, forming the dissertation of Rudolf Tschudi, was issued as vol. 12 of the "Türkische Bibliothek" edited by Georg Jacob, Professor at Erlangen. - An attractively bound copy with the bookplate of the collector Franz Pollack von Parnau (1903-81), who assembled a famous library in the Viennese palais of his father, the textile magnate Bruno Pollack von Parnau.
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[Ottoman Empire - Northern Territories].
Memalik-i Osmaniyye'nin Aktâr-i Simaliyesi Haritasi. Üsküdar (Istanbul), Mühendishane Matbaasi, [ca 1803].
Engraved map in outline colour, 119 x 53.4 cm. Backed with cloth. One of the earliest monuments of Islamic cartography, of outstanding rarity: published at roughly the same time as the famous "Cedid Atlas", also by the Imperial Engineering School in Scutari (Istanbul), this large-scale engraved wall map shows the "Northern Territories of the Ottoman Empire". This hitherto practically unknown map is clearly to be viewed in connection with the atlas which has long been considered the first and most important achievement of modern Muslim cartography. Like the Cedid Atlas, this outstanding publishing venture was commissioned under the authority of Sultan Sultan Selim III. A pioneering attempt at mapping a substantial part of the far-flung Empire, the map reaches from southern Italy and the Balkans to the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. The most detailed map of the Empire's Northern Territories available at the time and one of the first wall maps printed in Constantinople. - Occasional unobtrusive professional repairs, well preserved altogether. Esat Efendi no. 2049. Özdemir, Ottoman Cartography, p. 190f. (illustrated).
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Pasi, Bartolomeo di.
Tariffa de i pesi, e misure corrispondenti dal Levante al Ponente: e da una terra, e luogo allaltro, quasi p tutte le parti dil mondo: con la dichiaratione, e notificatione di tutte le robbe: che si tragono di uno paese per laltro con la sua tavola copiosissima, e facilissima a trovare ogni cosa per ordine. Venice, (Pietro di Nicolini da Sabbio), 1540.
8vo. (12), 200 ff. Title with architectural woodcut border. 17th century vellum with ms. title to spine. An early merchants' guide to the measurements of the Mediterranean and Near East, this pocketbook for sixteenth-century Italian traders is one of the foremost sources for the study of the metrologies of Venice and her trading partners in the early sixteenth century. It enabled conversion between Venetian currency, weights and measures and units of other Italian city-states, European neighbours and more exotic locations in the Levant, North Africa, the Near and Middle East, including Constantinople, Aleppo, Tripoli, Damascus, Cyprus, Corfu, Rhodes, and Crete. Pasi's manual is invaluable as a record of the panoply of commodities traded in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the sixteenth century, including pearls, silks, wool, saffron, chestnuts, figs, galangal, vegetable oils, gold and silver. On fols. 3, 11, and 12, Pasi recorded the tariffs on pearls in Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, Alexandria, Constantinople and Venice. It is very likely that the famous merchant Balbi carried a copy of this classic with him on his travels. First printed in Venice in 1503, and again in 1521, this 1540 edition appears to be the third and was followed by another in 1557. -- Some brownstaining to preliminary matter; a few contemporary ink marginalia slightly trimmed in the course of the 17th-century rebinding. On the whole an excellent clean copy. Very rare: the only copy of any edition to surface at auction within the last thirty years appears to be the Honeyman copy of the 1503 edition. Kress 51. Adams P 374. Smith, Rara Arithmetica, 79. Cf. Goldsmiths' 7 (1503 edition). R. A. Donkin, Beyond price. Pearls and pearl fishing: origins to the age of discoveries (Philadelphia, 1998), p. 138.
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Rivière, Henri / Migeon, Gaston.
La céramique dans l'art musulman. Paris, Émile Lévy, 1913.
Imperial folio (405 x 474 mm). 2 vols. (10), 12, (2) pp. With 10 colour illustrations in the the text and 100 full-page coloured illustrations mounted on plates. Sumptuous dark brown contemporary full calf, gilt, covers lined in silk, with silk endpapers. First edition of this monumental publication on Islamic pottery, no. 107 of 200 copies printed. All ceramics pictured within the two volumes are described in detail with place and date of origin as well as the current owner (mostly French noble or institutional collections). Includes a bibliography on the subject and list of plates. - Union Club bookplate. Contemporary bindings somewhat rubbed; hinges professionally repaired, otherwise a fine copy, clean throughout. Rare. Not in Arntzen/Rainwater.
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Rudolf, Archduke of Austria and Hungary.
Voyage en Orient. Traduit de l'Allemand. Illustrations d'après les dessins originaux de Franz von Pausinger. Vienna, Imprimerie Imperiale et Royale de la Cour et de l'État, 1885.
Folio. (8), 168, (2) pp. With 37 etched plates. Contemporary full calf with richly gilt front cover, label to spine, and gilt edges. First (and only) edition in French. - Archduke Rudolf set out on his tour of the Middle East in 1881, travelling first from Vienna to Miramar, Corfu, Alexandria, and Cairo. From there the group sailed up the Nile to Aswan and Memphis, then journeyed on to Port Said, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and the Holy Land, returning to Vienna from Haifa via Cattaro (Kotor), Ragusa (Dubrovnik), and Trieste. This is an outstanding and unique copy in a sumptous Viennese binding, in immaculate condition, was created for Anton Ritter von Beck (1812-95), then director of the government's Imperial printing office in Vienna. With a long inscription by the translator, the Baron de Montandin, to "Monsieur le Hof Rath Anton Chevalier Von Beck" on the flyleaf, dated Vienna, 28 February 1885. Some slight staining to the guards of the etchings, otherwise a very clean copy. Hamann, Habsburger-Lexikon 415 ff. ÖBL IX, 315 ff. Wurzbach VII, 145 ff.
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[Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch - Synod of Mount Lebanon].
Ristretto delle Relazioni de Relatori del Sinodo del Monte Libano, et unione di esse fatto dal Cardinal Prefetto, e Ponente destinato da Nostro Signore in luogo del Sig. Cardinal Rezzonico assente per minor incomodo degl'Em'i Votanti. No place or date, but probably Rome, 1736 or soon after.
Small folio (ca. 192 x 262 mm). (Title leaf), 21, (1) pp., (final blank leaf). Italian manuscript on paper. A contemporary account of the 1736 Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon, which laid the foundations for the modern Maronite Church. Concerns the appointment of Giuseppe Simone Assemani (Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani) as Apostolic Delegate, who presided over the Synod, and the settlements of several sensitive issues of Maronite Church, such as liturgy, martyrology, sacraments, marriage, and the authority of the Patriarch. - On loose folded leaves, pages numbered. Well preserved.
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