4 355 résultats
Oblong 4to. [70] gray, white and blue album ff., containing 67 sketches with accompanying manuscript captions and descriptions. 66 sketches in pen & ink and pencil, mostly signed by Blackwell, depicting Swiss, Burmese and Indian panoramas and domestic scenes, buildings, events, animals and inhabitants, mounted and bound in, most accompanied by manuscript captions and descriptions by Blackwell and sometimes by a later hand. There is also 1 print (ca. 1795/1800?) showing a "rhahan" (priest) drawn by Singey Bey and engraved by Thomas Medland. Half black morocco, black decorated paper sides, gold-tooled ornaments on spine. Sketchbook by the English lieutenant Thomas Eden Blackwell (1803?-45), showing views of India, Burma, and Switzerland, made in the years 1826-30, when India, which is the subject of about 30 of the sketches, and parts of Burma (now Myanmar) were British colonies. The sketches, mostly signed and dated by Blackwell, are mounted on album leaves and accompanied by manuscript captions and descriptions, also by Blackwell and sometimes by a later hand. Some of these remarks are general or contain interesting facts, while others are very personal or describe an event that happened during Blackwell's time as officer. - Blackwell drew some panoramic views and buildings (for example an Indian mosque or a narrow street in Calcutta), but he pays particular attention to Indian culture in his sketches of India and the accompanying explanations. He sketches the Indian population, animals, and scenes representing the everyday life of Indian people. Several animal sketches are exceptionally beautiful, including that of a horse (with notes about Arabian horses). He also draws a camel, compares camels to dromedaries, and outlines the habitat of both species in India. Also included are many sketches of Indian cattle, such as bullocks, which were used as water-carriers, and Bengal cows (whose milk is said to be "inferior" to that of English cows). - Blackwell also drew the inhabitants of the Indian places he visited, including a priest ("rhahan") and an Indian watchman ("chokedar"), but also a "Musselman" and an Indian woman, with remarks concerning the attitude of Indian men towards women. Of particular interest are the Indian "sceneries", as Blackwell calls them, showing the everyday life of Indian people: native cooking, but also how Indian people bathe in Hooghly river, how they wash their clothes, and men smoking a so-called "hubble bubble" (a hookah or water pipe). Blackwell annotatioins to nearly all these sketches provide the reader with rare insights into Indian culture. - of Burma (now Myanmar) fewer sketches were made, and they focus mostly on the coasts and the city of Rangoon's wharfs. These include the royal wharf at Rangoon, with a whole page of explanatory text on the facing page, and a sketch showing a stockade in Burma, where, according to Blackwell's caption, the British killed the Burman general Maha Bundoola (1782-1825) in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Yet there is also a sketch of the so-called Great Bell in Rangoon, which is representative of Burmese bells, which are often located near celestial buildings. The album also includes two views of Tobago in the West Indies: a large two-page panoramic view and a sketch of the government house in Tobago with a garrison in the background; Blackwell's note states that his daughter Eliza was born there on 25 January 1833. - Another part of the sketchbook comprises sketches of Swiss landscapes and panoramas, especially of the region surrounding Basel (of which Blackwell also includes a two-page panoramic view). - With owner's inscription on the front pastedown: "Lieut. Blackwell 13th Light Infantry. Indian, Burmese and Swiss Sketches". Binding a little worn, one quire loose, some occasional spots and somewhat browned, but not affecting the drawings. In good condition.
Large 4to. (4), III, (3), 29, (1) pp; (2), 32, 42, 6 pp. Modern wrappers. Rare edition of the seventh chapter of the "Anvari Suhaili", a Persian fable, in Farsi, English and Arabic, with Arabic tables, analysis of the Arabic words, and the "Kalila Dumna", the Arabic version of the same chapter by 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mukaffa. Designed by Charles Stewart (1764-1837), professor of oriental languages at the East India College at Hailey, Hertfordshire, to help civil servants and military men in the service of the East India Company learn Persian. - A few page corners creased, occasional light soiling. With extensive pencil annotations from contemporary use; contemporary ink ownership of H. L. Dick to the title-page. As vol. 7 of Alexander's East India Magazine and Colonial and Commercial Journal reports under the Company's civil appointments, in January 1834 "Mr. H. L. Dick, writer [= administrator], has exceeded the period allowed for the Study of the Native Languages, and has been directed to return to England" (p. 103). Chauvin II, p. 27, no. 47. OCLC 891514783.
8vo. With 8 woodcut tailpieces. Later mottled calf, red spine labels, red edges. Rare edition of the collected works of Luis de Camões, including Os Lusiadas and three Rimas. In the same year, Antonio Craesbeeck published another edition with the same title but with less content and with a different frontispiece. This collection of works is made up of separate publications. - Os Lusiadas is the great epic poem of Portuguese exploration, in the original Portuguese, a monument of Portuguese literature that gave a Homeric aura to Renaissance voyages of discovery and colonial conquests, here together with the other works of Camões. Camões's work was first published in Portuguese at Lisbon in 1572. - In the early 1530s the great Portuguese historian, João de Barros, most famous for his Decadas de Asia, had called for an epic poem of Portuguese exploration and discovery. Luis de Camões (1524-80) answered that call four decades later. Camões was educated in a monastic school in Coimbra, and produced poetry and plays at an early age. In his early twenties he was banished from Lisbon after producing a play considered disparaging to the royal family. He served as a soldier in the Portuguese forces besieging Ceuta in North Africa, where he lost an eye. Camões returned to Lisbon in 1550, but found himself in more trouble, and was pardoned by the King on condition that he serve the Crown in India for five years. He arrived at Goa in late 1553 and stayed there briefly before joining an expedition to the Malabar Coast. Later he participated in a campaign against pirates on the shores of Arabia. In 1556 he left Goa again for the East Indies, taking part in the military occupation of Macao, where he remained for many months. On his return trip to India, he was shipwrecked off the Mekong and wandered in Cambodia before reaching Malacca and eventually returning to Goa. He did not return to Lisbon until 1570. The Lusiads gives a fine description not only of Portuguese exploits in the East, but also of the flora and fauna of Asia and India, the ethnographic details of the peoples there, and the geography of the region, informed by Camões's own experiences as well as his familiarity with Ptolemy and Barros. - With the bookplate of "Aulo-Gélio", 1961, with a view of Lisbon. The first few pages slightly worn with some repairs. Stained throughout. Some contemporary annotations in ink in the margins. Bibliotheca Lusitana p. 62. Inocêncio XIV, 78. José de Canto, 37.
A single folio on card, ca. 385 x 280 mm. Ink and gouache on paper. Matted, framed and glazed. Fine painting with Mughal influences, showing a golden-coloured domestic falcon, loosely tied to an elegant and decorated outdoor stand. Framed within multiple gilt decorated borders adorned with different floral motifs; borders painted with geometric octagonal shapes, each displaying an array of birds including from the heron and pigeon families, all heightened in gilt. - Attractively preserved.
4to. 2 vols. 32 pp. 30 pp. Illustrated throughout with photo illustrations and sketch maps. Original pictorial wrappers, second volume ring-bound. Issued in tandem with the Basrah Petroleum Co. Ltd. and the Mosul Iraq Petroleum Co. Ltd., these volumes, which seem to have appeared yearly from 1951, offer information on the development of the industry over the year. Both volumes contain a Foreword by the Managing Director H. S. Gibson, followed by illustrations and information concerning the oil produced. The books are nicely produced, and in very good condition.
8vo. (2), 45, (1); (8), III, (1), 95, (1) pp. With a folding table. Original printed wrappers. Thirty of Lafontaine's Fables in Arabic: the first Arabic translation of this famous work, an extremely rare Algerian-printed publication issued for instruction in the Arabic language together with a collection of French-Arabic dialogues. - Wrappers a little stained; a few ink and pencil corrections to the preface. An untrimmed, wide-margined copy. Only two copies in library catalogues internationally (Bibliothèque nationale de France and Leiden University). OCLC 776989551.
4to. (8), 54, (2) pp. All edges red. Modern blue boards. Only edition of this dissertation on oriental medical terminology. "The author is the theologian Michaelis [the father of Johann David Michaelis], who attempts to elucidate Hebrew terms by comparison with the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopian languages. He also discusses the medical knowledge of the oriental peoples, as well as Ecclesiastes 12:3-6" (cf. Choulant). - Trimmed a little closely at the lower edge with slight loss to printer's name, otherwise very well preserved. Choulant 102. Meusel IX, 137f. Fürst II, 374. Lockot, Bibliographia Aethiopica 7660. OCLC 14330491.
Partially engraved sea chart, 1 sheet of 6 sheets only. 940 x 675 mm. Updated 1852 edition of Norie's very rare and monumental sea chart of the Indian Ocean, one of the 19th century's greatest works of maritime cartography. The present sheet embraces the southern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, including the coasts of Oman, Yemen, and much of the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, up as far as Yanbu, including the Jeddah-Mecca area. In Africa the chart includes the coasts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania, while the Seychelles appear within the Indian Ocean itself. The quality of the hydrography and engraving is exquisite. The antecedent chart of the present work was first issued by William Heather in 1799 but was re-engraved and dramatically updated in 1833 by Heather's successor J. W. Norie. The present edition was issued by Norie's successor firm, Norie & Wilson, featuring the latest updates. - Pronounced staining and crackling with minor loss to middle of left blank margin, some light staining in other areas, some short tears emanating from the margins; some offsetting in lower part of chart. Altogether well preserved. Cf. OCLC 498106078 (1833 edition).
4to. (24) pp. Early 19th century marbled wrappers. First edition of this rare and prettily produced philological dissertation on the Arabic language, on Arab scholarship and the use of Arabic studies, written by the Saxon professor of theology and oriental studies J. D. Schieferdecker (1672-1721). Numerous passages are printed in Arabic type (in imitation of those of Erpenius). Separate chapters discuss the influence of Arabic in jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, astronomy, optics, arithmetics, geography, geometry, and music, as well as in history and literature. A set of subjects for discussion by the doctoral candidate, printed at the end of the volume, includes theses about Muhammad and the Qur'an, on the role of the Messiah in Islam, on the difference between Turkish and Arabic (said to be comparable to that between French and Latin), and on the special regard given in Islam to the first sura of the Qur'an, which is likened to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity. "The 'Fructus' was first defended in 1692 and opens with a calligraphical basmala in bird shape [... It has] a woodcut Arabic title on the title-page" (Smitskamp). - Well preserved. VD 17, 12:142720G. OCLC 930345148. Cf. Smitskamp, PO 361b (1695 edition).
8vo. 52, (4) pp. Contemporary red bronze-varnish wrappers. Rare work report issued by the "Institutum Judaicum et Muhammedicum" in Halle (Saale), a Pietist institution founded in 1727 by the orientalist Johann Heinrich Callenberg for the mission of the Jewish population of Europe and the Orient. Stephan Schultz (1714-76) was Callenberg's successor as director. His pamphlet gives an account of the institution's history and achievements as well as methods, also recounting his extensive mission journey to Turkey, Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia undertaken between 1752 and 1756 with the young Prussian theologian August Friedrich Woltersdorf, who perished in Ptolemais in 1755: "Here I had much opportunity to do good among the various peoples, especially the Arabs, whose Sheikhs, or noblemen, entertained me warmly in their houses and listened to me intently when I read to them something from the Holy Scripture in Arabic, and provided comments for their edification" (transl., p. 34). - Slightly browned but well preserved in the pretty contemporary wrappers. VD 18, 11240911. Cf. Kayser IV, 195.
Small 8vo. (2), 30 pp. Lithographed and illustrated throughout. Original yellow printed wrappers. Lithographed in Arabic throughout (save for the French wrapper-title): a rare official manual of the legal system of weights and measures used in French Algeria, intended for Arab-French schools. The booklet was drawn up by the school principal Eugène Vayssettes and translated by an Arab known only as Antoine, after an earlier effort by the military interpreter Ahmed ben Lefgoun had been condemned by the board as too complicated and linguistically obscure. The illustrations show various receptacles and measuring units. - In excellent condition. OCLC 493647389.
4to. (14), 264 pp. With engraved illustrated title-page and 12 engraved plates; one line of musical notes showing the melody of the muezzin's call "la 'ilaha 'illa -llahu" (There is no deity but Allah). 19th century marbled half leather with giltstamped red spine label. Marbled endpapers. All edges sprinkled red. Second edition of Wallich's account of Islam, written in 1659 following his mission to the Porte. "The first part is a description of Turkish religion and customs [...] together with seven of the plates. The second part is a life of Mohammed, and the third part is a comparison of Pope Alexander VII with Mehmed IV (the two antichrists, oriental and occidental)" (Blackmer). The biography of the Prophet includes a genealogy and an engraving showing Ali with the Zulfiqar presenting the written Qur'an to the faithful. - Johann Ulrich von Wallich (1624-73), a Thuringian jurist in Swedish services, participated in several diplomatic missions, including the Swedish embassy to Constantinople in 1657/58, where he got to know the Muslim religion. - Binding very insignificantly rubbed along the hinges, corners a little bumped. A fine copy bound for the Ottoman-Greek diplomat Stephanos Carathéodory (1834-1908), who served as secretary to the Ottoman delegation at the 1878 Congress of Berlin and as Ottoman ambassador to Brussels, with his printed bookplate and motto ("Meden agan" - "nothing in excess") to front pastedown and spine. VD 17, 39:134505B. Chauvin XI, p. 197, no. 720. Cf. Atabey 1761; Blackmer 1309.
Small 4to (235 x 170 mm). 246 pp., including 3 maps. Bound in original printed buff wrappers. First and only edition. - A scarce and important analysis of the Saudi Arabian oil economy, featuring authoritative data and illustrated by three maps, published on the eve of the 1973 Oil Crisis and the Saudi government's takeover of ARAMCO. Mohammed Ali Redha Al-Jasim was a Saudi academic who authored several pioneering studies on Saudi economy during the 1960s and 1970s. Entirely in Arabic, the work employs the latest official data, combined with Dr. Al-Jasim's skilled analysis, to provide an authoritative insight into the nature of the world's most dynamic petroleum industry and its effects upon Saudi Arabia's national ambitions. Illustrated with numerous tables and three intriguing maps, the work is an invaluable source for anyone interested in the modern development of the global petroleum industry and the economic history of Saudi Arabia in particular. - Slight wear to spine and edges of covers; internally clean and crisp. A very good copy. OCLC 4771175724 / 235989266.
Small folio (212 x 277 mm). 44 pp. Contemporary blue half cloth over marbled boards. Scholarly German translation of the lapidary of Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203-83), being the mineralogical section from the author's famous "Aja'ib al-makhluqat", which was hailed by Brockelmann as "the most valuable cosmography in Islamic culture" (GAL S I, 882). - The Heidelberg-based science educator Julius Ruska (1867-1949) studied ancient oriental languages to focus on the Islamic history of mathematics and science and later became professor at Heidelberg and Berlin. His sons Ernst and Helmut Ruska pioneered the electron microscope, for which invention the former received the Nobel Prize in Physics. - Well preserved. GAL I, 481, no, 12. OCLC 28083936. Not in Sinkankas.
8vo. 158, (2) pp., with bibliographical references on pp. 141-143. With 16 black and white photographic illustrations on 5 leaves. Original lime green printed wrappers. First edition. A fascinating apology of Sheikh Dhari, who killed the British intelligence officer Gerard Leachman on 12 August 1920. It includes brief but detailed biographies of both men (that of Leachman includes his travels to Arabia and Iraq), an exposition of the acts leading up to the event, and an account of the day itself. Though the book links Sheikh Dhari's act to the Iraqi revolt of 1920, records of his trial signal that the killing was not politically motivated in the wider sense, but was instead committed in response to abuse suffered at the hands of Leachman (see Abbas Kadhim, Reclaiming Iraq, University of Texas Press [2012], p. 80). Leachman's legacy, like those of so many British Officials operating in the Middle East at the time, is complicated: multiple descriptions tend toward painting "a courageous and devoted servant of empire" (ODNB), whereas recent assessments rightly factor in the evidence of his abuses. - Arabic text throughout save for English title to recto of final leaf and lower wrapper. Occasional tiny edge chips; wrappers a little dusty and fingerstained showing minor wear to head and tail of spine, otherwise very good. Rare: Copac/Jisc locates a single copy in the UK (Oxford); WorldCat adds two further holdings at the Bavarian State Library and the University of Haifa. No copies in North American institutions (Harvard and Princeton have microfilm copies in their Arabic collections). OCLC 24963037.
8vo. (2), 267 pp., final blank. With a double-page wood-engraved frontispiece, 8 wood-engraved plates, including 2 maps of Ballantine's route, and numerous wood-engraved illustrations in the text. Contemporary blindstamped cloth with giltstamped spine-title; brown coated endpapers. First edition. - Exceedingly rare account of a five-and-a-half-month journey from Bombay to New York by the Indian-born American merchant Ballantine, carried out in an attempt to acquire as much information as possible on commerce in Persia. Setting out from Bombay on 7 May 1875, Ballantine visited Karachi, Muscat, Ormus, Bandar Lengeh, Bahrain, Bushire, Shiraz, and Tehran, as well as Moscow, St Petersburg, and Stockholm before reaching London and Liverpool. Conceived as a commercial report, the travelogue covers currencies, weights and measures, and matters of export and import as well as pearl fishing, silk production and opium culture. It also describes the local climate and infrastructure, including water supply and telegraph lines, the ruling Sultan and Shahs, and the Arabian way of life (especially mentioning coffee). In his conclusion, Ballantine calculates the total cost of his journey at 265 pounds in railway, steamer and caravan fares for himself and his servant, a sum which he compares with cheaper modes of travel. The frontispiece shows a bird's-eye view of Bombay, while the plates depict a bazar in Ispahan, Char Bag and the palace at Ispahan, the southern gate of Tehran, the Shah of Iran, and the Tehran Royal Audience Hall. - Extremities very slightly bumped, inner hinges starting, but in all a fine copy, the interior clean and crisp. Pencil ownership of Mrs. John F. Spring of Greenfield, MA, on flyleaf. A single copy in auction records; the London 1875 edition cited by Wilson would appear to be a ghost. Ghani 28f. Wilson 13. OCLC 1706565. Not in Macro or Hünersdorff.
4to. (4), 552, (2) pp. Contemporary half calf. The first complete New Testament printed by the BFBS entirely in Syriac, edited by Samuel Lee. "The editor based his text upon Schaaf's edition; but he collated an ancient Syriac MS. belonging to Adam Clarke, a MS. from the Lebanon, dated 1523, now at Cambridge, and a third MS. (without vowel-points) brought by Claudius Buchanan from Travancore, as well as the Commentaries of Ephrem Syrus, and also made some use of the collations of R. Jones. The printing of this edition was completed in 1816" (Darlow/M.). This copy has the "extensive obliterations [...] in the section headings, made by means of a stamp and violet ink", which were "made by order of the BFBS Committee, on the ground that the headings contravened the rules of the Society" (ibid.). - Binding rubbed and bumped; occasional marginal scribblings in red crayon (more extensive on p. 5). Traces of worming in the upper margin of the final two leaves overpasted with brown paper. In all a good copy of a rarely seen edition. Darlow/Moule 8979. NUC LVI, 13. BM XVIII, 1449. OCLC 921205405.
8vo. (2), 6, 637, (3) pp. Contemporary full red morocco on 4 raised bands with giltstamped spine, covers with ornamental blindstamps and gilt rules; leading edgesgilt, inner dentelle gilt. All edges gilt. Luxuriously bound Turkish New Testament, newly translated from the Greek by the German-born William Gottlieb Schauffler (1798-1883). This is the first Constantinople-printed complete New Testament in Osmanli Turkish ever printed in Arabic characters: previous editions had been printed in Greek or Armenian characters only. - "Ordained a missionary [..., Schauffler] reached Constantinople in 1833. His linguistic gifts and missionary experience fitted him for translation-work [...] In 1858 the British and Foreign Bible Society commissioned him to transcribe into Arabic character W. Goodell's Armeno-Turkish version of the Bible, slightly adapting it to meet the needs of the Moslems. When this proved impracticable, he was authorised to make an independent version in simple, idiomatic Osmanli" (Darlow/M., p. 1641). - This copy was bought in Constantinople on 9 August 1879 by J. Gies for 25 silver piastres, as noted by the collector in ink on the title-page. Later in the library of by Karl Schäffeler (his ownership, dated 20 Sept. 1927, on the flyleaf and his bibliographical note on the pastedown). - Occasional light browning, but a well-preserved, pretty copy. Darlow/Moule 9488. Özege 10984. OCLC 42824525
4to. (4), 209, (3) pp. Original green cloth with giltstamped spine and cover titles. Published as a description of the careers of Royal Navy officers in the mid and latter part of the 19th century, this also constitutes an important source book for the activity of the UK forces in the Arabian Gulf during a crucial period of British activity in the region. Contains plentifold references to places along the Gulf coast, Bahrein and Mascat, discussing in particular the survey of the Gulf undertaken by Captain Haines (p. 38f.), Captain Ethersey & Commodore Charles deployment in the Gulf (pp. 54f.), work performed by captain Felix Jones (p. 88ff.), publications of maps by Lieut. Whitelock on the Gulf and Oman (p. 90), map making (p. 100), Marine surveys in the Gulf and mapping (pp. 109f.), list of charts made for the "Persian Gulf Pilot" (p. 128), survey of the reefs near Bahrein (p. 153), Lieut. Wish's map of Bahrein (p. 158) and map making (p. 195). - Extremeties slightly rubbed and bumped; binding a little loosened. Chapters 1 and 2 have photographic portraits mounted at the head of the page; the article of Admiral Sir Edward Belcher has a photographic reproduction of an oil portrait from the National Portrait Gallery loosely inserted. Numerous handwritten annotations. From the library of J. A. Edgell, 1940s editor of the "Persian Gulf Pilot", with his bookplate to pastedown and handwritten ownership to flyleaf; also with bookplate of Allan Carruthers of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. OCLC 1117176057.
Wall map, lithographed in colour, ca. 57 x 82 cm. Scale 1:1,500,000. Large-format Ottoman map of Palestine and Syria produced shortly before the First World War, including Eastern Anatolia and Cyprus as well as the northern Sinai Peninsula. Vilayet divisions are given in red, roads and rail transportation ways are indicated in detail. A separate inset shows the Hejaz Railway with tracks running as far south as Medina and various projected but never-realized extensions southwards to Mecca. - Traces of one old vertical and three horizontal folds; light brownstaining at centre and lower edge. A rare survival.
4to. (16), 194, (6) pp. With a double-page engraved table of Arabic characters. Contemporary full blindstamped calf. First edition of the first book printed with Roman letters in Turkey. Holdermann's "Grammaire turque" is the first French-Turkish grammar, printed on behalf of the French embassy to the Porte, at the first printing press established in 1726 by Zaid Aga Effendi, son of the Turkish ambassador to France, and Ibrahim Müteferrika. The type apparently was sent out from France especially for this work. Words and phrases are given both in Arabic-script Osmanli and in Roman transliteration. The engraved alphabetic table displays the names and shapes of letter forms for French and Turkish alphabets, including the letter forms used in various styles of Turkish writing for different uses: Nesghi for the Qur'an, Divani for business, Tealik for law and poetry, Kyrma for public registers; Sulus, like capitals, is used for book titles and imperial patents, Jakuti, and Rejani. - Since 1719 the French embassy had been calling for improved instruction and grammatical texts, and the present work was compiled by Holdermann "aprés avoir consulté, & conferé avec les plus habils maîtres, sur tout avec le sçavant Ibrahim [Müteferrika] Effendi, sur cet langue" (preface) for the use of the school of the "Enfants des Langues" (the school of the dragomans, or official interpreters) at Constantinople. Holdermann's book was also adopted as a teaching text by the Jesuit College at Paris, which had received a number of copies from the librarian at the Bibliothèque du Roi, abbé Bignon, in 1731 and 1732. - Holdermann, a Jesuit from Strasbourg, spent some four years as a missionary in Constantinople, dying there in 1730. He had projected also a French-Armenian grammar, which was unfinished at the time of his death. - Binding a little rubbed; corners bumped. Insignificant traces of worming to lower gutter near the beginning; dampstain to margin of first quire and diffuse dampstains to pp. 131-138. The first leaf of the index is bound after the title-page, the remaining two at the end. Complete with the final errata leaf. - Provenance: contemporary ownership of a Vlach nobleman in French service on the lower flyleaf ("Mr Pierre Rhetorides Grand Vornike de Valachie et Michmandare de Sa Hautesse le Grand Marechale de Frence"). The principality of Wallachia was then vassal state of the Ottoman Empire supported by France between 1730 and 1769. Blackmer 824. Atabey 586. Zenker 304. De Backer/Sommervogel IV, 431, 1. Toderini III, p. 89, no. VIII. Watson, "Ibrahim Müteferrika and Turkish incunabula", Journal of the American Oriental Society 88.3 (1968), 435-441 at p. 437, no. 8. Brunet II, 1693 ("volume peu commun et assez recherché").
Oblong 4to (260 x 178 mm). 47, (1) pp. With numerous black-and-white photographic prints in the text (some full-page) as well as 14 original black-and-white photographs loosely inserted. Printed original wrappers with mounted black and white illustration. First edition. - Extremely rare illustrated account of the trip taken by the Zurich gymnastic club "Alte Sektion" to the French national gymnastic festival held in Tunis on Easter 1912. It narrates the participants' 42-hour journey by ship from Marseille to Tunis as well as their impressions of the city before going on to describe the festival, including the Zurich squad's procession and the athletic competition. Instead of returning immediately after the festival, the group stayed in Africa for another week to visit Carthage, Dougga, Testour, and Constantine. - The full-page illustrations include the Zurich squad in their gymnastic attire and a Bedouin family with several camels. Loosely inserted are 14 original vintage photographs, some of them with contemporary pencil inscriptions on verso, further documenting the journey aboard the steamer, the short stay in Marseille, the festivities, palm trees before the Tunis cathedral, the trips to Dougga and Carthage, and a Tunesian procession. - Title-page with a few small marginal tears, otherwise in perfect condition. A very well preserved item commemorating the wide reach of the European gymnastics club movement. Not in auction records; the only other copies known are held at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich and the German National Library, Leipzig. OCLC 731661031.
8vo. 244 pp. With a colour frontispiece and 9 colour plates, all drawn after Hornby's original watercolour sketches. Contemporary giltstamped full cloth, spine and front edge repaired with green cloth in the 1990s, with 2 giltstamped spine labels taken over form the original spine. First edition. - Intriguing account by a woman traveller visiting the Sinai Peninsula in 1899 and Petra in 1901, her stops including Gaza, Jaffa, Jericho, Jerusalem, Port Said, and Suez. Hornby, who was not only a pioneer among woman travellers but also an ambitious mountaineer, created lovely watercolour sketches of her impressions during the journey, some of which are printed here. They show her tent in Ayn Musa, palm trees in Wady Ghurundel, Mount Serbal, Ras Sufsafeh, St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai, the Urn Tombs of Petra, the Siq passage leading up to the Al-Kazneh, Ad Deir, and Mount Hor from Bidebda. - Browned throughout with some foxing, more pronounced among first and last leaves. Bookplate of Peter Ward (d. 2004) of Purlieu in Upper Colwall, former intelligence officer in the Middle East and North Africa and fluent speaker of Arabic, to front pastedown; flyleaf shows remains of an earlier, removed bookplate and a pencil note regarding repairs to the book done in 1995. - No copy in auction records. A rare example of Arabian travel literature from the early 20th century featuring a female protagonist. OCLC 560058182.
8vo. (6), 47, (1) pp. With 38 half-tone black and white plates. Original rose printed wrappers. First edition. - A beautifully illustrated history and guide to the Arab Museum based in the Khan Murjan of Baghdad, printed in Arabic throughout. - The Khan Murjan was built in the 14th century by Aminuddin Murjan (d. 774 H / 1372 CE). The building was designed as a caravanserai and, for centuries, housed merchants, scholars and travellers passing through the city. With two stories of rooms, a high-ceilinged central hall and beautifully ornamented windows and arches, it was (and continues to be) an important and handsome example of Islamic architecture. - Due to later periods of neglect and flood damage, the building languished in semi-ruin for close to two hundred years. Then, in the early 1930s, Sati' al-Husri (1880-1968), the Director of Antiquities, ordered renovations and repairs so that it could be reborn as a museum dedicated to Islamic artefacts. - Some chips to head and tail of spine, a few closed tears to extremities, spine slightly sunned. A very good copy of an innately fragile publication. OCLC 222915818.
Ca. 235 x 190 mm. Original hand-coloured map on tissue paper. In Ottoman script and Arabic. Two hand-drawn maps on a single sheet, made in the Ottoman Empire, likely in Istanbul, near the beginning of the 20th century. The map to the left depicts the Baghdad Vilayet, embracing Central Iraq. The map on the right features the Basra Vilayet, extending from Southern Iraq down the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf to include Kuwait, what is now the Dhahran area of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar. By the late 19th century the Gulf States had become de-facto British protectorates and were no longer practically subject to Ottoman rule; still, the Sublime Porte never relinquished its sovereignty. - Maps such as this, executed on thin tracing paper, were commonly made as educational tools at elite Ottoman schools and universities during the early 20th century, although few such specimens survive. - Clean and bright, with light creasing and traces of an old vertical centrefold.