‎Golf‎

‎[Aramco].‎

‎Saudi Arabian Road Map. Dammam, printed by the Al-Mutawa Press for the Arabian American Oil Company, 1973.‎

‎Large folding map (60 x 90.5 cm), printed in colour, depicting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its main roads. With on the right the title in both Arabic and English and a table with the distances from one city to another. Printed on two sides, one side with the map in English and the other in Arabic. Bilingual road map of the Arabian Peninsula for Aramco employees. Focused on Saudi Arabia, the map shows the main roads, as well as surfaced roads, trails, roads under constructions and even proposed roads. A list titled "hints for survival" mentions extremely logical traffic rules such as "come to a complete stop at stop signs and observe stop-and-go signals" and "observe speed laws in the community where you live as well as on the highway". Placing common traffic rules under the header "hints for survival" makes one fear the worst for Saudi Arabian traffic in this period. The Arabic side of the map contains the same "hints" as well as a list of road signs in Arabic and English. A table lists the distance in kilometres from several towns and cities to some of the major cities: Buraidah, Dhahran, Dammam, Hofuf, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh and Ta'if. - In very good condition.‎

‎Ellerbe / DMJM (architects).‎

‎MODA Medical Center. Master Plan Drawings. Livorno, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mediterranean Division, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Defense and Aviation - Directorate of Military Works, May 1977.‎

‎Large oblong folio (556 x 383 mm), identified as "volume 10". Photostat, 328 pp., block-bound with screws. The Master Plan Drawings for an enormous, never-realized Medical Center which the U.S. Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA) aimed to build for the Saudi Arabian Army near Al-Kharj, some 70 km south of Riyadh. Part of an ambitious programme to develop major military medical facilities at Mecca and Riyadh, the project quickly expanded, at the Saudis' request, from a 400-bed hospital in the capital to a massive 600-bed medical center far outside Riyadh with acute care, teaching and research facilities, involving the planning of a small medical city near Al-Kharj with a population of some 15,000 people. The architects whom the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tasked with the development were Ellerbe and DMJM (Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall), two concerns with extensive and international experience in designing medical facilities. By 1976 the cost estimate for the Al-Kharj center had risen to no less than $4.1 billion; in February 1977, the completed master plan was presented to Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh. He appeared pleased but had already suggested that funding might need to be drawn out over a period of 20 years. In early 1978, all funding was abruptly withdrawn, and the architects' design work was brought to an unexpected end before any construction work even began. Today, the desert site north of the highway at Al-Kharj remains as bleak and empty as it appeared in the 1970s. - The present set of ground plans, elevations, and three-dimensional renderings, one of a small number of Master Plan sets produced in 1977 shortly before the programme fell through, shows the extent of planning reached, as well as the humongous scale of the project. A unique survival, and a poignant document of MODA's apparently limitless "willingness to build facilities to modernize every aspect of the Saudi Arabian military structure" (Grathwol/Moorhus, p. 394) at a time when increasing oil revenues redefined the limits of the possible. - In excellent state of preservation. Cf. R. P. Grathwol, D. M. Moorhus: Bricks, Sand, and Marble. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 1947-1991 (Washington, 2009), pp. 394-397.‎

‎Macedo, Joaquim José da Costa de.‎

‎Memoria em que se pertende provar que os Arabes não conhecerão as Canarias antes dos Portuguezes. Lisbon, printing office of the Academia Real das Sciencias, 1844.‎

‎Folio. (4), 232 pp. With a woodcut Portuguese coat of arms with owl and Hermes staff on the title-page, decorated "Tuscan" titling caps for the title and script type for the author's name. Set in roman and italic, with transcriptions of and quotations from documents in Greek and Arabic.Modern brown paper wrapper, side stitched through 3 holes. A detailed scholarly study of ancient sources for the history and geography of the Canary Islands, attempting to prove that the Portuguese discovered them before Islamic explorers, and that Islamic geographers knew them only through classical Greek and Roman sources. The main text (pp. 1-105) is followed by extensive notes from a wide variety of sources (pp. 107-168) and transcriptions of numerous primary sources, some in Greek or Arabic (pp. 199-232). In passing it also provides a wealth of information about navigation in the Mediterranean and Atlantic by classical Greek and Roman and by Islamic explorers. - Macedo (1777-1867), son of a Lisbon professor and librarian, was an historian, archivist, councillor to the Kingdom of Portugal and a member of many academic societies at home and abroad. His work on Portuguese explorers in general and the Canary Islands in particular began with a brief 1816 essay read to the Academia Real. He returned to the subject after almost thirty years, publishing the present account in both the present separate publication and as vol. VI of the proceedings of the Academia Real das Sciencias. While Macedo's claim for Malocello's discovery of the Canaries in 1336 is no longer accepted, the Islamic geographer Idrisi noted a Portuguese voyage to the Canaries already before 1154. - In fine condition and wholly untrimmed, with all deckles intact, giving very large margins. The modern wrapper is slightly tattered. A detailed study of early voyages to the Canary Islands, with the texts of primary sources in Greek, Arabic and other languages. Porbase (1 copy). Cf. Innocêncio IV, 96 and XII, 80 (issue in proceedings). For the author: Protásio, "MACEDO, JOAQUIM JOSÉ DA COSTA DE (1777-1867)" in: Dicionário de Historiadores Portugueses.‎

‎[Middle East].‎

‎New Outlook: Middle East Monthly. Tel Aviv, Tazpioth, 1957-1975.‎

‎18 instalments, plus 1 duplicate. 8vo. Original wrappers. A selection of instalments of the magazine: New Outlook, an Tel Aviv-based monthly devoted to Israeli and Middle Eastern affairs and the promotion of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and peace. It includes articles on politics, poetry, agriculture, meteorology, the Cold War, education, music, education, economy, etc. covering all countries in the Middle East and from both Jewish and Arab perspectives. - A very good set. - The collection includes the followings numbers: Volume I. No. 2. August 1957. Volume I. No. 3. September 1957. Volume I. No. 4. October 1957. Volume I. No. 5. November/December 1957. Volume I. No. 7. February 1958. Volume I. No. 8. March 1958. Volume I. No. 9. April 1958. Volume II. No. 2. October 1958. Volume II. No. 3/4. November 1958. Volume II. No. 5. January 1959. Volume II. No. 6. February 1959. Volume III. No. 9. September 1960 (2 copies). Volume IV. No. 1. October 1960. Volume IV. No. 3. January 1961. Volume IV. No. 4. February 1961. Volume XI. No. 8. October 1968. Volume XII. No. 1. January 1969. Volume XVIII. No. 3. March/April 1975.‎

‎Pocock, Nicholas.‎

‎[Wrapper-title:] East India views islands headlands &c. [London, ca. 1790?-ca. 1805].‎

‎Ten watercolour coastal profiles in grey and blue, of widely varying sizes (30 to 119 cm long), with contemporary captions and other notes in pencil or black ink. 20th-century brown cloth with the artist's original laid-paper wrappers bound at the end, spine title: "East Indian views by N. Pocock taken on the ship Worcester 1798". A series of ten lovely coastal profiles drawn in watercolour by the English artist Nicholas Pocock (1740-1821), showing coasts and mountains in the East Indies, both coasts of the Indian Ocean, China and the South Atlantic. In the first drawing Mount Agung, an active volcano and the highest mountain on Bali, appears prominently, with its pointed peak reaching above the clouds. - Pocock, son of a Bristol merchant mariner, pursued a career in the merchant marine but had been an amateur painter since childhood. As master mariner of the ship Lloyd, owned by the Quaker merchant Richard Champion, he illustrated his logbooks with fine ink and wash coastal profiles and other drawings (some now in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich). When Champion went bankrupt in 1778 in the wake of the American Revolution, Pocock devoted himself to painting. His first professional efforts drew praise from Joshua Reynolds, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy beginning in 1782. Pocock soon became a celebrated maritime artist and painter to King George III, moving to London in 1789, where the rate books record him at Great George Street from that year to 1816. He sometimes accompanied naval ships to make sketches and notes that he developed into paintings when back in London. When he painted maritime scenes he had not witnessed live, he interviewed sailors and others to ensure the accuracy of details such as weather conditions, his practical experience as a master mariner aiding him considerably. - The present drawings are not signed individually, but the wrappers (bound at the end) are signed "... Pocock Esqr / Gt George Street". The captions identify the views, some with additional notes about directions, distances, latitudes or soundings. A few topographical names are difficult to read or show irregular spellings (the coordinates help identify some), but they appear to show coasts in Bali, Karimata, Serutu and Lombok (all in the East Indies), Coromandel (the southeast coast of India), Joanna Island (off Madagascar), Macao (across the bay from Hong Kong), Martin Vaz Islands (near Trinidad off the coast of Brazil), Srikakulam (on the east coast of India: 'Frycacoel' may be a misreading of the alternative spelling Ticacoel. The caption gives a latitude of 18° 4' and the ship Worcester stopped in Bengal ten days later: The Asiatic annual register ... for the year 1799, London, 1800, p. 53) and perhaps Burma (Myanmar) and Pondicherry (on the Coromandel coast). The captions identify them as follows (we add numbers giving the order as bound, the probable bibliographical formats and the dimensions): 1. Island of Bally. Oblong agenda 8vo (12 × 30 cm). 2. Caremata & Souroutou nearly in one. 20 fathoms soft ground, oblong agenda. 8vo (12 × 30 cm). 3. Extremes of Lombek ... southward. 3 oblong agenda 8vo leaves pasted together to make a panorama (12 × 87 cm). 4. Caremata & Sourontou. Oblong agenda 8vo (12 × 30 cm). 5. On the coast of Coromandel. 4 oblong 6mo leaves pasted together to make a panorama (16 × 119 cm). 6. Islands Joanna from N to NE. Oblong agenda 8vo (12 × 30 cm). 7. N Macoa. Oblong 4to (19 × 33 cm). 8. View of Martin Vos Rocks distant 7 leagues, Oblong 4to (20.5 × 28.5 cm). 9. The highland on both sides of Chicacul & Frycacoel ... taken on board the ship Worcester August 17th. 1798. Copy N[icholas] P[ocock]. Oblong agenda folio (24 × 59.5 cm). 10. The land of Barma ... The land on both sides - Pondy ... Oblong folio, with the profile rendered in three bands above one another (31.5 × 46 cm). - Only drawing 9 includes a date in the caption, indicating that it is Pocock's copy of a drawing of a scene from 17 August 1798. All the profiles are drawn on wove paper, probably all on pieces from sheets of Royal format made by James Whatman and his successors, who continued to use his name. Only two drawings show watermarks. Drawing 4 is watermarked: "J WHATMAN | 1804" centred along the right half of one long edge of the sheet, the caps and small caps about 19 and 12 mm tall. The other 4 drawings on one or more oblong agenda 8vo leaves are similar in style and may have been made at the same time. Drawing 10 is watermarked: "J WHATMAN", centred along the left half of one short edge of the sheet, the caps and small caps about 20 and 13 mm tall. Nearly all high quality English paper included a year in the watermark for several decades beginning in 1794, and Whatman's successors generally centred the date below the name, but no date appears under the name here. Moreover, the style of the lettering is older than that of the 1804 watermark, resembling Heawood 3458 (London 1784), 3459 (London post-1791), 3461 (n.p. 1781?), including the distinctive M of these marks (the diagonal joining the right vertical well below its top) but with clearer serifs than any of Heawood's (perhaps not very accurate) drawings. This paper seems likely to have been made before 1794. The paper of the ten drawings together contain about the equivalent of three whole sheets, but they would have to have been taken from at least four sheets. The wrappers are made of coarse laid paper and show no watermark. - With a small tear at the head of drawing 9, not approaching the image, drawing 7 spotted and slightly dirty, but further in very good condition. Coastal profiles, mostly in the East Indies and the Indian Ocean, by the maritime painter to King George III. For Pocock: ODNB 22425.‎

‎Sparwenfeld, Johan Gabriel, donor (Eric Benzelius & Olaus Celsius, comp.).‎

‎Catalogus centuriae librorum rarissimorum manuscript. & partim impressorum, Arabicorum, Persicorum, Turcicorum, Graecorum, Latinorum, &c. Qua anno MDCCV bibliothecam publicam Academiae Upsalenis auxit & exornavit vir illustris & generossissimus Joan. Gabr. Sparvenfeldius, ... Uppsala, Johan Henrik Werner (printer to the University), 1706.‎

‎4to. [6], 74 pp. With a woodcut garland of fruits, leaves and nuts on the title-page, 1 woodcut headpiece and 1 woodcut decorated initial. Set in roman, italic, Arabic and Greek type. Later paper wrappers. Catalogue of the collection of 126 Persian, Arabian, Turkish, Greek, Latin and other books and manuscripts donated to the Library of the University of Uppsala by Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld (1655-1727). It was compiled by the Swedish scholars Eric Benzelius the younger (1670-1756) and Olaus Celsius the elder (1675-1743). The main series of manuscripts (items I-LXI), described in great detail, includes 41 in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, 8 in Greek (one dating back to the eighth century) and 12 in Latin and modern European languages. These are followed by 42 printed books (LXII-CIII) including 2 in Chinese, several in Arabic, the 1581 Ostrog Bible (the first Bible printed in Old Slavonic) and several other exotic languages, including Irish (set in Anglo-Saxon type). A few more manuscripts (mostly Arabic) are added at the end, numbered I-VI and I-XV, plus an unnumbered geographic manuscript in Chinese (3 volumes). This is the earliest catalogue of the Uppsala University Library's collections. The Arabic, Persian and Turkish titles are set in a large Arabic type cut for the physician and orientalist Peter Kirsten by the Swedish punchcutter Peter von Selow (who served his apprenticeship under Tycho Brahe) and first used at Breslau in 1608. Werner, printer to the university at Uppsala sice 1701, seems to have been the first Swedish printer to use types by Nicolaus Kis, two of his italics and one roman appearing in the present book, though not the roman used for the main text. - After finishing his studies at Uppsala, Sparwenfeld travelled throughout Europe and accompanied the Swedish ambassador to Moscow, where he took an interest in Slavonic languages. On his travels he collected many precious books and manuscripts. In 1687 he returned to Stockholm, where he carried out a study of manuscripts from the ancient Goths. He travelled to Holland, France and Spain, dealing with the Blaeu printing office and mediating in the production of Georgian type cut by Nicolaus Kis for the exiled King of Georgia. In 1691 he travelled to Egypt, Syria and Tunis. Though a Protestant, he presented the manuscript of his Slavonic lexicon to Pope Innocent XII, who granted him access to the Vatican library, a rare honour for a Protestant. He returned to Sweden in 1694. He continued to correspond with scholars throughout Europe even after he retired to his estate in 1712. He wrote and spoke 14 languages. - In very good condition, with only occasional very slight foxing, wholly untrimmed, preserving the deckles and point holes and with the bolts unopened. A remarkable catalogue of an extraordinary library, especially rich in Arabic manuscripts. Almqvist, Sveriges bibliogr. litteratur 2838. Smitskamp, PO 113 (note).‎

‎[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.‎

‎Medici, Catherine de', Queen of France, wife of King Henry II of France (1519-1589).‎

‎Letter signed ("Caterine"). Chenonceau, 2. IX. 1584.‎

‎Folio (34 x 24 cm). 1 p. on bifolium. Brown ink on paper, written in a clear gothic hand. Folded for sending and addressed on the outside, with a slot for a ribbon and traces of a red wax seal. Watermark: B [crowned heart] P, (with the feet of the letters toward the centre of the sheet). An informative letter written by the French regent Catherina de' Medici concerning the exchange of gifts between France and the Ottoman Sultan. Written in French, from Catharine's favourite palace, Château de Chenonceau in the Loire valley near Tours, to Jacques de Germigny (d. 1587 or 1596), French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Catherine, mother of King Henry III, last of the Valois kings of France, was a powerful and colourful figure (familiar in literature from the historical novels of Alexandre Dumas), often running the government for her son. In the present letter she arranges an exchange of gifts with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1546-95). Germigny had written to her on 17 July concerning various items he had selected, and she asks him to send the gifts from the Sultan to André Hurault de Maisse (1539-1607) at Venice, who was France's ambassador there. She also suggests a change in one item they are giving the Sultan: "J[']ay receu v[ost]re l[ett]re du xvij de juillet avec la liste des presens que ma faict la sultane mere du grand seigneur lesquelz vous me mandez avoir retenuz par devers vous pour me les faire apporter quant vous partirez de par dela pour venir trouver le Roy monsieur mon filz. Et pour ce quil pourra passer plus de temps jusques la que je ne le vouldrois et que je seray bien ayse d[']avoir plustost lesd[its] presens je vous prie de les envoier au Sr de Maisse ambassadeur du Roy monsieur mon filz a Venize lequel me les fera tenir par apres. Au surplus j[']ay a vous dire touchant Le Rouge que desire recouvrer de moy lad[ite] Sultane semblable a celluy que je luy ay cy devant envoie quelle trouve meilleur, et mieulx faict que celluy d[']Espaigne, que je n[']en ay plus maintenant, et ne seay en sorte du monde la recepte et facon de le faire qui est cau[s]e que je ne puis contenter a p[rese]nt lad[ite] Sultane de ce qu[']elle desire de moy en cest endrent, dont du suis bien marrye mais j[']adviseray si j[']en pourray avoir le moien par cy apres dont je vous advertiray [...]". Counter-signed by her Secretary of State, Pierre Brulart, and addressed to "Mons[ieur] de Germigny, ch[eva]l[ie]r de l[']ordre du Roy monsieur mon filz, son con[seill]er et amba[ssa]deur en Levant". The two-leaf folio was folded twice on horizontal folds, then briefly once more on a vertical fold without a sharp crease for sending. A cut through the sixteen layers would have had a ribbon through it and one can see traces of red sealing wax around the slot on the back. The letter was stored folded horizontally, and eight small worm holes run through the eight layers, but they barely touch an occasional letter of the text. There are also a few small marginal tears. In very good condition and with the whole sheet of paper untrimmed.‎

‎D'Anville, [Jean Baptiste Bourguignon].‎

‎Persian Gulf. From the original by D'Anville. [London], John Harrison, 1788.‎

‎Engraved map, hand coloured in outline. 535 x 371 mm. An English version of D'Anville's famous nautical chart of the Gulf from 1776. Although Bahrain is depicted, the large peninsula of Qatar is notably absent, and the coast between Bahrain and Abu Dhabi is marked "This Coast is not known". Al-Qasimi (2nd ed.), p. 236.‎

‎[Hammer-Purgstall, Baron Carl Joseph Camillo, member of the Styrian parliament (1817-1879)?].‎

‎Two Arabic letters to Baron Hamm[er?]. Cairo and Alexandria, 26 March and 10 July 1870.‎

‎Large 4to. A total of 2 pp. (one leaf and one bifolium), each with French translation (one on a separate leaf, the other on the verso of the bifolium). By a "Girgès" (Jirjis) to "Monsieur Le Baron de Hamm" who had invited him to Vienna during a visit to Upper Egypt. The recipient is likely Carl von Hammer, the eldest son of the important Austrian oriental scholar Joseph Baron Hammer-Purgstall: "Vous avez bien voulu à votre voyage à Lougsor [= Luxor] vous interessé a moi en m'offrant de me faire venir à Vienne. Je suis en ce moment au Caire à votre disposition. Voici l'été et le changement de climat me sera très favorable. Persuadé, Monsieur le Baron, que vous voudrez bien vous souvenir d'un pauvre orphelin et me faire l'honneur d'une réponse, je suis [...]" (Cairo, 26 March 1870, from the French translation). - "Monsieur le Baron Ham / Je viens vous dire que vous n'avez fait aucune reponse à mes lettres par lesquelles je vous priais de m'envoyer ses reponses. Ce procédé m'etonne d'autant plus qu'il n'est pas en rapport avec la promesse que vous m'avez fait a Loqsur, aussi je suis arrivé a Alexandrie depuis deux mois en attendant vos nouvelles. Pour tout cela je vous prie d'avoir la bonté de m'envoyer une lettre en y vous me fairais apprendre si vous voulez me faire apporter chez vous en Vienne ou non [...]" (Alexandria, 10 July 1870, from the French translation). - Slight edge tears and wrinkles, otherwise fine. - Carl von Hammer-Purgstall, born in Vienna on 20 January 1817, inherited Hainfeld Castle in Styria from his father. He retired from the Imperial army holding the rank of captain and served as member of the Styrian Landtag. He died in Trieste on 12 February 1879. - The great orientalist's youngest brother, the Graz-based lawyer Dr. Wilhelm von Hammer (1784-1872), was also still alive in 1870, but his advanced age at the time makes him appear an unlikely tourist of Egypt.‎

‎[OSPAAAL]. Martinez, Olivio.‎

‎Unity of the Arab peoples - Nationalization of oil. [Cuba, 1972].‎

‎Poster (ca. 52.5 × 32.5 cm) printed in black and red, with an image of four armed Arabian horsemen, with Arabic text above and below, and with the title in Spanish, French and English at the foot of the poster, together with the logo of the OSPAAAL. Rare propaganda poster of the OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America, designed by Olivio Martinez. The poster depicts four Arabian (Bedouin?) men on horseback, holding guns and galloping towards the viewer, with the text "Unity of the Arab peoples - Nationalization of oil" in Arabic above and below the image. At the foot of the poster is the logo of the OSPAAAL, flanked by the same text, given English, Spanish and French. OSPAAAL is a socialist Cuban political movement against imperialism and to defend human rights. The organization was founded in 1966 and was especially active in less developed countries. The posters were often stapled into copies of Tricontinental, the organization's magazine. - With only a small fold in the lower right corner, otherwise in very good condition. R. Frick, The Tricontinental Solidarity Poster (2003).‎

‎Weir, James.‎

‎Collection of 28 topographical and naval views. N. p., [1790s-1810s].‎

‎Watercolour on paper, some on 2 sheets, mounted (sizes approximately from 155 x 230 to 300 x 480 mm), some with inscription or sketches on verso, most with captions either mounted, laid down or written directly on image. James Weir (d. 1820) was Captain of Marines on HMS Audacious from 1795 to 1800, and was also an accomplished watercolourist. Some of the earliest watercolours in this group were produced when the Audacious was on patrol off the Portuguese coast in 1796. Others were painted in the months leading up to the Battle of the Nile, when the Audacious was part of Nelson's squadron searching for the French fleet off the Italian coast after it had escaped from Toulon. Others were painted in the months leading up to the Battle of the Nile, when the Audacious was part of Nelson's squadron searching for the French fleet off the Italian coast after it had escaped from Toulon. He also depicted Nelson's flagship, HMS Vanguard, anchored at Naples Bay for repairs in October 1798, when he first met Emma Hamilton. Also shown are views of Syracuse and surrounding area, the Valley of Temples at Agrigento, Catania and Mount Etna, the Temple of Venus at Baia, the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Olympus, the interior of the Temple of Concord, Mount Nuovo and Pozzuoli near Naples, the Temple of Ceres at Segesta, Convent of St. Nicolo Argentum, the Iron Mine of Elba. The fleet at Palermo is also depicted, where Nelson had accompanied the royal court of the Two Sicilies after they fled Naples. - Very minor scattered tears or repairs, a few restored or trimmed, light staining or spotting.‎

‎[Algeria - Female costume]. Geiser, Jean.‎

‎Photographs showing women's traditional dress of Algeria. Algiers, ca. 1890s.‎

‎Albumen prints: 3 cabinet cards (ca. 14 x 10 cm) and 3 cartes-de-visite (ca. 9 x 5 cm, including 1 repeat), all mounted on cardboard, two with Geiser's studio imprint. A collection of rare portraits by the Algiers-based photographer Jean Geiser (1848-1923) showing Algerian women in traditional dress, both veiled and with uncovered faces. - Occasional light staining, but well preserved.‎

‎[Beirut Port].‎

‎Compagnie Impériale Ottomane du Port, des Quais et Entrepôts de Beyrouth. Assemblée Générale Ordinaire et Extraordinaire [...]. Rapport du Conseil d'Administration. Rapport des Commissaires des Comptes. Résolutions de l'Assemblée. Paris, Imprimerie et librairie centrales des chemins de fer, 1889-1922.‎

‎Large 4to. All 31 issues, comprising a total of 774 pp. (some lithographic, others published as a typescript, but mostly letterpress), preserving the original printed wrappers. With 2 folding plans. Bound in 1920s green half calf over marbled boards. Rare collection of the annual reports published by the administrative board of the Beirut Port holding company: the complete stretch from 1889 (when work on the harbour began) to 1922. - Even since the 1860s, the old harbour of Beirut, 150 by 100 metres in length and a mere two metres deep, was rapidly becoming too small for the ever-expanding volume of traffic. In 1887 a consortium was formed of the Compagnie Impériale Ottomane de la Route Beyrouth à Damas, the Ottoman Bank, the Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris, the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, and the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes. Reincorporated as the Paris-based "Compagnie Impériale Ottomane du Port, des Quais et Entrepôts de Beyrouth", they obtained a concession from the Porte in 1888, and construction was completed in 1895. "The new harbor, located further to the east, provided deeper anchorage (two to six meters) next to an 800-meter-long pier running almost parallel to the coast and protected by a breakwater 350 meters long. The dock area covered twenty-one hectares, with vast warehouses whose metal cladding had been designed by Gustave Eiffel" (Kassir, p. 119). Located at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa, Beirut quickly became one of the principal ports between Europe and the Near East. Trade was hampered during the years of the First World War, but Beirut still received "more ships than any other port along the Syrian coast" (ibid., p. 122). - The first seven reports, covering the building phase, from 1889 to 1894, are printed as lithographs; from 1895 onwards they are letterpress, providing a full account of assets and liabilities, profits and losses, and resolutions adopted by the board, accompanied by extensive sets of tables. The publication was interrupted only in the war years, when the company was temporarily dispossessed, for which time the present volume instead contains a "Historique" and a "Memorandum", both published as typescripts. The series was resumed in 1921. - This collection bound for the "Banque de Syrie et du Liban" with their bookplate on the pastedown. Binding rubbed and chafed, but internally a very well-preserved set. Cf. Samir Kaffir, Beirut (UCA, 2010).‎

‎Cebes (Pseudo-) / Ibn Miskawayh.‎

‎Parafrasis arabe de la tabla de Cebes, traducida en Castellano é illustrada con notas por D. Pablo Lozano y Casela. - Texto arabe de la parafrasis de la Tabla de Cebes, sin mociones ni version, para exercicio de los principantes. Madrid, Imprenta Real, 1793.‎

‎Large 4to (158 x 240 mm). (6), 219, XL, (29) pp. With different engraved vignette on each title-page and folding engraved plate. Contemporary Spanish marbled calf, flat spine with red morocco lettering-piece. Marbled endpapers. Edges sprinkled red. First joint edition in Arabic and Spanish. - The Neoplatonist Persian philosopher Ibn Miskawayh (932-1030) worked as a chancery official and librarian for various viziers of the Abbasid empire; many of his works show and document the influence of Greek philosophy on his thought. His Arabic paraphrase occasionally contains additional passages not recorded in the original Greek text. - The "Pinax" ("Table" or "Painting") is an allegorical moral sketch of human life commonly attributed to the Greek philosopher Cebes, a student of Socrates, though the book's real author likely flourished in the first century AD. The Neoplatonist and Pythagorean perspective of late Hellenistic Stocism earned the text great popularity among later readers: "To us, all this appears sterile and trite; yet its impact was such that even the visual arts attempted to recreate a fiction whose author in fact shows little graphic flair" (Wilamowitz). One such attempt to transfer the titular "painting" into an engraving is found in the present edition. - Extremities quite insignificantly rubbed; a very appealingly preserved copy. Hoffmann I, 447. Palau 50822 ("Bella edición"). Not in Engelmann/Preuss.‎

‎[Fables].‎

‎Le fabuliste du jeune age, ou choix de fables avec le sens moral, précédé d'alphabets de différens caractères, et des premières leçons de lecture. Troisième édition. Augmentée de jolies historiettes, et ornée de six gravures enluminées. Lille, Blocquel for J. B. Castiaux, [ca. 1830].‎

‎8vo. 108 pp. With an engraved frontispiece and 5 engraved plates, all in original hand colour. Remains of wrappers. Third edition of this early 19th century French primer. The reading matter with its lively illustrations is chiefly drawn from Aesop's Fables. - Brownstained throughout. Untrimmed, partly uncut copy with marked edge flaws; wants binding. Rare. OCLC 460509998.‎

‎Ibn al-`Awwam, Abu Zakariya Yahyá ibn Muhammad.‎

‎Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (Kitab al-Felahah). Traduit de l'Arabe par J.-J. Clément-Mullet. Paris, A. Franck (Albert L. Herold succ.), 1864-1866.‎

‎8vo. 2 vols. (instead of 3). Contemporary purple half calf with marbled boards and endpapers. First French edition of Ibn al-‘Awwam's famous "Book of Agriculture", probably written towards the end of the 12th century and regarded as the most comprehensive agricultural treatise in Arabic. The author "gathers all the knowledge of his time concerning agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry into a huge compendium of excerpts from all the previous agronomical traditions and treatises [...] To these he often adds his own observations and experiences [...] He records, for example, his experiments in grafting the wild olive of the mountains with the domesticated olive of the plain, and his successful cultivation of saffron, under irrigation, in the mountains [...] Ibn al-‘Awwam’s treatise comprises 34 chapters dealing with all aspects of husbandry - it mentions 585 different plants, explains the cultivation of more than 50 fruit trees, and includes many valuable observations on soils, manures, grafting, and plant diseases (Sarton 1927-48, II, pp. 424-25). Ibn al-‘Awwam also includes an agricultural calendar, one of the few Andalusi agronomists to do so. The last section of his work is devoted to animal husbandry, with chapters on cattle, sheep, goats, camels, horses, mules and donkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, pigeons, peacocks and beekeeping. As well as being of great value and interest for the study of agricultural history, the Kitab al-filaha has enabled scholars to reconstruct the original texts of some previous authors whose work has only survived in abridged or fragmented form. In addition, the profusion of references, even though sometimes entangled and difficult to unravel, provides the historian with a wealth of information on the transmission of knowledge" (Filaha). - Lacks the second part of vol. 2, not published until 1867; the set thus comprises chapters 1-30 (out of 34). Well preserved. Fück 204. Mennessier de la Lance I, 667. NYPL 184. OCLC 6985613.‎

‎Mahmoud Ra'if.‎

‎Tableau des nouveaux reglemens de l'Empire Ottoman. Constantinople, Imprimerie du Genie, sous la direction de Abdurrahman Efendi, 1798.‎

‎Folio (210 x 308 mm). 60 pp. With 27 engraved and etched plates (some double-page). Contemporary speckled sheep. Marbled pastedowns. First and only edition, printed at the second printing press established in Istanbul. "A rare and very interesting work outlining the military reforms and the regulations for the New Troops established by Selim III in 1796/97" (Blackmer). The author, Mahmoud Ra'if, was a member of the reform movement instigated in Turkey by Sultan Selim III, who tried to change the traditional political structures of the Ottoman Empire and replace them with a political state that owed much to his youthful contact with Europe, and more particularly, the influence of the French Revolution. After his succession in 1789, Selim took steps to establish a new state under the Nizam-Jedid ("new order") regulations - from which the present work derives - underpinning his state with the formation of a new army and military infrastructure. Among the moves towards "Europeanisation" were the installation of printing presses at the military engineering school (where the present work, the first from the press in roman types, was printed), and the establishment of Ottoman embassies in the capitals of Europe, including London, where Mahmoud Ra'if served as secretary to the Ottoman Ambassador in the mid 1790s. As outsiders feared, the very reforms which are the subject of his work led to Selim's murder in 1808, while the author himself was "cut to pieces" by the enraged Janissaries whose elite position had been threatened. "The establishment of these troops - the Nizam-Jedid - and the jealousy which this aroused was one of the main factors leading to the revolt of the Janissaries in 1808 which cost Selim, and later the author of this work, their lives" (Blackmer). - Binding very slightly worn, interior clean and flawless throughout. Provenance: armorial bookplate of the Swedish diplomat Johan Henrik Tawast (1763-1841), who was seconded to Constantinople in 1812-13 to help negotiate the Russian-Turkish peace treaty of Bucharest; his autograph note "Scutari, 9 janvier 1813. 16 piastres, 20 pares" inscribed to front pastedown. Latterly in the collection of Thomas Fremantle, 3rd Baron Cottesloe (1862-1956), commander of the Territorial Army and president of the Society for Army History Research. Atabey 752. Blackmer 1060.‎

‎Piri Reis / Kahle, Paul (ed.).‎

‎Bahrije. Das türkische Segelhandbuch für das Mittelländische Meer vom Jahre 1521. Berlin & Leipzig, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1926-1927.‎

‎Large 8vo (18 × 26 cm). 3 vols. Volume 1 with 137 reproductions of manuscript pages of Ottoman Turkish text and maps and volume 2 with 4 plates. Publisher’s original printed wrappers. Only published edition of the original version of the "Kitâb-I Bahriyye" (Book of the Sea) by the great Ottoman navigator and cartographer Piri Reis (1465/79-1553). After assembling two important maps using numerous sources (in 1513 and in 1528), including a map drawn by Columbus, Piri Reis decided to collect "all his own observations and all previous information that he could not fit onto the maps" in a book. "It is basically a naval guidebook with essential data on the most important coastal routes and large maps and detailed charts [...] The main portion of the book is devoted to the Mediterranean coasts and islands [...] Piri first gives historical and geographical information and then discusses the necessary practical navigational data. The accuracy of many of his statements is indisputable" (DSB). The final chapter of the book describes the newly discovered continent Antilia "the mountains of which contain rich gold ores and in the seas, pearls [...] The chapter on the Western Sea contains all that was known about the discovery of America at the time" (DSB). First written in 1521, the manuscript was reworked in 1526 for presentation to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. This later manuscript was published twice, in 1935 and 1998, but Piri's original version is still only available in the current edition by the German scholar Paul Kahle (1875-1961). The first volume (in two bindings) is a facsimile of a manuscript in Bologna containing Piri Reis's 1521 text, with a few pages from a manuscript in Dresden in between. The second volume is an annotated German translation of the text, based on these manuscripts as well as on a manuscript in Vienna. This is still considered the best translation of the Bahriyye. - Bindings slightly soiled with the spines discoloured and slightly damaged; covers of the second part of vol. 1 almost completely loose but the book itself still structurally sound. In good condition, with vol. 2 still unopened. DSB X, pp. 616-619. Howgego, to 1800, P104. Lepore, Piccardi, Rombai, “Looking at the Kitab-i Bahriye of Piri Reis”, in: e-Perimetron VIII, no. 2 (2013), pp. 85-94. Lowry, “Pîrî Reis Revisited”, in: Journal of Ottoman Studies XXXV (2010), pp. 7-31.‎

‎[Saudi Arabia - Ministry of Agriculture].‎

‎Annual report 1382-1383. Jeddah, Asfahany, [1964 CE = 1383 H].‎

‎8vo. With portraits of His Majesty King Saud Ben Abdulaziz and Prince Faisal Ben Abdulaziz, and 10 maps, including 2 folding. Original publisher’s decorated wrappers. The annual report of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the fiscal year 1382–1383 AH, with text in Arabic and English. The most important topic is hydrology, including the Abha Dam project, the related Wadi Jizan and Irrigation project and the Al-Qatif water drainage project. Other topics covered include locust control, fertilizers, soil quality etc. The results of many tests are displayed on 10 maps. - With library stamps. Some minor stains and a small tear to the wrappers, but internally in very good condition.‎

‎[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.‎

‎Burmann, Johannes [and Carl Linnaeus].‎

‎Thesaurus Zeylanicus, exhibens plantas in insula Zeylana nascentes. Inter quas plurimae novae species, & genera inveniuntur. Omnia iconibus illustrate, ac descripta [...]. Amsterdam, Janssonius van Waesbegren and Salomon Schouten, 1737.‎

‎4to. 2 parts in 1 volume. (16), 235, (1), (14), (4), 33, (1). With 111 finely etched anonymous plates, an engraved allegorical title-vignette by Adolf van der Laan (1680/1700-42) dated 1736, a number of woodcut head and tail pieces and without the portrait of Burmann, as usual. Full contemporary gold tooled mottled calf, with mottled edges. First edition of the first illustrated description of the plants of Sri Lanka, based on the famous botanical collections of Paul Hermann and Jan Hartog in The Netherlands. The plants were taken from Sri Lanka, however most of these did not exclusively exist there but grew throughout the entire South Indian Ocean region, making this book relevant for more than just the island of Ceylon. Described and illustrated plants include the Malabar nut, amaranth, cinnamon, different types of jasmin etc. Johannes Burmann (1707-79), Dutch physician and botanist at Amsterdam, was well acquainted with Carl Linnaeus. While Burmann was working on the Thesaurus Zeylanicus he was helped by Linnaeus, who was staying at Burmann's house at the time. In the same period the monumental works of Linnaeus were published that would change science. The plates are referred to as engravings, but they are most likely finely etched. Plate 18 is numbered double, causing much confusion about the number of plates with it often being described as having 110 instead of 111 plates. The dedication on *2 has 2 different states: this one opens with Nicolao Sautyn. - Some annotations in pencil. Hinges worn and some wear to the boards. Plates a bit browned as usual. In very good condition. Hunt 501. Nissen BBI 303. Stafleu & Cowan 928.‎

‎Hermann, Paul.‎

‎Paradisus Batavus continens plus centum plantas affabrè aere incisas & descriptionibus illustratas. Amsterdam, Abraham Elzevier, 1698.‎

‎4to. (16), 247, (1), 15, (1) pp. With 111 etched plates depicting plants, an elaborate woodcut tailpiece with an eagle feeding her young, caterpillars, dogs, and flowers, as well as a woodcut printer's vignette on the title-page. Early 18th century (?) richly gold-tooled mottled calf, in a panel design with a large centre-piece of curlicues, gold-tooled board edges, marbled end papers and gilt edges. First edition of an overview of exotic plants were recently discovered by the Dutch. The foreign plants were brought back to the Netherlands by ship from around the world and planted in various botanical gardens to be studied. With the help of new botanical technology such as greenhouses it became possible for the first time to cultivate exotic plants such as orchids in the colder European climates. Paul Hermann (1646-95) had excellent contacts and based his work on various Dutch botanical collections that held plants from the Americas, from Africa (Egypt), the South Indian Ocean regions, and Asia. Mentioned plants include passion fruit, cacti, and papaver. Hermann himself served as director of the Hortus Botanicus at the University of Leiden and contributed to this work specimens from India, Africa, and Sri Lanka. He died in 1695 while at work on a number of important publications, this one of them. His widow was able to complete the "Paradisus Batavus" and got influential English botanist William Sherard (1659-1728) to edit her husband's work. The publication raised the bar for floral publications and set the standard so high that it inspired Linnaeus to write his "Flora Zeylanica" (about the plants of Sri Lanka). - Some copies include a four-page laudatory poem to the author, not present here. Most copies of this first edition have 110 plates, while the present volume contains 111. Some of the depicted plants are the first ever to be documented in European cultivation. Although the plates are referred to as engravings it appears more likely that they are etchings. The anonymous illustrations seem to be aimed at showing the whole plant, including the roots, leaves and twigs, rather than just the blossom or fruit that the plant produces. The woodcut tailpiece is signed "C" (possibly Nagler Monogrammisten 2151). - Boards slightly warped, but still a very good copy. From the library of William Cavendish-Bentinck, the 6th Duke of Portland, with his engraved armorial bookplate on the upper pastedown. Kuijlen 115. Nissen BBI 860. The Anglo-Dutch Garden 143.‎

‎Mesopotamia Commission.‎

‎Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire Into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, Together with a Separate Report by Commander J. Wedgwood [...]. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1917.‎

‎188 pp. With 2 (out of 3) lithographed plates ("annexures"), of which 1 folding table showing the movements of all army units from the landing in Suez "up to the present state". Original blue printed wrappers. Official report of the Mesopotamia Commission appointed in August 1916 to investigate the events connected with the Siege of Kut Al-Amara, the worst Allied defeat of the Great War. The Commission's remit was to enquire "into the origin, inception, and conduct of operations of war in Mesopotamia, including the supply of drafts, reinforcements, ammunition, and equipment of the troops and fleet, the provision for the sick and wounded, and the responsibility of those departments of Government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of the forces employed in that theatre of war" (p. 3). In the spring of 1916, T. E. Lawrence had been dispatched to Mesopotamia to assist in relieving Kut by either starting an Arab uprising or negotiating a secret deal with Enver Pasha, offering £2 million for the free retreat of the troops; the mission produced no useful result, and General Townshend surrendered on 29 April after a siege of 147 days. Some 13,000 Allied soldiers survived to be made prisoners. - Contents include: Origin of Mesopotamia expedition; Advance from Basra to Kurna; The advance from Amara and Kut; Correspondence and telegrams as to advance on Baghdad; The advance from Kut to Ctesiphon; Operations for relief of Kut; Armament, equipment, reinforcements; Transport; Medical breakdown; Causes contributing to the errors of judgment and shortcomings of responsible authorities; Findings and conclusions; Separate report by Commander J. Wedgwood; Vincent-Bingley report; Memorandum by Sir Beauchamp Duff; Colonel Hekir's account of the siege of Kut-el-Amara. - Waterstained throughout; edges and corners severely wrinkled, bumped and frayed; traces of dod-earing. Binding soiled; spine chipped. OCLC 3303415. Cd. 8610.‎

‎Barth, Johann August.‎

‎Universitati litterariae Viadrinae post tria saecula gloriose peracta Francofurti Wratislaviam translatae et cum Leopoldina [...] feliciter junctae die novae sedis ineundae solemni XIV calend. novemb. MDCCCXI [...] documentum extet [...]. (Breslau), Typis Universitatis, 1811.‎

‎Folio (220 x 355 mm). Title page, 21 sheets numbered A-X with letterpress rectos only, partly hand-coloured. Original wrappers with mounted armorial engraving in original colour on the upper cover. An unusual, typographically ambitious publication commemorating the merger between the University of Breslau and the Protestant Viadrina University, previously located in Frankfurt an der Oder, re-established at Breslau on 3 August 1811 as the "Königliche Universität zu Breslau - Universitas litterarum Vratislaviensis" after the defeat of Prussia by Napoleon and the subsequent reorganisation of the Prussian state. The 21 celebratory poems in different types and languages (including Arabic, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Dutch, Latin, German, French, Spanish, English, and various Slavic languages) all praise the university. The specimens in Arabic type boast coloured borders and 'unwan headpieces; an example inspired by mediaeval manuscripts has a coloured initial with pretty tendril designs. - The printer, typographer and publisher Johannes Augustus Barth (1765-1818) was based at Breslau; after the defeat of Napoleon he would publish another work with multiple languages and types, "Pacis annis MDCCCXIV et MDCCCXV foederatis", issued in 1818 with 63 poems in 99 languages. - Margins show small tears (partly restored). Wrappers stained and with soft folds; interior slightly age-toned and dusty in the margins, but text clean and in good condition. Rare. Erman/Horn II, 2027. OCLC 14198089.‎