Si Kaddour Benghabrit, Moroccan statesman, founder of the Muslim Instite in Paris (1868-1954).MareMagnum
4.075 Ergebnisse
Folio. 1 page. On uncut wove paper, bearing the Schoellers-Parole blind embossed seal, margins uncut. The original autograph contribution of Si Kaddour Benghabrit to the Committee of the World League for Peace (Ligue Mondiale pour la Paix), a remarkable organization formed in 1925 with close ties to the League of Nations. The Committee itself was composed of such notaries as Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, King Carol II of Romania, John D Rockefeller, Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein, who personally gathered the present manuscripts over the course of seven years (1925-32). Among the public figures who contributed to the project were dignitaries from the newly-created League of Nations' member states. "Rebellion sleeps in the heart of man, may he be cursed who awakens it'. Thus spoke our Prophet. This is still the living doctrine of modern Islam. How could it not prefer the pure and simple joys of peace to the torments and dark nights of war! [Signed] Benghabrit". Si Khaddour Benghabrit rose to prominence under the French regime in Morocco . He is also remebered for his courage in saving the lives of the many Jews during the Second World War by disguising them as Muslim members of his Paris mosque - somewhere between 500 and 1600 people were saved from deportation in this way, and the Medal of Justice has been awarded to the descendants of Benghabrit by the Yad Vashem Memorial. Pax Mundi. Livre d'or de la paix. Enquete universelle de la Ligue mondiale pour la paix sous le haut patronage de son comite d'honneur avec l'approbation de la Societe des nations, du Bureau international du travail et de la Cour permanente de justice internationale. Geneve, Societe paxunis, 1932.
8vo. XII, 331, (1), 40 pp. (appendix printed in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish). Contemporary papered boards with ms. spine label. First edition. - Dissertation of the German theologian August Tholuck (1799-1877), a study of Sufism and oriental Pantheism composed because an illness prevented him at the time from accepting the chair of oriental languages and Old Testament exegesis at Dorpat. "Still worth reading" (Nicholson). While Schleiermacher criticised the work as untheological, the University of Jena accorded Tholuck an honorary doctorate in 1822 on the strength of his Persian studies. As professor of Old Testament studies in Berlin and Halle, Tholuck would go on to influence many American theologians, including the Methodist John Fletcher Hurst and Philip Schaff. - A contemporary inkstain to the first few pages. Inscribed by the author on the flyleaf: "Seinem innigst verehrten 'Nomodidaskalos en Kyrio' [Greek], der ihn zu Jesu wieß / der Vf." ("To his dearly beloved Instructor of Law in the Lord, who showed him the path to Jesus, from the author"). The recipient of this gift was likely the church historian Johann August Wilhelm Neander (1789-1850), in whose collection the volume was before the entire library was acquired by the American banker Roswell S. Burrows (1798-1884) for the Rochester Theological Seminary in New York (their printed shelfmark label of "Neander Library" on the front pastedown). A good copy. ADB 38, 55. Herzog/H. XIX, 697. Nicholson, the Mystics of Islam, p. 76. OCLC 7436665.
1930Best.-Nr. 110628Um 1930. 50 x 63,5 cm.
1903Best.-Nr. ST20237New York: The Gorham Manufacturing Co 1903. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 500 COPIES. 102 x 64 mm. 4 x 2 1/2". 4 p.l. 9-148 pp. CHARMING PUBLISHER'S LIMP SUEDE illustrated covers with a rotund golfer on front and a long-suffering caddy at rear top edge gilt other edges untrimmed. In a later glassine wrapper. Housed in a very sturdy custom-made buckram folding box with inlaid marbled spine label. Color floral and foliate headpieces tailpieces and title page and 16 DELIGHTFUL MOUNTED COLOR PLATES BY JOHN HASSALL. Front endpaper with the ownership inscription "W. P. Rockwell November 1905." Murdoch 888; Donovan & Murdoch 19030. Trivial smudges to the suede but A NEARLY PRISTINE COPY of this delightful little book an item that is simply never found this well preserved. This is a diminutive golf manual with immense charm and offered in the most immaculate condition possible. In a small-pocket format the book provides the golfer with the game's rules etiquette technical terms names of golf clubs and their various uses a list of American champions since the organization of the United States Golf Association and a roster of the "leading players in the United States." Accompanying the text are a group of quite charming colored plates done by John Hassall 1868-1948 an active and celebrated watercolorist poster designer and illustrator from 1895 onwards. Houfe calls him "an original and versatile designer." As can be seen in the present volume Hassall seems to have been influenced by "the flat colors and two-dimensional decorative quality of Japanese prints which he adapts to his own work with thick outline and careful patterning." Whatever the influence one can't help but smile when looking at his work. Hassall depicts golf costume through the ages here including golfers in kilts trousers cloaks knickers and other attire; he also shows us a pair of disarmingly shabby young caddies two women and a boy incongruously dressed in Napoleonic greatcoat and tricorn hat. The most memorable thing about this item is its condition: as a book intended to be put in one's pocket and as a volume that was never sturdy to begin with there is absolutely no explanation for how our copy has survived to the present day in its remarkable state of preservation. When this copy without its box was sold in 2004 at PBA Galleries the most prominent auction purveyor of golf books and equipment the catalogue called it "the finest copy we have ever offered of this exceedingly scarce and fragile book.". The Gorham Manufacturing Co unknown
1903Best.-Nr. ST20237New York: The Gorham Manufacturing Co 1903. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 500 COPIES. 102 x 64 mm. 4 x 2 1/2". 4 p.l. 9-148 pp. CHARMING PUBLISHER'S LIMP SUEDE illustrated covers with a rotund golfer on front and a long-suffering caddy at rear top edge gilt other edges untrimmed. In a later glassine wrapper. Housed in a very sturdy custom-made buckram folding box with inlaid marbled spine label. Color floral and foliate headpieces tailpieces and title page and 16 DELIGHTFUL MOUNTED COLOR PLATES BY JOHN HASSALL. Front endpaper with the ownership inscription "W. P. Rockwell November 1905." Murdoch 888; Donovan & Murdoch 19030. Trivial smudges to the suede but A NEARLY PRISTINE COPY of this delightful little book an item that is simply never found this well preserved. This is a diminutive golf manual with immense charm and offered in the most immaculate condition possible. In a small-pocket format the book provides the golfer with the game's rules etiquette technical terms names of golf clubs and their various uses a list of American champions since the organization of the United States Golf Association and a roster of the "leading players in the United States." Accompanying the text are a group of quite charming colored plates done by John Hassall 1868-1948 an active and celebrated watercolorist poster designer and illustrator from 1895 onwards. Houfe calls him "an original and versatile designer." As can be seen in the present volume Hassall seems to have been influenced by "the flat colors and two-dimensional decorative quality of Japanese prints which he adapts to his own work with thick outline and careful patterning." Whatever the influence one can't help but smile when looking at his work. Hassall depicts golf costume through the ages here including golfers in kilts trousers cloaks knickers and other attire; he also shows us a pair of disarmingly shabby young caddies two women and a boy incongruously dressed in Napoleonic greatcoat and tricorn hat. The most memorable thing about this item is its condition: as a book intended to be put in one's pocket and as a volume that was never sturdy to begin with there is absolutely no explanation for how our copy has survived to the present day in its remarkable state of preservation. When this copy without its box was sold in 2004 at PBA Galleries the most prominent auction purveyor of golf books and equipment the catalogue called it "the finest copy we have ever offered of this exceedingly scarce and fragile book.". The Gorham Manufacturing Co unknown books
1930Best.-Nr. ST20235London: Harrods Ltd 1930s. FIRST EDITION. 76 x 51 mm. 3 x 2". 100 pp. Original green or orange paper wrappers side stitched titling on front cover and imprint on spine. In a custom-made folding buckram box with book wells for the three books and gilt-stamped marbled paper label inset on spine of the box. Consisting of three bound sets of 50 sequential photographs that when flipped either from back to front or front to back generate a stop motion animation of Bobby Jones demonstrating the proper form for executing a shot with various golf clubs see below. Advertisements on inside wrappers. Donovan & Murdoch 22610. One volume with portions of spine gone at either end with partial loss of imprint wrappers inevitably somewhat soiled corners a bit rounded as expected but still remarkably well preserved especially considering its inevitable hard use being entirely sound and with the photographs in excellent condition. This is a scarce grouping of some of the most charming sports as well as miniature books we've ever offered for sale. In the 1930s the famous London department store Harrods published a series of so-called sports "flicker" books of which these three are perhaps the most famous other sports books involved cricket tennis lacrosse soccer badminton swimming and greyhound racing. Our three "flicker" books when the pages are riffled with one's thumb or fingers show the famous smooth-swinging American golfer Bobby Jones executing shots with various clubs. The first book #11a in the Harrods series features the driver and the mashie. The modern equivalent for this latter piece of equipment is slightly elusive but the "mashie" is an iron club with considerable loft meant to hit a golf ball a relatively short distance with a high trajectory Jones' "driver" has the same meaning today as it did 90 years ago. The second book features shots with a "brassie" roughly equivalent to today's 3- or 4-wood and an "iron" also called a "driving iron" which is like today's 1- or 2-iron. The third book shows Jones putting and escaping from heavy rough with a high-lofted club like today's sand wedge. It is great fun--not to mention still instructive--to riffle through these photographs watching one of the world's most celebrated golf swings come to life complete with Jones' knickers white shirt and flapping tie. It is also a fact of some interest that this English series would feature an American player at a time when British dominance in golf was beginning to erode. Given the physical use to which these items have been subjected it is difficult to believe that they are still intact let alone that they are solid enough to be handled without worry. Harrods Ltd unknown
1930Best.-Nr. ST20235London: Harrods Ltd 1930s. FIRST EDITION. 76 x 51 mm. 3 x 2". 100 pp. Original green or orange paper wrappers side stitched titling on front cover and imprint on spine. In a custom-made folding buckram box with book wells for the three books and gilt-stamped marbled paper label inset on spine of the box. Consisting of three bound sets of 50 sequential photographs that when flipped either from back to front or front to back generate a stop motion animation of Bobby Jones demonstrating the proper form for executing a shot with various golf clubs see below. Advertisements on inside wrappers. Donovan & Murdoch 22610. One volume with portions of spine gone at either end with partial loss of imprint wrappers inevitably somewhat soiled corners a bit rounded as expected but still remarkably well preserved especially considering its inevitable hard use being entirely sound and with the photographs in excellent condition. This is a scarce grouping of some of the most charming sports as well as miniature books we've ever offered for sale. In the 1930s the famous London department store Harrods published a series of so-called sports "flicker" books of which these three are perhaps the most famous other sports books involved cricket tennis lacrosse soccer badminton swimming and greyhound racing. Our three "flicker" books when the pages are riffled with one's thumb or fingers show the famous smooth-swinging American golfer Bobby Jones executing shots with various clubs. The first book #11a in the Harrods series features the driver and the mashie. The modern equivalent for this latter piece of equipment is slightly elusive but the "mashie" is an iron club with considerable loft meant to hit a golf ball a relatively short distance with a high trajectory Jones' "driver" has the same meaning today as it did 90 years ago. The second book features shots with a "brassie" roughly equivalent to today's 3- or 4-wood and an "iron" also called a "driving iron" which is like today's 1- or 2-iron. The third book shows Jones putting and escaping from heavy rough with a high-lofted club like today's sand wedge. It is great fun--not to mention still instructive--to riffle through these photographs watching one of the world's most celebrated golf swings come to life complete with Jones' knickers white shirt and flapping tie. It is also a fact of some interest that this English series would feature an American player at a time when British dominance in golf was beginning to erode. Given the physical use to which these items have been subjected it is difficult to believe that they are still intact let alone that they are solid enough to be handled without worry. Harrods Ltd unknown books
Best.-Nr. 121944London Archive Editions 1992. . 4 vols 8vo 25 x 16.5 cm; includes maps and tables; publisher's original green cloth gilt lettering pieces to spines top edges gilt a fine set. Extensive collection of international and governmental treaties of the Gulf states of Iraq Kuwait Bahrain Qatar the United Arab Emirates Oman Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Improves on the previous work of Aitchison by including inter-regional and inter-state treaties rather than ones specifically related to Britain. London, Archive Editions, 1992. hardcover
Best.-Nr. 121953Cambridge Cambridge Archive Editions 2021. . 4 vols 8vo 25.5 x 16.5 cm; 5 large folding maps loose in rear pocket; publisher's original black cloth silver gilt lettering a fine set. A comprehensive collection of documents recording the history of Qatar between the years 1966 and 1971 which saw the withdrawal of Britain from the region and the eventual establishment of Qatar as an independent nation rather than joining the Emirates in a confederation. Cambridge, Cambridge Archive Editions, 2021. hardcover
Best.-Nr. 121085London Archive Editions 1989. . 8 vols 8vo; original blue cloth gilt a fine set. A complete set of this handsome facsimile edition of all eight Persian Gulf pilots published between 1870 to 1932. Invaluable not only for sailing directions but also for descriptions of the coast and its towns and villages and how they have grown over the period. London, Archive Editions, 1989. hardcover
1807Best.-Nr. ST12145Edinburgh: Printed for Peter Hill et al. 1807. FIRST EDITION. 197 x 114 mm. 7 3/4 x 4 1/2". 2 p.l. v-viii 244 pp. PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BLUE BOARDS paper label on spine edges untrimmed. In a felt-lined morocco-backed folding box. Four engraved plates three views and a city plan. Front free endpaper inscribed "Edin. 27th April 1807 / Agnes Cockburn / in memory / of the author." Donovan & Murdoch 270. Boards a little soiled front joint cracked rear joint starting at tail extremities with the expected considerable wear spine label chipped with a fourth of the letters gone but the boards still attached and the extremely insubstantial publisher's binding still appealing because of its original materials. Title page with a bit of offsetting from frontispiece isolated minor foxing in text other trivial imperfections but an excellent copy internally the untrimmed leaves bright fresh and clean with all of their ample margins intact. This is an invaluable early book on the history of St. Andrews in general and more specifically on St. Andrews as the home of the game of golf offered here in the publisher's original boards. It is the first work by the clergyman and polymath James Grierson M. D. 1768-1844 and the first printing of the first work on the ultimate destination of all those who consider golf sacred.The final chapter here entitled "The Company of Golfers" gives a short history of golf provides "an idea of the nature of this elegant amusement" and describes how the earliest golf balls called "featheries" on account of their stuffing were made. The book is dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Moncreiffe the daughter of the renowned military leader and politician George Ramsay 9th Earl of Dalhousie Governor General of British North America and later Commander-in-Chief of India wife to Sir Thomas Moncreiffe and a woman of considerable wealth. Grierson had served as tutor to her son Sir David Moncreiffe 6th Baronet 1788-1830 early in his career and apparently maintained a connection to the family. Our first edition is uncommonly found in publisher's boards. Printed for Peter Hill, et al. unknown
1807Best.-Nr. ST12145Edinburgh: Printed for Peter Hill et al. 1807. FIRST EDITION. 197 x 114 mm. 7 3/4 x 4 1/2". 2 p.l. v-viii 244 pp. PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BLUE BOARDS paper label on spine edges untrimmed. In a felt-lined morocco-backed folding box. Four engraved plates three views and a city plan. Front free endpaper inscribed "Edin. 27th April 1807 / Agnes Cockburn / in memory / of the author." Donovan & Murdoch 270. Boards a little soiled front joint cracked rear joint starting at tail extremities with the expected considerable wear spine label chipped with a fourth of the letters gone but the boards still attached and the extremely insubstantial publisher's binding still appealing because of its original materials. Title page with a bit of offsetting from frontispiece isolated minor foxing in text other trivial imperfections but an excellent copy internally the untrimmed leaves bright fresh and clean with all of their ample margins intact. This is an invaluable early book on the history of St. Andrews in general and more specifically on St. Andrews as the home of the game of golf offered here in the publisher's original boards. It is the first work by the clergyman and polymath James Grierson M. D. 1768-1844 and the first printing of the first work on the ultimate destination of all those who consider golf sacred.The final chapter here entitled "The Company of Golfers" gives a short history of golf provides "an idea of the nature of this elegant amusement" and describes how the earliest golf balls called "featheries" on account of their stuffing were made. The book is dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Moncreiffe the daughter of the renowned military leader and politician George Ramsay 9th Earl of Dalhousie Governor General of British North America and later Commander-in-Chief of India wife to Sir Thomas Moncreiffe and a woman of considerable wealth. Grierson had served as tutor to her son Sir David Moncreiffe 6th Baronet 1788-1830 early in his career and apparently maintained a connection to the family. Our first edition is uncommonly found in publisher's boards. Printed for Peter Hill, et al. unknown books
8vo. LXXII, 452 pp. Near-contemporary half cloth with giltstamped red spine label. Edges sprinkled in red and blue. First edition. - A rare and scholarly investigation of the Arabic origins of star names, incorporating the first edition (with a German translation) of the relevant part of the famous "Aja'ib al-makhluqat" by the astronomer Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203-83), which contains a description of the 48 constellations of Ptolemy and is hailed by Brockelmann as "the most valuable cosmography in Islamic culture" (GAL). Taking Qazwini's text as his guideline, the Prussian astronomer Ideler (1766-1846) provides a detailed commentary elucidating the respective Greek, Latin, oriental, and modern names of the stars. The final chapter is an essay on the Arabic nomenclature of celestial bodies, tracing the names' origins to the ancient nomadic Arabs (Bedu). Although Ideler was not an orientalist and claimed merely a scholarly working knowledge of Arabic, he had the advice of Oluf Gerhard Tychsen and Georg Beigel. The resulting text edition, translation and critical study were highly praised by Fück, who called the annotations "excellent". - Some browning throughout as common; professional repairs to spine. Old stamp and shelfmark of the Boston Arts Academy Library to title; handwritten ownership "J. Johnson / Jan.y 1930" to pastedown. Schnurrer p. 466f., no. 404. Fück 160 ("1810" in error). Kayser III, 248. OCLC 11828254. Cf. GAL S I, 882.
Folio (244 x 341 mm). (12) pp. With 2 engravings (one in the text, one on the title). - (Bound after) II: (Schiepati, Giuseppe / Assemani, Simone). Descrizione di alcune monete cufiche del Museo di Stefano de Mainoni. Milan, Paolo Emilio Giusti, 1820. 136 pp. With 3 engraved plates. - (And) III: Reinaud, [Joseph Toussaint]. Lettre à M. le baron Silvestre de Sacy sur la collection des monuments orientaux de [...] comte de Blacas. Paris, Firmin Didot, 1820. 16 pp. Original pink printed wrappers. 8vo. All three within contemporary green boards with giltstamped red spine label. Collection of three rare studies falling within "the rarely-entered territory of Muslim archaeology" (cf. Fück, p. 153), comprising the two final works of Simone Assemani and the first publication of Joseph Toussaint Reinaud. - In 1818, the orientalist Assemani, well known as an authority on Kufic coins through his "Museo Cufico Naniano" (1787) and, more recently, his treatise "Sopra le Monete Arabe effigiate" (1809), published his "Spiegazione", a discussion of two rare Cufic coins in Stefano de Majnoni's collection. Subsequently, Majnoni called on Assemani to identify several additional coins and in 1820 requested him to check a catalogue of his collection compiled by Giuseppe Schiepati. When Schiepati published the second work here included, "Descrizione di alcune monete cufiche", it was found to contain many unacknowledged contributions by Assemani, as well as extracts from his "Museo Cufico Naniano". Also, Schiepati’s historical comments relied on, and indeed summarized, C. O. Castiglioni’s "Monete Cufiche dell’ I. R. Museo di Milano" (1819). A controversy arose, in the course of which Schiepati was accused of plagiarism - a matter exacerbated by the fact that Assemani had died in early 1821, at the age of 69. - The third work in the volume is a slim octavo brochure, composed by Reinaud as a letter to his teacher Silvestre de Sacy reporting on the Islamic collection of the French antiquarian and diplomat Pierre de Blacas (1771-1839). Eight years later Reinaud would publish his famous, lavishly produced two-volume catalogue "Description des monumens musulmans du cabinet de M. le duc de Blacas", which made his name. - Occasional insignificant browning; Reinaud's work untrimmed, the folio works printed on large paper retaining very wide margins. From the library of Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Billard de Saint-Laumer (1814-92) with his collection drystamp to title page of "Descrizione"; the three plates interleaved with smaller sheets bearing numbered annotations, likely in his hand. I: Leitzmann 5. Achat 11216. OCLC 84477158. - II: Leitzmann 124. Brunet V, 199. Graesse VI, 301; I, 240. OCLC 52651290. - III: Leitzmann 114. OCLC 229903535.
Small folio (218 x 340 mm). 19, (9) pp. With 5 folding plans, one measuring more than two metres in length. Original stiff printed wrappers. Extremely rare report on construction plans for a railway from Keneh (Qena) on the eastern shore or the Nile to Kosseir (al-Qosair) on the coast of the Red Sea. The project was never carried out. "La roue de Kéneh à Kosseir a éte étudiée dans un rapport de Ch. Nicour [...] qui déposa ses conclusions le 21 Février 1891 auprès du Conseil d'Administration des Chemins de fer de l'Etat égyptien. Ce rapport fut utilisé par J. Raimondi [...] dans son livre sur 'Le désert oriental égyptien du du Nil à la Mer Rouge' [...] Dans le chapitre V, intitulé 'Projet de chemin de fer de Kéneh à Kosseir [...]' Raimondi rappelle que, dès 1891, on avait formé le projet d'une ligne de chemin de fer de Kéneh à Kosseir. Le port, en effet [...] est le point de la mer Rouge le plus rapproché du Nil [...] Après avoir évalué les recettes probables de cette ligne [...] et avant d'étudier les problèmes de réalisation pratique [...] Raimondi reprend le rapport de Ch. Nicour pour donner une description de la route et une étude du tracé de ce chemin de fer, qui ne devait pas etre réalisé. La mission de Ch. Nicour étudia le terrain en décembre 1890. Elle décrit d'abord la route depuis Kéneh jusqu'à l'entrée de L'Quadi Hammamat, puis elle étudie les gorges de l'Quadi Hammamat proprement dit [...]" (Bernard). - The five plans include: 1) "Ligne de Kéneh à Kosseir. Route du Nord [...] Plan géneral et profil en long", ca. 62 x 205 cm. 2) "Plan de la grande gorge de El Hammamat", ca. 33 x 125 cm. 3) "Plan de la petit gorge de El-Sed", ca. 33 x 77 cm". 4) "Plan de petit gorge de E-Rieh", ca. 33 x 94 cm. 5) "Plan de ville de Kosseir", ca. 59 x 90 cm. - Binding lightly wrinkled and duststained in places, but altogether very well preserved. Inscribed on the upper cover by Yacoub Artin Pasha (1842-1919), the Armenian-born historian and Egyptian Minister of Education, to Julius Franz (1831-1915, "Frantz Pacha"), the German-born senior architect to the Egyptian Viceroy. André Bernard, De Koptos à Kosseir, p. 26. Not in OCLC.
8vo. (8), 86 pp., final blank f. Contemporary vellum. Second edition of Victorius's introduction to the Ethiopian language, first published in 1552. This is the first printing with the newly designed and cut Ethiopic types; an "Alphabetum" appeared one year later. In his preface, Venerius relates how the types were cut after designd received from Jesuit missionaries in Ethiopia. One set of types was sent to them, one was kept for the Propaganda Press. - Front inner hinge broken; title loosened. Some browning throughout. Ms. ownership of Joseph Venturi in Hebrew and Latin on title page, with his note "rara" and date of acquisition "3 Oct. 1785" on pastedown opposite. Smitskamp, PO 218. Vater/Jülg 7. Fumagalli 1173. Leslau 610. De Gubernatis 173. Silvestre de Sacy 2874. OCLC 50572132.
Heliozincograph in colour, 590 x 465 cm. Scale: 1 inch to 4 miles (1:253,440). Exceedingly rare and classified at the time of release: one of the first maps to depict clearly the Abadan Petroleum Refinery, the first oil refinery in the Middle East. The map of the Khorramshahr-Abadan area of Iran and the lower Shatt al-Arab waterway at the head of the Arabian Gulf was published in the early days of World War I, when protecting the refinery was Britain’s primary objective in the region. Published in Calcutta by the Survey of India, predicated on the best and most recent surveys. Labelled "For Official use only". - Some creasing; some stains to upper margin. An abrasion to upper neatline with old repair on verso; an old tear with minor loss to upper left blank margin with old repair from verso.
Large folio (ca. 37 x 57 cm). 1 p. Traces of folds; some slight paper flaws. Austrian revenue stamp (50 kreuzers), dated 1888, affixed to upper left corner. Calligraphic notes in Ottoman Turkish on reverse (ink somewhat oxydized).
8vo. 5 vols. With 24 engr. plates after Robert Smirke. Contemporary full straight-grained blue morocco, Greek key patterned boards, spine gilt in compartments, all edges gilt. First edition of this early translation by Edward Forster (1769-1828), based on the French version of Antoine Galland, which had first appeared between 1704 and 1717. "Galland's translation [...] was quickly translated into English and German. It enjoyed a most remarkable success throughout Europe, perceptible even in children's literature, and contributed significantly to the new image which enlightened Europeans entertained of the Islamic East: after Galland, this was no longer the home of the Antichrist and of accursed heresy, but rather the ever-constant Orient beneath an eternally fair sky, boasting splendid colours and unheard-of wealth, Caliphs, Viziers, and Kadis, harems, fairy-tale princes, fairies and genies, sorcerers and sages, a world of fantastic adventure and outrageous incidents" (cf. Fück, p. 101). - After having studied law and medicine at Balliol and St Mary Hall, Oxford, Forster decided to enter the clergy. He soon "entered into an engagement with a bookseller, William Miller [...], to issue tastefully printed editions of the works of standard authors, illustrated by the best artists of the day" (DNB). The series was inceived with "Don Quixote" in 1801. His "Arabian Nights" were frequently reprinted, seeing five editions by 1854. The present set is distinguished by the beautiful illustrations after Smirke, "whom every person of correct taste will acknowledge to be second to none in this range of art" (I, vii), as well as by the elegantly gilt navy blue morocco bindings. Some occasional spotting due to paper, some slight wear and scuffing, but a beautiful set altogether. Chauvin IV, 239. Brunet III, 1716. Graesse IV, 524. Lowndes/Bohn I, 59. DNB VII, 453. OCLC 5782874. Thieme/B. XXXI, 164 (illustrations).
Together with a lithographic portrait (315:243 mm). In Arabic to King Louis-Philippe I, requesting recruitment of men and horses. Together with an autograph translation signed by Joseph-Marie Jouannin, the king's interpreter of Arabic (Paris, 14 Feb. 1837).
3 volumes. 8vo in 4s. XXXII, 618; XII, 643, (1); XII, 763, (1) pp. With a different lithographed title-page to each volume and hundreds of wood engraved illustrations in text. 19th-century red morocco (signed on flyleaf: Jefferies & Sons, Bristol), richly gold-tooled spines, boards, board edges and turn-ins, gilt edges. Attractively bound set of the first accurate English translation of the of Alf Laylah wa Laylah, commonly known in English as the "Arabian Nights". The British orientalist Edward William Lane (1801-76) lived in Egypt for several years and had integrated well with the Arabic population. - It looks like by the time of publication of the third volume, the run of the first was sold out and the publisher had turned to a new printer for the third and a second edition of the first volume to complete the set. The second edition of the first volume is a line for line reprint, but omits the final printer's imprint and the occasionally included translator's advertisement. - With the bookplate of the American collector Henry T. Cox, whose library was auctioned in 1899, and the library stamps of the American businessman Henry T. Sloane (1845-1937). A very good set. Scheherazade's Web: The 1001 Nights & Comparative Literature, J. Ross 24 (1839-1841).
4to. 45, (1) pp. With printer's device to title page. Modern half calf. Sole edition: "Extremely rare. The last of three small New Testament portions issued in Arabic by the Raphelengius press" (Smitskamp). Anonymously edited by Thomas Erpenius as a specimen of his planned polyglot Bible. "Erpenius had a special interest in the text of the Bible, and also published the Syriac version. He aimed at editing a corpus embodying all the variants which could be gleaned from the Oriental versions, but his premature death at the age of forty put an end to these plans" (Smitskamp 80). - 1833 ownership "John Williams" to title page. Slight waterstain throughout the upper third, otherwise fine. Smitskamp 279. Not in Darlow/Moule.
Small 8vo (108 x 156 mm). (4), 589 pp. Contemporary calf binding with gilt spine title in Osmanli and label "Watkins Binder" on the inner side of the rear cover. An exceedingly rare edition of Ali Ufki Bey's Turkish translation of the New Testament, almost unknown to bibliography. - Revised by Türabi Efendi from the text produced by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1827, the original translation into Ottoman Turkish was prepared by the Polish musician and linguist Wojciech Bobowski (ca. 1610-75), known under his Muslim name Ali Ufki, as an attempt to present the Christian text to the Muslim world. The 17th century Turkish Bible translation had been informed by Christian eschatological hopes that Protestantism and Islam might form a political alliance to defeat the common enemy, idolatrous Catholicism, and bring about world peace. A Turkish translation of the Holy Scripture was to advance this cause: the word of God alone, it was assumed, would soon convert the Muslim world to Christianity. Although Ali Bey, who had been hired to the task in 1662, completed his translation in 1664/65, the first printed edition was not published until 1819, by the Imprimerie impériale in Paris. - Türabi Efendi, who carried out the new revisions for this edition, had in his youth been sent to Britain by the Egyptian administration, learned English and may have even married a British woman; in 1865 he would publish a Turkish cookbook in English. A more common version of this text, further revised by James W. Redhouse, was published in 1857. Possibly the new edition became necessary after the present 1853 edition sold out in the Crimean war (cf. Privratsky, p. 48). - Light brownstaining to beginning and end; sporadic underlined words and annotations in Ottoman Turkish in the margins. Binding professionally repaired at extremeties; overall in a good condition. A single institutional example could be traced (Tübingen University Library). Darlow/Moule 9468. OCLC 313135237. Bütün baskilarin listesi, tarihsel açiklamalar ve arastirma önerileriyle (2013), s.v. 1857 - Kitâb ül-'Ahd el-Cedîd. Cf. Bruce Privratsky, A History of Turkish Bible Translations, v. S (2014), p. 47.
8vo. (20), 352 pp. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped edges, spine and spine-label. Marbled endpapers. All edges sprinkled red. Very rare, early French edition of the Fables of Bidpai, here comprising the prologue and the first four chapters of the "Anvari Suhaili". This Persian fable first appeared in French in 1644 in a translation prepared by David Sahid d'Ispahan. The year 1698 saw a joint edition by the Paris publishers Barbin and Delaulne, copies published by the latter being slightly more common. Not a single copy bearing Barbin's name on the title-page is traceable in libraries internationally. - The ancient Sanskrit Panchatantra fables, a classic of the genre, are thought to have been assembled ca. 200 BC out of stories from an even older oral tradition. The stories became known in Europe through Hebrew translations of Arabic versions under the name Bidpai. Featuring animals as a mirror for human behaviour, the fables were intended to educate people, especially young rulers. - Handwritten ownership of E. Bouzerand to lower flyleaf, dated 1802. Extremities professionally repaired. Paper shows occasional light spotting. A good copy of this classic work. Barbier II, 413. Brunet I, 937 (Delaulne issue). Graesse I, 422. Chauvin II, p. 33, no. 55B. This edition not in OCLC.
Large 8vo. 88 pp. Printed in black with red headings, within printed gilt rules. Illuminated head-piece and 'unwan printed in three colours and gilt, in imitation of manuscript illumination. Gilt tail-piece. Contemporary green morocco binding with fore-edge flap, covers giltstamped with an oriental design. All edges gilt. The full text of 19 trade treaties, in Ottoman Turkish throughout, closed between the Roman/Austrian and the Ottoman Empire between 1110/1699 (Peace of Karlovac) and 1259/1844. An Italian-language edition had appeared in 1844 ("Raccolta dei Trattati e delle principali convenzioni concernanti il commercio e la navigazione dei sudditi Austriaci negli Stati della Porta Ottomana"). - Occasional insignificant foxing; altogether very well preserved. A splendid copy bound for the Austrian Imperial printing office. Zenker, BO II, 805.
