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Bedford, Francis (photographer) and W. M. Thompson.
The Holy Land, Egypt, Constantinople, Athens, etc. etc. A series of forty-eight photographs. London, Day and Son, [ca. 1865-1867].
4to (24.5 × 18 cm). With title-page printed in red and black and 48 albumen prints (measuring ca. 10 × 13 cm) mounted on leaves with lithographed captions. Original publisher's goldblocked blue cloth, gilt edges. First and only edition of a collection of 48 albumen prints of photographs by the British photographer Francis Bedford (1816-94). "A significant boost to his reputation came with the commission to accompany the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, on a trip to Egypt and the Holy Land in the spring and early summer of 1862. The resulting images were exhibited in London in July 1862 [...] Selections from Bedford's Middle Eastern views were included in [...] The Holy Land, Egypt, Constantinople, Athens etc" (Hannavy). The photographs mainly show ancient and Islamic architecture, as well as some landscape views, in and around Cairo, Gizeh, Thebes, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Damascus, Baalbek, Istanbul (Constantinople), Athens and more. The photographs are accompanied by an introduction and 100 pages of descriptive text by W. M. Thompson. - With bookplate. Slightly browned with some occasional foxing, not affecting the photographs. Binding slightly rubbed along the extremities. Overall in good condition. Blackmer 1483. J. Hannavey, Encyclopedia of 19th-century photography, pp. 134-136.
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Bevilacqua, Melchiorre.
Oratione [...] nelle nozze della Signora Cattarina Sattorovichia figliuola del Sangiaco di Clissa, di natione Turca, & hora Christiana. Recitata da lui il primo giorno di Agosto 1622 nella chiesa delle Citelle di Venetia alla Giudeca. Venice, Varischi, 1623.
4to. 13 (paginated "9" in error), (3) pp. Woodcut printer's device to title page, large woodcut initials. Contemporary orange paper wrappers with floral designs stamped in black and white. Very scarce work about Cattarina Santorovichia, a Turkish girl from the Ottoman sandjak of Clissa (Klis) north of Spalato (Split) in Dalmatia, who crossed into Venetian territory and converted to Christianity. Mihale Satorovic, as she was born, was from a respected and well-connected Turkish family, the daughter of Ahmed Aga, an officer in the local garrison of Clissa, and the affair provoked a major international incident. "Although Venice had been at peace with the Ottoman Empire for almost half a century, the Spalato border was a sensitive area where tensions occasionally flared" (Dursteler, 63). When the girl disappeared in late December 1621, her parents immediately feared that she had been kidnapped and taken to the Venetian side - a relatively frequent phenomenon on the border that occurred for a variety of reasons. Although it was soon established that the girl had not been forcibly abducted, but rather had fled her home of her own free will so as to become a Christian, Muslim sensitivities were ignited. On 23 January 1622 Mihale was baptized "Cattarina" in Spalato, and the attendant ceremonies only intensified the anger on the Ottoman side: indeed, "immediately following Mihale's flight, eight Venetian subjects from the neighboring town of Trau were taken hostage in retaliation" (67), and the threat of military violence caused the Venetians to deploy six armed ships to Spalato. "The flight of Mihale Satorovic was an extremely serious affair that dragged out over five years, and eventually engaged the Ottoman and Venetian military forces, as well as the highest officials in the region and in the respective imperial capitals" (68). - The present oration that recounts part of the girl's history is an important source about the affair. While the occasion is here termed "nozze", it is clearly not a wedding (not even one "con la chiesa"), but apparently closer to a confirmation rite celebrated for the recently converted girl. The author was the parish priest at S. Eufemia in Giudecca, Venice, and dedicates his work to Giovanni Cornaro, Procurator of S. Marco. - Remains of an old label on the title-page. An excellent copy. Extremely rare; ICCU lists a single copy in Italy (Biblioteca nazionale Marciana, Venezia). ICCU VEAE\128667. Cf. Eric Dursteler, Renegade Women (Baltimore, 2011), pp. 62ff.
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Gastaldi, Giacomo.
Il Disegno della Terza Parte Dell' Asia. Rome, 1561.
74 x 48 cm. A fine example of Giacomo Gastaldi's map of Southeast Asia, China, and India, perhaps the single most influential map of the region published in the 16th century. - Gastaldi's map has a remarkable history, one that presents a microcosm of Italian mapmaking in the middle of the 16th century. It begins with the publication of a single section in 1559, which was intended as a separate map. Additional sections were added in 1561, creating the portion of the existing map which extends south to the Equator. In 1565, two additional sections were added, in order to show all of Indonesia and the neighbouring islands as far south as Java Minor. - "In its original form the map extended only to the equator, so that most of the Indonesian islands were not included. To remedy this, in about 1565, two narrow sheets were made by the great Italian engraver Paolo Forlani to supplement the main body of Gastaldi's map [...] This lower addition bears an inscription in the lower left corner which reads 'si vende...' [...] indicating the location of the shop of the publisher Bertelli" (Suarez). - Of all of Gastaldi's Asian continental maps, this one more than any other "had a major influence on the work of Ortelius and de Jode [...] In their representation of the coastlines his maps are superior to all previously known maps of Asia, either drawn by hand or printed" (Schilder, in: The Map Collector 17, p. 7). - On the right-hand side of the map, Gastaldi provides a list of about 100 place names on the map, showing both their ancient and modern names. In his excellent study of Gastaldi's maps of Asia and their relationship to the accounts of Marco Polo's travels, Nordinskold notes that while Gastaldi has clearly incorporated information from Marco Polo's travels, Gastaldi relied also upon the accounts of other contemporary travelers to the East. Most notably, the dedication to Marcus Fugger (1529-97) is strong evidence that Gastaldi had access to the Fugger family library, one of the most important libraries compiled in the 15th and 16th centuries. During the 16th century, the Fugger Library was perhaps the best private library in the world, surpassing even the Vatican Library. - Nordinskold goes on to note: "Finally, it must be remembered that Gastaldi, under the guidance of Ramusio, is supposed to have aided in repairing or repainting the famous wall-maps in Sala dello scudo in Venice [...] If such was the case, it may be considered probable that the monumental maps of Africa and Asia by Gastaldi have had some connection to [Gastaldi's map of Asia], that these copper-plate engravings are a reproduction of the originals of the wall maps in that form which was given them in the middle of the 16th century". Quirino notes that Gastaldi's map is the first appearance of the name "Philippines" ("Philippina") on a printed document. - The map is rare on the market. We note no examples of this first edition of the map on at auction or in recorded dealer catalogs in at least 15 years. Tooley, Italian Atlases 63. Karrow 30/92 (note). Woodward, Forlani 36 (note). Suarez, South East Asia, pp. 130-157 Quirino, Philippine Cart., p. XV & 95. Nordinskold, The Influence of the "Travels of Marco Polo" on Jacobo Gastaldi's Maps of Asia, in: The Geographical Journal 13, No. 4.
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Ibn Batuta / Samuel Lee (ed.).
The Travels of Ibn Batuta. Translated from the abridged Arabic manuscript copies, preserved in the public library of Cambridge. With notes, illustrative of the history, geography, botany, antiquities, &c. occurring throughout the work. (Including:) Report of the proceedings of the first general meeting of the subscribers to the Oriental translation fund, with the prospectus, report of the committee and regulations. London, printed for the Oriental Translation Committee (colophon: by J. L. Cox) and sold by J. Murray, Parbury, Allen & Co. and Howel & Stewart, 1829.
Large 4to (32 x 26 cm). "XVIII" [= XX], (2), 243, (1) pp. With various passages including the original Arabic text. Modern half morocco. First edition of the first substantial English translation of the travel account of Abu Abdullah Mohammed ibn Batuta (1304-68/69), known in the West as the Arabian Marco Polo, with extensive footnotes. "While on a pilgrimage to Mecca he made a decision to extend his travels throughout the whole of the Islamic world. Possibly the most remarkable of the Arab travellers, he is estimated to have covered 75,000 miles in forty years" (Howgego). His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. - The account known as the Rihla, is esteemed for its lively descriptions of his travels, giving notable information on the history, geography and botany of the countries and cities Ibn Batuta visited. He describes, for example, the city of Aden as follows: "From this place I went to the city of Aden, which is situated on the sea-shore. This is a large city, but without either seed, water, or tree. They have, however, reservoirs, in which they collect the rain-water for drinking. Some rich merchants reside here: and vessels from India occasionally arrive here. The inhabitants are modest and religious" (p. 55). - A very good copy, binding very good as well. Howgego, to 1800, B47.
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Imru al-Qays ibn Hugr al-Kindi.
[Kitab Nuzha duwi'l-kis wa-tuhfa al-udaba' fi Qasa'id Imri' al-Qais]. Le Diwan d'Amro'lkais précédé de la vie de ce poëte par l'auteur du Kitab El-Aghani, accompagné d'une traduction et de notes par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane [...]. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1837.
Folio (237 x 312 mm). 2 parts in one volume. XXV, (1), 128 pp. (French and Latin text); 50 pp. (Arabic text); central blank. Contemp. half brown hard-grained morocco, raised bands on gilt fleuron spine. Marbled endpapers. First edition, with the full text in Arabic: an early effort of the Franco-Irish editor. The pre-Islamic Arab poet Imru al-Qays (497-545) from the Kinda is regarded as the greatest writer in Arabic of his time. His Diwan (complete collection of poems), written in a language of impeccable classicism, was collected from the 8th century; it includes 28 to 68 parts according to recensions. - The Irish scholar William McGuckin de Slane (1801-78), a disciple of Silvestre de Sacy, to whom the present work is dedicated, went on to serve as Principal Interpreter of Arabic of the French Army and Professor of Arabic at the École de langues orientales in Paris. It is remarkable the he chose to present a Latin version of these works: he later became known for his translations into French and English of Arab and Persian historians. - Occasional browning and foxing. GAL I, 24. OCLC 457350459.
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[Jerusalem].
No. 2 Jerusalem Panorama. Mount Olivet/Palestine, 1889.
960 x 235 mm. Three albumen prints (vintage), mounted and joined. Fine photographic view of Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, assembled from three separate, conjoining images and measuring nearly a metre in length. Various buildings and sites identified by number; dated "1889" in a shaded area at lower right. From the Beirut-based studio of Tancrède Dumas, active during the period 1860-1890, with his stamp at lower left (series no. 523).
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Joseph I, Emperor (1678-1711).
Printed privilege for Bartholomew Coreis, signed. Vienna, 15 July 1707.
Folio (193 x 295 mm). 11, (1) pp. With large papered seal. Contemp. marbled wrappers. An Imperial privilege establishing a five-year trade monopoly for olive oil within the Austrian hereditary principalities, to be exercised by an oil company (Bartholomew Coreis & Co.) against payment of half a florin for every hundredweight of oil, as well as tolls and fees, to the treasury. With autograph signature of the short-lived Emperor Joseph and two counter-signatures, one by the court chancellor Johann Friedrich Baron Seilern (1646-1715, previously the architect of the ill-fated marriage of Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte and the Duke of Orléans, later author of the Pragmatic Sanction). The owner of this early oil company could not be traced; he may be related to the Greek scholar Adamantios Korais, born in 1748 (his father Ioannes was a native of Chios). - Evenly browned due to paper; small paper flaw in center of gutter; contemporary binding professionally repaired in the fold. Codex Austriacus III, p. 540-542. Beitraege zur Geschichte der boehmischen Laender 23 (1878), p. 422f.
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Kaye, John William.
The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm, G.C.B., Late Envoy to Persia, and Governor of Bombay, From Unpublished Letters and Journals. London & Bombay, Smith, Elder & Co., 1856.
8vo. 2 vols. XII, 538 pp. VI, 631, (1) pp. With engr. portrait. Contemporary red morocco gilt. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. First edition of this first and foremost account of the life of the Scottish-born diplomat, East India Company administrator, and statesman John Malcolm (1769-1833). Having come to Madras at the age of 13 and quickly advanced himself by his knowledge of Persian and Hindustani, Malcolm was sent to Persia on a diplomatic mission in 1800; among the first agreements he brokered was that with the Imaum of Muscat, whom he pursued on both sides of the Arabian Gulf before securing Great Britain "the friendship, and, if required, the cooperation, of the principal state on the Arabian side of the [...] Gulf" (vol. I, p. 110). He would later be appointed Governor of Bombay. - A sumptuously bound red morocco set showing slight rubbing to extremeties; occasional moderate foxing and staining, but well-preserved. Wilson 115. BM XIII, 1042 (313). OCLC 1591023.
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Niebuhr, Carsten.
Reize naar Arabië en andere omliggende landen. Amsterdam and Utrecht, Steven Jacobus Baalde and Johannes van Schoonhoven & Co. and Bartholomeus Wild (colophon: printed by Johan Joseph Besseling), 1776-1780.
2 vols. VIII, (6), 484, (2) pp. (16), 456 pp. (6), XXXXI, (1), 408, (14) pp. With 2 engraved title-pages, each with an engraved vignette (that for volume 2 from the plate of the 1774 "Beschryving" with the lettering revised; that for volume 1 copied from it and unsigned), 125 engraved plates numbered I-LXXII, [LXXIII] (vol. 1) & I-LII (vol. 2) (38 folding), showing topographic views, watermills, people, Egyptian and Persian antiquities, Egyptian, Persian, cuneiform and other inscriptions, etc. by C. F. Fritsch, C. J. de Huyser, Th. Koning, G. H. Koning, C. Philips, O. de Vries, Baurenfeind and others. The unnumbered folding map of Yemen ("Tabula Itineraria", plate size 48.5 x 41.5 cm), with the trade routes coloured by hand, covers a smaller area at a larger scale than that in the Beschryving. - (Bound with) II: Niebuhr, Carsten. Beschrying van Arabie, uit eigene waarnemingen en in 't land zelf verzamelde narigten opgesteld. Amsterdam, Steven Jacobus Baalde; Utrecht, Johannes van Schoonhoven & Co. (colophon: printed by Johan Joseph Besseling), 1774. With engraved title-page showing an engraved vignette by N. van der Meer (2 female figures with a globe and other instruments) and 25 engraved plates numbered I-XXIV, (XXV), including 7 folding showing 1 view of military exercises, 2 Kufic inscriptions (coloured by hand) and 4 maps. The unnumbered map of Yemen (plate size 58.5 x 39 cm) is coloured by hand in outline. The full-page plates include maps, topographic views, costumes, coins, Arabic inscriptions, etc. All by C. J. de Huyser, N. van der Meer, Th. Koning and C. Philips. 2 works in 3 volumes. 4to. Contemporary half tree calf, sides covered with paste paper; rebacked, with original gold-tooled backstrip laid down. One of the very rare large paper copies of the first and only editions of the Dutch translation by Jacob van Ekers of Niebuhr's famous account of a voyage to Arabia and surrounding countries (ad 1) and his description of Arabia, Egypt and the Middle East (ad 2). Both works were originally written by the Danish traveller and surveyor Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) and published in German, in Copenhagen in 1772 under the titles, "Beschreibung von Arabien" and "Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern". Both works were also translated in French and English. - In 1760 Niebuhr was invited to join a scientific expedition to Egypt. Other members of the expedition were Friedrich Christian von Haven (a Danish linguist and orientalist), Christian Carl Kramer (a Danish physician and zoologist), Georg Baurenfeind (an artist from southern Germany), Berggren (a Swedish ex-soldier) and Pehr Forrskal (a Swedish botanist). In January 1761, the expedition sailed from Copenhagen, Denmark to Alexandria, Egypt. The members of the expedition spent a year in Egypt, visiting Suez and Mount Sinai. They left Suez in October 1762 and sailed to Yemen. In May 1763 they reached Mocha where Von Haven and Forrskal died from malaria. In August 1763 Baurenfeind and Berggren died, followed by Kramer in February 1764. Niebuhr was the only one left to continue the expedition. In 1764, he explored India, sailing from Bombay to Muscat, as well as Shiraz, Babylon, Baghdad, Mosul, and Aleppo. He spent some time in Persepolis in 1765 where he has made very detailed drawings and maps, which were used for more than a hundred years. In 1766, he explored Palestine before finally returning to Copenhagen on 20 November 1767, after a journey of seven years. When he returned to Copenhagen the Swedish government warmly welcomed him and paid the costs of engraving the plates to illustrate his accounts of the voyage. Both works are lavishly illustrated, having together 2 large maps of Yemen and 148 beautifully engraved maps, plans and views of all the regions Niebuhr visited. - The present set has both works printed on the same large watermarked paper (Strasbourg bend above VDL) and is only slightly trimmed, measuring 296 x 242 mm with the tranchefiles still visible (regular copies are printed on unwatermarked paper measuring 275 x 217 mm). Not even Tiele mentions the existence of copies on large paper. - Binding slightly rubbed on the sides and rebacked as noted; otherwise good. With a few occasional spots, the half-titles slightly thumbed and a few mm of minor browning in the upper margins; a very good large paper copy, only slightly trimmed. Howgego, to 1800, N24. Tiele, Bibl. 795f. Cf. Atabey 873f. Cox I, 237f. Gay 3589. Hamilton, Europe and the Arab world 48.
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[Pritius, Johann Georg].
Constantinopolitan- oder Türkischer Kirchen-Staat, in welchem die vornemste[n] Glaubens-Puncten des Alcorans, wie nicht weniger der gantze Mahometanische Gottesdienst nebst des falschen Propheteu [!] Mahomets Leben, in einer kurtz-gefaßeten doch gewissen und deutlichen Erzehlung vorgestellet wird. Leipzig, Friedrich Groschuff, 1699.
12mo. (20), 168 pp., including a folding genealogy of Mohammed as *10, bound here before *2. With a woodcut vignette of the Blue Mosque (?) on title-page as well as an engraved frontispiece of Mohammed presenting the Qur'an to the world, along with Zulfiqar (his legendary double-bladed sword), and a dove on his shoulder. - Bound with (II): Orientalischer Kirchen-Staat. Gotha, Jakob Mevius, 1699. (2), 155, (1) pp. (and 2 other works). Contemporary vellum. Very rare sole edition of this detailed exposition of the Qur'an for German readers, replete with a frontispiece depicting Mohammed giving the 'Alcoran' to the world as well as a folding genealogy of the Prophet. The preface discusses the threat which Islam poses to the West; and yet Pritius remarks that "meanwhile no-one will be hurt by learning a little more precisely about the opinions of these people, against whom Christendom has so long struggled" (*2v). - Chapter I covers the tenets of Islamic faith, rituals, customs, and pilgrimage. This includes numerous excerpts from the Qur'an and a lengthy discussion of the entire process of the Hajj, as well as the rituals the pilgrims take part in once they arrive in Mecca (pp. 89-113). Chapter II concerns the role of "muftis, priests, monks, and hermits" in Islam; and Chapter III recounts the life and death of Mohammed, taken from the usual European sources. - The inner workings of Islam had long fascinated the German Protestants, who saw an ally in their struggle against the common enemy of the Habsburgs / Roman Catholic Church. The present work is exceptionally detailed, however, and offers far more than the usual brief discussions of Mohammed's life; indeed, it is evident that Pritius had access to one of the Qur'an translations available in Europe at the time. - Extremely rare: OCLC shows no copies in American or UK libraries; VD 17 shows holdings in six German libraries. - Bound at the end of the volume is a manual of the various faiths of the orient, which includes a chapter on Islam and a discussion of the schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Two other theological works bound first: (III) Spener, Philipp Jakob. Die Seligkeit der Kinder Gottes [...]. Frankfurt, Johann David Zunner, 1692. (138), 427, (25) pp. - (IV) Schmidt, Sebastian. Regenten-Predigten, welche zu gewissen Zeiten des Jahrs der christlichen Gemeine in Straßburg aus dem Alten Testament erkläret und vorgetragen worden. Braunschweig, Caspar Gruber, 1694. (2), 308 pp. - Some browning and occasional waterstaining throughout; binding darkened. Some edge chipping to the genealogical plate. VD 17, 39:144883H. Chauvin XI, p. 186, no. 667. Imaginationen des Islam: Bildliche Darstellungen des Propheten Mohammed, no. 20. Cf. also Fischer, Bildung durch Reisen? Deutsche Aufklärung und Islam II, p. 85 (note); on Pritius cf. ADB XXVI, 602ff. - (II): VD 17, 39:144877G. BL (German books) O224.
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Rich, Edmund Tillotson.
Report and Estimates of Cost of Motor Roads in South East Persia Between Bandar Abbas and Kerman. Delhi/Simla, 1917/1918.
Folio (218 x 340 mm). Two parts: 1) Confidential. Survey by Major E.T. Rich, R.E., of routes between Bandar-Abbas and Kerman. General Staff, India. Simla: Government Branch Press, 1917. 9, 13, (1), 7, 16 = 46 pp. With six maps and plans (two folding), a proof plate with 2 photo views, and 13 leaves of original manuscript, typewritten and printed telegrams related to the report. Both original publisher’s wrappers bound in. - 2) Confidential. Report by Major E. T. Rich, R.E., on the Construction of Motor Roads in South Persia between Bandar Abbas and Kerman. 1917. General Staff, India. 2 vols. Delhi: Superintendent Government Printing, India, 1918. Vol. 1: (2), IV, 38 pp. With 12 leaves of plates (including one proof plate) and 8 maps and plans (3 folding). Vol. 2: 39-54 pp. With 3 folding maps. Occasional red ink notes by Rich in text and on the maps/plans; original publisher’s wrappers bound in. Occasional red ink notes by Rich in text and on the maps/plans; both original publisher’s wrappers bound in. Custom-made hardcover binding with the first publisher’s wrapper of the original report pasted to the front board. With a large folding linen backed map of Persia in the pocket at rear. Addenda (see below). Special custom-bound, historically important archive, compiled by E. T. Rich and containing confidential printed reports, 18 maps and plans, as well as original documents related to the survey of potential routes for a motor road between Bandar Abbas and Kerman in southern Persia. The survey was carried out by Rich as a part of the Persian campaign during the First World War on the special orders of the Chief of General Staff in India. As a part of WWI military operations, Bandar Abbas was occupied by British forces under command of Sir Percy Sykes in March 1916, and the survey was apparently undertaken in order to establish additional supply routes to the war’s Persian front. Rich was ordered "to report as soon as possible on the best route for a road to take motor lorry traffic from Bandar Abbas to Kerman and to frame estimates from the same and proposals as to the best way of carrying out the work." The survey was done between December 1916 and June 1917; a year later Rich was promoted a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.) for his work. Nevertheless, the road never was constructed, probably because of the cardinal changes on the Persian front after the collapse of the Russian front line as a result of the revolution in February 1917. - The volume contains: confidential reports by Rich; printed "Working notes" on the survey; maps and plans of Bandar Abbas, Kerman, and the area in between; telegrams sent to him from the Chief of General Staff (Delhi & Simla), Surveyor General’s Office in Calcutta, British Consul in Bandar Abbas; tables with distances and estimates of construction, printed views of the area et al. Several leaves slightly age-toned, but overall a very good custom-made copy. - Supplemented with Rich’s copy of a typewritten dispatch from the British Vice-Consul in Bandar Abbas to the Chief of Roodbar (South Persia) Zarghan-us-Saltaneh, dated Bandar Abbas, 2 Dec. 1916. In the dispatch the consul asks for the assistance to Rich who is going to visit the area under the chief’s control during the course of his road survey. The copy is signed by the consul and has his manuscript note "Original sent by special messenger direct to Zarghan-us-Saltaneh." - There are also two autograph signed letters by Rich, addressed to his aunt in London and written while on field service in Southern Persia. The letters are dated 10 & 25 Dec. 1916, housed in the original envelope with a postal stamp of Bandar Abbas, and contain interesting notes about Rich’s work and his observations on the native life. [Near Kerman:] "It is Xmas evening & as I have no one to talk to, the nearest white man being over 100 miles away, I am writing instead. Being high up over 5000 feet in the mountains, it is bitterly cold & proper Xmas weather, but personally I’d prefer it a bit warmer as I can’t keep warm no how at night which means continuously waking up [...] The food of the villagers about here is most strange, being dates & bread about 2 lbs of each per diem & nothing else. They feed the horses & cows on dates & even the dogs. I eat them once a day for lunch which consists of porridge, bread & cheese & dates. I often envy the meals my servants get at home when I am out on these expeditions." - E. T. Rich (1874-1937) was a British military engineer and surveyor, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He graduated from Sandhurst with the Pollock Medal and was gazetted as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. In 1895 he went out to India and was posted to railway survey work in Burma. In 1905-1909 Rich worked as survey officer on the Indian North-West Frontier, and took part in the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Campaigns of 1908 (as a divisional and a chief survey officer respectively). During the latter he was slightly wounded and for his services was promoted brevet-major. In 1911 Rich was appointed the head of the survey office on the Burma frontier post at Myitkyina, where he carried out the survey of the border with Tibet and Yunnan. In 1916/17 he was in charge of the survey party looking for the alternative routes between Bandar Abbas and Kerman in South Persia; in 1918 he was in charge of the North West Persia Survey Detachment which accompanied British intervention in the Caspian under command of General Dunsterville. Rich carried out important surveys in Baku, Batum and Tiflis. After WWI Rich returned to Burma where he became the head of the Burma Circle of the Survey of India. In 1920-22 while surveying the unadministered territory between Burma and Assam he encountered slavery and human sacrifices still practiced there; in 1925 he took part in the Sir Harcourt Butler’s Mission to the Hukawng Valley to suppress slavery. Rich retired with the rank of Colonel and C.I.E. in 1929. "Colonel Rich was a great linguist, and besides his knowledge of Urdu, Pushtu, and Persian, he was able to converse in Yunnanese and several dialects of Burma - Kachin, Maru, and Lisaw [...] He was a keen explorer throughout his career and did much to encourage a spirit of adventure in younger officers who served under him” (Obituary, The Geographical Journal 91.1 [1938], p. 96).
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Schickard, Wilhelm.
Tarich h. e. Series Regum Persiae, ab Ardschir-Babekan, usque ad Jazdigerdem à Chaliphis expulsum, per annos ferè 400. Tübingen, Dietrich Werlin, 1628.
4to. 231, (1) pp. With a few woodcuts in the text. Contemp. full calf, leading edges and spine sumptuously gilt. All edges red. First edition; very rare. The best known, and most controversial, of Schickard's works: a treatise, with a lengthy introduction, about various Persian ruling dynasties, especially the Sasanians - editing a total of six out of seventeen genealogical charts found on a 45-foot Turkish manuscript scroll. The genealogies aimed to legitimise the Ottoman dynasty by tracing it back to Adam. Schickard (1592-1635) was one of the most learned men of his age, astronomer, professor of Hebrew, mathematician and orientalist. The scroll was brought to Germany by Veit Marchtaler of Ulm, who found it in a mosque during the sack of Fillek (Fülek) in Hungary. Marchtaler wished that the manuscript might not be simply forgotten, consulted in vain with various dragomans (whose versions he did not trust), and finally came across Schickard, who, though he had no Turkish or Persian, knew Arabic and immediately grasped the significance of the scroll. His detailed commentary quotes from various Hebrew and Arabic writings, including several extracts from the Qur'an: sura 21 (p. 60), 38 (p. 53 & 61), 27 (p. 77), 2 (p. 97), and 4 & 5 (p. 97-100). The translation is offered as a gift to the Emperor Ferdinand II until such time as the "autographum ipsum" be lodged in the imperial library. "Schickard was also the designer of Arabic type, which he engraved himself as copper matrices; they were cast by Theodoricus Werlin, and served to illustrate his 'Tarich'" (Smitskamp). - Browned throughout due to paper (as common); trimmed rather closely; final 2 leaves cropped at outer margin with loss of letters. One of three variants, this one without the 20-page appendix (corresponding with the copy in the Bodleian Library, Oxford). Provenance: "Nathan Wright of Englefield", Berkshire (cropped signature at head of title), probably Sir Nathan Wright (1654-1721), lawyer, appointed Lord Keeper in 1700 (cf. ODNB). Later in the collection of the Earls of Macclesfield (North Library at Shirburn Castle; 1860 bookplate, shelfmark 57.B.1). VD 17, 14:646680U. Wilson 203. ADB XX, 300. Smitskamp, PO 132e (note). OCLC 13604133.
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Worm, Olaus.
Museum Wormianum. Seu historia rerum rariorum, tam naturalium, quam artificialium, tam domesticarum, quam exoticarum, quae in Hafniae Danorum in aedibus authoris servantur. Leiden, Jan Elsevier, 1655.
Folio (243 x 372 mm). (12), 389, (3) pp. With double-page-sized engraved frontispiece (G. Wingendorp sc., bound after p. 8), 12 engravings in the text, and 139 woodcuts in the text (wants the engraved portrait). 18th century full calf with giltstamped red label to gilt spine in seven compartments. All edges red. First edition of this description of the important natural-historical and ethnological collection assembled by the famous Danish physician and naturalist Worm (1588-1654), forming the nucleus of the museum he founded, one of the first natural history museums ever established. The double-page frontispiece (sometimes counted as an additional engraved title page) shows his natural history collection inboxes, on shelves and hanging from walls and ceiling. This plentiful text illustrations show exotic as well as Scandinavian animals, plants, fossils, ethnological trophies, archeological discoveries, etc. For many items in the mineralogical and chemical section, the Arabic names are given (such as Borax or "Baurach", Alkali, Tinkur, etc.). Among the exotic flora are many plants endemic to the Middle East and Arabia, including the "Nabuch Arabum", the "Nux indica" (with reference to Avicenna), the date palm, pistachio ("ex Persia, Arabia & Syria"), gum arabic etc. - Binding slightly scuffed in places, but well preserved. Slight browning and brownstaining to interior, mainly confined to blank margins. A few early marginalia and underlinings in ink (trimmed by binder's knife when rebound in the later 18th century). As virtually all copies available for comparison, ours lacks the portrait (to be bound after the preliminaries). Nissen, ZBI 4473. Willems 772 ("Description raisonnée du cabinet d'histoire naturelle formé par le savant danois Olaus Worm").
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[Qatar].
"Lunch in Honour of Mr. Ali A. Ansari Personal Representative of the Ruler of Qatar". Pakistan, early 1970s.
Ca. 25 x 30 cm. Black-and-white gelatin silver print (vintage). A letterboard in a Karachi hotel lobby, announcing a "Lunch in Honour of Mr. Ali A. Ansari, Personal Representative of the Ruler of Qatar". Ali ibn Ahmed Al-Ansari served as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs unter HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Ruler of Qatar. - Provenance: collection of Azhar Abbas Hashmi (1940-2016), Pakistani financial manager and eminent literary patron with close ties to Karachi University. Long with United Bank Limited, Hashmi would serve as the bank's Vice President of Gulf Operations before founding several important cultural organisations and becoming known as a man of letters in his own right.
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[Soviet General Staff Maps] - Arabian Gulf (1:1,000,000).
General'nyí shtab. Abadan, Jel'-Kuvejt, Manama. 14-01-43. (And:) Bender-Abbas, Maskat. 14-01-44. [Moscow, General Staff], 1974-1985.
2 topographic maps, colour-printed. Lambert conformal conic projection, scale 1:1,000,000. In Russian (Cyrillic). Ca. 86 x 107 cm each. Extremely rare: the two massively-sized synoptic 1:1,000,000 maps covering the Arabian Gulf in its entirety, as published by the Soviet Union's General Staff of the army. Not to be confused with the Soviet Union's vastly smaller General Staff map quadrangles of the same scale which are aligned along the graticules, spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude and covering only roughly half the area shown by each of the present sheets. - Edited from information sourced during the years 1972-1983 by D. D. Trushin and I. A. Medvedev. Although not specifically marked as classified, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - A few insignificant edge flaws, but generally in perfect condition.
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[War Office - General Staff].
Persian Gulf. Sheet 32. London, Field Survey Company, 1941.
990 x 760 mm. Scale 1 : 4000000. Third edition. Topographical map of the Arabian Gulf and surrounding area showing international boundaries, main cities and towns, roads, railways, islands, rivers, lakes, wetlands and other vegetation and terrain features. Extends from the Caspian Sea south to Mecca and from Cairo east to Meshed. Relief shown by contours, altitude tints and spot heights. Includes legend, index to adjoining sheets, administrative index, and bibliographical references. - Slightly creased.
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[Compagnie des Indes].
État actuel de l'Inde, et considérations sur les établissemens & le commerce de la France dans cette partie du monde, sur les ameliorations don't ils sont susceptibles, & sur la meillure manière d'y faire le commerce. London & Paris, chez Madame veuve Laurent Prault, 1787.
8vo. IV, 224 pp. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Very rare sole edition of this defense of the newly-reformed Compagnie des Indes and its commercial activities in the Far East, apparently written by a shareholder, with chapters ranging from West Africa to the Arabian Gulf, India, China, Japan, and even Australia (cf. Ferguson). Spectacularly unsuccessful compared to its European rivals, the French East India Company was suppressed in 1769 but a new charter was granted in 1785 to a "Nouvelle Compagnie des Indes". The avant-propos identifies the anonymous author as an "investor, not a speculator" in this newly-founded Compagnie, and aside from his observations on commercial trade with each nation, he also offers broad arguments supporting the monopoly of the Compagnie and even state-sponsored aid for its activities. The French Revolution brought a swift end to the Compagnie in 1790, and its liquidation in 1793 caused a scandal which involved many deputies of the revolutionary government. - In the author's chapter concerning the west coast of Africa, we find a typically pragmatic Enlightenment approach to the atrocities of slavery: "At the present moment, the slave trade on this coast is a very interesting object for our commerce, due to the abundance and the cheapness of these unfortunate victims of the barbarism of these climes, the need for them in our Ile de France [Mauritius] & Bourbon [Réunion] for the development of agriculture, and due to the ease of selling the excess slaves beyond the needs of those two islands to our colonies of America, & even to those of the Spanish. They [the Spanish] have been forced to depend on the English to provide them with blacks. We could enjoy a preferential treatment [...]". - Again on pp. 22f., in a discussion of Madagascar, he makes his position clear: "The slave trade requires a great deal of caution in its conduct, so as not to alienate the goodwill of the natives. If we buy the prisoners taken in wars from the small nations that share control of this island; and if the advantage of fetching a price from the sale of these unfortunate prisoners spares them the cruel death to which, without this resource, the barbarian victors would subject them, then the expectation of fetching a price from [their sale] need not ever be the cause of war between these small nations [...]". - Elsewhere the author discusses trade with Japan (p. 133), the Philippines (pp. 121f.); China (pp. 134-139); Macao (pp. 140f.), and even Australia ('Nouvelle Hollande", pp. 142-146: "dans nul pays de la terre les hommes ne sont moins avancés en civilization [...]"). - Spine extremely worn and rubbed, but holding perfectly; contents clean and fresh. Very rare: OCLC shows three US copies at Harvard, the Cleveland Public Library, and Minnesota. No copies are recorded at Anglo-American auctions. Goldsmiths'/Kress 13332.3. Ferguson IV, 466 ("pp.142-6 contains a description of New Holland, and of the sailing of the First Fleet").
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[Ibn Saud in Egypt].
Collection of printed photos. No place or date, [before 1953].
11 photographs printed as black and white halftone screen cards. Ca. 161 x 115 mm or the reverse. An official diplomatic Saudi visit to Egypt in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Two images show HRH King Ibn Saud, the others show Egyptian officers. - A few nicks or lightly bumped edges, but on the whole well preserved.
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[Qur'an - Surah 36, Ya-Sin].
Illuminated devotional manuscript. Probably Anatolia, late 18th or early 19th century [ca. 1800].
12mo. 139 pp. on 70 ff. of smooth wove paper. Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. With a double-page 'unwan headpiece in colours and gilt. Text enclosed throughout within gilt borders and blue rules; 9 full-page colour illuminations with circular text compartments. Blue marbled pastedowns. Contemporary blindstamped dark brown calf with inlaid light brown borders and centrepiece and fore-edge flap. Prettily bound pocket-sized Ottoman devotional manuscript on the 36th surah of the Qur'an, "Ya-Sin", written in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. The splendidly illumnated first double-page (containing verses 1 to 6) is written in an exquisitely refined variety of Turkish naskh calligraphy, typical for Quranic manuscripts. The surah "Ya-Sin" is considered the heart of the Qur'an by many pious Muslims, as it presents the core tenets of Muslim religion.
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Ahlwardt, W[ilhelm].
Bemerkungen über die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte mit besonderer Beziehung auf die sechs Dichter nebst Beiträgen zum richtigen Verständnisse Ennabiga's und 'Alqama's. Greifswald, L. Bamberg, 1872.
8vo. VII, (1), 168 pp. Original printed yellow wrappers (spine repaired). First edition of an important study of the "six poets", as some of the earliest known writers of Arabic poetry are collectively known, probably simply because they were the earliest for whom compilers were able to assemble complete Divans: Ennabiga, Antara, Tharafa, Zuhair, Alqama, and Imruulqais. - Ahlwardt (1828-1909) was engaged as cataloguer of Arabian manuscripts at the Berlin Royal Library. For most of his working life he classified, collated, described and excerpted some 12,000 works in ca. 6000 volumes, including current accessions. - Inside edge of upper wrapper cover reinforced. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page. An untrimmed copy. GAL I, p. 22. OCLC 18208722.
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Al-Razi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya (Rhazes).
A Treatise on the Small-Pox and Measles. Translated from the original Arabic by William Alexander Greenhill, M.D. London, for the Sydenham Society, 1848.
8vo. VII, (1), 212, (40) pp. Contemporary blindstamped green cloth with gilt arms to covers and gilt title to spine. Top edge gilt. Early English translation of this treatise differentiating measles from small pox. "The first medical description of small pox was written by Rhazes about the year 910" (Garrison/M. 5404). He is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna. Published by the Sydenham Society, during its short existence between 1843 and 1857 a "powerhouse in disseminating medical literature in the age of the empire" (K. Gotman). - Binding a little rubbed and bumped at extremeties; spine professionally restored. Ownership (dated 1848) of George Edward Wilmot Wood, MD (1806-64) of Winchester, member of the Society, on the flyleaf. Garrison/Morton 5441.
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[Alf layla wa-layla]. Clermont-Ganneau, Charles (ed.).
Histoire de Calife le pêcheur et du Calife Haroun Er-Rechid. Conte inédit des Mille et une Nuits. Jerusalem, typographie de Terre Sainte, 1869.
8vo. 128 pp. Original printed yellow wrappers (spine repaired). First separate edition of this tale from the Thousand and One Nights. The Arabic text, printed here in its entirety with a French translation by the editor, is taken from the six-volume Constantinople edition. - Lower corner a little buckled, still a good, sound copy. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page. Rare. Chauvin VI, p. 18. OCLC 4447422.
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[Bolizza, Mariano (Marijan Bolic), Serbian-Venetian nobleman (fl. 1614)].
Relazione e descrizione del sangiacato di Scutari [...]. Venice, October 1856.
Folio. Italian manuscript on paper. 51, (1) pp. Sewn. Authentic 19th century copy of the manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana. A public servant of the Republic of Venice, Bolic was assigned to provide information on the Ottoman Sanjak of Scutari (Shkodra), established after the Sultan acquired Shkodra in 1478/79. Bolic's work, delivered in 1614, contains the earliest description of the people and geography of modern Montenegro. - Wrappers slightly dustsoiled; a few small edge tears (no loss of text).
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Chauvin, Victor.
Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou relatifs aux arabes publiés dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885. Liège, H. Vaillant-Carmanne, 1892-1922.
Large 8vo. 12 vols. Original printed wrappers. Monumental, exceedingly useful bibliography of Arabic literature and works relating to Arabia published in the West in the 19th century. Arranged by subject covering the Quran and its tradition (an entire volume), the Proverbs, Kalîlah, Loqmân, Barlaam, ´Antar, Syntipas, Oriental Tales, Mahomet, etc. Four volumes are dedicated to the 1001 Nights alone. - Edges slightly brittle as always, but very well preserved. Untrimmed, uncut copy in the publisher's original wrappers. Besterman 455.
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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.
Markou Antoninou Autokratoros ton eis heauton biblioi 12. Guftar-i Marqus Antunin Padishah dar hal-i nafs-i hud-i 'ali-gah. (Ed. Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall). Vienna, Anton Strauß (Witwe), 1831.
Large 4to (210 x 267 mm). (2), 168, (2) ff. Publisher's original printed and illustrated boards with an oriental design in three colours and Persian letterpress on both covers. First and only edition of the "Meditations" of Emperor Marcus Aurelius both in the original Greek and in Persian, edited and translated by Joseph Hammer-Purgstall and printed in parallel on opposite pages throughout. "A meticulous typographical production" (Durstmüller). "The 1831 publication of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in Persian comprises one of the 19th century's most intriguing cross-cultural and inter-religious texts. Produced by the Austrian Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, and addressed to the reigning Shah of Persia, this translation negotiates a wide diversity of concerns, including political diplomacy, literary aesthetics and religious difference" (J. Einboden, Stoicism or Sufism? Hammer-Purgstall's Persian Meditations, Middle Eastern Literatures 13.1 (2010), pp. 49-68. - Corners bumped, edges a little rubbed. Clean and uncut as issued in the publisher's charming original printed boards, a rare and early example of such a binding. Hoffmann I, 187. Engelmann/Preuss I, 148. Goedeke VII, 766, 80. Durstmüller I, 263. Graesse I, 329. OCLC 257616436.
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Nakhla, Raphael, SJ.
Grammaire du dialecte Libano-Syrien (phonétique, morphologie et syntaxe). Première partie: Exposé des règles. Beirut, Imprimérie Catholique, 1937.
8vo. VII, (1), 266 pp., final blank leaf. Grey wrappers. First part only of the Jesuit Nakhla's grammar of the Lebanese dialect of Syrian Arabic. A second part ("Mots à apprendre versions et thàmes; morceaux de lecture en prose et en vers") appeared in 1938. - Title-page professionally repaired. Old ownership in red pencil to foreword. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page and throughout. OCLC 163048910.
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Ross, E[dward] Denison.
Islám. London, Ernest Benn Ltd., 1927.
12mo. 79, (1) pp. Publisher's original orange printer wrappers (spine repaired). A pocket-sized introduction to Islam and the Muslim world; "its object is to brief a brief survey of the rise of the Arabian religion in the seventh century; of the conquests of the outer world by the newly converted Arabs; of the foundation of the Arab Caliphate, and of the subsequent establishment of non-Arab Islamic states" (Introductory Note). - The orientalist and linguist Sir Edward Denison Ross (1871-1940) was the first director of the University of London’s School of Oriental Studies (now SOAS) from 1916 to 1937. - Published as Benn's Sixpenny Library, No. 19. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page and additional note "Sheikh, Bagdad" (dated 1928), with additional bibliographical information added at the end. OCLC 6130391.
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Sen, Ramdhun.
A Dictionary, in English and Persian. Calcutta, Baptist Mission Press, 1833.
8vo. (6), 276, (2) pp. Early 20th century half leather with green buckram covers. First edition of Sen's English-Farsi dictionary, following a Farsi-English volume published in 1829. In 1841 Sen would produce a new edition, adding the pronunciation of the Persian words in transliteration. - Lightly browned throughout due to paper; a few edges reinforced. Old ownership "D. H. Crawley" (?) on title-page, and later ownership, dated 1957, of the linguist, National Socialist politician, and translator Martin Löpelmann (1891-1981). A good copy of a rare work. OCLC 85263053. Cf. Vater/Jülg 280.
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Wüstenfeld, Ferdinand / Ibn Qadi Shuhba.
Die Academien der Araber und ihre Lehrer. Nach Auszügen aus Ibn Schohba's Klassen der Schafeïten [...]. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (colophon: printed by Friedrich Ernst Huth), 1837.
8vo. VIII, 136; 22 pp. (appendix in a nashk Arabic type). Publisher's original printed wrappers (spine repaired). First and only early edition, in German, of an extraordinarily thorough documentation of scholarly academies in the early Islamic world, containing a biographical dictionary of early Arabic scholars and lists of their writings. This is one of the earliest and most important publications of the Göttingen orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, who based much of it on the ancient biographical dictionaries compiled by Abu-Bakr Ibn Qadi Shuhba and Ibn Khallikan. It covers the 5th to the 9th centuries AH (11th to 15th centuries CE), with accounts of 37 academies in Bagdad, Nishabur, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Cairo, and brief biographies of 254 scholars, 187 listed under the academies where they taught and 67 in a separate section at the end. For most he includes a list of their writings. The German text ends with a 2-page extract, in German translation, from the works of Ibn Khallikan. A 22-page appendix gives the original Arabic text of an extract from Ibn Shuhba, "Tabaqat al-shafi 'iyya", published here for the first time, with an Arabic title-page. - Ibn Qadi Shuhba (1377-1448 CE) was a leading jurist and chief Qadi in his native Damascus, best known for his biographical dictionary, completed ca. 1407. Ibn Khallikan (1211-82 CE), born in what is now Iraq, studied in Aleppo, Damascus, and Mosul before settling in Cairo, where he became a leading jurist in the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic law. He is best known for his biographical dictionary, completed ca. 1274. - The German orientalist and historian of Arabic literature H. F. Wüstenfeld (1808-99) studied theology and oriental languages at Göttingen and Berlin. He settled in Göttingen, taking a post at the University Library the year after the present publication, and taught at the University there from 1842, becoming professor of oriental languages in 1856. From 1835 to his death almost 65 years later, he published many important contributions to the study of early Arabic texts, covering the fields of medicine, language, topography and geography, often including the original Arabic texts of important works not previously published. - The Arabic type used for the excerpt from Ibn Qadi Shuhba is smaller than that of the Nies foundry, often used in Germany around this time, and quite different stylistically. It may have been produced for Wüstenfeld's works. - Minor browning, but altogether in very good condition, only slightly tattered at the edges. Original publisher's wrappers a little damaged along spine (professionally repaired; modern spine). Untrimmed copy, removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page. Neue Jahrbücher für Philologie und Paedagogik VIII (1838), pp. 355f. Not in Blackmer or Gay.
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Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad.
Minhaj al-'Abidin [Methodology for the Worshippers]. Probably Persia (Qazvin province?), [3 April 1741 CE] = 16 Muharram 1154 H.
8vo (127 x 212 mm). (226) pp. Persian manuscript in black ink, with catchwords in red. Nas'taliq calligraphy, bordered in gilt, with 'unwan in colours, gilt, on first page of text. 19th century green morocco with gilt borders and red spine label. Marbled endpapers. Persian translation of this Sufi guide to the devout life, also known as "The High Road of Worshippers" or "The Path of the Worshipful Servants". The 11-century Persian theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Al-Ghazali has been called the single most influential Muslim after the prophet Muhammad, and a "Mujaddid", or Renewer of the Faith. His works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that al-Ghazali was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam" ("Hujjat al-Islam"). - Numerous marginal annotations throughout. Binding rubbed and bumped at extremeties; upper hinges starting. Some waterstaining to margins; occasional paper flaws and traces of worming repaired; a few edges folded in to preserve marginalia from further trimming. Later inscription in Arabic on final page, and inscribed in English "to Prince Jehandoor" (27 Nov. 1836) under the colophon. Cf. GAL I, 423, no. 38 (& Suppl. I, 751).
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Barros, João de / Couto, Diego de.
Da Asia. Nova ediçâo. Lisbon, na Regia Officina Typografica, 1777-1788.
Large 12mo. 24 vols. With engraved portraits of Barros, Couto, Henry the Navigator, and Afonso de Albuquerque and 3 (instead of 5) folding maps. Uniformly bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spines with giltstamped titles and volume numbers. Edges lightly sprinkled red. A fundamental travel work: the best and most complete edition of what is considered the most comprehensive publication on Portuguese exploration and colonial history by João de Barros (decades I-IV) and Diego de Couto; the first edition to include decades X and XI. Books 2 and 3 of the "Decada Segunda" 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 Portuguese 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. - This is "the best edition of this famous work on Portuguese colonial history. The first edition appeared at Lisbon, Madrid and Paris from 1552 to 1645. It consists of 12 "Decadas" (decades), comprising the history of the years 1420-1600. Only Decadas I, II, III and a part of IV are by J. de Barros, the rest is by D. de Couto, who begins his part also with Decada IV, so that there are two Decadas IV" (Laures). 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 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). Cordier, BJ, 34 and BS, 2309. Innocencio III, 322. Laures 642. Streit IV, 667 (with extensive list of contents) & VI, 630. This edition not in Borba de Moraes. For the maps cf. Gole, India, 8.
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[Biblia arabica - NT].
Kitab al-Injil as-sharif at-tahir wa-al-misbah al-munir al-zahir. Al-Shuwayr, Kisrawan, Lebanon, Kloster des Heiligen Johannes des Täufers, [1776].
Folio (213 x 322 mm). (4), 316 pp. Parts printed in red and black. With numerous ornamental lines and several woodcut tailpieces. Modern half calf. "The Evangelion of the Greek Church, containing the Gospels arranged for liturgical reading throughout the year" (Darlow/M.). From the printing office of the monastery of St. John the Baptist at Shuwair in the Lebanon, which was operative between 1734 and 1899 (cf. Silvestre de Sacy I, pp. 412-414; Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, pp. 179-181). Particularly remarkable in this present publication is the typographic decor: all pages are framed by double rules; new sections of text are headed with an ornamental line of floral elements across the entire page width, and numerous pages show smaller figural endpieces (roses, baskets, crosses, as well as the Virgin with the Child Jesus) - a charming juxtaposition of simple woodcuts showing floral and geometrical decor familiar from the Hebrew prints produced in 19th-century Palestine with the more elaborate products "à la italienne". - Some occasional worming, browning and brownstaining. Schnurrer 360. Darlow/Moule 1661.
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[Biblia turcica].
Kitab al-Ahd al-Atiq. [Paris, British and Foreign Bible Society], 1827.
Large 4to (220 x 266 mm). 2 parts in one vol. (4), 7, (1), 984, (4), 3, (1), 318 pp. Contemporary brown calf with ornamental blind-tooling; gilt title to spine. Well-preserved copy of the first complete edition of the Bible in Ottoman Turkish, printed in a vocalized Arabic typeface. Based on the manuscript of Ali Ufki Bey (Albert Bobovius), this version became the basis for further Turkish translations used by Armenian and Greek Christians. The New Testament had appeared separately in 1819. "In 1820 J. D. Kieffer [...] began a thorough revision of Ali Bey's translation of the Bible by comparing it with the original texts, as well as with the standard English, French, and German versions. He also collated it with W. Seaman's Nogai NT of 1666, with T. Erpenius' Arabic version, with H. Martyn's Persian version, with H. Brunton's Nogai NT of 1813, and with the London Polyglot. The translation of the NT was also carefully revised in view of the criticisms passed on the first edition. On crucial questions he had the advice of Baron Silvestre de Sacy. The complete Bible (without the Apocrypha) appeared in 1827, printed in Arabic character with full vocalization. The edition consisted of 5,000 copies of the Bible, and 2,000 copies of the NT issued separately" (Darlow/M.). - Binding insignificantly rubbed at extremities, very slight brownstaining due to paper. An excellent copy. Darlow/Moule 9456. Bruce Privratsky, A History of Turkish Bible Translations, v. S (2014), pp. 43ff. OCLC 61141750.
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[Egyptology]. Al-Mathaf al-Misri.
Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Cairo & Vienna, Imprimerie de l'Institut Français & Adolf Holzhausen, 1901-1932.
4to. 20 volumes: 14 bound in original wrappers, 4 in half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title, and 2 in half calf with giltstamped spine title. Illustrated throughout. Extensive set, comprising 20 of the first 32 issues of the still-published series that catalogues and describes in detail the treasures of the famous Egyptian Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. - Printed in Cairo: W. E. Crum, Nos. 8001-8741 Coptic Monuments (1902); M. Quibell, Nos. 11001-1200 & 14001-14754 Archaic objects t. II (1904); M. Quibell. Nos. 11001-12000 & 14001-14754 Archaic objects t. I (1905); Gaillard & Daressy, Nos. 29501-29733 & 29751-29834 La faune momifiée (1905); Ahmed Bey Kamal, Nos. 23001-23246 Tables d'offrandes t. II (1906); C. C. Edgar, Nos. 33301-33506 Sculptors' studies (1906); Arthur E. P. Weigall, Nos. 31271-31670 Weights and Balances (1908); Ahmed Bey Kamal, Nos. 23001-23256 Tables d'offrandes t. I (1909); Georges Daressy, Nos. 61001-61044 Cercueils des cachettes royales (1909); Georges Bénédite, Nos. 44301-44638 Objets de toilette Iere partie peignes etc. (1911); Henri Gauthier, Nos. 41042-41048 Cercueils anthropoides, premier fascicule (1912); Henri Gauthier, Nos. 41048-41072 Cercueils anthropoides, second fascicule (1913); G. A. Reisner, Nos. 4798-4976 & 5034-5200 Models of ships and boats (1913); Charles T. Currelly, Nos. 63001-64906 Stone implements (1913); Henri Munier, Nos. 9201-9304 Manuscrits Coptes (1916); Charles Kuentz, Nos. 1308-1315 & 17001-17036 Obélisques (1932). - Printed in Vienna: W. von Bissing, Nos. 3426-3587 Metallgefäße (1901); W. von Bissing, Nos. 3618-4000, 18001-18037, 18600, 18603 Fayencegefässe (1902); Josef Strzygowski, Nos. 7001-7394 & 8742-9200 Koptische Kunst (1904); W. von Bissing, Tongefäße. 1. Teil: Bis zum Beginn des Alten Reiches (1913). - Some browning throughout as common. Wrappers rubbed but professionally repaired. Rare. ZDB-ID 441756-2.
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Geber (Jabir Ibn Hayyan).
(De alchemia). In hoc volumine de alchemia continentur haec. Gebri Arabis, philosophi solertissimi, rerumq[ue] naturalium, praecipue metallicarum peritissimi [...]. Nuremberg, Johann Petreius, 1541.
4to (165 x 213 mm). (20), 373 (but: 371), (5) pp. With 16 woodcut illustrations in the text. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten spine title. The rare first edition of this extremely important and early collection of alchemical writings, which unites several first printings of works previously circulated only as manuscripts. This is first edition to call Geber an "Arab", the first to use "Summa perfectionis magisterii" on the title-page, and also the first printing of the famous "Smaragdine Table" of Hermes Trismegistus. - "De Alchemia and the other works of the Geber corpus were of the greatest influence on Western chemistry, and whether they be translations or elaborations, they represent the amount of Arabic chemical knowledge made available to Latin reading people toward the end of the thirteenth century [...] they represent the best Latin knowledge on chemistry in that period" (Sarton). - The present collection, arranged by Chrysogonus Polydorus, contains four treatises by Geber: 1. Summa perfectionis; 2. Liber de investigatione perfectionis (the earliest description of the preparation of nitric acid and aqua regia); 3. Liber de inventione veritatis sive perfectionis; 4. Liber fornacum (a practical text on chemical operations). It also contains the following texts, of which at least four are printed for the first time: 5. Roger Bacon's Speculum Alchemiae (the original text from which the 1597 English "Mirror of Alchemy" edition was made); 6. Richard of Wendover's Correctorium Alchemiae; 7. Rosarius minor, de Alchemia, by an unknown author; 8. Khalid ibn Yazid's Liber Secretorum Alchemiae; 9. Hermes Trismegistus' Tabula Smaragdina; 10. Hortolanus' commentary on the Tabula. Illustrated with 16 fine woodcuts of alchemical apparatus and alchemists at work. - A complete copy in good condition showing light browning to paper, with wide margins containing extremely extensive early marginal annotations throughout. Stains to outer margin of last several leaves. A tear to the gutter of leaf c2 professionally repaired; old vellum repair to upper cover. A good copy. While the second edition of 1545, also very rare, has made a few appearances on the market, this first edition is extremely scarce. VD 16, J 15. Ferguson I, 18 & 301. Sarton II, 1044. Lamoen, Hermes Trismegistus (Amsterdam 1990), no. 70. Brüning I, 220. Darmstaedter, Geber 7. Duveen 11. Mellon Collection (Alchemy and the Occult, Yale 1968) I, 10 (note). Cf. Hoover 445 (1545 edition only). Not in Caillet or Rosenthal.
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Humbert, Jean (ed.).
[Iltiqat al-az'har fi mahasin al-ash'ar]. Anthologie arabe, ou choix de poésies arabes inédites [...]. Paris, Treuttel & Würtz, 1819.
8vo. IX, (1) pp., 1 blank leaf, 300 pp. Contemporary red half leather over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title. Marbled endpapers. Rare anthology of Arabic poetry with Arabic text and French translations printed on opposite pages as well as literal Latin translations and notes. Jean Humbert (1792-1851), a Geneva clergyman, learned Arabic in Paris under the auspices of Silvestre de Sacy and later pioneered the Arabic curriculum at the University of Geneva. - Binding rubbed, extremeties bumped and chipped, upper spine-end defective, front hinge starting. From the library of the oriental scholar Edouard Montet (1856-1934), professor at Geneva, with his bookplate on the front pastdown (with a fine quotation from Al-Zamakhshari in Arabic). Additional handwritten ownership "Edward Cooper" to flyleaf. OCLC 29298262. GAL II, 479 (for the writings of Michel Sabbagh, pp. 291ff. in the Anthology). Cf. Fück 156 (for Humbert).
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[Masud, Ahmad ibn Ali ibn / Taftazani].
Anthological manuscript on Arabic morphology. (Ottoman Turkey), [1621 AD] = 1031 H.
8vo. Arabic manuscript on paper. 86 ff. 13 lines, per extensum, written in clear and thick Turkish naskh in black ink; single words marking the various textual sections are marked in red. Modern green half calf. A miscellany of works belonging to the genre of "nahw", or essays on grammatical topics, mainly focusing on the nominal and verbal morphology of Arabic. Contains parts of the "Marah al-Arwah" ("Abode of the Spirits") by the 14th century grammarian Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Masud (ff. 1-31) as well as "Sharh az Zanjani" (or "Serh ul Izzi fi't-Tasrîf", ff. 32-43) by Taftazani, a grammatical treatise (ff. 43-56); further, a treatise on the conjugation of the verb (ff. 56-66), and various forms of the verb with explanations, beginning with perfect, imperfect and infinitive of Nasara (ff. 66-86). - A detailed list of grammatical contents is given throughout, subdivided into seven sections (aqsam), each dealing extensively with (mostly) verbal morphology and derivation. The first work is dated AH [10]31 (= AD 1621/22) in the first colophon. Both on the front endpaper and immediately after this first colophon, respectively, are a short introduction and several notes in Ottoman Turkish, suggesting the manuscript’s provenance. - Some worming, browning and brownstaining. Cf. GAL II, 21 (for Masud); GAL I, 283 (for Taftazani).
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[Nasir bin 'Abd al-Sayyid al-Mutarrizi].
[Kitab al-Misbah fil-Nahw - commentary]. Probably Yemen, [1545 CE =] 952 H.
8vo (129 x 195 mm). 146 pp., 1 blank leaf. Arabic manuscript on European laid paper (f. 6 coloured light green). South Arabian Naskh script with Ta'liq features, 19 lines, black ink with rubrication. Colophon on f. 73v with copyist verse. Entire text set within a single red frame, simple illumination over the beginning (f. 1v). Full leather binding with remnants of blind-tooled and coloured ornamentation. A commentary (or supercommentary) on the "dibacha", the introduction of the "Kitab al-Misbah fil-Nahw" on Arabic syntax by Nasir b. 'Abd al-Sayyid al-Mutarrizi (d. 610/1213). This appears to be a commentary which is closely related to - but not identical with - MS Berlin SBPK, Lbg. 841 (= Ahlwardt 6547) and MS Berlin, SBPK, Springer 1015 (= Ahlwardt 6545). The latter commentary is by Sa'd al-Din Mas'ud bin 'Umar al-Taftazani (d. 791/1389). - The Sharh is distinguished from the Matn by overlining (black and sometimes also red). The calligraphy is marked by nervous, short and quick strokes as well as some uncommon ligatures. A note on the final page below the colophon reads: "Kafa' al-katib mahrum fi'l-turab, tarikh itna-wa khamsin wa tisa-mi'a", i.e.: "The deprived scribe did enough of the required on the earth (literally, "dust"), [in the] year two and fifty and nine hundred" (= 952 H). The paleographical and ornamental evidence fully agrees with such a date. - Provenance: Christie's South Kensington, London, 11 October 2013, lot 765. Cf. GAL I, 293.
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Silvestre de Sacy, [Antoine Isaac].
[Al-Anis al-mufid lil-talib al-mustafid]. Chrestomathie arabe, ou extraits de divers écrivains arabes, tant en prose qu'en vers, a l'usage de élèves de l'École spéciale des Langues Orientales vivantes. Paris, (J. J. Marcel), l'Imprimerie Imperiale, 1806.
8vo. 3 vols. (8), 15, (1), 587, (1) pp. (6), XII, 543, (3) pp., final blank leaf. (4), IV, 565, (1) pp., final blank leaf. Contemporary brown boards with giltstamped red spine label. First edition, printed with the beautiful Arabic types of the Imprimerie Imperiale by J. J. Marcel, who in 1798 had brought printing to the Arabic world when he set up the first press in Cairo. - "Opus maximopere, nec vero ultra quam fas erat, laudatum et celebratum ab omnibus qui de eo referrent" (Schnurrer). "Like his Grammar, de Sacy's Chrestomathy was first compiled for his students. In the early 19th century there was a very limited body of reading matter for academic learners of Arabic [...] The Chrestomathy was intended to remedy this fault. But de Sacy immediately combined with this practical aim the scholarly task to use and make known valuable texts from the manuscript troves of the Royal Library in Paris, and so his Chrestomathy contains extensive extracts from late historians (Maqrizi) and geographers, from Hariri's Maqamat, from the Druze canon and from Qazwini's cosmography, as well as several poems from Nabiga to Ibn Farid, and, finally, keeping in mind the practical needs of future interpreters, a collection of state documents, all of this in the original Arabic with French translation and a wealth of annotations [...] It is a credit to de Sacy's interpretative mastery that the Chrestomathy [...] enjoyed a much longer life than similar works usually do, which tend soon to show their age due to the progress of scholarship: for nearly a century his work introduced learners to the masterpieces of Arabic literature" (cf. Fück). - Bindings rubbed and bumped at extremeties; interior well preserved. Scarce on the market. Schnurrer 153. Fück p. 146-148. OCLC 3822297.
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[World War I - Baghdad and Mesopotamia].
Archive relating to the British transport corps ("Remount Depot", and "Mule Column") based at Baghdad. Baghdad, ca. 1917-1922].
Comprising Lt. Ralph Smith's diary for 1918; his manuscript account fund book for "No. 3 Mule Column" (1917-20); his letterbook (Mesopotamia, May 1919 - June, 1920), with related telegrams, photographs, and ephemera; small group of official correspondence relating to Gunner Harry Dryburgh of the Remount Depot, Baghdad (mostly relating to travel permissions), ca. 1918-19; three programmes for theatrical performances held at the M.T. Depot Theatre (1918-19), and cinema programme for the Olympia Cinema, 31 May - 4 June 1919. Diary disbound, others in original bindings. Ephemera loose, the theatrical programmes printed on coloured paper, various sizes. Archive relating to the British transport corps ("Remount Depot", and "Mule Column") centred at Baghdad. An evocative diary kept by Lt. Smith captures both the horror and beauty of his daily life: "Never shall I forget the pain & terror in that poor little thing's face. I had nothing to help it & they were miles from any habitation [...] without food and medicine" (13 May, near Qara Tappah). The diary was written whilst he was serving with the No. 3 Mule Column, a section of the Transport Corps stationed in Mesopotamia, to which he was assigned in June 1917. It includes mentions of Qara Tappah, Baguba, Abu Jisra, Hillah (March 3, visiting "the house built by the German excavators who have done so much here" and the Babylonian remains, which Gertrude Bell had visited in January), Abu Saida (31 March, "I killed 1000 flies in my tent"; April 5, "Changed into my light underwear"; April 17, "Saw streams of Kurds & Arabs on the road [...] on the trek with camels"; April 23, "held a court martial [...] of Hazzat Shah [...] for theft from a mail bag, found him guilty & sentenced him to 30 lashes"), Table Mountain (trip with his orderly, Mohammed Qasim, whose photograph is included), Kifri and environs of Baghdad (29 April, "Tuz Khurmatli [Khurma] was taken today and nearly the whole of the Turkish force killed or taken prisoners"; 2 May, "Passed the 2 lots of Turkish prisoners [...] one prisoner of the first lot died on the way [...] they are evidently hungry and tired"). - The majority of Smith's letter book correspondence relates to his ordering books on India from Mudie's Select Library, Higginbotham in Madras (from where he purchased his Lett's Diary) and elsewhere, or selling others (12 April 1920, placing an advert in the Baghdad Times, "For Sale. Palmer's Arabic Grammar"). Smith's record of the No. 3 Mule Column Fund records Receipts ("Sale of a consignment of cigarettes for the column", "Proceeds of the sale of parts of two Turkish carts") and Expenditure ("Football, 2 bladders & one tube cement", "Sweets for the the Peace celebrations"). The entertainment programmes include pantomimes ("Red Riding Hood", "A Gipsy Romance" by the Advaxeliers at the Baghdad Depot Theatre), and an Olympia Cinema listing printed by the Dangor Press, Baghdad. - A unique ensemble, well preserved.
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[Dubai].
1960s postcard of Dubai. Dubai, C. Green, [ca. 1960s].
Colour print, 138 x 90 mm. "Dhow Builders" in "Dubai, Trucial States". - Well preserved commercial image of Dubai shortly before the oil era and its development into what is today the largest city in the United Arab Emirates.
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Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi al-Wa'iz, 'Izzadin 'Abdassalam ibn Ahmad.
Kashf al-asrar 'an il-hikam al-muda'a fi t-tuyur wal-azhar (The secrets of the realm of the birds and flowers revealed). [Probably Morocco], [1878/79 CE =] 1296 H.
4to (180 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 47 pp. 23-25 lines, per extensum, in black and occasional red and yellow ink. Bound in modern blue cloth with marbled covers. A mystical contemplation of animate and inanimate creatures, in particular of birds and flowers, whose various qualities proclaim the existence and wisdom of their creator. A popular and much-copied work by the Muslim mystic Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi (d. 678 H/1279 CE?). A French translation was published in Paris in 1821; an edition of the Arabic text appeared in Cairo in 1280 H. - Written in an elegant northern African, very probably Moroccan calligraphy. A few edge flaws due to brittleness of paper, but on the whole well preserved. Cf. GAL I, 451 & II, 808f.
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[Mathematical manuscript].
A collection of six treatises. No place, probably 19th century.
4to (150 x 206 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 102 (but: 99) numbered pages (pp. 75-77 skipped). Black and red ink, 15 lines, per extensum, with a few ink diagrams in the margins. Half leather over papered boards. A collection of six treatises on sections, chronology, and astronomy, indexed on a cover label and, in pencil, on the inside front cover. Text in black ink with extensive commentary in red throughout the margins. - Binding loosened, gutters reinforced. Paper browned and brittle, but on the whole well-preserved with only very minor edge chipping.
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Chesney, [Francis Rawdon].
The Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Carried on by Order of the British Government, in the Years 1835, 1836 and 1837. London, Longman, 1850.
Large 8vo (175 x 260 mm). 2 vols. XXIII (instead of XXVII, lacking pp. XVII-XX), (3), 795 (instead of 799, lacking pp. 705-708), (1) pp. XVI, 778 pp. With all 49 tinted lithographic plates as well as numerous wood-engraved text illustrations. Contemporary full blue cloth with blindstamped covers and gilt spine titles. Wants the boxed 14 maps. First edition. Chesney (1789-1872), the explorer of the Euphrates and founder of the overland route to India, intended the work to be complete in four volumes, but half the manuscript was lost and only these two volumes were published. The book describes the exploration trip through the Euphrates and Tiber valleys, to the Arabian Gulf, in search of a shorter route to India. "He explored the Euphrates twice, at first alone, on a raft, in secret and at great risk (he frequently came under fire from hostile Arabs) and later by steamer, although the second attempt was no less fraught with difficulty than the first (the 'Tigris' was wrecked and there were numerous physical obstacles to overcome). Chesney was clearly an explorer of the first order and his courage and perseverance were matched only by his attention to detail and thoroughness in the surveys he produced" (Atabey). - Lacking four leaves in the first volume and (as often) the 14 slip-cased maps. Provenance: removed from the library of Hawkesyard Priory, Staffordshire (dispersed in 2008) with their stamps. Latterly in the collection of Roberto Gulbenkian (1923-2009). Atabey I, 234 Blackmer 337. Howgego II, p. 124, C26.
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Jeffries, David.
Traité des diamants et des perles, où l'on considère leur importance, on établit des règles certaines pour en connoître la juste valeur. Paris, Debure & N. Tillard, 1753.
8vo. (8), XXXXV, (1), 104 pp. With engraved dedicatory headpiece and 8 (instead of 10) engraved plates (some depicting cuts of diamonds) and tables. Contemporary smooth calf with gilt cover borders and red spine label. First edition in French of this early book describing "how diamonds and pearls can be evaluated on the basis of the factors of size (or weight) and style of cut" (Sinkankas). The London jeweller Jeffries is the first author to provide "a clear statement of the principle that the value of pearls should be calculated to the square of their weight [...] This principle is implicit in the valuation tables given by earlier authors, including Tavernier and others, but Jeffries is the first to state it explicitly. At the back of his book, he provides tables allowing the calculation of the value of individual and batches of pearls of different size or quality. This is effectively a 'chau' book, as used by merchants in the Gulf and India until the mid-20th century, and fulfils exactly the same function" (Carter). - "The text explains the [diamond] cutting procedure, how the evaluation rules were derived, the importance of imperfections and flaws as affecting price, notes on rough diamonds [...] and finally, a somewhat similar procedure for the valuation of pearls, with highest values accorded to pearls of closest approach to spherical perfection, luster, etc. The mathematical rule used for the pearl is known as the 'square of the weight' multiplied by a per-carat base price" (Sinkankas). - This French edition is much scarcer than the expanded second English edition, on which it is based. It is dedicated by the translator (the Royal librarian Chappotin S. Laurent) to the sixteen-year-old Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé, on the occasion of his marriage to Charlotte de Rohan. - Hinges weak, corners and spine-ends bumped and chipped. Lacks the final two plates (showing the cuts of the largest diamonds). Provenance: 20th century handwritten ownership to title-page. Removed from the Library of the Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, with their library stamp to the flyleaf. Sinkankas 3198. Cf. Carter, Sea of Pearls, p. 83, 125f., 251. Goldsmiths' 8500. Hoover 453. Roller/G. II, 10.
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[Dubai].
Eight original 1960s photographs of Dubai. Dubai, Studio Al-Andalus, [ca. 1963].
6 original gelatin silver photographs, the smallest measuring 90 x 139 mm and the largest 106 x 148 mm. - (Includes): 2 gelatin silver postcards of Dubai (Noor Ali, Photo-Press International, Dubai), ca. 90 x 139 mm, [ca. 1960s]. Framed and glazed. Rare photographs of Dubai in the early 1960s, showing Al Fahidi Fort, Dubai Old Town, Dubai Creek, Al Maktoum Bridge and the British Bank of the Middle East. They were published by "Studio Andalus", a photographic studio which (according to the stamp) was based on "New Street, near the National Library". Four are captioned in blue ink (another has an unfinished caption) and two have an Arabic studio stamp to their versos. Includes two contemporaneous postcards of Dubai, both also original photographic prints, showing principal views of the town. - A few corners bumped and creased, otherwise very good. A fine ensemble of rare photographs showing Dubai as a "Trucial State", shortly before the oil era and its development into what is today the largest city in the United Arab Emirates.
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(Kwiatkowski, Wojciech).
Polish Arabian Horses before the year 1940. No place, [ca. 1995].
Oblong 4to. 5 cloth-bound volumes with stamped titles, containing 253 original photographs mounted on cardboard with accompanying text. Extensive photo documentation of Polish Arabian horses, recording year of birth, ancestors, racing results, descendants, etc. - No copy in any library recorded in WorldCat or KVK. A fine, clean copy.
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Miles, Samuel Barrett.
The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf. London, Harrison and Sons, 1920.
4to. 2 vols. (12), 264 pp. (4), 265-643 pp., final blank. With frontispiece portrait and 8 photographic plates. Contemporary stamped cloth with cover and spine titles. Second printing of the equally scarce 1919 first edition of this notable work of travel literature by the British Army officer S. B. Miles, who served as a diplomat in various Arabic-speaking countries, notably Oman, which he came to know better than any other European of the time. His intent to revise the notes he had "jotted down on odd bits of paper as he rode through the desert on his camel" (Preface) was rendered impossible due to his failing eyesight. Five years after his death his widow decided to publish the manuscript as she found it, enriching it with Miles's travelogue of Mesopotamia as well as an index. The work includes the political and economic history of Oman and the Gulf as well as the history and geography of Dhofar, Arab tribes, and pearl fishing. The plates show the forts at Bahila, Yabreen, and Rostak, as well as the house of Seyyid Hamed Bin Azzar at Rostak, a group of locals, and date palms, while the frontispiece depicts Miles resting in a chair wearing his sunglasses. - Binding slightly rubbed and soiled, cockling to upper cover of vol. 2, rebacked. A good copy of this popular work that saw re-issues in 1966 and 1994. Cf. Ghani 250 (1966 reprint only).
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Mohammed Ali Tewfik, Prince of Egypt.
Breeding of Purebred Arab Horses. Cairo, Paul Barbey's Printing Office, 1935-1936.
8vo. 2 vols. 45, (1) pp. 94 pp. With photograph illustrations and reproductions of paintings. Original wrappers. First edition of this two-volume set published by High Highness Prince Mohamed Ali under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society, to which the heir presumptive of Egypt and Sudan had presented his manuscript. Mohammed Ali describes the care and breeding of Arab horses as practiced by the Arabs, especially in Egypt, and "gives the reader a picture of the Arabian horse, his treatment and presence in the Middle East" (Boyd/Paul). Reprinted in America in 1975. - Covers show moderate wear and soil; somewhat rubbed and bumped with light corner creasing. A small stain and some partial ink stamps (Brighton and Hove) to the cover of vol. 2. Below the photo of Nimr in vol. I is an inscription reportedly in the hand of the American oil magnate, philanthropist and collector Robert Orville Anderson (1917-2007), founder of the Atlantic Richfield Oil Co.: "Saoud's sire cost me £1750. He was a magnificent Brown Seqlauri Jedran 15.1" (the word "hands" has been added at the end in a different ink). A few additional marginal annotations; altogether a fine copy of a book very hard to find in any edition. Boyd/Paul 85.
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Zehil, Abdallah.
Petit Guide Historique de la Syrie, la Palestine et l'Egypte. Marseille, E. Maurin & M. Pages, 1929.
Small 4to. 60, (6) pp. With 13 black and white photographic plates, 2 of which full-page, as well as a folding coloured map of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. First edition. - A compact guide to Syria, Palestine and Egypt before the inter-war period, written by the agent general of the French steamship company in the Middle East. Outlining the countries' history and recommending places to visit, it is illustrated with views of Beirut, Tripolis, Aleppo, Nazareth, and Cairo, as well as important landmarks, including the Great Mosque of Damascus, temples at Baalbek, Palmyra, the Sphinx and the pyramids, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Wailing Wall. - Label of the Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner in Paris to front cover. Upper wrapper somewhat foxed, spine and margins slightly worn. OCLC 7201775.
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