3.989 Ergebnisse
12mo. 136, (8) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 10 woodcuts in the text. - (Bound with) II: Carcano, Francesco. Dell'arte del strucciero con il modo di conoscere, e medicare falconi, astori, et sparavieri, e tutti gli uccelli di rapina. Ibid., 1645. 82, (2) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 7 woodcuts in the text (2 full-page). - (Bound with) III: Manzini, Romano. Ammaestramenti per allevare, pascere, & curare gli uccelli. Ibid., 1645. 58, (2) pp. With woodcut title vignette and 8 woodcuts in the text. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. Fine sammelband containing three classic Italian works on hawking, falconry, and the care of birds in their final edition. I: "Well-known book" (Schwerdt), first published in 1547. The English author Turberville drew heavily on this work for his famous "Booke of Faulconrie or Hauking". - II: "A small book on hawking, by a practical falconer" (Schwerdt). - III: The third edition of a book "on bird catching and the care of birds. The first edition was published at Milan by Pacifico Pontio in 1575 and must be rare" (Schwerdt). "This little book relates solely to cage-birds [...] It is usually bound up with the books on Falconry by Francesco Carcano and Federico Giorgi, and might be supposed to relate to that subject" (Harting). - Bookplate of Hans Dedi von front pastedown. A good copy of this collection of rare works in a contemporary binding, in excellent state of preservation. I: Souhart 217. Harting 144. Cf. Schwerdt I, 207. - II: Schwerdt I, 94. Harting 142f. Souhart 86. - III: Schwerdt II, 7. Souhart 315. Harting 147.
Folio (210 x 290 mm). 2 volumes bound in one. Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 166 ff; 273 ff. (foliated in a later hand), 40 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. Fiqh commentary on the famous and much-glossed Hanafi manual "Mukhtasar al-Qudurii" (known among Hanafi scholars simply as "al-Kitab") of Abu al-Husayn Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Quduri al-Baghdadi (362-428 H). The author of this commentary, Abu Bakr bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Haddad al-Zubaidi al-Yamani (d. 800 H / 1397 CE), was a Hanafi jurist and exegete. He hailed from the people of Abadieh, from the villages (Wadi Zabid) in Tihama, historically in Yemen but today mostly in Saudi Arabia. - The first volume, copied in 1046 H (1636 CE), has an ownership inscription of Abdullah bin Hassan Al-Afif Al-Kazaruni, a Hanafi jurist from Mecca, dated 1063 H (1653 CE). The second volume has an inscription stating this was commissioned by him in 1071 H (1661 CE). - Handwritten table of contents on the preserved original flyleaves. Some light browning and brownstaining throughout; a few repairs; old waqf stamps and inscription to first page of both parts; marginal annotations throughout. The restored binding uses the prettily stamped original cover material. Removed from the Kutub Khana-i-Sultani (Sultani Library), one of the libraries the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, established in 1926 at Dera Nawab Sahib in south Punjab. GAL I, 175; II, 189; II S, 250.
8vo. 2 vols. XXXII, 400 pp. VII, (1), 320 pp. With a total of 8 folding maps and 11 plates as called for. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped red labels to gilt spine. Second London edition of this important work, first published in Edinburgh in 1727, "which remains to this day one of the most valuable first-hand histories of English merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean and East Indies" (Howgego). It covers "the whole of the Orient" (Hill) from Ethiopia to Japan and is very strong on India (some 20 chapters, not counting Bengal, which is described separately), but also includes an extensive section on the Arabian Peninsula: chapter IV "gives a little description of the coast of Arabia the Happy, from Mount Sinai to Mocha, with some observations on the religion, customs and laws"; chapter V "gives a description of the Immaum of Mocha's country, particularly its situation, laws, customs and commerce"; chapter VI "contains a description of Aden [...], also an account of the sea-coast of Arabia petraea, as far as Muskat and Bassora", chapter VII "treats of the kingdom and city of Muskat, and of their religious and civil customs [...] and a little account of the sea-coast of Arabia deserta, as far as Bassora", while chapter VIII "gives an account of Bassora City, and that part of Arabia deserta". Includes a rough, but apparently original map of the Gulf, showing "Barreen Island", "Cape Mussendon", and little detail along the Peninsula's northeastern coast in between save for a place labelled "Zoar", here not indicating Sohar in Oman but clearly referencing the area of the present-day Emirate of Sharjah (even Niebuhr's 1765 map still shows a town named "Seer" - Sir, Julfar - opposite the island of "Scharedsje"). The text mentions the region's trade in horses and pearls, stating, "There are no towns of note between Muskat and Bassora, but Zoar, and but very few inconsiderable villages; but there are two or three pretty convenient harbours for shipping. The southernmost is about 6 leagues to the southward of Cape Mosenden, called Courfacaun. It is almost like Muskat Harbour, but somewhat bigger, and has excellent fresh water from deep wells, about a quarter of a mile from the landing place. The village contains about twenty little houses; yet there are pretty good refreshments to be had there [...]". - In India, Gujarat and Bombay are covered particularly extensively, and the illustrations include not only a detailed coastline map of the subcontinent, but also several plates showing Ganesha, the elephant-headed god; a religious procession involving an elaborate wheeled scaffold from which men are hung; the temple of Jagannath; and the notorious "Juggernaut" car. - The Scottish captain Hamilton went to sea, in his own words "very young", in 1688, and travelled as far as the Barbary coast before basing himself in Surat and trading and travelling all over the Indian Ocean, "visiting, it is said, every port between the Cape and Canton" (Howgego). He made a reputation for himself as a foul-mouthed, resourceful and bold operator fending off Baluchi robbers, treacherous governors and Indian pirates. - Bindings professionally repaired. Light browning and occasional waterstaining; a few pencil annotations. Provenance: from the collection of the American diplomat Alexander Weddell (1876-1948) and his wife Virginia Chase Steedman Weddell (1874-1948); deaccessioned from the Virginia House Museum, Richmond (handwritten ownership "A. & V. Weddell, 1924, Calcutta" to flyleaves; bookplate to pastedowns). Alt-Japan 630. Howgego I, p. 477, H13. Cf. Macro 1115. Goldsmiths' 6522. Hanson 3724. Cordier, Indosinica 890. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages (2004) 765.
Folio (240 x 350 mm). Vol. 1 (of 3). (52), 590, 583-982 pp. Title-page and half-title printed in red and black; half-title with an engraved border showing great medical practitioners. Further with woodcut device on title, a nearly full-page woodcut diagram of the ocular anatomy, and 2 full-page woodcuts with a total of 6 illustrations showing the practice of osteopathy. Near-contemporary full calf with giltstamped label to gilt spine. Marbled endpapers. All edges sprinkled red. Rare, early illustrated edition of "the most famous medical text ever written" (Garrison/M. 43). Giunta's was the first edition ever to contain illustrations (six meticulous woodcuts of a physician performing chiropractic treatments, as well as a diagram of the human eye anatomy). The present volume, the first and by far most copious of a set of three commonly bound in two volumes, comprises books 1 through 3 (out of 5). - Ibn Sina's "Keta-b al-qanun fi'l-tebb" ("Canon of Medicine"), written in Arabic but widely translated throughout the Middle Ages and the basis of medical training in the West as late as the mid-17th century. Finished in 1025, the Qanun is divided into 5 books, devoted to the basic principles of medicine, the Materia Medica (listing about 800 drugs), pathology, diseases affecting the body as a whole and finally the formulary. - Ibn Sina (c. 980-1037), in the West known by his Latinized name Avicenna, was physician to the ruling caliphs. The influence of his Qanun can hardly be overestimated. Translated into Latin in the 12th century, it became a standard textbook of Galenic medicine, influencing many generations of physicians. "From the early fourteenth to the mid-sixteenth century Avicenna held a high place in Western European medical studies, ranking together with Hippocrates and Galen as an acknowledged authority" (Weisser). "[T]he final codification of all Greco-Arabic medicine. It dominated the medical schools of Europe and Asia for five centuries" (Garrison/M. 43). - Some light brownstaining, mainly confined to upper margin. Early 20th century bookplate to front pastedown. Binding uncommonly well preserved; a very appealing copy. Krivatsy 496. OCLC 4457623. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. 57, no. 23. Norman 1590. N. G. Siraisi, Avicenna in Renaissance Italy (2014), pp. 140, 165. Garrison/M. 43f. Hayes, Genius of Arab Civilisation, Source of Renaissance, pp. 168-169. PMM 11.
Small 4to. XXXIII, (1), 560 pp. With an engraved folding map of Asia Minor, 3 engraved plans (2 of which folding), and 6 lithographed plates. Contemporary full calf with giltstamped borders, spine and spine-labels. First edition. Presentation copy inscribed by one of the authors to pastedown: "Captain Shiffner R.N. frm. Capt. Mangles". - Early privately published travelogue of the Middle East. It consists of 6 letters, the first and last of which are dated Cairo 1817 and Cyprus 1818 respectively. Irby and Mangles, both naval officers, assisted Giovanni Battista Belzoni in his excavation at the site of Abu Simbel, an independent account of which is given in the present work. From there, they travelled through the desert to Gaza, Jaffa, Beirut and Tripoli; thence to Baalbek and Antioch; and reached Aleppo, where they were among the earliest modern explorers of Syria. They continued to Palmyra, Damascus, down the Jordan valley, and through the Holy Land. - The engraved plans include a ground plan of the great temple of Ebsambal, a ground plan of Petra, and a portion of the Dead Sea. The lithograph plates, prepared by William Westall, James Duffield Harding, and others, include scenic views of the Nile and Aswan, as well as a botanical study of the Heshbon wheat. - Covers somewhat rubbed and spotted; rebacked preserving most of the original spine and green morocco labels. Corners bumped. Paper occasionally slightly foxed; the map with a small tear. From the library of Captain Henry Shiffner (b. 1789). Atabey 606. Blackmer 860. Ibrahim Hilmy I, 325. Weber I, 123. OCLC 257597235.
Copper engraving (from J. Huygen van Linschoten, Itinerario, 1596). Printed on 2 joined sheets. 385 x 535 mm. Matted. Famous map of the Arabian Sea between Cyprus and northern Sumatra from one of the ed. 1596-1644. "Probably the first detailed navigation chart printed for the Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea" (Al Ankary 148). Tibbetts 46. Al Ankary 148f. Gole, Early Maps 8. Schilder, MCN V, p. 140 & VII, p. 220/1. Clancy 70. Clancy/R. 67 (all illustrated).
62 vols. bound in 42, including: 7-16, 19, 21-25 (paper), 28-33, 37-41, 50-57, 63, 69-73, 75-77, 80, 88-92, 94-99, 102, 115, 139, 154-155, 168 (paper). Indices of 1-3, 8-11, 12-15, 28-31, 131-152, 1-39. Vol. 154 with a folded map. Mostly blue cloth with giltstamped crest and spine title, original wrappers included in the binding. 6 vols. in original wrappers. Lithogr. coloured plate of a chart at the end of vol. 56/57 added. First and only edition: a substantial torso of the League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS), the League's officially published collection of treaties and other international engagements. Begun in 1920, it was discontinued in 1946 (following the dissolution of the League) after 205 volumes. The present set includes numerous important agreements reached during the interwar period between the western powers and those of the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, the Trucial States, Yemen, and Oman. - To cite but a few examples, vol. 71 includes the full Arabic and English text of the "Treaty of Friendship and good understanding between his Britannic Majesty and his Majesty the King of Hejaz and of Nejd and its dependencies. Signed at Jeddah, May 20, 1927", authorized by Faisal Abdul-Aziz al Saud, Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdul-Rahman al Saud and Gilbert Clayton, pp. 133-164, also noting: "Article 6. His Majesty the King of the Hejaz and of Nejd and its Dependencies undertakes to maintain friendly and peaceful relations with the territories of Kuwait and Bahrain, and with the Sheikhs of Qatar and the Oman Coast, who are in special treaty relations with His Britannic Majesty's Government", p. 154. - Vol. 115 includes the German and Arabic text as well as a French and English translation of the "Treaty of Friendship" between Germany and Hejaz, Neijd and dependencies of 1929 in Cairo which was authorized by Stohrer, Sheikh Hafez Wahba, and Sheikh Fausan El Sabek, pp. 266-270. - Vol. 8 includes the English text of the "Anglo-Muskat commercial treaty": "[...] the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and Oman, signed on the eighth day of Shaban 1308 H., corresponding to the 19th March, 1891, will be prolonged by this writing notwithstanding all or any correspondence between His Late Highness Syud Faisal bin Turki and the Glorious British Government [...]" authorized by Taimur bin Faisal, Sultan of Muscat and Oman and R. Wingate, I.C.S. - Vol. 25 includes the English text of the "Anglo-Muscat Treaty prolonging for one year from February 11, 1924", authorized by R. G. Hinde and Nadir, Muhammad bin Ahmad, Rashid, and Zubair in Muscat, pp. 388-391. - Vol. 168 includes the "Agreement between Great Britain and Muscat renewing for a further period of one year from February 11th, 1927, the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of March 19th, 1891 [...]" in Arabic, French and English authorized by Said bin Tamur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, and Major R. P. Watts, I.A., pp. 230-233. - Vol. 96 includes the "Agreement between Great Britain and Mascat renewing for a further period of one year, from February 11, 1929, the above Treaty of March 19, 1891" in Arabic, English and French, authorized by B. S. Thomas, G. P. Murphy, and Hadji Zuber bin Ali "on behalf of his Highness Sayid Sir Taimur bin Faisal, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., Sultan of Maskat and Oman", pp. 194-197. Numerous further relevant treaties are referenced in the copious indices included with the series. - Three sets of indices bound in separate volumes, the others bound with the treaties. Some of the original wrappers somewhat damaged when not included in the binding, but well preserved. Removed from the Champlain Library of the Université de Moncton, Canada (their shelfmarks to spines and stamps to edges); previously in the library of the University of Washington, Seattle, International Fisheries Commission (their stamps to some wrappers).
4to. 3 vols. XXXVIII, 319 (but: 337), (1) pp. VIII, 379, (1) pp. XII, 556 pp. With 50 (instead of 51) engraved plates and maps (9 [instead of 10] of which folding), 2 in original hand colour. Contemporary giltstamped full calf with giltstamped spine-labels. First edition: a scarce series of research papers of one of the leading learned societies of the 19th century, focusing on India and Persia. Among the most prominent authors are James Mackintosh, George Staunton, Henry Salt and Vans Kennedy. The "Transactions" include an English translation of the fifth sermon of Saadi, a discussion of the Akhlaq-i Nasiri, the account of a journey from al-Qatif to Yanbu, a description of the character of Muhammad, and an account on the deciphering of cuneiform, as well as papers on antiquities and archaeology, literature, religion, linguistics, geology, history, current affairs, and anthropology. The illustrations depict mainly archaeological finds and excavation sites, including the caves in Salsette and the excavations at Elephantana, as well as architectural ornamentation, showing the Temple of Boro-Budor, cuneiform writing, and "a curious case in Arabian surgery" involving a wounded arm. - Provenance: "Ochterlony" bookplate to front pastedown of volume II, most likely that of David Ochterlony (1758-1825), commander of the British East India Company and British Resident at the Mughal Court in Delhi. Later obtained by the Schlagintweit brothers, eminent German 19th century scientists and explorers (their library blindstamps "Ex Bibliotheca Schlagintweit" to title-pages). Last in the collection of Prince Konrad of Bavaria (1883-1963), a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach (his bookplate to pastedowns of two volumes and front free endpaper of the other, his library stamp to half-titles). - Bindings professionally restored; vols. I and II lacking title-labels. Tears in gutter of one folding plate repaired with old adhesive tape (not touching image). Some minor spotting, offsetting of plates and text; light marginal dampstaining to a portion of volume two. A scarce work with fine provenance. OCLC 977182244.
Title page and 38 unnumbered pages of text. Half cloth binding from around 1870 with gilt spine-lettering and marbled boards. This is a preliminary outline of the material to be covered extensively in Ludolf's "Istoria Aethiopica", which was published in three volumes from 1681 to 1693. Job Ludolf, a German German scholar, and the "founder of Ethiopian studies" (Katalog der Eutiner Landesbibliothek) gathered the most important information available about Ethiopia in his time, working for a time in collaboration with one of the Ethiopian monks who stayed in Rome. In addition to his monumental history of the country, he wrote dictionaries and grammars of Ge'ez and Amharic. His intensive studies of Ethiopian culture and life made his work the best 17thcentury source on the region described. "A most important work on Abyssinia" (cf. Paulitschke), "of an importance transcending his own time". Very good condition outside, text shows browning and foxing. Stamp on reverse of title page. A particularly scarce and hardly known work, preceding Ludolf's famous publication on Ethiopia by a full 5 years and at the same time Ludolf's very first publication!
2 volumes. (30,5x22cm). IV, 741; IV, 54, 16, 48, 36, 36, 12, 6, 30, 12 pp. With numerous illustrations in text, one small map after the preface, and 15 folding maps in the second volume. Half sheepskin, cloth sides. First edition of a travelogue through Asia, written by Carl Gustav Mannerheim (1867-1951), future president of Finland, 1944-1946. In 1906, Mannerheim, then a colonel, was sent on an expedition to Asia. "The object of this expedition was to study conditions in the interior of Northern China, collect statistical materials and perform various tasks of a military nature", says Mannerheim in the preface. Russia wanted to know the state of affairs in China due to the reforms and modernization undertaken by the Qing Dynasty. Besides that, Mannerheim wanted to collect items of scientific interest for the National Museum in Helsinki and to study the little-known peoples living in Northern China. This makes the work, with its numerous illustrations by photographs, an interesting anthropological account as well. The first volume contains Mannerheim's journal with many photographs. The second describes the scientific results the artefacts Mannerheim took with him to Helsinki and, including sculptures, costumes and utensils. - Number 33 out of limited edition of 100 and signed by the author. With owner's inscription of Ewald Henttu on flyleaf, dated 1940. Very good copy; binding slightly rubbed along the extremities.
12mo. 3 vols. X, 238 pp. With 8 steel engraved plates. (4), 166 pp. With 6 steel engraved plates. (4), 279 pp. With 10 steel engraved plates. Contemporary long-grained red morocco, decorated raised bands, gilt fillet and decorative frames on covers, gilt edges. First edition of this early study of the Bedouins of Egypt and Syria, covering their manners, laws, civil and religious customs. Illustrated with 24 steel engraved plates by Charlin after F. Massart and finely watercoloured at the time. The notes by Dom Raphaël were most probably taken during the French occupation of Egypt. Raphaël Monachis (Rufa'il Zakhûr) was born in Egypt of Syriac ancestry and was a monk in the Greek community in Cairo. He was an Arab member of the French Institute of Egypte and the first interpreter of the Diwan from Cairo. - Rare complete copy, some corners slightly scuffed, spine faded, otherwise in good condition. Macro 1555. Gay 3587. OCLC 25988256.
4to. 3 in 4 vols. With 2 folding maps and one folding panorama. Numerous illustrations and plans. Original wrappers. First edition of this standard work on the region: the first scientific account of the Nabataean antiquities, including the ruins of Petra. The Bohemian scholar Alois Musil (1868-1944) was fluent in 35 Arabic dialects. In 1898 he had rediscovered the lost desert castle of Qusayr Amra (built ca. 715 A.D.) in the Jordanian desert north of Amman. During WWI he was sent to the Middle East to thwart British operations against the Ottoman Empire, thus becoming the opponent of T. E. Lawrence. In 1827 he helped establish the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Prague. - With contemp. ownership "Dr. Zweig" on wrapper covers (in Hebrew and German). Some pages uncut; professional repairs to edges. Rare with all 4 volumes; no complete copy recorded at auction during the past decades. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1667. Howgego III, M103 (p. 664). Fück 262. NYPL Arabia coll. 171. OCLC 3114451.
2 parts in one volume. Engraved title page, letterpress title in red and black, 2 armorial engraved plates, 2 ff. of dedication, 208 pp. 258, (10) pp. With 111 engravings in the text, 1 folding engraved map, and 35 double-page-sited engraved plates. Full calf, spine and covers stamped in blind, spine label. Folio. Second Dutch edition (previously published in 1665) of this description of the 1655-57 embassy of Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, with a general account on China in part 2. The plates show views (including Batavia, Canton, Macao, Nanjing, and Beijing), plans, costumes, flora and fauna etc. - "The Dutch, being at the height of their power, having supplanted the Portuguese, desired to gain access to China and a portion of the Chinese trade. After much opposition the Government succeeded in sending merchants to try the pulse of the Chinese at Canton. Upon their report it was determined to despatch ambassadors from Batavia to the Court of Peking to solicit liberty to trade. This is the embassy written up by Nieuhoff, who was steward to the ambassadors" (Cox). - The selection of plates varies from copy to copy. The present one contains two engraved armorial plates not called for in the list of plates, but not the portrait (not mentioned there either) and also lacks the plate "Paolinxi". - Hardly browned of soiled; insignificant edge flaws at beginning and end. Map wrinkled, waterstained and with repaired edge tears. Cat. Nederl. Hist. Scheepvart Mus. 499. Cordier, BS 2345. Graesse IV, 675. Tiele 800. Cf. Boucher de la Richarderie V, 297; Cox I, 325; Henze III, 612.
4to (165 x 213 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 53 pp. on 28 ff. 19 lines, per extensum, written in a Naskhi script in black ink, some words in red, some marginal notes. Contemporary half leather binding over marbled boards with fore-edge flap. A manuscript on Arabic prosody and metrics, forming a commentary on the well-known prosodic manual "Kitab al-'Arud al-Andalusi" by Abu al-Jaysh al-Ansari al-Qisti al-Andalusi (d. 626 H / 1229 CE). - The commentator Al-Qaysari, who flourished in Anatolia in the 14th century CE, both condensed and expanded on the work of Al-Jaysh, with the aim of providing a summary for students as well as adding his own perspective on the study of poetic metre and verse. He dedicated his effort to Emir Süleyman bin Tashun, an important political figure in Anatolia, who had commissioned the book. After a traditional introduction and long foreword, Al-Qaysari's work contains quotations from the original text, which he then juxtaposes with his own opinions. For his commentary, Al-Qaysari also drawn upon the standard works of Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (who first systematized the art of Arabic prosody) and Al-Khalil's student Al-Akhfash al-Avsat. - By tradition, Arabic prosody ('Arud) scans poetry not in terms of syllables (as in most Western languages), but in terms of vowelled and unvowelled letters, which are combined into larger units, which in turn make up feet. Sixteen types of metre are distinguished, some very common, others exceedingly rare. - The present copy was written in the early 18th century CE by a scribe who names himself as Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ez-Zuhri es-Shirvani al Madani, a scholar who is known to have resided in Medina all his life. On the recto of the first leaf are a few later pencil notes which erroneously attribute the work's authorship to Al-Madani himself, though the copyist did indeed add several notes of his own supercommentary in the margins. - Binding a little rubbed; hinges chipped and weakened in places, interior very well preserved with minimal staining or smudging. A fine example. GAL I 310, 8 & S I 544, 9. Cf. Joan Maling, The Theory of Classical Arabic Metrics (1973). Ernest N. McCarus, "Identifying the Meters of Arabic Poetry", in: Al-’Arabiyya 16.1/2 (1983), pp. 57-83.
8vo. 2 vols. (4), XV, (1), 400 pp. (4), 488 pp. With 10 engr. plates (2 folding). Contemporary quarter calf over mottled boards on four raised bands. Gilt lettering and decoration to spines. Marbled endpapers and edges. First edition of J. T. Reinaud's (1795-1867) rare catalogue of the famous collection of Islamic Art amassed by the French statesman Blacas. Most copies have title changed to "Monumens arabes, persans et turcs". This copy is inscribed by Reinaud to the Duc de Luynes, another famous French antiquarian. - The French antiquarian and diplomat Pierre Louis Jean Casimir, prince de Blacas d'Aulps (1770-1839) acted as prime minister to Louis XVIII when he succeeded Napoleon in 1814 and later served as French ambassador to the Holy See. Remaining in Rome for many years, he provided Ingres with a commission and became a patron to the German classicist Theodor Panofka. He worked closely with Italian archaeologist Carlo Fea in the excavation of the Roman Forum, supported the orientalist Jean-François Champollion and created the "Musée Egyptien" within the Louvre. In 1866, his descendants sold most of his collection to the British Museum, where it remains to this day. - The plates show beautiful specimens of Arabic calligraphical art (including many seals). Some browning and staining throughout. From the library of the Ducs de Luynes from the Château of Dampierre with bookplate to pastedowns. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 159. Gay 3592 bis (variant title). Brunet IV, 1198. Graesse VI, 72. Quérard VII, 513. OCLC 39974885. Not in Arntzen/Rainwater.
Small 8vo. (8), 252 [but 254], (2) pp. (includes final leaf of ads). Contemporary calf, rebacked. First edition of this extraordinary account of an Englishman’s capture by Barbary pirates and subsequent adventures as a slave in Algeria. The narrative is framed as an authentic journal of a deceased traveller, prepared for the press by a friend of the departed. Through this mechanism the reader is taken into a proto-novelistic fantasy, albeit one that must have been informed by genuine experience of Eastern travel. As a slave under numerous masters the author tricks his way variously into employment as the cook to the King of Algiers, is then demoted to Keeper of the King’s Bath and secretly fathers a daughter with one of the King’s wives. After an unsuccessful stint as a gardener’s assistant he journeys in the service of an officer, collecting tribute money with the Algerian army and offers his services as an advisor to the Ottoman governor of Tlemcen. He recounts observations on the various peoples encountered and their customs and peculiarities, marvelling at flying serpents, lions and ostriches and skirmishing with an army of Arabs. Against a backdrop of mosques, minarets and palaces, the narrative is peppered with anecdotes of meetings with Barbary pirates, European renegados, and dalliances with alluring women of the Maghreb. - The author takes particular relish in recounting the details of his sexual adventures: "the women in this country keep much at home, but their minds and affections are more wandering abroad, because they are so recluse; whereas if they had as much liberty as in other countries they would not be so furiously debauch’d: their husbands keep strict guard over them, that when they can escape their eyes, they give the reins to their passion, and labour to satisfy themselves more abundantly; stolen waters are sweet: the more they are forbidden and hindered from variety, the more pleasure and satisfaction they fancy in it [...] had my design been to make conquests in the Empire of Love, I think none could have been more happy [...] this good opinion of my ability spread & increased wonderfully in the town [...]". A separate appended section offers directions for navigating the Barbary coast. The work is of value both as a travel narrative and as a proto-novel reflecting the European fascination with the Orient. This is one of four journeys undertaken by Englishmen in the Ottoman Mediterranean analysed recently by Gerald Maclean in his 2004 study "The rise of Oriental travel: English visitors to the Ottoman Empire, 1580-1720". - Provenance: small stamp of Bibliothèque Generale, Rabat, to title, first leaf of dedication, and first leaf of text. Small ownership stamp of Alexander Gardyne, 1883, to verso of title. Manuscript bookplate of Henry White, Lichfield, 1820, to pastedown. A very good copy. Playfair, Morocco, 244. Playfair, Algeria, 155. Pforzheimer, 846. Wing S152. Not in Blackmer or Atabey.
Folio. (8), 168, (2) pp. With 37 etched plates. Contemporary full calf with richly gilt front cover, label to spine, and gilt edges. First (and only) edition in French. - Archduke Rudolf set out on his tour of the Middle East in 1881, travelling first from Vienna to Miramar, Corfu, Alexandria, and Cairo. From there the group sailed up the Nile to Aswan and Memphis, then journeyed on to Port Said, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and the Holy Land, returning to Vienna from Haifa via Cattaro (Kotor), Ragusa (Dubrovnik), and Trieste. This is an outstanding and unique copy in a sumptous Viennese binding, in immaculate condition, was created for Anton Ritter von Beck (1812-95), then director of the government's Imperial printing office in Vienna. With a long inscription by the translator, the Baron de Montandin, to "Monsieur le Hof Rath Anton Chevalier Von Beck" on the flyleaf, dated Vienna, 28 February 1885. Some slight staining to the guards of the etchings, otherwise a very clean copy. Hamann, Habsburger-Lexikon 415 ff. ÖBL IX, 315 ff. Wurzbach VII, 145 ff.
Large 8vo. XVIII, 200 pp. With half-title, frontispiece portrait, 5 black-and-white plates, folding map and "Genealogical table of members of the Al Bu Said dynasty". Publisher's original blue cloth, title gilt on spine & upper cover, Said bin Sultan name gilt in Arabic on upper cover. Rare first edition. - Said-Ruete was the son of Princess Salma (1844-1924), daughter of Sayyid Sai’id ibn Sultan (1791-1856), ruler of Oman and Zanzibar. The Princess married Friedrich Ruete, a clerk at the German embassy, and lived for 52 years as a widow in Germany. Their son Rudolph produced this remarkable survey of his grandfather’s life and times, considered as important as Vincenzo Maurizi‘s "History of Seyd Said, Sultan of Muscat" (London 1819). Sayyid Said ibn Sultan became the ruler of Oman in 1806, when he was about 15 years of age. After defeating the opposition with British help he determined to reassert Oman's traditional claims in East Africa. He eventually succeeded, and in about 1840 shifted his capital to Zanzibar, where he introduced the cloves that became the foundation of the island's economy. He also controlled the Arab traders that brought back slaves and ivory from the African interior. In this monograph the author highlights the early history of Oman, the rise of Said ibn Sultan to power in Oman and Zanzibar, and his relations with foreign powers (France, England, and the United States). In his foreword to this work, Major General Sir Percy Cox identifies the establishment of an Arab dominion in Zanzibar as Sultan Said's most lasting achievement. - Covers a little soiled (lower cover more so); light wear to extremeties; insignificant spotting confined to flyleaves. A fine copy with ticket of The Times Book Club to lower pastedown. Provenance: from the library of Christopher Palmer Rigby (1820-85), who served as the East India Company's agent and British Consul in Zanzibar from 1858 to 1861. Macro 1986. OCLC 5705061.
Collection of 14 maps (nos. MI 1-13 and MI 18). Mostly in full colour; various sizes but mostly ca. 70 x 100 cm; scale mostly 1:100,000 (MI 3: 1:250,000; MI 6: 1:2,470 [b&w]; MI 7: ca. 1:1,600 [b&w with red overlays]; MI 8: 1:800 [b&w with red overlays]; MI 9: set of 2 maps [ca. 1:2,340 and 1:1,200] and 1 cross-section [all b&w, maps with red overlays]). All folded in original brown printed envelopes. 14 maps of the 25-map series published between 1966 and 1971, including the complete set of the first 13 maps. Many photomaps based on aerial reconaissance and photomosaics, showing geological or geochemical information. Some sheets include location diagrams, text, notes, cross sections, charts, index map, and insets. The mapped resources also concern ancient gold mines. Among the credited cartographers are some Arabian scientists, but mainly Americans: James Mytton, Robert F. Johnson, Virgil A. Trent, C. W. Smith, J. Kouther, M. Q. Asad, Gerrit Eijkelboom, Mohammed Gendi, Bernard Henry, Xavier Leca, Mohammed Shanti, Phillippe Delange, and Jean Pflaum. Abdullah O. Ankary contributed to the text of several maps, and much of the geology is based on work done in the 1950s and early 1960s by Glen F. Brown, one of the pioneers of the partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Saudi government which began in the 1940s, spanned the next five decades and played such an important role in the development of the kingdom. The map and envelope design closely match that of the geological maps of Saudi Arabia issued by the USGS since the 1950s. - Perfectly preserved. OCLC 977893902.
Large 4to. 3 vols. LXVI, 202 pp. (2), 337, (1) pp. (2), 394 pp. With 10 folding engraved plates and numerous foling tables. Contemporary calf with gilt spines. All edges red. Marbled endpapers. Only edition. - Exceptionally rare Latin translation of this history of the 1795 plague epidemic in Syrmia, first published in German as "Geschichte der Pest in Sirmien in den Jahren 1795 und 1796" by the Budapest physician Franz von Schraud (1761-1806). - Titles stamped on reverse. Hinges and extremeties professionally repaired; a good copy. Petrik III, 331. Wurzbach XXXI, 274. ADB XXXII, 453. OCLC 14833959. Cf. Lesky, Kat. der Josephin. Bibliothek, p. 596 (German ed. only).
4to. 160 unnumbered pp. Title page printed in red and black. With a large title woodcut in red and black and 3 woodcuts in the text (1 page-sized cut, 2 repeats). Modern vellum bound to style, stored in custom cloth-lined slipcase. Scarce account of a 1556/59 journey to the Holy Land by the Silesian nobleman Melchior von Seydlitz. First published in 1580, the work begins with the events of the trip from Venice via the Greek islands to Cyprus, where the pilgrims stayed from July 4 through 14, 1556. An entire chapter is devoted to the description of the island, its geography, agriculture, salt works, etc. Substantive chapters are dedicated to Jerusalem, Damascus, and Constantinople. Also mentions Mecca, "16 days from Jerusalem". "Seylitz's party was taken captive in Palestine; the 'honourable warrior' Hand von Ehrenberg visited them in Ramleh" (cf. Tobler). The fine title woodcut shows the travellers' capture; the full-page illustrations depicts te Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. - Several contemporary underlinings and marginalia in red ink. Small, faint erased stamp to reverse of title. A fine copy. VD 16, ZV 14388. Röhricht 710. Yerasimos p. 245. Cf. Tobler 76.
Folio (243 x 367 mm). (12), 237, (1), 45, (7) pp. With engr. portrait of the author by R. White and 48 (of 49) engraved plates (lacking plate I). Contemporary calf with modern morocco label to gilt spine. First edition. Andrew Snape served as serjeant farrier to King Charles II. In his dedication to the king, he speaks of "being a Son of that Family that hath had the honour to serve the Crown of this Kingdom in the Quality of Farriers for these two Hundred Years." It is this classic work on which François Garsault was to base his 1734 "Anatomie Générale du Cheval". - Some brownstaining; some leaves with repaired tears, binding repaired. With armorial bookplate with cipher of George Simon Harcourt, Earl Harcourt (1736-1809) on front pastedown. Huth 26. Mellon 31. Wing S4382. ESTC R-14873. Nissen ZBI, 3887. OCLC 29155938. Cf. Mennessier de la Lance I, 526.
Folio (500 x 350 mm). IV, 42 pp. With 19 aquatints by Edward Orme after sketches by Spilsbury in original hand colour. Contemporary half cloth with red boards and printed label to upper cover. Second edition of English naval surgeon Francis Spilsbury’s account of his travels in Palestine and Syria during the Napoleonic campaigns there, with 19 finely hand-coloured folio aquatint views. Spilsbury was surgeon on board HMS Tigre during the campaigns of 1799 and 1800. The Tigre brought Sir William Sidney Smith to defend Acre against Napoleon’s siege, and led a naval force in support of Turkish armies which finally relieved Acre, and his text gives some account of the military campaigns and the Turkish dignitaries. In his reminiscences Napoleon accused Smith of making him miss his destiny, as Smith’s timely appearance thwarted Napoleon’s drive to invade Syria and forced him to retreat to Egypt. The views are mostly connected with the coastal towns of modern Lebanon and Israel, though several are from Spilsbury’s travels inland to meet the Grand Vizier in charge of the Turkish army, Jezzar Pacha, and other dignitaries. First published in folio in 1803, with a mezzotint portrait of Sir William Sidney Smith that was not included in this second edition; a third followed in 1823. - Some staining to covers; aquatints are perfectly preserved. Tooley 464. Cf. Atabey 1168f. Blackmer 1585. Abbey, Travel 381. Colas 2788. Weber II, 835. Aboussouan 852.
Folio (220 x 325 mm). (36), 566, (2) pp. With woodcut title border by J. Faber after Hans Holbein, 2 additional borders, printer's device, and numerous initials. Blindstamped limp leather on four raised bands. Early Latin translation of the geography of Strabo, who had visited Egypt and sailed up the Nile in 25 BC. - Even in the introductory chapters, Strabo provides important details on the Arabian Peninsula: "Adjoining the Ethiopians, a needy and nomad race, is Arabia: one part of which is distinguished above all other lands by the title of Felix [i.e., Hedjaz and Nejd-ed-Ared], and the other, though not dignified by that name, is both generally believed and also said to be pre-eminently blessed. Though Homer knew of Arabia Felix, at that time it was by no means wealthy, but a wild country, the inhabitants of which dwelt for the most part in tents. It is only a small district which produces the aromatics from which the whole territory afterwards received its name, owing to the rarity of the commodity amongst us, and the value set upon it. That the Arabians are now flourishing and wealthy is due to their vast and extended trade" (p. 30f.); "Arabia Felix is bounded by the entire Arabian and Persian Gulfs, together with all the country of the tent-dwellers and the Sheikh-governed tribes. [...] Beside the ocean the country is tolerably fitted for habitation of man, but not so the centre of the country: this for the most part is barren, rugged sand desert. The same applies to the country of the Troglodytic Arabians and the part occupied by the fish-eating tribes" (p. 90f.) Furthermore, chapters 15 and 16 are devoted entirely to the Orient (chapter 16 on Arabia in particular), while the final chapter 17 discusses Egypt and Libya. - The fine title border shows King Solomon among the philosophers and poets of Greco-Roman antiquity; at the bottom, the Nine Muses lay a wreath on the head of Homer. Occasional insignificant brownstaining. The uncommon binding is slightly rubbed; some edge defects professionally restored. Title page has contemporary ms. ownership of the classical scholar Johannes Lyresius from Kleve, professor of Greek at Ingolstadt from 1568 onwards. A few marginalia and underlinings by his and later hands. VD 16, S 9346. Hoffmann III, 457. Schweiger I, 304. Cf. Macro 2148 (only later English translations).
8vo. 80 pp. 18th-century blind-ruled brown calf, blindstamped arms of William Stirling Maxwell on the upper cover and his blind cipher on the lower cover. Spine and vertical title label gilt; turn-ins gilt. Marbled flyleaves. All edges red. Green silk marker. First edition in a Western language of the celebrated autobiographical lament of the poet, royal secretary, and soldier Al-Tughra'i, who rose to Vizier only to be beheaded. His elegy, "Lamiyyat al-'Adjam", is probably the first major work of Arabic poetry published in the west. The other significant early Arabic work here contains an offering of proverbs selected from the "Exalted Aphorisms" of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib (601-661), the only person born in Mecca's sacred Kaaba sanctuary, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad. - The editor and Royal Interpreter for Arabic, Pierre Vattier (1623-47), translated these pieces into French for their stylistic elegance and textual importance. He held the Chair of Arabic at the Collège de France from 1658 until his death and contributed an extended opening essay on Arabic prosody, here in its only edition. - Front joint cracked, extremeties slightly bumped; title remargined at lower edge. Altogether a fine copy. - Provenance: from the collection of the proverb bibliographer P. A. Gratet-Duplessis (1792-1853), recording on the final flyleaf the date of his acquisition (Lyon, 1828) and the price paid. In the sale of his library in 1856, the volume was described as a "joli exemplaire de ce curieux et rare petit volume" (p. 156, no. 969). A slightly later owner has quoted from Duplessis' bibliography on the second front flyleaf. Later bookplates of William Stirling Maxwell, Keir House, and Lt. Col. V. S. M. de Guinzbourg on pastedowns and flyleaf. Schnurrer 196. Zenker, BO 403. Cioranescu 65583. Gratet-Duplessis, Bibliographie parémiologique, 70. Moll, Sprichwörterbibliographie, 7624 ("1640" in error).