[Egyptology]. Al-Mathaf al-Misri.MareMagnum
4 361 résultats
4to. 20 volumes: 14 bound in original wrappers, 4 in half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title, and 2 in half calf with giltstamped spine title. Illustrated throughout. Extensive set, comprising 20 of the first 32 issues of the still-published series that catalogues and describes in detail the treasures of the famous Egyptian Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. - Printed in Cairo: W. E. Crum, Nos. 8001-8741 Coptic Monuments (1902); M. Quibell, Nos. 11001-1200 & 14001-14754 Archaic objects t. II (1904); M. Quibell. Nos. 11001-12000 & 14001-14754 Archaic objects t. I (1905); Gaillard & Daressy, Nos. 29501-29733 & 29751-29834 La faune momifiée (1905); Ahmed Bey Kamal, Nos. 23001-23246 Tables d'offrandes t. II (1906); C. C. Edgar, Nos. 33301-33506 Sculptors' studies (1906); Arthur E. P. Weigall, Nos. 31271-31670 Weights and Balances (1908); Ahmed Bey Kamal, Nos. 23001-23256 Tables d'offrandes t. I (1909); Georges Daressy, Nos. 61001-61044 Cercueils des cachettes royales (1909); Georges Bénédite, Nos. 44301-44638 Objets de toilette Iere partie peignes etc. (1911); Henri Gauthier, Nos. 41042-41048 Cercueils anthropoides, premier fascicule (1912); Henri Gauthier, Nos. 41048-41072 Cercueils anthropoides, second fascicule (1913); G. A. Reisner, Nos. 4798-4976 & 5034-5200 Models of ships and boats (1913); Charles T. Currelly, Nos. 63001-64906 Stone implements (1913); Henri Munier, Nos. 9201-9304 Manuscrits Coptes (1916); Charles Kuentz, Nos. 1308-1315 & 17001-17036 Obélisques (1932). - Printed in Vienna: W. von Bissing, Nos. 3426-3587 Metallgefäße (1901); W. von Bissing, Nos. 3618-4000, 18001-18037, 18600, 18603 Fayencegefässe (1902); Josef Strzygowski, Nos. 7001-7394 & 8742-9200 Koptische Kunst (1904); W. von Bissing, Tongefäße. 1. Teil: Bis zum Beginn des Alten Reiches (1913). - Some browning throughout as common. Wrappers rubbed but professionally repaired. Rare. ZDB-ID 441756-2.
4to (165 x 213 mm). (20), 373 (but: 371), (5) pp. With 16 woodcut illustrations in the text. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten spine title. The rare first edition of this extremely important and early collection of alchemical writings, which unites several first printings of works previously circulated only as manuscripts. This is first edition to call Geber an "Arab", the first to use "Summa perfectionis magisterii" on the title-page, and also the first printing of the famous "Smaragdine Table" of Hermes Trismegistus. - "De Alchemia and the other works of the Geber corpus were of the greatest influence on Western chemistry, and whether they be translations or elaborations, they represent the amount of Arabic chemical knowledge made available to Latin reading people toward the end of the thirteenth century [...] they represent the best Latin knowledge on chemistry in that period" (Sarton). - The present collection, arranged by Chrysogonus Polydorus, contains four treatises by Geber: 1. Summa perfectionis; 2. Liber de investigatione perfectionis (the earliest description of the preparation of nitric acid and aqua regia); 3. Liber de inventione veritatis sive perfectionis; 4. Liber fornacum (a practical text on chemical operations). It also contains the following texts, of which at least four are printed for the first time: 5. Roger Bacon's Speculum Alchemiae (the original text from which the 1597 English "Mirror of Alchemy" edition was made); 6. Richard of Wendover's Correctorium Alchemiae; 7. Rosarius minor, de Alchemia, by an unknown author; 8. Khalid ibn Yazid's Liber Secretorum Alchemiae; 9. Hermes Trismegistus' Tabula Smaragdina; 10. Hortolanus' commentary on the Tabula. Illustrated with 16 fine woodcuts of alchemical apparatus and alchemists at work. - A complete copy in good condition showing light browning to paper, with wide margins containing extremely extensive early marginal annotations throughout. Stains to outer margin of last several leaves. A tear to the gutter of leaf c2 professionally repaired; old vellum repair to upper cover. A good copy. While the second edition of 1545, also very rare, has made a few appearances on the market, this first edition is extremely scarce. VD 16, J 15. Ferguson I, 18 & 301. Sarton II, 1044. Lamoen, Hermes Trismegistus (Amsterdam 1990), no. 70. Brüning I, 220. Darmstaedter, Geber 7. Duveen 11. Mellon Collection (Alchemy and the Occult, Yale 1968) I, 10 (note). Cf. Hoover 445 (1545 edition only). Not in Caillet or Rosenthal.
8vo. IX, (1) pp., 1 blank leaf, 300 pp. Contemporary red half leather over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title. Marbled endpapers. Rare anthology of Arabic poetry with Arabic text and French translations printed on opposite pages as well as literal Latin translations and notes. Jean Humbert (1792-1851), a Geneva clergyman, learned Arabic in Paris under the auspices of Silvestre de Sacy and later pioneered the Arabic curriculum at the University of Geneva. - Binding rubbed, extremeties bumped and chipped, upper spine-end defective, front hinge starting. From the library of the oriental scholar Edouard Montet (1856-1934), professor at Geneva, with his bookplate on the front pastdown (with a fine quotation from Al-Zamakhshari in Arabic). Additional handwritten ownership "Edward Cooper" to flyleaf. OCLC 29298262. GAL II, 479 (for the writings of Michel Sabbagh, pp. 291ff. in the Anthology). Cf. Fück 156 (for Humbert).
8vo. Arabic manuscript on paper. 86 ff. 13 lines, per extensum, written in clear and thick Turkish naskh in black ink; single words marking the various textual sections are marked in red. Modern green half calf. A miscellany of works belonging to the genre of "nahw", or essays on grammatical topics, mainly focusing on the nominal and verbal morphology of Arabic. Contains parts of the "Marah al-Arwah" ("Abode of the Spirits") by the 14th century grammarian Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Masud (ff. 1-31) as well as "Sharh az Zanjani" (or "Serh ul Izzi fi't-Tasrîf", ff. 32-43) by Taftazani, a grammatical treatise (ff. 43-56); further, a treatise on the conjugation of the verb (ff. 56-66), and various forms of the verb with explanations, beginning with perfect, imperfect and infinitive of Nasara (ff. 66-86). - A detailed list of grammatical contents is given throughout, subdivided into seven sections (aqsam), each dealing extensively with (mostly) verbal morphology and derivation. The first work is dated AH [10]31 (= AD 1621/22) in the first colophon. Both on the front endpaper and immediately after this first colophon, respectively, are a short introduction and several notes in Ottoman Turkish, suggesting the manuscript’s provenance. - Some worming, browning and brownstaining. Cf. GAL II, 21 (for Masud); GAL I, 283 (for Taftazani).
8vo (129 x 195 mm). 146 pp., 1 blank leaf. Arabic manuscript on European laid paper (f. 6 coloured light green). South Arabian Naskh script with Ta'liq features, 19 lines, black ink with rubrication. Colophon on f. 73v with copyist verse. Entire text set within a single red frame, simple illumination over the beginning (f. 1v). Full leather binding with remnants of blind-tooled and coloured ornamentation. A commentary (or supercommentary) on the "dibacha", the introduction of the "Kitab al-Misbah fil-Nahw" on Arabic syntax by Nasir b. 'Abd al-Sayyid al-Mutarrizi (d. 610/1213). This appears to be a commentary which is closely related to - but not identical with - MS Berlin SBPK, Lbg. 841 (= Ahlwardt 6547) and MS Berlin, SBPK, Springer 1015 (= Ahlwardt 6545). The latter commentary is by Sa'd al-Din Mas'ud bin 'Umar al-Taftazani (d. 791/1389). - The Sharh is distinguished from the Matn by overlining (black and sometimes also red). The calligraphy is marked by nervous, short and quick strokes as well as some uncommon ligatures. A note on the final page below the colophon reads: "Kafa' al-katib mahrum fi'l-turab, tarikh itna-wa khamsin wa tisa-mi'a", i.e.: "The deprived scribe did enough of the required on the earth (literally, "dust"), [in the] year two and fifty and nine hundred" (= 952 H). The paleographical and ornamental evidence fully agrees with such a date. - Provenance: Christie's South Kensington, London, 11 October 2013, lot 765. Cf. GAL I, 293.
8vo. 3 vols. (8), 15, (1), 587, (1) pp. (6), XII, 543, (3) pp., final blank leaf. (4), IV, 565, (1) pp., final blank leaf. Contemporary brown boards with giltstamped red spine label. First edition, printed with the beautiful Arabic types of the Imprimerie Imperiale by J. J. Marcel, who in 1798 had brought printing to the Arabic world when he set up the first press in Cairo. - "Opus maximopere, nec vero ultra quam fas erat, laudatum et celebratum ab omnibus qui de eo referrent" (Schnurrer). "Like his Grammar, de Sacy's Chrestomathy was first compiled for his students. In the early 19th century there was a very limited body of reading matter for academic learners of Arabic [...] The Chrestomathy was intended to remedy this fault. But de Sacy immediately combined with this practical aim the scholarly task to use and make known valuable texts from the manuscript troves of the Royal Library in Paris, and so his Chrestomathy contains extensive extracts from late historians (Maqrizi) and geographers, from Hariri's Maqamat, from the Druze canon and from Qazwini's cosmography, as well as several poems from Nabiga to Ibn Farid, and, finally, keeping in mind the practical needs of future interpreters, a collection of state documents, all of this in the original Arabic with French translation and a wealth of annotations [...] It is a credit to de Sacy's interpretative mastery that the Chrestomathy [...] enjoyed a much longer life than similar works usually do, which tend soon to show their age due to the progress of scholarship: for nearly a century his work introduced learners to the masterpieces of Arabic literature" (cf. Fück). - Bindings rubbed and bumped at extremeties; interior well preserved. Scarce on the market. Schnurrer 153. Fück p. 146-148. OCLC 3822297.
Comprising Lt. Ralph Smith's diary for 1918; his manuscript account fund book for "No. 3 Mule Column" (1917-20); his letterbook (Mesopotamia, May 1919 - June, 1920), with related telegrams, photographs, and ephemera; small group of official correspondence relating to Gunner Harry Dryburgh of the Remount Depot, Baghdad (mostly relating to travel permissions), ca. 1918-19; three programmes for theatrical performances held at the M.T. Depot Theatre (1918-19), and cinema programme for the Olympia Cinema, 31 May - 4 June 1919. Diary disbound, others in original bindings. Ephemera loose, the theatrical programmes printed on coloured paper, various sizes. Archive relating to the British transport corps ("Remount Depot", and "Mule Column") centred at Baghdad. An evocative diary kept by Lt. Smith captures both the horror and beauty of his daily life: "Never shall I forget the pain & terror in that poor little thing's face. I had nothing to help it & they were miles from any habitation [...] without food and medicine" (13 May, near Qara Tappah). The diary was written whilst he was serving with the No. 3 Mule Column, a section of the Transport Corps stationed in Mesopotamia, to which he was assigned in June 1917. It includes mentions of Qara Tappah, Baguba, Abu Jisra, Hillah (March 3, visiting "the house built by the German excavators who have done so much here" and the Babylonian remains, which Gertrude Bell had visited in January), Abu Saida (31 March, "I killed 1000 flies in my tent"; April 5, "Changed into my light underwear"; April 17, "Saw streams of Kurds & Arabs on the road [...] on the trek with camels"; April 23, "held a court martial [...] of Hazzat Shah [...] for theft from a mail bag, found him guilty & sentenced him to 30 lashes"), Table Mountain (trip with his orderly, Mohammed Qasim, whose photograph is included), Kifri and environs of Baghdad (29 April, "Tuz Khurmatli [Khurma] was taken today and nearly the whole of the Turkish force killed or taken prisoners"; 2 May, "Passed the 2 lots of Turkish prisoners [...] one prisoner of the first lot died on the way [...] they are evidently hungry and tired"). - The majority of Smith's letter book correspondence relates to his ordering books on India from Mudie's Select Library, Higginbotham in Madras (from where he purchased his Lett's Diary) and elsewhere, or selling others (12 April 1920, placing an advert in the Baghdad Times, "For Sale. Palmer's Arabic Grammar"). Smith's record of the No. 3 Mule Column Fund records Receipts ("Sale of a consignment of cigarettes for the column", "Proceeds of the sale of parts of two Turkish carts") and Expenditure ("Football, 2 bladders & one tube cement", "Sweets for the the Peace celebrations"). The entertainment programmes include pantomimes ("Red Riding Hood", "A Gipsy Romance" by the Advaxeliers at the Baghdad Depot Theatre), and an Olympia Cinema listing printed by the Dangor Press, Baghdad. - A unique ensemble, well preserved.
Colour print, 138 x 90 mm. "Dhow Builders" in "Dubai, Trucial States". - Well preserved commercial image of Dubai shortly before the oil era and its development into what is today the largest city in the United Arab Emirates.
4to (180 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 47 pp. 23-25 lines, per extensum, in black and occasional red and yellow ink. Bound in modern blue cloth with marbled covers. A mystical contemplation of animate and inanimate creatures, in particular of birds and flowers, whose various qualities proclaim the existence and wisdom of their creator. A popular and much-copied work by the Muslim mystic Ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi (d. 678 H/1279 CE?). A French translation was published in Paris in 1821; an edition of the Arabic text appeared in Cairo in 1280 H. - Written in an elegant northern African, very probably Moroccan calligraphy. A few edge flaws due to brittleness of paper, but on the whole well preserved. Cf. GAL I, 451 & II, 808f.
4to (150 x 206 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. 102 (but: 99) numbered pages (pp. 75-77 skipped). Black and red ink, 15 lines, per extensum, with a few ink diagrams in the margins. Half leather over papered boards. A collection of six treatises on sections, chronology, and astronomy, indexed on a cover label and, in pencil, on the inside front cover. Text in black ink with extensive commentary in red throughout the margins. - Binding loosened, gutters reinforced. Paper browned and brittle, but on the whole well-preserved with only very minor edge chipping.
Large 8vo (175 x 260 mm). 2 vols. XXIII (instead of XXVII, lacking pp. XVII-XX), (3), 795 (instead of 799, lacking pp. 705-708), (1) pp. XVI, 778 pp. With all 49 tinted lithographic plates as well as numerous wood-engraved text illustrations. Contemporary full blue cloth with blindstamped covers and gilt spine titles. Wants the boxed 14 maps. First edition. Chesney (1789-1872), the explorer of the Euphrates and founder of the overland route to India, intended the work to be complete in four volumes, but half the manuscript was lost and only these two volumes were published. The book describes the exploration trip through the Euphrates and Tiber valleys, to the Arabian Gulf, in search of a shorter route to India. "He explored the Euphrates twice, at first alone, on a raft, in secret and at great risk (he frequently came under fire from hostile Arabs) and later by steamer, although the second attempt was no less fraught with difficulty than the first (the 'Tigris' was wrecked and there were numerous physical obstacles to overcome). Chesney was clearly an explorer of the first order and his courage and perseverance were matched only by his attention to detail and thoroughness in the surveys he produced" (Atabey). - Lacking four leaves in the first volume and (as often) the 14 slip-cased maps. Provenance: removed from the library of Hawkesyard Priory, Staffordshire (dispersed in 2008) with their stamps. Latterly in the collection of Roberto Gulbenkian (1923-2009). Atabey I, 234 Blackmer 337. Howgego II, p. 124, C26.
8vo. (8), XXXXV, (1), 104 pp. With engraved dedicatory headpiece and 8 (instead of 10) engraved plates (some depicting cuts of diamonds) and tables. Contemporary smooth calf with gilt cover borders and red spine label. First edition in French of this early book describing "how diamonds and pearls can be evaluated on the basis of the factors of size (or weight) and style of cut" (Sinkankas). The London jeweller Jeffries is the first author to provide "a clear statement of the principle that the value of pearls should be calculated to the square of their weight [...] This principle is implicit in the valuation tables given by earlier authors, including Tavernier and others, but Jeffries is the first to state it explicitly. At the back of his book, he provides tables allowing the calculation of the value of individual and batches of pearls of different size or quality. This is effectively a 'chau' book, as used by merchants in the Gulf and India until the mid-20th century, and fulfils exactly the same function" (Carter). - "The text explains the [diamond] cutting procedure, how the evaluation rules were derived, the importance of imperfections and flaws as affecting price, notes on rough diamonds [...] and finally, a somewhat similar procedure for the valuation of pearls, with highest values accorded to pearls of closest approach to spherical perfection, luster, etc. The mathematical rule used for the pearl is known as the 'square of the weight' multiplied by a per-carat base price" (Sinkankas). - This French edition is much scarcer than the expanded second English edition, on which it is based. It is dedicated by the translator (the Royal librarian Chappotin S. Laurent) to the sixteen-year-old Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé, on the occasion of his marriage to Charlotte de Rohan. - Hinges weak, corners and spine-ends bumped and chipped. Lacks the final two plates (showing the cuts of the largest diamonds). Provenance: 20th century handwritten ownership to title-page. Removed from the Library of the Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, with their library stamp to the flyleaf. Sinkankas 3198. Cf. Carter, Sea of Pearls, p. 83, 125f., 251. Goldsmiths' 8500. Hoover 453. Roller/G. II, 10.
6 original gelatin silver photographs, the smallest measuring 90 x 139 mm and the largest 106 x 148 mm. - (Includes): 2 gelatin silver postcards of Dubai (Noor Ali, Photo-Press International, Dubai), ca. 90 x 139 mm, [ca. 1960s]. Framed and glazed. Rare photographs of Dubai in the early 1960s, showing Al Fahidi Fort, Dubai Old Town, Dubai Creek, Al Maktoum Bridge and the British Bank of the Middle East. They were published by "Studio Andalus", a photographic studio which (according to the stamp) was based on "New Street, near the National Library". Four are captioned in blue ink (another has an unfinished caption) and two have an Arabic studio stamp to their versos. Includes two contemporaneous postcards of Dubai, both also original photographic prints, showing principal views of the town. - A few corners bumped and creased, otherwise very good. A fine ensemble of rare photographs showing Dubai as a "Trucial State", shortly before the oil era and its development into what is today the largest city in the United Arab Emirates.
Oblong 4to. 5 cloth-bound volumes with stamped titles, containing 253 original photographs mounted on cardboard with accompanying text. Extensive photo documentation of Polish Arabian horses, recording year of birth, ancestors, racing results, descendants, etc. - No copy in any library recorded in WorldCat or KVK. A fine, clean copy.
4to. 2 vols. (12), 264 pp. (4), 265-643 pp., final blank. With frontispiece portrait and 8 photographic plates. Contemporary stamped cloth with cover and spine titles. Second printing of the equally scarce 1919 first edition of this notable work of travel literature by the British Army officer S. B. Miles, who served as a diplomat in various Arabic-speaking countries, notably Oman, which he came to know better than any other European of the time. His intent to revise the notes he had "jotted down on odd bits of paper as he rode through the desert on his camel" (Preface) was rendered impossible due to his failing eyesight. Five years after his death his widow decided to publish the manuscript as she found it, enriching it with Miles's travelogue of Mesopotamia as well as an index. The work includes the political and economic history of Oman and the Gulf as well as the history and geography of Dhofar, Arab tribes, and pearl fishing. The plates show the forts at Bahila, Yabreen, and Rostak, as well as the house of Seyyid Hamed Bin Azzar at Rostak, a group of locals, and date palms, while the frontispiece depicts Miles resting in a chair wearing his sunglasses. - Binding slightly rubbed and soiled, cockling to upper cover of vol. 2, rebacked. A good copy of this popular work that saw re-issues in 1966 and 1994. Cf. Ghani 250 (1966 reprint only).
8vo. 2 vols. 45, (1) pp. 94 pp. With photograph illustrations and reproductions of paintings. Original wrappers. First edition of this two-volume set published by High Highness Prince Mohamed Ali under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society, to which the heir presumptive of Egypt and Sudan had presented his manuscript. Mohammed Ali describes the care and breeding of Arab horses as practiced by the Arabs, especially in Egypt, and "gives the reader a picture of the Arabian horse, his treatment and presence in the Middle East" (Boyd/Paul). Reprinted in America in 1975. - Covers show moderate wear and soil; somewhat rubbed and bumped with light corner creasing. A small stain and some partial ink stamps (Brighton and Hove) to the cover of vol. 2. Below the photo of Nimr in vol. I is an inscription reportedly in the hand of the American oil magnate, philanthropist and collector Robert Orville Anderson (1917-2007), founder of the Atlantic Richfield Oil Co.: "Saoud's sire cost me £1750. He was a magnificent Brown Seqlauri Jedran 15.1" (the word "hands" has been added at the end in a different ink). A few additional marginal annotations; altogether a fine copy of a book very hard to find in any edition. Boyd/Paul 85.
Small 4to. 60, (6) pp. With 13 black and white photographic plates, 2 of which full-page, as well as a folding coloured map of Syria, Palestine and Egypt. First edition. - A compact guide to Syria, Palestine and Egypt before the inter-war period, written by the agent general of the French steamship company in the Middle East. Outlining the countries' history and recommending places to visit, it is illustrated with views of Beirut, Tripolis, Aleppo, Nazareth, and Cairo, as well as important landmarks, including the Great Mosque of Damascus, temples at Baalbek, Palmyra, the Sphinx and the pyramids, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Wailing Wall. - Label of the Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner in Paris to front cover. Upper wrapper somewhat foxed, spine and margins slightly worn. OCLC 7201775.
4to. 36 pp. Wrapperless pamphlet, disbound from a larger volume with near-contemporary handwritten foliation 21-38. Rare Lisbon edition of the epic poem about the 1732 capture of Oran by the Spanish army, written by the soldier and poet Eugenio Gerardo Lobo Huerta (1679-1750), first published in Spain in 1732. After having held the city since 1509 but losing it to Moorish forces in 1708, the Spanish recaptured it from the Deylik of Algiers in 1732 and managed to control the town for the next six decades. Lobo, who himself participated in the battle and was severely wounded, dedicated this work in 170 numbered octavas to his comrades; his practice of poetry earned him the nickname "Capitán Coplero" ("captain of couplets"). - Only 8 copies traced in libraries internationally. Aguilar Piñal V, 967. BGUC Misc., 78. OCLC 858632525.
4to. 8 pp. With woodcut title vignette and armorial headpiece. Wrapperless pamphlet. Very rare report about one of several unsuccessful attempts by Muslim forces to recapture Oran, causing the loss of five Algerian and two Ottoman battle ships. Published anonymously by José Freire de Monterroyo Mascarenhas (1670-1760), the polyglot editor of numerous travel accounts and topical pamphlets. - In Spanish hands since 1509, Oran had been captured by the Turks in 1708 while Spain was preoccupied with the War of the Spanish Succession. Spanish rule was re-established in Oran in July 1732, after which the fleet and the soldiers sent by Philip V returned to Spain, leaving a garrison of six thousand men in the city. In August of the same year, Hassan Bey intended to retake Oran, having asked for help from the Bey of Algiers. Hassan Bey repeatedly attacked the city for several months, allying himself with the Turks and the Algerians, but the city would remain under Spanish rule until 1792, when it suffered a massively destructive earthquake and King Charles IV handed the city back to the Ottoman Empire. - Rare; only 5 copies traceable in libraries worldwide. Barbosa Machado II, 856. Inocêncio V, 348. BGUC Misc., 81. Fonseca, Pseudonymos, 236. OCLC 27862273.
229 original photographs, 1 portrait reproduced from a painting, and 2 portraits printed on thin cardboard (one round-shaped). Various sizes (ca. 74 x 110 to 201 x 282 mm), printed both in colour and black-and-white. Some photographs with handwritten Arabic captions in pen on verso; a few with pasted mimeograph typescript captions in English. Stored in 5 display books. A large private photo archive, apparently assembled by a professional Middle Eastern journalist or press photographer, illustrating the reign of HRH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), Father of the Nation and the ruler of Abu Dhabi for more than 30 years. Some pictures show HRH Sheikh Zayed welcoming foreign dignitaries such as the Syrian president Hafez Al Assad, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing; others display industrial and cultural aspects of the Emirates, ranging from oil production in the desert to camel races and falconry. Another part of the set shows off prominent landmarks, including the Al Badiyah mosque, the oldest mosque of the Emirates, the forts of Al Hayl, Al Bithnah, and Al Jahili, the Blue Souq market hall in Sharjah, as well as Earth Park and the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi. In addition, several images record National Day celebrations at the foot of Volcano Fountain in Abu Dhabi, demolished in 2004, but also show the Dubai skyline, military parades, and sailing vessels. A picture of an Iranian Phantom fighter-bomber flying over the Tunb islands shortly before Iranian forces occupied them in 1971 is a rare asset to this archive. - Mostly stamped and/or annotated in Arabic (and some in English) on versos for possibly use by the press, but not traced in the UAEhistory, Keystone or Hulton/Getty press photo archives. A few images have marginal tears or creases; one with a portion whited out for reproduction. Impressive in its extent and its wide variety of motifs, this uncommon set of not widely circulated photographs documents Abu Dhabi's transformation into a modern metropolis since the early 1970s.
Six engraved maps, all in four segments on orange cloth with title labels. All ca. 68 x 54 cm. Stored in a contemporary marbled slipcase. A fine set of six maps, comprising all the Near East and Middle East maps from Weiland's great "Allgemeiner Hand-Atlas" (general hand atlas) published by the Geographical Institute in Weimar. - Includes: Turkey and Levant ("Das osmanische Asien", 1829); the Arabian Peninsula ("Arabien", 1834); Persia ("Iran, Afghanistan und Beludschistan", 1828); Africa (1831); Northern Africa ("Das nordwestliche Africa oder die Staaten Fez und Marokko, Algier, Tunis und Tripoli, nebst der Wüste Sahara", 1827); and the Nile Valley with the south-western coast of Arabia ("Das nordöstliche Africa oder Aegypten, Nubien, Habesch, Kordofan und Darfur", 1829). - All with engraved labels of the Paris map dealer and publisher Charles Simonneau with titles inscribed in French. Some mild foxing throughout, but altogether fine. Slipcase worn but professionally repaired. Cf. Espenhorst p. 24; Le Gear 6107 (1848 ed.); Al-Qasimi (2nd ed.), p. 281 (Weiland's map of Arabia, 1839 edition).
Foolscap folio (ca. 205 x 330 mm). (30) and (31) ff. (rectos only) of duplicate typescript with occasional manuscript corrigenda and addenda. Split-pin fastener in the top left-hand corner of each month. Unpublished confidential daily field reports from the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, fought by the Arab Revolt and the British Empire against the Ottoman Empire and its Imperial German allies. The reports include the critical period between the Battle of Beersheba in late October and the fall of Jerusalem at the end of 1917. - Usually comprising one leaf for each day of the month, the individual reports commence with an overview of the brigade's activities, followed by further details for each regiment. The account of 9 November, e.g., records the strategically highly important advance on Burayr, one of the first places to be captured by the Allied Forces from the Ottoman Empire, consolidating the British hold on positions controlling the approaches to Jaffa and Jerusalem: "A great day for the Brigade 5th and 7th Regts. moving parallel on left and right respectively and 6th in support were heavily shelled from right flank; but made Bureir and Huleikat without opposition from those places, but had number of casualties from this shell fire. Great quantities of stores waggons and material of all sorts taken 7th Regt took a convoy of about 150 waggons 350 prisoners and many animals most of latter in a wretched condition at Kaukabah. Very many abandoned waggons on the road and stores being looted by Arabs. In afternoon moved on again and 5th Regt supported by one Sqdn of 7th most dashingly rushed another convoy of over 100 wagons and took over 350 prisoners. This convoy subjected to heavy shell fire from enemy on friend and foe alike. Squadron of 7th attached to 5th cleverly took 231 more prisoners in the dark [...]". - The 2nd Light Horse Brigade, a mounted infantry brigade of the Australian Imperial Force consisting of the 5th, 6th and 7th Light Horse Regiments, formed a very distinctive national force within the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, the British and allied army that drove the Ottoman Turks and their German allies back across the Sinai desert in 1916, into Palestine in 1917, and went on to capture Damascus on the first day of October 1918, shortly before the armistice. - Lacks the sheet for the first day of each month; reports of 9 November and 14 December comprising two leaves. Both first leaves (2 November and 2 December) detached, with some marginal loss, as well as slight loss of text to 2 November. Occasional marginal chips and creases throughout, early leaves tanned. - From the Paul Lucas Collection of Australian military history. A unique survival.
12mo. 180 pp. Near-contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine title. First edition; one of the earliest Middle-Eastern lithographed publications: an Arabic letter-writing guide for the use of secretaries and scribes in Algeria. Reprinted in 1904. - Publisher's signature stamped to verso of title as copyright protection. Stamped ownership of the private oriental scholar Carl Mayreder of Vienna, member of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, to the title-page, with ticket of the Viennese bookbinder Georg Mayer (dated 1876) to the lower pastedown. OCLC 493647399.
4to. 15 pp., final blank. Unsewn pamphlet. Rare Portuguese report of the 1790 Siege of Izmail during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-92, which resulted in the sacking of the fortress of Izmail (in the region of Budjak, now Ukraine). The capture of this stronghold, considered impregnable, was seen as a catastrophe in the Ottoman Empire, while in Russia it was glorified in the country's first national anthem "Let the thunder of victory sound!". The Russians began besieging the city in March 1790 and started attacking in December, leading to a bloody battle of 22 December. Ottoman forces suffered more than 26,000 killed, and many others were wounded or captured. The account mentions prominent historical figures, including the Russian general Alexander Suvorov (1730-1800) and the Spanish admiral José de Ribas (1749-1800). - With small marginal flaws not affecting text. Rare; only two copies traced in library catalogues internationally (Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal; New York University). Dupuy & Dupuy, Encyclopedia of Military History (2nd ed.), 698. BGUC Misc., 514.
4to. 8 pp. With woodcut title vignette. Printed sheet folded into a pamphlet, unsewn and unbound. Rare Portuguese account of one of several unsuccessful 18th century attempts by Muslim forces to recapture Oran. This operation took place in March and April of 1759, nearly three decades after the Spanish conquest of the city in 1732. Oran was repeatedly attacked by Algerian and Ottoman forces, but remained under Spanish rule until 1792. The report concludes with a table showing the numbers of cannonballs, shells and bullets fired in the battle. - Light browning; folds weakeend; uncut and untrimmed. Only seven copies traced in library catalogues internationally. A rare historical source on an otherwise poorly documented military campaign. BGUC Misc., 7835. OCLC 504039661.