Golf

Golf — marelibri

Plinius Secundus, Gaius (Pliny the Elder).MareMagnum

The Historie of the World, commonly called the Naturall Historie. London, Adam Islip, 1634.

Folio (235 x 320 mm). 2 vols. in one. (58), 614, (42) pp. (12), 632, (86) pp. Elaborate woodcut device on title-page; woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Contemporary calf, spine in six compartments, tooled and lettered in gilt. Pliny's renowned Natural History in its second publication in English (repeating, with corrections, the 1601 first publication), translated by Philemon Holland, the greatest translator of the Elizabethan age. The "Naturalis Historia" is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to the author. Pliny claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20.000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy, geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. "We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [...] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [... He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [...] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia" (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. - Binding rubbed; front hinge splitting. Includes the final printed leaf in vol. 2, containing the publisher's advertisement to the reader that all errors have been corrected in the present edition and the errata leaf (included in the same position in 1601) has become unnecessary rather than having been mistakenly omitted. Some slight browning and brownstaining, but an excellent copy removed in 1973 from the Royal Meteorological Society (Symons Bequest, 1900) with their bookplate on the front pastedown. STC 20030. Cf. Pforzheimer 496 (1601 ed.).

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Pococke, Richard.MareMagnum

Beschryving van het Oosten, en van eenige andere landen [...]. Including: Schutte, Rutger. Verhandelingen over de reize der Israëlieten in de woestijne, en eenige bijzonderheden van Jerusalem en deszelfs omtrek. - Bladwijzer der schriftuur-plaatsen [...]. Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Gijsbert Tieme and Abraham van Paddenburg; Jacobus Bosch and Reinier Arrenberg; Martinus de Bruyn, 1776-1786.

4to. 3 vols. (in 6 parts) bound as 6. XXXVI, 219, (1), (11), 224-491, (1) pp. (12), 262 pp., (1 blank f.), VIII, (3), 268-376, 397-519, (1) pp. VIII, 262 pp., (1 blank f.), VIII, (3), 268-403, (1) pp. (4), 115, (1), 124 pp. With 205 engraved folding plates (irregularly numbered I-CIII), including maps, plans, views and other illustrations, depicting temples, antiquities, plants, animals, etc. Contemporary half calf, gold fillets and two title-labels on spines, sprinkled paper sides. First edition of the Dutch translation of Pococke's celebrated monograph on the Near and Middle East, praised by Gibbon as a work of "superior learning and dignity" (Decline and Fall, ch. 11, n. 69). This Dutch edition was augmented with 27 plates, an essay by the minister Rutger Schutte on the travels of the Israelites, and a index to Biblical locations found in the main work. - "Pococke travelled extensively in Europe from 1733 to 1736 and continued on to the Levant, reaching Alexandria in September 1737. He remained three years in the Eastern Mediterranean, visiting Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor and Greece. His book describes these journeys but not necessarily in chronological order. The plates of antiquities are after drawings by Pococke himself ... Pococke achieved a great reputation with this publication; the work was very popular during his lifetime and was praised by Gibbon" (Blackmer). "The quality and particularly the earliness of his observations and their record in prose, maps, and diagrams make him one of the most important near eastern travellers, ranking with Frederik Ludvig Norden and Carsten Niebuhr, in stimulating an Egyptian revival in European art and architecture, and recording much that has subsequently been lost" (ODNB). - A couple of plates in the last volume slightly browned and a few spots on the first few leaves of the first volume, otherwise a very good copy, with the leaves nearly untrimmed. The bindings somewhat rubbed along the extremities (primarily the spines), but otherwise good. Cox I, 224. Tiele, Bibl. 869. Cf. Blackmer 1323 (English ed.); for the author: Baigent, "Pococke, Richard (1704-1765"; in: ODNB (online ed.).

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Roberts, James & Henry.MareMagnum

The Sportsman's Companion: or Portraitures, Pedigrees and Performances, of the Most Eminent Race Horses & Stallions, Represented in Variety of Attitudes. Interspersed with Tail-Pieces & Embellishments Alluding to the Sport. Calculated for the Utility and Entertainment of the Nobility, Gentry, Breeders, &c. London, J. Barker, c. 1800.

8vo. Letterpress title page and 40 engr. plates by James and Henry Roberts, engr. index leaf, and publisher's 4-page catalogue (with woodcut image of cocks fighting). Stitched in wrappers. Fine series of plates, each depicting a famous horse with his rider or stable-hand, and recording its pedigree, qualities and racing record, together with the owner's name. The final plate shows the most famous of all, the Godolphin Arabian (here called the "Bay Arabian, the property of the Right Hon.ble the Earl of Godolphin"), foaled in Yemen around 1724: "This extraordinary horse became a private stallion soon after his arrival in this kingdom, and got a greater number of fine horses of just temper with superior speed than any Arab ever did. He was the Sire of Lath, Dismal, Cade, Bajazet, Babraham, Phenix, Dormouse, Regulus, Skewball, Sultan, Blanck, Slugg, Noble, Tarquin, Blossom, the Godolphin Gelding, Shepherdess, Amelia, and many others besides stallions and brood mares, all in the highest esteem; he dies at Hogmagogg Hills, Dec. 1753, in the 29th year of his age". - Among the other horses are Lath, the Godolphin Arabian's offspring by Roxana; Basto (son of the Byerly Turk); Old Scar, whose ancestry included the Oglethorpe Arabian and Darcy's Yellow Turk, etc. The horses pictured all ran between 1708 and 1755. The first edition was published in about 1760, and this Barker edition some forty years later. This copy has no watermarks, but the books listed in J. Barker's catalogue of publications were mostly published in the 1790s. - Spine rubbed and bumped; slight wear to edges and corners. An excellent copy with two small tears imperceptibly restored. Of the utmost rarity: the only copy recorded at auction during the last decades is the Gloucester copy (Christie's, Jan. 27, 2006, lot 592). Huth, p. 38. Cf. Podeschi 54.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Roberts, James.MareMagnum

The Sportsman’s pocket companion: being a striking likeness or portraiture of the most eminent race horses and stallions [...] drawn by James Roberts and engraved by Henry Roberts. London, printed for R. & R. Baldwin, c. 1760.

8vo (223 x 148 mm). 40 engraved plates, some with vignette at foot, engraved index leaf. Modern olive green morocco gilt by Eighton, covers with triple gilt fillet, spine in six compartments, gilt lettered direct in second, others richly gilt, raised bands, top edge gilt. Fine series of plates, each depicting a famous horse with his rider or stable-hand, and recording its pedigree, qualities and racing record, together with the owner's name. The final plate shows the most famous of all, the Godolphin Arabian (here called the "Bay Arabian, the property of the Right Hon.ble the Earl of Godolphin"), foaled in Yemen around 1724: "This extraordinary horse became a private stallion soon after his arrival in this kingdom, and got a greater number of fine horses of just temper with superior speed than any Arab ever did. He was the Sire of Lath, Dismal, Cade, Bajazet, Babraham, Phenix, Dormouse, Regulus, Skewball, Sultan, Blanck, Slugg, Noble, Tarquin, Blossom, the Godolphin Gelding, Shepherdess, Amelia, and many others besides stallions and brood mares, all in the highest esteem; he died at Hogmagogg Hills, Dec. 1753, in the 29th year of his age". - Among the other horses are Lath, the Godolphin Arabian's offspring by Roxana; Basto (son of the Byerly Turk); Old Scar, whose ancestry included the Oglethorpe Arabian and Darcy's Yellow Turk, etc. The horses pictured all ran between 1708 and 1755. The first edition was published in about 1760. Rare, only two copies recorded in ABPC/AE Online. ESTC records two issues, one published and sold by Henry Roberts, the other printed for R. and R. Baldwin (as here): just one location is given for the first issue (Winterthur), and one for the second (BL). Huth records the work under a variant title, and also notes an 1820 edition. - Plate 12 shorter at margins, some spotting and browning, heavier at margins. A most handsome copy. Huth 38.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Sale, Sir Robert H. (et al.).MareMagnum

The Defence of Jellalabad [...] drawn on stone by W. L. Walton. London, Joseph Hogarth, Henry Graves & Co., and sold by Hullmandel & Walton, [1845/1846].

Folio (full-sheet leaves, 54 x 36.5 cm). Lithographed frontispiece, title-page & dedication plus 5, [1 blank] pp. plus plates. With a lithographed frontispiece portrait of Sale by Thomas Fairland after a painting by Scarlet Davis, a lithographed illustrated title-page, a lithographed dedication to Queen Victoria (reproducing Sale's hand-written and signed dedication), a double-page "Plan of Jellalabad" (51.5 x 60 cm, lithographed by S. Leith in Edinburgh) and 34 tinted lithographic views of the city and its fortifications (in landscape format) on 22 leaves (10 full-page, 2 half-page and 11 pair of oblong half-page, numbered 1-11, showing the fortifications before and after repairs and improvements). All leaves are unwatermarked wove paper, the frontispiece on fine "India" paper mounted on thick paper, the plan on thin paper and all other lithographs on thick paper, that of the title-page grey. With a guard-leaf bound in facing each plate. All lithographs were probably printed by Hullmandel & Walton, though only the frontispiece and title-page name them. Gold-tooled red goatskin morocco, on 5 recessed supports (not aligned with the 6 false bands on the spine), each board with a frame of 3 gold double fillets alternating with 2 blind single fillets, with the title and author on the front board and the 2nd and 4th of 7 spine compartments, richly gold-tooled turn-ins, gold-tooled board edges, yellow endpapers, gilt edges, blue and white headbands. The first and only edition of a grand and spectacular visual presentation (there are only five pages of text) of the city of Jalalabad and its fortifications in eastern Afghanistan and related sites as far away as Kabul. The illustrated title-page (image size 45 x 35 cm) shows the tower known as Alexander's Column, with mountains and clouds in the background and several people at its foot (including two on horseback in the foreground: a British officer and turbaned man), the whole framed by palm trees, other plants and military attributes, with the title in grey sans-serif and slab-serif capitals with a white drop-shadow. The first 11 leaves of views (2 half-page and 10 full-page, the latter mostly with image size 26.5 x 37 cm) offer meticulously detailed views of sites in and related to Jalalabad, including four in and around Kabul. These show the architecture (including minarets, fortifications and the building where the British were held prisoner) as well as British and Afghan people engaged in military activities and trade. The 11 numbered plates that follow show two panoramas each (nos. 1 and 10 reproducing a hand-written caption) showing Jalalabad's fortifications before (below) and after (above) the repairs and improvements undertaken by Sale. A red line in the upper views indicates the parts that had been destroyed by an earthquake. - Although the title-page attributes the entire work to Robert Sale, the text begins with an account of the city and battle by Hamlet C. Wade, who served under him, followed by "Lady [Florentia] Sale's narrative of her prison & fellow prisoners" and eight short texts giving an account of the view on the title-page and those in the first 10 leaves of views (the 4th to 6th together and the 9th and 10th together), that for the third signed by Florentia Sale. - The grand presentation, the portrait of the author (Major General Robert Sale, who commanded the troops at Jalalabad during the 1842 battle) and the dedication to Queen Victoria suggest this volume commemorates a great success, but in fact it was only a minor and short-lived reprieve in Great Britain's foolish and disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842). In 1839 Great Britain hoped to put Afghanistan back under colonial control by invading it and taking Kabul, ignoring the Duke of Wellington's prescient warning that it was a foolish move, and that they would find it much more difficult to hold Kabul than to take it. The British grossly underestimated the strength of the opposition, the difficulty of the terrain and the country's anti-colonial sentiment. Forced to abandon the city after an uprising in 1841 they tried to retreat to Jalalabad but nearly all the British troops and their entourage were slaughtered in the treacherous mountain passes. Sale's troops, who futilely awaited them in Jalalabad, were surrounded and attacked by the Afghans but managed to defeat them and drive them back to Kabul. - Various sources speculatively date the present publication from ca. 1842 to ca. 1846, but at least in the present copy a footnote on the first page of the letterpress text says, "Since this has been put to press … Sir Robert Sale has gloriously fallen in the battle of Moodkee, fought 18 December, 1845 ... he was struck by a grape shot which ... proved mortal shortly after he received the wound". He died on 21 December, so the book must have been published in the last 10 days of 1845 or early in 1846. Although printed on unwatermarked wove paper, the letterpress leaves show point holes in the centres of the fore-edge and gutter margins, showing that each leaf was separately printed and each is almost certainly a whole sheet, probably of Demy format. - With an armorial bookplate showing the crest and motto ("sans changer") of the Earls of Derby, probably the 14th Earl, Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley (1799-1869), Conservative Prime Minister three times in the years 1852-68. With minor foxing, slightly more in the frontispiece and much more in one full-page plate (Baba's garden, whose paper is not as thick as the others), but otherwise in very good condition. The frontispiece (together with the 2 preceding free endleaves) has separated from the bookblock, the hinges have been restored and the binding shows a few scuff marks, but the binding remains in good condition. Magnificent and detailed tinted lithographs of buildings, fortifications, terrain and life in and around Jalalabad (and Kabul) in Afghanistan ca. 1845. Thomson, The exotic and the beautiful (Bobins coll.) 268. WorldCat (3 copies?). Not in Abbey, Travel.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Somer, Jan.MareMagnum

Johann Sommers See- und Land-Reyß nach der Levante, das ist nach Italien, Candia, Cypern, Rhodis Egypten, Syrien, Gelobten Lande, Constantinopel und von dar wider durch Ungarn, Italien und Teutschland nach Mittelburg nach Hauß [...]. Frankfurt, Johann Frantz for Wilhelm Serlin, 1664.

4to. (8), 200 pp. With 8 engraved plates (some with touches of colour, two folded). - (Bound with) II: Wenner, Adam. Türckisches Reisebuch von Prag aus biß gen Constantinopel [...]. Nuremberg, Johann Andreas Endter & Wolfgang Endter's heirs, 1665. (8), 135, (5) pp. Title printed in red and black. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title to spine. Exceedingly rare Mediterranean travelogue: one of two German editions published in the same year (the other, an entirely different translation, by Cunradus in Amsterdam; the Nuremberg edition cited by several bibliographies is fictitious). Dutch editions had previously appeared in 1649 (the first) and in 1661. Although the Amsterdam-published German edition dates the journey to 1640-42, the Dutch first edition as well as the present translation make it clear that it had taken place as early as 1590-92! Somer's voyage began inauspiciously - he was captured by a Turkish galley in the harbour of Famagusta and briefly enslaved, but was soon set free after the French consul at Alexandria intervened for him. In spite of this episode, he travelled the Ottoman Empire at a time of relative peace (the Long Turkish War with the Habsburgs would not break out until 1593), spending several months in Egypt, Constantinople and Palestine. His colourful account includes a description of desert sandstorms and the trade in Egyptian mummies (not all of them ancient) as well as extensive chapters on Constantinople, the Ottoman court, the ubiquitous baths, Turkish customs and manners, the Muslim faith, curses and magic, etc. Somer returned via then-Ottoman Greece and Hungary, which he also describes. An appendix (pp. 170ff.) contains A. Stockram's topical account of the voyage of the Dutch ship Arnheim, which foundered off Mauritius on the return from Batavia. The translation is credited to "Philemerus Irenicus Elisius" (i.e., Martin Meyer). Rare; the last copy in auction records sold in 1983 (Erasmushaus, an incomplete reissue with only 5 views). - Bound after this is the second edition of A. Wenner's narrative of the Imperial embassy to the Porte in 1616-18, to ratify the Treaty of Zsitvatorok. Wenner served as secretary to the embassy; his "book is a day-to-day account of the journey to Constantinople from Prague, and includes a list of all the entourage from nobles to the apothecary, goldsmith, musicians, tailors, cooks, and so on. A list of presents for the sultan, with their values, is also given" (Atabey). The Treaty of Zsitvatorok "was a landmark in Turkish-European diplomatic relations, when the Turks first began to observe the general principles and courtesies of international law, and to exchange special ambassadors on an equal footing with European nations" (Blackmer). - Some browning throughout due to paper, more pronounced in Somer's work, the title-page of which shows an unobtrusive tear in the upper edge. Contemporary handwritten ownership "Bocken" to recto of flyleaf; verso has stamp and 1978 ownership of the Viennese collector Werner Habel (1939-2015). I: VD 17, 23:231760C. Tobler 86. Röhricht p. 217, no. 820. Paulitschke 532; Ternaux-Compans, Bibliothèque asiatique et africaine, 1977 (both have "Nuremberg" in error for Frankfurt). Cf. Weber II, 216 (Amsterdam German ed.); Kat d. Scheepvart Mus. I, 254f. (Dutch eds.). Not in Atabey, Blackmer, Aboussouan, Howgego, Henze, Cox, or Chauvin. - II: VD 17, 23:234557B. Cf. Atabey 1326; Blackmer 1783; Brunet VI.2, 435 (all for the 1622 first edition). Not in Röhricht, Tobler, Aboussouan or Brunet.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Suwaydi, Muhammad Amin.MareMagnum

Hadha kitab Saba'ik al-dhahab fi ma'rifat qaba'il al-'Arab [The book of gold bars: the knowledge of Arab tribes]. Baghdad, dar al-tiba'ah, dar al-salam, [1864 CE] = 1280 H.

4to (235 x 325 mm). (1), 118 pp. Lithographed throughout; pp. 8-97 comprise a continuous genealogical tree. Contemporary plain black cloth-covered boards with black sheepskin spine. First edition: a rare and important work on the genealogy of the Arab tribes, also an early, graphically sophisticated lithographic effort from the Arab World. The "Book of Gold Bars" by the prominent Iraqi theologian and historian Suwaydi (1786-1831) is a revised and expanded interpretation of the "Dictionary of the Arab Genealogy" by the legendary Medieval Egyptian scholar Ahmad ibn Ali Qalqashandi; notably, Suwaydi continued the genealogical profile up to modern times. The book seeks to trace the genealogy of the Arab peoples, and the branches of their tribes, from Biblical times up to the age of Muhammad and then to the modern era. The introductory text (pp. 1-7) is followed by the grand, 90-page genealogical table and ultimately by an alphabetical reference section and analytical section (pp. 98-118). - Suwaydi is thought to have commenced preparation of the work as early as 1814, although he did not complete the treatise until 1830 or 1831, shortly before his death. Highly regarded in its time, for some years a small number of manuscript copies circulated in Islamic academic circles. The present publication represents the first printed edition of the work. The second edition was published in Bombay in 1877 (and is likewise rare), while several subsequent editions appeared during the 20th century. - Covers slightly stained. Last 3 leaves with light tide-marking to outer margins and some sporadic light stains elsewhere, but overall in a good clean condition, a few leaves with short marginal tears some closed with discreet old restoration. Very rare: we can trace only six institutional examples (British Library; University of Cambridge; Bibliothèque de Genève; Yale University Library; University of California at Berkeley; National Library of Israel). No examples have appeared on the market over the last generation. OCLC 708712572 & 32728624. British Library: Asia, Pacific & Africa 14548.c.5. Yale University Library: CS1129.A2 S8 1864. On early lithography in Iraq, cf. A. Al-Rawi, Media Practice in Iraq (2012), passim.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste.MareMagnum

Collections of travels through Turky into Persia, and the East-Indies. Giving an account of the present state of those countries. London, Moses Pitt, 1684.

Folio (214 x 310 mm). 6 parts in one vol. (18), 264 pp. (2), 214 pp. (2), 66 pp, (2). (12), 14, (4), 15-46, (4), 47-87, (1) pp. (6), 113, (1) pp. 154, (2) pp. With 17 full-page engr. plates, 13 folding plates, and numerous text illustrations (including plates of Arabian coins, the great name of Allah, and other Arabian inscriptions). Contemporary calf, spine rebacked. Rare first collected edition of Tavernier's works, profusely illustrated with a fold-out map of the Arabian Gulf, an unusual, large map of Japan, and a fold-out map of the Great Moghul. Comprising: 1) The First Book of Monsieur Taverner's [!] Persian Travels; 2) The Six Trabels of John Baptista Tavernier [...] Through Turky and Persia to the Indies: 3) A Relation of Japon; 4) A New and Particular Relation of the Kingdom of Tunquin; 5) A New Relation of the Inner-Part of the Grand Seignor's Seraglio; 6) The History of the Late Revolution of the Dominions of the Great Mogol. A rare and interesting account of Turkey, Persia, India, Japan, Tonkin, and Formosa. "The Persian Gulf is the most dangerous Gulf I know, by reason of the shallowness and sharp promontories that point out into Sea [...] The Merchant would be glad to find a way through the Coast of Arabia to get to Mascate [...] Elcatif a Sea Town in Arabia, where there is a fishery for Pearls that belong to the Emir of Elcatif" (pt. I, p. 95; "Qatif" being an oasis in Saudi Arabia). Chapter XI (p. 49) of the first part deals with the breeding and nature of camels; chapter III (p. 64) mentions a voyage to Mecca; chapter XXIII (p. 255) deals with the island of Ormus (with the map of the Arabian Gulf). - The second part begins with a discussion of Arabian currency and is illustrated with plates of Arabian coinage. The most important story is perhaps that of “The Imam of Muscat Pearl - That Surpassed in Beauty All Other Pearls in the World”. In chapter XVIII of book II, "Of Pearles and the places where to find them" (p. 145), Tavernier states: "In the first place, there is a Fishery for Pearls in the Persian Gulf, round about the Island of Bakren. It belongs to the King of Persia, and there is a strong Fort in it, Garrison'd with three hundred men." Tavernier then narrates: "There is a wondrous Pearl in the possession of an Arabian Prince, that took Mascate from the Portugals. He then call'd himself Imenhect Prince of Masscaté; being known before only by the name of Aceph Ben-Ali Prince of Norennaé. It is but a small Province, but it is the best of all in the Happy Arabia. Therein grow all things necessary for the life of man; particularly, delicate fruits, but more especially most excellent Grapes, which would make most incomparable Wine. This Prince has the most wonderful Pearl in the world, not so much for its bigness, for it weighs not above twelve Carats and one sixteenth, nor for its perfect roundness, but because it is so clear and so transparent that you may almost see through it. The Great Mogul offer'd him by a Banian forty thousand Crowns for his Pearl, but he would not accept it." The use of the phrase "clear and lustrous as to appear translucent" seem to indicate a white or colorless pearl, the most sought-after color in pearls, with an optimum of lustre and orient caused by the reflection and refraction of light, respectively. The surface quality of the pearl must be exceptional and almost blemish-free in order to characterize it as a specimen surpassing in beauty all other pearls in the world, at that time. The fact that the pearl was in the possession of the Imam of Muscat in the mid-17th century indicates without any doubt that the pearl originated in the most ancient pearl fishing grounds in the world, the Arabian Gulf, most probably in the kingdom of Oman itself, at its very doorstep - on the pearl banks situated closer to the country's shoreline in the Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz. Oyster bearing reefs were well distributed throughout the Gulf, but were greater in abundance on the Arabian side of the Gulf than the Persian one. The pearls are depicted on a plate opposite page 150: "Figure one is of a Pearl which the King of Persia bought at the Fishery of Catifa in Arabia. It cost him 32,000 Tomans, or 1,400,000 Livres of our Money, at forty-six Livres and six Deneers to a Toman. It is the fairest and most perfect Pearl that ever was yet found to this hour, having no defect". Blackmer 1632. Wing T251A, T252, T253. Campbell (Japan) 28. Cox I, 275f. OCLC 6071990. Cf. Wilson 223. Howgego T14. Severin 104-113. Not in Atabey or Weber.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Teixeira, José / Munday, Anthony (transl.).MareMagnum

The Strangest Adventure That Ever Happened. Containing a discourse concerning the successe of the king of Portugal Dom Sebastian, from the time of his voyage into Africke when he was lost in the battle against the infidels, in the yeare 1578, unto the sixt of January this present of 1601. London, Frances Henson, 1601.

8vo. 90 pp. (without the final blank leaf). Small woodcut device on title, woodcut decorations and initials. Fine 19th century mottled calf by Lloyd, with gilt arms of Sebastião Pinto Leite, Conde de Penha Longa (motto "Superabo") to both covers, gilt fillets and faux raised bands to spine, compartments tooled in gilt, two red lettering pieces. Leading edges gilt; inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. First English edition of this rare work, containing an account of the failed invasion led by the young king of Portugal, Dom Sebastian, to the north of Africa, his defeat and death, and the political unrest that ensued. - Sebastian, the 24 year-old King of Portugal, invaded Morocco in 1578 with an army of 18,000 men. The army was crushed by the forces of Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi at the battle of Alcacer Quibir and King Sebastian was killed. The fact that he had left no successor paved the way for a series of impostors claiming the throne, only to be captured and executed (ultimately, the Spanish king would accede to the throne of Portugal). Teixeira's work narrates the machinations of the fourth such impostor, a Calabrian by the name of Marco Tullio. - Bound for the Portuguese politician and entrepreneur Sebastião Pinto Leite (1815-92), Conde de Penha Longa. Bookplate of the Fox Pointe Collection Library of Dr. & Mrs. Howard R. Knohl to pastedown. Joints of the fine binding slightly rubbed. Lightly browned throughout; title-page and verso of final leaf lightly dustsoiled. Overall in excellent condition. Rare at auction, the last copy being sold in 1991. BM-STC 23864. OCLC 32330439.

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Valle, Pietro della.MareMagnum

Reiss-Beschreibung in unterschiedliche Theile der Welt, nemlich in Türcken, Egypten, Palestina, Persien, Ost-Indien und andere weit entlegene Landschaften. Geneva, Johann Herman Widerhold, 1674.

Folio. 4 vols. bound as 1. [20], 218, [12], [2 blank]; [4], 236, [12]; [4], 244, [13], [1 blank]; [6], 231, [17] pp. First title-page printed in red and black, each title-page with Widerholds's woodcut device (motto: "Gradatim ad sidera tollor"). With 31 engraved plates (1 folding), including frontispiece and portraits of the author and his wife, by Jean Jacques Thourneyser. Further with woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces, factotums and several small woodcuts in the text. Contemporary vellum, manuscript spine-title, blue sprinkled edges. First edition in German of Pietro della Valle's deservedly famous narrative of his travels in the Middle East, with an excellent account of Muscat and the Arabian Gulf and references to Dibba. Della Valle, an Italian nobleman, sailed from Venice in 1614 to Istanbul, where he arrived in August 1614, spending a year to explore the city. He continued to Rhodes, Alexandria, Rosetta, Cairo, crossing the Sinai desert to Jerusalem, Damascus and Aleppo. From there Della Valle proceeded to Isfahan (Iran) to meet the Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I. He sojourned in Persia until early 1623, witnessing and commenting on the escalating conflict between Shah Abbas and the Portuguese empire. In 1621 he decided to return to Europe and set off for the Persian Gulf, but the Persian and English blockade prevented his sailing. By way of India he finally sailed for Muscat in January 1623, from which he crossed the Arabian Gulf to Basra, continuing overland to Aleppo, arriving in Europe in 1626. During his travels he wrote regularly to his learned friend in Naples, Mario Schipano. These 54 letters formed the basis of an account of his travels that was first published in Rome as Viaggi di Pietro della Valle from 1650 to 1658. "Della Valle displayed excellent narrative and descriptive skills, powers of acute observation, and a genuinely scholarly breadth of learning. He refused to comment on what he had not witnessed himself or checked against the best authorities [...] Della Valle's eighteen letters from Persia provide one of the most detailed sources of information for most aspects of Persian life in the second half of Shah Abbas' reign" (Gurney). - Engraved armorial bookplate on paste-down. Evenly browned throughout, some spotting, few quires in volume 3 with wormholes in gutter margin, not affecting the text, otherwise in very good condition. VD 17, 39:135561Q. Tobler, p. 95. Cf. Atabey 1269-1271 (other eds.); Blackmer 1712 (French ed.); Gurney, "Della Valle, Pietro", in: Encyclopaedia Iranica (online ed.).

Inlibris · Autriche15 000,00 €

Dieu, Lodewijk de (ed.) / Javier, Jerónimo, SJ.MareMagnum

[Dastan-i Masi]. Historia Christi Persice conscripta, simulque multis modis contaminata. Leiden, Elsevier, 1639.

4to. (24), 636, (8) pp. - (With:) [Dastan-i San Bidru]. Historia S. Petri Persice conscripta [...], Latine reddita [...] a L. de Dieu. Ibid., 1639. (8), 144 pp. - (And:) L. de Dieu. [`Ansarha-yi zaban-i Farsi]. Rudimenta linguae Persicae. Ibid., 1639. (8), 95, (1) pp. All titles printed in red and black. Contemporary brown full calf with gilt spine. First edition of the first Persian grammar ever printed, with two Persian texts edited for the first time from manuscripts. "De Dieu's most striking performance [...] De Dieu is well aware that he is the first to publish a grammar of Persian. [...] In the preface De Dieu relates how he studied Persian with the help of the Constantinople Polyglot borrowed from Gomarus, and mentions Elichmann as the supplier of the manuscript with the 'Historia Christi', which was owned by Golius. The latter also supplied a ms. dictionary of Persian. In the annotations to the 'Historia S. Petri' the original ms. is described: it contained two more Persian texts, and was once bought by the Rotterdam physician Johannes Romanus at Agra in 1626. The volume then passed into the hands of Elichmann, who lent it to the editor. The two chapters from Genesis are taken from a complete translation in Arabic characters [by Rabbi Jacob Tawus] at Istanbul in 1546" (Smitskamp). These are lives of Christ and St Peter, originally written in Portuguese by the Jesuit priest Jerome Xavier (1549-1617) and then translated into Persian at the command of the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was at the Elseviers' request that De Dieu composed, as an addition, the elementary grammar. The grammars of Ignazio di Gesù (Rome 1661) and of Labrosse (Amsterdam 1684) were largely based on his work. Willems notes that Raimondi, as early as 1614, produced a grammar in Rome for the use of missionaries which remained virtually unknown in the west, but this existed only in manuscript (cf. Smitskamp). - Occasional slight brownstaining, but a good, tight copy from the library of the Swedish antiquarian bookdealer Björn Löwendahl (1941-2013). Smitskamp, PO 310. Willems 490 & 477. Copinger 5255 & 1314. De Backer/S. VIII, 1339, 8 & 9. Rahir 473. Berghman 674. Schwab II, 727. OCLC 6445068, 6445039, 82252380.

Inlibris · Autriche16 500,00 €

Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste.MareMagnum

Collections of travels through Turky into Persia, and the East-Indies. Giving an account of the present state of those countries. London, Moses Pitt, 1684.

Folio (204 x 309 mm). 6 parts in one vol. (24), 264 pp. (2), 214 pp. (6), 113, (1) pp. 154, (2) pp. 87, (1) pp. 66 pp. With 37 engr. plates (many folding). Period-style full panelled calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spine on raised bands with red morocco spine label. Marbled endpapers. The first collected edition in English, translated by John Phillips and Henry Oldenburg: an account of Tavernier's travels to Turkey, Persia, India, and Japan (with large map of Japan), containing reports about the Japanese persecution of the Christians and the Dutch settlements in the Far East. Book Two, chapter Nine of the Persian Travels is of particular interest, as it contains an account of Tavernier's voyage through the Arabian Gulf, mentioning Bahrain, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and Hormuz and making observations on the pearl-fishing, people and navigation of the Gulf. There is also a bird's-eye map of the Strait of Hormuz showing the Musandam Peninsula (peppered with palm trees and captioned "A promontorie of Arabia the happey"), Hormuz, Larak, and Qeshm island, as well as Bandar Abbas and Bandar Kong on the Persian side. Intruguingly, this engraved map also includes depth soundings throughout the Gulf, making it useful as an early "Persian Gulf Pilot". A separate, illustrated chapter discusses extensively the invaluable pearl in the collection of the Imam of Muscat. Another illustrated chapter discusses "The Money of Arabia". In general, the plates depict festivals, processions, costumes, views, and images of the Eastern flora and fauna as well as coins and gems. - Title-page rehinged, with ownership of Thomas Hardy, dated 1698. Repaired tear to first leaf of contents. Faint marginal dampstain along lower edge of first several leaves; occasional browning, final leaves of text cleaned with some minor marginal restoration, but well-preserved on the whole. Handsome period-style calf-gilt binding fine. Blackmer 1632. Wing T251A, T252, T253. Campbell (Japan) 28. Cox I, 275f. OCLC 6071990. Cf. Wilson 223. Howgego T14. Severin 104-113. Not in Atabey or Weber.

Inlibris · Autriche16 500,00 €

(Bonfils, Félix).MareMagnum

Jerusalem. (Palestine, 1880s).

Oblong album (445 x 315 mm) with 71 large albumen photographic prints, mostly ca. 22 x 28 cm, signed and captioned in the negative (in French and English), mounted on both sides of the album's leaves. Includes a three-part folding panorama of Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, measuring 82 x 21 cms. Ornamental endpapers printed in gilt. Original auburn morocco with gilt upper cover. All edges gilt. A rare and unusually massive Palestine souvenir album containing 71 photographs by the renowned studio of Félix Bonfils (1831-85), the French-born photographer who had come to the Levant with General d'Hautpoul in 1860 and remained active in the East. Based in Beirut, Bonfils produced thousands of photographs depicting Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Greece and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of western tourism to the Middle East, his works soon became popular as souvenirs. The photographs were available both separately and as individually arranged albums, but sets of this scope were uncommon, very few exceeding fifty images. The sumptuous binding which the owner chose underlines that this was a luxury souvenir for a more than ordinarily wealthy traveller. It features landscapes and city views, famous sights such as Jaffa Gate (Bab el-Khalil), sites sacred to the three religions (Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of the Flagellation, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Mosque of Omar, Wailing Wall), but also sights outside Jerusalem, including Hebron, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, the River Jordan, Jericho, Wadi el-Kelt, Khan-el-Ahmar, Bethany, Nazareth, and Emmaus. - The photographs occasionally show some insignificant loss of contrast, but are altogether in good condition. A few edge flaws to the cardboard leaves, including a chafe mark across the lower edge where the paper has buckled. Binding in good condition, with occasional scuffing (more obvious on lower cover). A fine album of photographs of Palestine.

Inlibris · Autriche18 000,00 €

[Bidpai].MareMagnum

Livre des lumières ou la conduite des roys, composé par le sage Pilpay Indien. Paris, Simeon Piget, 1644.

8vo (101 x 171 mm). (16), 286 pp., final blank leaf. Near-contemporary full red morocco binding, flat spine with gilt title and elaborate ornamentation, both covers bordered with triple rules, leading edges gilt, inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Extremely rare first French edition of the oriental tales known as "Kalila wa-Dimna" or "Anvari Suhaili", being the Persian version of the Fables of Bidpai (here comprising the prologue and the first four chapters). Translated by the great French linguist Gilbert Gaulmin (1585-1665) and his student and collaborator David Sahid d'Ispahan (whose is the only name given on the title). Bidpai (or "Pilpay") is the name of the Indian philosopher to whom the Arabic and Persian tradition attributes this famous collection, known in the Sanskrit tradition as "Panchatantra". It was translated into Latin as early as the 13th century. - This first French edition is of particular importance for popularising the fables in France and providing Jean de La Fontaine with themes for many of his later and most beautiful stories in his own fable collection, first published in 1678-79 (cf. Le Roux). - Volume ends with the note "Fin de la premiere partie", but all published. Provenance: old ink ownership "Bouhon or. de S. Sac" to title-page. Later in the library of the Lebanese-born entrepreneur Charles Kettaneh (1904-85) with his etched bookplate to the front flyleaf. Together with his brothers, Charles Kettaneh developed the export business of cars and other American luxury goods to the Middle East, where he established licenced dealerships. Passionate about travel, a fine scholar and knowledgeable about art, Kettaneh was a great collector and bibliophile; his library was remarkable for the rarity of the books rather than for their number. - Binding very slightly rubbed in places, but finely preserved. Contemporary bibliographical notes and the odd penstroke to the margin. A superb copy, not in trade records. Chauvin II, p. 33, no. 55A. Brunet I, 937. Graesse I, 421f. Barbier II, 1329. Le Roux de Lincy, Essai sur les fables indiennes et sur leur introduction en Europe (1838), p. 23f. OCLC 457066815.

Inlibris · Autriche18 000,00 €

Golf

Golf

Siècle

Langue

Pays du libraire

Photos

Ajouté

Sujets

Catalogues

Siècle

Langue

Pays du libraire

Photos

Ajouté

Sujets

Catalogues

Siècle

Langue

Pays du libraire

Photos

Ajouté

Sujets

Catalogues