Saunders, John.MareMagnum
4085 resultados
Pastel on paper, laid onto canvas stretched over (original?) wooden board (305 x 410 mm). This pastel was drawn by the prolific itinerant portraitist John Saunders (1682-c. 1758) at Peterborough in September 1739. Saunders is recorded as active in East Anglia, the Midlands and elsewhere in the mid-18th century (cf. Neil Jeffares, "John Saunders", Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800 [London, 2006]). The sitter, John Sturges in Turkish costume, wearing a white turban with blue feather and golden embroidered coat, was probably drawn from a mezzotint after John Vanderbank (1694-1739) by Francis Kyte (d. 1744), published in 1733. The pastel is of interest as an example of mid-18th century depiction of Turkish costume. Saunders, perhaps in an attempt to add extra exoticism to Mr. Sturges, has included a curling moustache that is not present in the mezzotint. Sturges, an architect based in the East Midlands, is known to have collaborated with William Talman (1650-1719) at Chatsworth and Milton House in Northamptonshire. The fact that this pastel was produced in Peterborough may indicate some connection with descendants of Sturges, assuming that he himself was dead by 1739. The Fitzwilliam Museum holds a drawing of John Sturges by John Vanderbank (wash on paper, PD.1-1992). - Verso with label bearing 19th century manuscript note concerning the autograph pencil inscription by Saunders top right: “Saunders pinxit after Mr. J[oh]n Vanderbank Peterborough Sept. anno d. 1739”. Two negligible scratches to surface, otherwise good, offered without frame.
4to. (12), 506, (30). With woodcut title-vignette and headpiece. Near-contemporary giltstamped full calf with giltstamped spine-title. Leading edges gilt, sumptuously gilt inner dentelle bordering silk pastedowns. Later marbled flyleaves. All edges gilt. First edition of the travelogue of the Spanish diplomat Silva y Figueroa (1550-1624), who embarked on an embassy to Persia in 1614, hoping to secure from Shah Abbas exclusive trading rights in Persia and its dependencies. As the Latin manuscript was not published and a Spanish translation did not appear until the 20th century, this French translation published by de Puis (as well as the one issued by Louis Billaine the same year) long remained the only available version of the itinerary. - In 1619, Figueroa was granted an audience in Isfahan with the Shah, who sought to conclude a trading agreement with the Spanish but would not subscribe to the ambassador's demands for the restoration of Gombroon and other Portuguese enclaves, nor to the exclusion of the English and other nationalities. Negotiations were suspended and Figueroa ended up returning to Spain, where he arrived in 1624 after an absence of ten years. His account describes Lar, Shiraz, Kašan, Qazvin, and Qom as well as other places including the caravansaries where he stayed, and gives interesting ethnographic data on the non-Muslim communities, such as the Armenians in Jolfa or the Zoroastrians, as well as a precise description of Persepolis and its cuneiform inscriptions. Although Antonio de Goueva (1602) and Giambattista and Girolamo Vecchietti (1606) had already recognized cuneiform as a type of writing, Figueroa was the first person to describe the cuneiform characters as shaped like "pyramids" and "obelisks", thus anticipating Pietro della Valle. Of the Persian dependencies, Ormuz and Bahrain were considered of particular importance, the former for its trade in silks, the latter for pearls: "Mais ce Golfe [...] qui est beaucoup plus long que large, ayant au milieu cette fertile Isle de Baharen [...] si celebre par tout l'Orient, à cause de sa riche & precieuse pesche de perles" (p. 59). Furthermore, Figueroa mentions falcons "larger and stronger than in Europe" (p. 105) as well as "excellent horses" (p. 426), and "the best dates of all of Persia" (p. 94). - Covers slightly scuffed. Interior occasionally browned and waterstained; a few small marginal tears, not touching text. Several handwritten marginal annotations, particularly in the index. Bookplate of the bibliophile and horse enthusiast Joseph Guilhem de Lagondie (1809-79) to flyleaf, who sold the book in March 1878 (handwritten note of acquisition by the new owner to flyleaf). Shelfmark label and catalogue description mounted to flyleaf. Palau 313613. Wilson 70. Diba 3. Howgego I, S105. Encyclopaedia Iranica IX, 612f. OCLC 166132497. Not in Blackmer, Atabey or Weber.
Large folio (545 x 375 mm). (16) pp. With 6 hand-coloured lithographed plates and a lithographed title. Contemporary half calf with cloth sides, gold tooled title on front cover. First and only edition of an ethnographic study of native Indian people by William Tayler (1808-92), who was at the time Acting Salt Agent of the Central Division of Cuttack for the East India Company. He dedicated his work to "Lady William Bentinck" (born Lady Mary Acheson, 1809-50), who was the wife of the Governor-General of India. The illustrations were drawn by Tayler himself, who was an amateur artist and drew much of the Indian daily life that he encountered. He selected the present 6 drawings to be published and had them lithographed by J. Bouvier. The first 3 plates not only show the ways of Indian people, but even more so the luxurious life of the English in India. The first plate, "The Young Civilian's Toilet" shows a young man relaxing while being treated by several servants, who are named "Anglo-Indians". The room is strewn with objects of leisure. The next 2 plates, "The Young Ladies Toilet" & "The Breakfast" show equal scenes. The other 3 plates are more ethnographic in nature, showing native Indians in their everyday life: "Women grinding at the mill"; "the Sunyasees" (Sannyasis) & "The village barber". Tayler later became a controversial figure for his excessively harsh oppression of Indian people when he was the commissioner of Patna. - Spine and covers slightly worn, pages a little frayed, some foxing on the text pages. Dedication page browned. Plate 2 detached and inserted loosely. Plates in good condition. Abbey, Travel 465. Bobins I 272. H. K. Kaul, Early Writings on India 454. Prasannajit De Silva, Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India, c. 1785-1845 (2018), pp. 116-119.
1) 260:340 mm. 2) 260:350 mm. 3) 260:360 mm. James Weir (d. 1820) was Captain of Marines on HMS Audacious from 1795 to 1800, and was also an accomplished watercolourist. His drawings show 1) "The Seraglio from the Marmora March 1806", 2) "The Seraglio at Constantinople from the harbour", and "7 towers Constantinople 19 March 1806".
Folio (243 x 372 mm). (12), 389, (3) pp. With double-page-sized engraved frontispiece (G. Wingendorp sc., bound after p. 8), 12 engravings in the text, and 139 woodcuts in the text (wants the engraved portrait). 18th century full calf with giltstamped red label to gilt spine in seven compartments. All edges red. First edition of this description of the important natural-historical and ethnological collection assembled by the famous Danish physician and naturalist Worm (1588-1654), forming the nucleus of the museum he founded, one of the first natural history museums ever established. The double-page frontispiece (sometimes counted as an additional engraved title page) shows his natural history collection inboxes, on shelves and hanging from walls and ceiling. This plentiful text illustrations show exotic as well as Scandinavian animals, plants, fossils, ethnological trophies, archeological discoveries, etc. For many items in the mineralogical and chemical section, the Arabic names are given (such as Borax or "Baurach", Alkali, Tinkur, etc.). Among the exotic flora are many plants endemic to the Middle East and Arabia, including the "Nabuch Arabum", the "Nux indica" (with reference to Avicenna), the date palm, pistachio ("ex Persia, Arabia & Syria"), gum arabic etc. - Binding slightly scuffed in places, but well preserved. Slight browning and brownstaining to interior, mainly confined to blank margins. A few early marginalia and underlinings in ink (trimmed by binder's knife when rebound in the later 18th century). As virtually all copies available for comparison, ours lacks the portrait (to be bound after the preliminaries). Nissen, ZBI 4473. Willems 772 ("Description raisonnée du cabinet d'histoire naturelle formé par le savant danois Olaus Worm").
4to. 6 vols. 12, 942, (2) pp. (4), 968, (2) pp. (2), 936 pp. (2), 1048 pp. (2), 66, 512 pp. VII, one blank, 262, one blank leaf, VIII, 265-781, one blank page, (2) pp. With 6 letterpress plates in vol. I. Near-contemporary half cloth over marbled boards with giltstamped volume numbers to spine. 2 volumes bound with the original printed wrappers. First edition, rare. The 19th century classic edition of Yaqut's famous geography, prepared by the German orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (1808-99). The four volumes of Arabic text are completed by annotations and indexes in volumes V and VI, including "some 12,000 persons, many with additional bibliographical references" (cf. Fück). Composed between 1224 and 1228 and considered a literary geography, Yaqut's work is essentially an alphabetical index of place names from the literary corpus of the Arabs. The geographical descriptions are enriched with historical, ethnographic, and associated narrative material, historical sketches and accounts of Muslim conquests, names of governors, monuments, and local celebrities. - The four volumes of text are removed from the library of the Munich Franciscan monastery, with their stamp of ownership to versos of title-page or flyleaf. Later in the collection of the German historian Else Reitemeyer (b. 1873) with her handwritten ownership to flyleaves (vols. I-IV). German title-page and foreword of first volume (12 pp.) bound between pp. 480 and 481. Extremities occasionally very slightly rubbed. Last 20 pages of volume V pierced near right margin (not touching text). In all a very well preserved copy of this monumental series. Fück 193f. OCLC 3423433. Not in Zenker.
8vo (150 x 206 mm). (564) pp. Ottoman Turkish and Arabic manuscript written in Naskh script on polished oriental paper. 2 columns, 17 lines. Black ink; chapter headings in red. Text ruled in gilt, red and black; first two pages have attractive 'unwan decorations in gilt, red, lapislazuli, pink, and orange; final page has gilt floral scrollwork decoration. Gilded line decorations on some pages, a red and gillt inscribed figure known as the "Flag of the Prophet on the Day of Judgment" (Liwa al-Hamd) on one page. 19th century oriental brown leather binding with fore-edge flap, decorated with gilt borders and lozenge-shaped ornamentation to both covers. Marbled endpapers. Early Turkish manuscript of the "Magharib al-Zaman" ("Sunsets of Time"), a widely popular devotional work on the Prophet Muhammad, first written in Arabic in 1449 by the Ottoman Sufi poet Yazicioglu Mehmet (d. 1491) and translated into Ottoman Turkish by his younger brother Ahmed Bican. Mehmet, a native of the Gallipoli peninsula, was a follower of Haci Bayram-i Veli (1352-1430) and was influenced by the writings of Andalusian mystic Ibn 'Arabi. The earliest printed edition appeared in 1842 at Istanbul's Military Press. - Comprising some 9,000 couplets, the "Muhammadiyah" is one of the longest works in Turkish literature, but its style is easily accessible, and it contributed much to the formation of Ottoman Sufi culture. Written to disseminate the basic tenets of Islam among the common people, it covers Muhammad's biography, various aspects of Muslim devotion, and eschatological matters, including Gog and Magog, the Sun rising in the west, and the Day of Resurrection. Mehmet is notably preoccupied with the eschatological role of Jesus and of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, which he anticipated by several years. - Anonymously copied (as common for religious texts), this manuscript includes occasional explanations and Qur'an verses that are extraneous to Yazicioglu's text and were introduced by the scribe (or by the copyist of the MS he followed). Among the appealing decorations the first two leaves stand out, as does the gilt depiction of the Prophet's standard, "Liwa al-Hamd" (Banner of Praise), which is to be unfurled on the Day of Judgment. Three phrases written in red ink appear on this banner: "Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil-'Alamin" (Praise be to God, Lord of the Universes), "Bi-smi llahi r-rahmani r-rahim" (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), and "La ilaha illallah, Muhammadun rasulullah" (There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is messenger of Allah). - Occasional light brownstaining, mainly confined to margins; generally very finely preserved. The first leaf of the book bears a faint Ottoman note of acquisition from the 19th century: "Isbu bin iki yüz doksan bes senesi Zilkade'nin yigirmi üçüncü sali günü yüz elli gurus fiyat" ("This book was bought for 150 Kurush on 23 Dhu al-Qadah, 1295 H" [18 November 1878 CE]. A complete list of the individual chapter titles is available on request. Cf. J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi orders in Islam (Oxford, 1971); Arin Shawkat Salamah-Qudsi, Sufism and Early Islamic Piety: Personal and Communal Dynamics (Cambridge, 2018).
4to. (16), 458, (2) pp. With the title in a woodcut architectural frame. Contemporary vellum. "First printing of the Pentateuch in Arabic characters" (Smitskamp). Edited by Thomas Erpenius and printed with his influential nashk Arabic types, cut under his direction by Arent Corsz. Hogenacker in Leiden. It gives the text of a 13th-century translation of the Pentateuch in the Maghreb dialect (spoken in Mauritania). Erpenius was one of the most distinguished orientalists and by far the best Arabist of his day. He published an influential Arabic grammar and several excellent critical editions. His own private printing office, equipped with Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic and Turkish type, produced its first works as early as 1615. - With bookplate, owner's inscription and library stamp of Verplanck Colvin (1847-1920). Occasional spots, some leaves with a minor waterstain in the upper or lower margin, nor affecting the text. A good copy, with generous margins. Binding slightly soiled and with a restoration to the front inner hinge, but otherwise good. Breugelmans 1622-2. Darlow/Moule 1645. Smitskamp, PO 86.
Small folio (218 x 290 mm). 2 pts. in 1 vol. 688 pp. Near-contemporary half vellum with red label to gilt spine. New edition of the text published in 1671 in the Propaganda College's three-volume Arabic-Latin Bible, which is considered the editio princeps of the complete Bible in Arabic (disregarding the Paris and London polyglots). The version was prepared over a period of many years by Philip Guadagnolo and revised by Louis Maracci. First received with hesitation, it "eventually won general acceptance among Arabic-speaking Christians" (Darlow/M. 1652). Edited by Raphael Tuki, Bishop of Arsinoe, this present edition (usually issued in two volumes but here bound in one) contains the books of Genesis through Nehemiah and Tobit only. - Occasional worming to margins, otherwise a good, well-preserved copy. OCLC cites eight copies worldwide, none in America. Darlow/Moule 1660. OCLC 398605651.
Folio (242 x 346 mm). (8), 9-462, (2) pp. With 149 text woodcuts by L. N. Parassole after Antonio Tempesta. Half vellum binding (c. 1900) with marbled boards. Re-issue, with new preliminary matter only, of the first Gospel printing in the interlinear Arabic and Latin version: the first work ever produced by the Typographia Medicea, founded by Pope Gregory XIII for spreading the word of Christ in the Orient and supervised by the oriental scholar G. B. Raimondi. The Arabic text is printed in Robert Granjon's famous large fount, generally considered the first satisfactory Arabic printing type. An Arabic-only version was produced at the same time. - Binding somewhat bumped; hinges beginning to split; interior variously browned in places. Removed from the library of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia with their stamps and ms. dedication by the Roman Congregatio de Propaganda on front pastedown. Darlow/Moule 1637 & 1643. Mortimer 64 (note). Streit XVI, p. 866, no. 5138.
4to. (24), 315, (12) pp. With two printer's devices in prelims. - (Bound with) II: [Barhebraeus, Gregorius]. Veteris philosophi Syri de sapientia divina. Poema aenigmaticum. Ibid., 1628. 4 ff. (incl. final blank), 35, (1) pp. With printer's device to title-page. Calf binding (ca. 1800), covers and spine gilt, leading edges and inner dentelle gilt. First complete edition of the Psalter in Syriac. "The text, which includes Ps. CLI, is based on three manuscripts, one of which had been sent to the editor by George, the Maronite Archbishop of Nicosia. The Latin version professes to be as literal a translation as possible of the Syriac text" (Darlow/M.). The present Paris edition and the one published at Leiden in the same year by Erpenius are the first two European editions of the Psalter in the Syriac language. While both are printed in Syriac and Latin, Erpenius's edition omits psalm 151 (cf. Smitskamp 80). Edited by the Maronite Gabriel Sionita (1577-1648), principally involved in the 1645 Paris polyglot Bible, printed with the types of Savary de Brèves. - Bound with the sole edition of Barhebraeus's Syriac poem. "Sionite édita et traduisit ce poème syriaque de Barhebraeus, mais sans en avoir identifié l’auteur. Pour lui c’est un auteur inconnu qui a composé ce poème sur la sagesse divine" (Le livre et le Liban). Even library catalogues frequently fail to identify the author (or cite the editor Sionita). - Catalogue clipping mounted on front endpaper. Psalter title has ms. ownership and several stamps. Title of Barhebraeus stamped; all edges remargined to page dimensions of Psalter. Of the utmost rarity, only a single, incomplete copy at auction within the last decade (Sotheby's, Dec 7, 1993, lot 315, lacking 6 prelim. leaves). I: Goldsmith B 848. Darlow/Moule 8961. - II: Le livre et le Liban 143.
4to (185 x 262 mm). Persian manuscript on polished, unsophisticated wove paper. (12), 282, (6) leaves. 18 lines of black and occasional red Nast'aliq within double red rules. Numerous marginal glosses in black ink. Contemporary full leather binding with blind-stamped oriental decorations to both covers. A comprehensive Persian-language manual of therapeutics, discussing the diseases of the various organs. The physician Sultan Ali practiced medicine for 40 years in his native Khorasan as well as in Transoxiana (Central Asia). He began writing his medical treatise "Dastur al-‘ilaj" in the year 933 AH (1526 CE) at the request of Abu al-Muzaffar Mahmud-Shah Sultan, whom he had successfully treated in Samarqand. - "The treatise consists of two sections (maqalahs), the first divided into 25 chapters (babs) concerning diseases specific to particular parts of the body. The second section, in 8 babs, is on diseases affecting the entire body and not specific to a particular part. After completing the treatise, Khurasani subsequently added an introductory essay (muqaddimah) composed of 16 chapters (babs) concerned with the preservation of health and hygiene. The introductory essay has a dedication to Abu al-Ghazi Sultan Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan who ruled Samarqand from 1530 to 1533" (National Library of Medicine, online). - Leaves 253-254 bound in reverse order and upside-down after fol. 247; fol. 248 bound upside down after fol. 252, but complete. Some waterstaining to lower corner, entirely confined to margins. A few old stamps, some obliterated with correction fluid or felt-tip pen. The colophon is dated the 2nd of Shawwal 1217 AH, stating the copyist as Mirza Abdullah Tablah (reading of the last name uncertain).
Folio (220 x 334 mm). 9-462, (2) pp. With 149 text woodcuts by Leonardo Parassole after Antonio Tempesta. Early 20th century half vellum. The first Gospel printing in the interlinear Arabic and Latin version, prepared at the same time and printed by the same press as the first Arabic-only Gospel. These were the first works ever produced by Ferdinando de' Medici's "Medicea" press, founded by Pope Gregory XIII to spread the word of Christ in the Orient. Supervised by the able scholar Giovambattista Raimondi (1536-1614), its strength lay in oriental, especially Arabic, printing. After Raimondi's death, the press relocated to Florence. - The Arabic text is printed in Robert Granjon's famous large fount, generally considered the first satisfactory Arabic printing type; as all early printed editions of the Arabic Gospels, it is based on the Alexandrian Vulgate (cf. Darlow/M. 1636). The Latin version is by Leonardo Sionita. The work begins with page 9, without a title page or any preliminary matter at all: "the intended prefatory matter was apparently never published" (Darlow/M.); these first eight pages were not supplied until the 1619 re-issue. - Light browning as common; a light waterstain to the margin of the first leaves, but a good, fairly wide-margined copy. Provenance: handwritten ownership "C. R. Lies" (?), dated Rome, 1931, on upper pastedown; later bookplate of Guy Evans. Darlow/Moule 1637. Mortimer 64 (note). Streit XVI, p. 866, no. 5138. Ebert 7198. Graesse II, 531. Nagler XX, 326. Not in Adams.
22 pieces of 19 different fabrics, mounted on thin paper (the last piece loose), mostly ca. 10-15 x 12-15 cm, some larger. Within a 1930s cloth binder (220 x 280 mm). - (Includes): Lamm, Carl Johan. Jordfundne tekstiler fra Aegypten. Særtryk af "Tilskueren" 1938. (Copenhagen, 1938). 333-350 pp. With 7 text illustrations. Contemporary cloth with title label to spine. A fine collection of Egyptian Coptic textile fragments compiled in the 1930s, comprising samples of multi-coloured embroidery and hand-printed linen. Most are of Coptic origin: hand-woven embroideries on linen wraps dated to the 5th and 6th centuries, originally used in tunics or other clothing. The fragments are decorated with human figures, animals and birds, mythical creatures, and floral designs, as well as with geometrical patterns. There are also six scarce blue "Arabic" samples, beautifully hand-printed on linen, from ca 1300 CE, and one woven silk tissue with an arabesque pattern from the 11th century. Four of the Arabic specimens are larger. - Carl Johan Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - Ancient Coptic material of this kind was typically removed from Egyptian graves around the turn of the twentieth century. Lamm may have acquired these specimens while living in Cairo in 1934-37 while assembling a large collection of ancient Coptic textiles, and it would appear that the binder containing the fragments dates from those years. Parts of Lamm's Coptic textile collection are now housed in two Swedish museums; Kulturen museet in Lund and Röhsska museet in Göteborg. - Stored in a worn craft binder, the samples are sewn on paper with hand-written ink annotations and typed descriptions and dates. Several fragments show small losses, but overall most are in fairly good condition. - Includes a printed article by Lamm on "excavated textiles from Egypt", an offprint from the Danish journal "Tilskueren" ("Spectator"). With a few changes, this text was delivered as a speech at the Copenhagen Kunstindustrimuseet in connection with an exhibition arranged by Lamm. The textiles exhibited belonged to Lamm himself, the National Museum in Stockholm, and the Danish Kunstindustrimuseet. This is Lamm's personal copy with his bookplate to front pastedown.
8vo (150 x 240 mm). Persian manuscript on paper. (4), 62 (misnumbered: 63, omitting fol. 19), 64 (misnumbered: 58, leaping back to 24 after 23 but lacking fols. 38-39) ff.; 64 (instead of 70) ff. (lacking fols. 25-30). 15 lines of black and occasional red ink script. Rebound in full red morocco using the original covers. A collective manuscript on falconry, including the famous "Baz-nama" of Khushal Khan, the Afghan national poet, copied in the area of Afghanistan within a year after the passing of the author. - This fine and early manuscript contains two separate treatises on falconry, the latter one being the "Book of Falconry" of Kushal Khan Katak, the father of Pashto literature, written in verse. The first English translation, prepared by Sami ur Rahman and dedicated to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, appeared in Islamabad as recently as 2014: "What makes Khushal's 'Baaz Nama' unique is its poetical form. Perhaps there is no other work in world literature that treats the subject matter in verse on the one hand and keeps its systematic exposition and professionalism intact on the other [...] Khushal's manual is pretty concise and cogent. There are no long-drawn and tedious accounts. The style and diction are extremely down-to-earth" (translator's note, p. xiv). - The present manuscript contains a colophon at the end stating that it was copied by Muhammad Khan in 1101 AH, within a year of the death of its author on 5 Jumada I, 1100 AH, and it may thus command a high degree of textual authority. A renowned Pakistani warrior, Khushal Khan Khatak (1613-89) long served the Mughal Empire, but when he was expelled from his tribal chiefdom, he turned against his Mughal lords, promoted Pashtun nationalism, and encouraged revolt against the Mughal Empire. His works, mostly written in Pashto, are considered the foundation of modern Afghan literature. - A few occasional stains and ink smudges; lacks six leaves according to foliation and catchword. The first treatise in this volume, by an unidentified author, is in two parts with an index after the first but apparently not complete, lacking the end of the second half, as well as two leaves. First leaf extensively remargined but without loss to text; a few old waqf stamps and occasional marginalia.
Various sizes, c. 14 x 22 cm to c. 20 x 25 cm. Mounted on folio backing paper. Stored in custom-made sand coloured half morocco solander case. Ten finely executed pen-and-ink drawings of different falcons in various poses, all captioned and vividly watercoloured by a mid-19th-century artist. Includes the Saker Falcon, Iceland Falcon, Greenland Falcon, Merlin, Lanner Falcon, Norway Falcon etc. - Well preserved.
12mo. 134, (6) pp. Contemporary red morocco, triple gilt filet on covers, central royal coat of arms, gilt edges. First edition. The priest Gaudereau (1663-1743) had gone to Persia in 1689 in the company of Bégnine Vachet, a director of the Seminary of Foreign Missions. Having arrived at Isfahan in late 1690, they joined François Sanson, another member of the Society of Foreign Missions sent by Louis XIV to the court of Shah Suleiman. After Sanson's departure in 1692, Gaudereau continued negotiations with Suleiman, after 1694 with Husayn. Having negotiated a military and commercial alliance between Persia and the French East India Company, he returned to Isfahan, which he quit for Europe in 1703. It was during this journey from Constantinople and Trabzon that in September 1704 he contracted the illness he describes in his book, which he based on his own experience, having miraculously survived. - Fine copy, bound for Philippe d'Orléans. From the library of Hyacinthe Théodore Baron (18th century engraved book plate). Blake 169. OCLC 495355672. Not in Waller or Wellcome.
Folio (227 x 317 mm). (18), 191 ff. (without final blank). Printer's device on title page and, in a different version, on the last page. Contemporary vellum. Traces of ties. First issue under this title, previously released as "Expositio in primam fen quarti canonis Avicennae" (1506). A commentary (with the text, in the version of Gerardus Cremonensis) of book four, part (fen) one of Avicenna's systematic "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. It continues in use to this day in parts of the Arab world. Through this encyclopedic work, the author exerted "perhaps a wider influence in the eastern and western hemispheres than any other Islamic thinker" (PMM). "The 'Qanun' [...] contains some of the most illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments" (Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science). The present part is dedicated to a discussion of feverish illnesses. - 17th century ownership "Bernardinus Statius Phys." on flyleaf. Some brownstaining throughout, as common; some worming to spine. Still a good copy. Edit 16, CNCE 2345. Adams A 1541. Durling 245. Cf. Wellcome I, 387 (only the Venice reprint). PMM 11.
Stencil-coloured lithograph. 42.5 x 63.7 cm. Framed (77:63 cm). An extremely rare illustrated broadsheet showing the procession of the Egyptian Mahmal en route from Cairo to Mecca, with a colourful reception of a group of pilgrims in an Egyptian desert village. The Arabic caption states that the print was made from a drawing made on the spot by Sheikh Yunus, citing Hassan Uwais in Abidin Road, Cairo, as the publisher. The true publisher, Camille Burckardt in Weißenburg, is not named: it was company policy to obscure the European provenance of these broadsheets so as to to improve their sale potential in the Middle East. All of these prints are very rare; another copy of this print commanded £21,250 at Sotheby's in 2012. Des Mondes de Papier 120.
More than 400 glass slides depicting various motifs of coal mining, chemical processes, astronomy and topographical motifs from Asia, Africa, China, Europe and America. Housed in original wooden boxes. Includes 2 original projectors and 1 camera. Remarkable, encompassing collection of turn-of-the-century Magic Lantern slides. Several of the slides show cavalry horses: the "Krigen, 1848-1864" set includes (no. 45) an equestrian portrait of General Bülow, victor of the 1849 Battle of Fredericia, painted by Aug. Jerndorff; (no. 29) Friedrich von Schleppegrell riding at the battle of Isted; (no. 26) General Krogh on horseback (all V. Richter, Kopenhagen); no. 20. captioned "Pferdeablieferung" (horse delivery). A box labelled "København" includes: (no. 21) Brandmajoren rykker ud; (no. 20) a fire at the time of Frederik VI. Other slides show workhorses in Denmark and Sweden during haying-time or spreading manure, as well as works of the Danish painter Otto Bache: the Coronation of Christian IV in 1596; the conspirators escaping from Finderup on horseback after having murdered Eric V of Denmark. The collection also contains copies of paintings by various artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Rembrandt. Among the remaining slides, we find astronomic illustrations and pictures of observatories (Greenwich, Delhi, Potsdam, etc.); as well as numerous photographs and paintings of landscapes, people and architecture in Africa, Asia, Europe, China and America.
4to. 213 (instead of 215) ff. (lacking ff. 212-213 and final blank). Title printed in red and black. With woodcut title border and two nearly full-page woodcuts in the text. 19th century half calf (restored) with giltstamped spine. First edition. "The earliest Syrian and Armenian grammar printed" (IA). Extremely rare and early work of oriental studies, also important for the history of music due to the first illustrated description of the bassoon, which the author's uncle, Afranio degli Albonesi, had invented early in the century and had first demonstrated in 1532. - The canon regular Teseo Ambrogio degli Albonesi (often simply referred to as Ambrogio or Ambrosius; 1469-1540) taught the Syriac language. This introduction to the oriental languages - his only publication - is a mixture of lingustic treatise and a collection of exotic alphabets. If Albonesi's results are not in every case correct, they remain of great importance to the history of linguistic scholarship: the "Introductio" constitutes one of those works which inspired the budding discipline of comparative philology to undertake further research. "His work offers a detailed survey of the Syriac and Armenian languages from various points of view, and a short notice about the other exotic languages (Samaritan, Arabic, Coptic, Cyrillic, Ethiopic) - these languages are all discussed with examples written by hand in the earlier chapters, and throughout the work we find blank spaces where such words had still to be filled in" (Smitskamp). Some of the blank spaces mentioned have been filled in in ink by a contemporary hand. Lacks the final two pages of text (including the colophon). Slight worming to upper margin near end. Edit 16, CNCE 816. Adams A 957. Mortimer 20. BM-STC Italian 16. Eitner I, 91. MGG III, 1721. Smitskamp 240. IA 104.625. Brunet I, 229. Graesse I, 59.
4to. 212 (instead of 215) ff. (lacking ff. 209, 212-213 and final blank). Title printed in red and black. With woodcut title border and two nearly full-page woodcuts in the text. Contemporary limp vellum with ms. spine title. Traces of ties. First edition. "The earliest Syrian and Armenian grammar printed" (IA). Extremely rare and early work of oriental studies, also important for the history of music due to the first illustrated description of the bassoon, which the author's uncle, Afranio degli Albonesi, had invented early in the century and had first demonstrated in 1532. - The canon regular Teseo Ambrogio degli Albonesi (often simply referred to as Ambrogio or Ambrosius; 1469-1540) taught the Syriac language. This introduction to the oriental languages - his only publication - is a mixture of lingustic treatise and a collection of exotic alphabets. If Albonesi's results are not in every case correct, they remain of great importance to the history of linguistic scholarship: the "Introductio" constitutes one of those works which inspired the budding discipline of comparative philology to undertake further research. "His work offers a detailed survey of the Syriac and Armenian languages from various points of view, and a short notice about the other exotic languages (Samaritan, Arabic, Coptic, Cyrillic, Ethiopic) - these languages are all discussed with examples written by hand in the earlier chapters, and throughout the work we find blank spaces where such words had still to be filled in" (Smitskamp). In this copy, these blank spaces have been filled in in ink by a contemporary hand. - Near-contemporary ownership, in Hebrew cursive, to title page. Minor edge tear to fol. 191. Binding loosened; lacks four pages in the final quire (including the colophon). Edit 16, CNCE 816. Adams A 957. Mortimer 20. BM-STC Italian 16. Eitner I, 91. MGG III, 1721. Smitskamp 240. IA 104.625. Brunet I, 229. Graesse I, 59.
Folio (215 x 300 mm). (4); (4); (2) pp. including blanks. (1) Letter in Italian, signed, from Pedro Alvarez de Toledo in Andria to Ferrante Gonzaga, 13 August 1539, with a 23 mm seal bearing Alvarez de Toledo's coat of arms (with a chain of flags) stamped on a slip of paper attached with red wax. (2) Letter in Spanish, signed, from Pedro Alvarez de Toledo in Andria to Ferrante Gonzaga, 3 September 1539, with the 45 mm imperial armorial seal stamped on a slip of paper attached with red wax. (3) Letter in Italian, signed, from Maria Osorio y Pimentel [in Andria] to Ferrante Gonzaga, 10 September 1539, with the remains of what appears to be her husband's 23 mm red wax seal. - Each letter, in brown ink, occupies one page, with the last page containing the address and the sender's seal. The two inside pages of the second and third letter are blank. Each formerly folded for posting, so that the address would have appeared on one side and the seal on the other. Three letters from Pedro Alvarez de Toledo (1484-1553), Duke of Alba and councillor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and his wife Maria Osorio y Pimentel (1498-1539) to Ferrante Gonzaga (1507-57), Viceroy of Sicily, who commanded the Imperial cavalry fighting the Ottomans in North Africa. They concern the Ottoman fleet marauding in the Mediterranean in 1539, thirteen years after the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Mohács gave them control of much of Hungary and roused Christian fears of their strong presence in Europe, and ten years after Barbarossa established his base in Algiers. The first letter, signed by Alvarez de Toledo, advises Gonzaga that, due to the recent loss of Castelnuovo to the Turks, he has given orders for vigilance and defensive preparations on the island of Lipari. He asks Gonzaga to supply any assistance the islanders require. The second letter, also from Alvarez de Toledo, advises Gonzaga that he has received a letter dated 30 August 1539 from Andrea Doria (1466-1560) in Brindisi, then Imperial admiral of the Holy League, urging a campaign against Barbary to be carried out forthwith, in order to avoid further damage from the Turks. This followed the defeat of Doria's fleet at the battle of Preveza in September 1538 by the fleet commanded by the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa (ca. 1478-1546), long feared in Europe as the infamous privateer Redbeard. The third letter is addressed to Gonzaga by Osorio y Pimentel, informing him that her husband has sent news that the Turkish fleet has been sighted off the Capo d'Otranto, some 150 sails having been observed. She also notes that she has informed Francisco de Tovar, governor of the port La Goleta at Tunis. Given that Barbarossa may direct his attention there, she requests that Gonzaga send a frigate to Tunis to warn de Tovar to remain vigilant. - The seal on Osorio y Pimentel's letter is damaged and can no longer be made out, but the faint visible traces appear to match the arms and flags of her husband's seal, and a small part of the imperial seal on his second letter is damaged, but all three letters are still in very good condition. Three letters of 1539 all important primary sources for hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and Christian Europe.
Tall 8vo (158 x 288 mm). Persian manuscript on paper. 278 ff. Nastaliq text in black and occasional red ink, handsomely ruled in red and blue, with occasional marginal notes and further ownership notes on exterior leaves. Modern blank endpapers. Bound in full 20th century red ochre leather, stamped in blind. One of the most important books on pharmacology written in Persian in the Islamic era. Ansari Shirazi (1329-1403) was a famous physician of the Mughal period, serving at the court of Sultan Jalal ud-Din Shah Shuja (1333-84). During Ansari Shirazi's years at court the Sultan was a patron of the poet Hafez (1325-90), icon of Persian poetry, whom Ansari Shirazi would have known personally. Another esteemed acquaintance appears in the title of this particular book, "Selections for Badi". The work is dedicated to a woman, allegedly a Persian princess named Badi al-Jamal about whom little is known. - The work itself is a gem of Persian medical literature: scholars have claimed that "in the history of Persian medicine, the book 'Ikhtiyarat Badiei' is considered the most important book written in Persian", citing the large number of sources and remedies it provided the mediaeval reader, though some irrational fallacies are noted as well: "In three entries in Ikhtiyarat Badiei, the author has illustrated some superstitious ideas, namely that 'If the food is poisonous, and the weasel finds out, it will shout and its hair will stand on its end' and says: 'looking at zebra is good for the eyesight'" (Ghazi Sha'rbaf, 99). - The scribe responsible for copying the text was Muhammad Qasim Quraishi Siddiqui, who is known to have been active in India in the 17th century. A few minor stains and soiling; altogether a well-preserved and vital piece of Persian scientific history. Cf. Javad Ghazi Sha’rbaf et al., "Introducing the Book Ikhti-yarat Badiei: An Investigation Over its Importance in the Pharmacology of the Islamic Period", in: Journal of Research on History of Medicine 9.2 (2020), pp. 95-102.
1380:1216 mm. Lambert conformal conic projection, constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:2,000,000. Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. Folded. A highly detailed map of the complete Peninsula, the first modern map in 1:2,000,000 scale: the rare preliminary edition, issued five years before the officical release. Based on the groundbreaking series prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arabian American Oil Company under the joint sponsorship of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. State Department, "a unique experiment in geological cooperation among several governments, petroleum companies, and individuals" (Seager/Johnston). Also includes the territories of today's Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. "The plan for a cooperative mapping project was originally conceived in July 1953 [... By 1955] there was established a cooperative agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Department of State, and the Arabian-American Oil Co. to make available the basic areal geology as mapped by Aramco and the U.S. Geological Survey" (ibid.). The plan provided for 21 maps on a 1:500,000 scale in both geologic and geographic versions; "a peninsular geologic map on a scale of 1:2,000,000 was to conclude the project [...] The first geographic quadrangle was published in July 1956 and the last in September 1962. While preparation of the geographic sheets was in progress, a need arose for early publication of a 1:2,000,000-scale peninsular geographic map. Consequently, a preliminary edition was compiled and published in both English and Arabic in 1958" (ibid.). While the revised, final version that appeared in 1963 ("I-270 B-2") would incorporate some additional photographic, topographic and cultural data, the exceedingly uncommon present, preliminary edition is surprisingly complete in virtually all respects - a testament to the precision with which Aramco's cartographers proceeded from the very first. Includes a key with symbols for water pipelines, desert watering points, oil fields, pumping stations, refineries, and a glossary of Arabic names. - "Although the search for oil, gas and minerals was ultimately to drive geological survey work across the region [...], in its early years it was the need for water that was the catalyst for Saudi Arabia's resource exploration. In 1944 King 'Abd al-'Aziz approached the United States for a technical expert who could assist with the identification and plotting of the kingdom's natural resources, particularly its groundwater reserves. The individual who arrived, Glen F. Brown, was one of the pioneers of a partnership between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the government of Saudi Arabia that was to span the next five decades and play an important role in the development of the kingdom [...] By 1954 the Saudi Ministry of Finance, USGS and Aramco were working together to produce the first full series of geographic and geologic maps of the country. The first of their type in the Peninsula, these were published [...] in both Arabic and English versions, and the information they contained formed the basis of subsequent Saudi national development plans. To this day, all modern maps of the kingdom trace their roots back to these first publications" (Parry). - In excellent condition. James V. Parry, "Mapping Arabia", in: Saudi Aramco World 2004/1, p. 20ff. OCLC 30099393. O. A. Seager/W. D. Johnston, Foreword to the Geology of the Arabian Peninsula series (U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 560-A-D, 1966).
