4.497 Ergebnisse
Folio. Italian manuscript on paper. 51, (1) pp. Sewn. Authentic 19th century copy of the manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana. A public servant of the Republic of Venice, Bolic was assigned to provide information on the Ottoman Sanjak of Scutari (Shkodra), established after the Sultan acquired Shkodra in 1478/79. Bolic's work, delivered in 1614, contains the earliest description of the people and geography of modern Montenegro. - Wrappers slightly dustsoiled; a few small edge tears (no loss of text).
Large 8vo. 12 vols. Original printed wrappers. Monumental, exceedingly useful bibliography of Arabic literature and works relating to Arabia published in the West in the 19th century. Arranged by subject covering the Quran and its tradition (an entire volume), the Proverbs, Kalîlah, Loqmân, Barlaam, ´Antar, Syntipas, Oriental Tales, Mahomet, etc. Four volumes are dedicated to the 1001 Nights alone. - Edges slightly brittle as always, but very well preserved. Untrimmed, uncut copy in the publisher's original wrappers. Besterman 455.
Large 4to (210 x 267 mm). (2), 168, (2) ff. Publisher's original printed and illustrated boards with an oriental design in three colours and Persian letterpress on both covers. First and only edition of the "Meditations" of Emperor Marcus Aurelius both in the original Greek and in Persian, edited and translated by Joseph Hammer-Purgstall and printed in parallel on opposite pages throughout. "A meticulous typographical production" (Durstmüller). "The 1831 publication of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in Persian comprises one of the 19th century's most intriguing cross-cultural and inter-religious texts. Produced by the Austrian Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, and addressed to the reigning Shah of Persia, this translation negotiates a wide diversity of concerns, including political diplomacy, literary aesthetics and religious difference" (J. Einboden, Stoicism or Sufism? Hammer-Purgstall's Persian Meditations, Middle Eastern Literatures 13.1 (2010), pp. 49-68. - Corners bumped, edges a little rubbed. Clean and uncut as issued in the publisher's charming original printed boards, a rare and early example of such a binding. Hoffmann I, 187. Engelmann/Preuss I, 148. Goedeke VII, 766, 80. Durstmüller I, 263. Graesse I, 329. OCLC 257616436.
8vo. VII, (1), 266 pp., final blank leaf. Grey wrappers. First part only of the Jesuit Nakhla's grammar of the Lebanese dialect of Syrian Arabic. A second part ("Mots à apprendre versions et thàmes; morceaux de lecture en prose et en vers") appeared in 1938. - Title-page professionally repaired. Old ownership in red pencil to foreword. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page and throughout. OCLC 163048910.
12mo. 79, (1) pp. Publisher's original orange printer wrappers (spine repaired). A pocket-sized introduction to Islam and the Muslim world; "its object is to brief a brief survey of the rise of the Arabian religion in the seventh century; of the conquests of the outer world by the newly converted Arabs; of the foundation of the Arab Caliphate, and of the subsequent establishment of non-Arab Islamic states" (Introductory Note). - The orientalist and linguist Sir Edward Denison Ross (1871-1940) was the first director of the University of London’s School of Oriental Studies (now SOAS) from 1916 to 1937. - Published as Benn's Sixpenny Library, No. 19. Removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page and additional note "Sheikh, Bagdad" (dated 1928), with additional bibliographical information added at the end. OCLC 6130391.
8vo. (6), 276, (2) pp. Early 20th century half leather with green buckram covers. First edition of Sen's English-Farsi dictionary, following a Farsi-English volume published in 1829. In 1841 Sen would produce a new edition, adding the pronunciation of the Persian words in transliteration. - Lightly browned throughout due to paper; a few edges reinforced. Old ownership "D. H. Crawley" (?) on title-page, and later ownership, dated 1957, of the linguist, National Socialist politician, and translator Martin Löpelmann (1891-1981). A good copy of a rare work. OCLC 85263053. Cf. Vater/Jülg 280.
8vo. VIII, 136; 22 pp. (appendix in a nashk Arabic type). Publisher's original printed wrappers (spine repaired). First and only early edition, in German, of an extraordinarily thorough documentation of scholarly academies in the early Islamic world, containing a biographical dictionary of early Arabic scholars and lists of their writings. This is one of the earliest and most important publications of the Göttingen orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, who based much of it on the ancient biographical dictionaries compiled by Abu-Bakr Ibn Qadi Shuhba and Ibn Khallikan. It covers the 5th to the 9th centuries AH (11th to 15th centuries CE), with accounts of 37 academies in Bagdad, Nishabur, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Cairo, and brief biographies of 254 scholars, 187 listed under the academies where they taught and 67 in a separate section at the end. For most he includes a list of their writings. The German text ends with a 2-page extract, in German translation, from the works of Ibn Khallikan. A 22-page appendix gives the original Arabic text of an extract from Ibn Shuhba, "Tabaqat al-shafi 'iyya", published here for the first time, with an Arabic title-page. - Ibn Qadi Shuhba (1377-1448 CE) was a leading jurist and chief Qadi in his native Damascus, best known for his biographical dictionary, completed ca. 1407. Ibn Khallikan (1211-82 CE), born in what is now Iraq, studied in Aleppo, Damascus, and Mosul before settling in Cairo, where he became a leading jurist in the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic law. He is best known for his biographical dictionary, completed ca. 1274. - The German orientalist and historian of Arabic literature H. F. Wüstenfeld (1808-99) studied theology and oriental languages at Göttingen and Berlin. He settled in Göttingen, taking a post at the University Library the year after the present publication, and taught at the University there from 1842, becoming professor of oriental languages in 1856. From 1835 to his death almost 65 years later, he published many important contributions to the study of early Arabic texts, covering the fields of medicine, language, topography and geography, often including the original Arabic texts of important works not previously published. - The Arabic type used for the excerpt from Ibn Qadi Shuhba is smaller than that of the Nies foundry, often used in Germany around this time, and quite different stylistically. It may have been produced for Wüstenfeld's works. - Minor browning, but altogether in very good condition, only slightly tattered at the edges. Original publisher's wrappers a little damaged along spine (professionally repaired; modern spine). Untrimmed copy, removed from the "Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Nahen Orients an der Universität München" with their stamp on the title-page. Neue Jahrbücher für Philologie und Paedagogik VIII (1838), pp. 355f. Not in Blackmer or Gay.
8vo (127 x 212 mm). (226) pp. Persian manuscript in black ink, with catchwords in red. Nas'taliq calligraphy, bordered in gilt, with 'unwan in colours, gilt, on first page of text. 19th century green morocco with gilt borders and red spine label. Marbled endpapers. Persian translation of this Sufi guide to the devout life, also known as "The High Road of Worshippers" or "The Path of the Worshipful Servants". The 11-century Persian theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Al-Ghazali has been called the single most influential Muslim after the prophet Muhammad, and a "Mujaddid", or Renewer of the Faith. His works were so highly acclaimed by his contemporaries that al-Ghazali was awarded the honorific title "Proof of Islam" ("Hujjat al-Islam"). - Numerous marginal annotations throughout. Binding rubbed and bumped at extremeties; upper hinges starting. Some waterstaining to margins; occasional paper flaws and traces of worming repaired; a few edges folded in to preserve marginalia from further trimming. Later inscription in Arabic on final page, and inscribed in English "to Prince Jehandoor" (27 Nov. 1836) under the colophon. Cf. GAL I, 423, no. 38 (& Suppl. I, 751).
Large 12mo. 24 vols. With engraved portraits of Barros, Couto, Henry the Navigator, and Afonso de Albuquerque and 3 (instead of 5) folding maps. Uniformly bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spines with giltstamped titles and volume numbers. Edges lightly sprinkled red. A fundamental travel work: the best and most complete edition of what is considered the most comprehensive publication on Portuguese exploration and colonial history by João de Barros (decades I-IV) and Diego de Couto; the first edition to include decades X and XI. Books 2 and 3 of the "Decada Segunda" offer a detailed narrative of Afonso de Albuquerque's expedition to the Arabian Gulf and his conquest of Ormuz in 1507; the island remained under Portuguese occupation from 1515 to 1622. As vassals of the Portuguese state, the Kingdom of Ormuz jointly participated in the 1521 invasion of Bahrain that ended Jabrid rule of the Arabian archipelago. - This is "the best edition of this famous work on Portuguese colonial history. The first edition appeared at Lisbon, Madrid and Paris from 1552 to 1645. It consists of 12 "Decadas" (decades), comprising the history of the years 1420-1600. Only Decadas I, II, III and a part of IV are by J. de Barros, the rest is by D. de Couto, who begins his part also with Decada IV, so that there are two Decadas IV" (Laures). De Barros (1496-1570), head agent for the Portuguese overseas trade authority "Casa da Índia", managed to persuade King João III to commission from him a history of the Portuguese in India (including Asia and southeast Africa). The result earned him renown as one of the first great Portuguese historians, and the the title of a "Portuguese Livy". The 'Decades' contain "the early history of the Portuguese in India and Asia and reveal careful study of Eastern historians and geographers, as well as of the records of his own country. They are distinguished by clearness of exposition and orderly arrangement. They are also lively accounts" (Enc. Britannica). Cordier, BJ, 34 and BS, 2309. Innocencio III, 322. Laures 642. Streit IV, 667 (with extensive list of contents) & VI, 630. This edition not in Borba de Moraes. For the maps cf. Gole, India, 8.
Folio (213 x 322 mm). (4), 316 pp. Parts printed in red and black. With numerous ornamental lines and several woodcut tailpieces. Modern half calf. "The Evangelion of the Greek Church, containing the Gospels arranged for liturgical reading throughout the year" (Darlow/M.). From the printing office of the monastery of St. John the Baptist at Shuwair in the Lebanon, which was operative between 1734 and 1899 (cf. Silvestre de Sacy I, pp. 412-414; Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, pp. 179-181). Particularly remarkable in this present publication is the typographic decor: all pages are framed by double rules; new sections of text are headed with an ornamental line of floral elements across the entire page width, and numerous pages show smaller figural endpieces (roses, baskets, crosses, as well as the Virgin with the Child Jesus) - a charming juxtaposition of simple woodcuts showing floral and geometrical decor familiar from the Hebrew prints produced in 19th-century Palestine with the more elaborate products "à la italienne". - Some occasional worming, browning and brownstaining. Schnurrer 360. Darlow/Moule 1661.
Large 4to (220 x 266 mm). 2 parts in one vol. (4), 7, (1), 984, (4), 3, (1), 318 pp. Contemporary brown calf with ornamental blind-tooling; gilt title to spine. Well-preserved copy of the first complete edition of the Bible in Ottoman Turkish, printed in a vocalized Arabic typeface. Based on the manuscript of Ali Ufki Bey (Albert Bobovius), this version became the basis for further Turkish translations used by Armenian and Greek Christians. The New Testament had appeared separately in 1819. "In 1820 J. D. Kieffer [...] began a thorough revision of Ali Bey's translation of the Bible by comparing it with the original texts, as well as with the standard English, French, and German versions. He also collated it with W. Seaman's Nogai NT of 1666, with T. Erpenius' Arabic version, with H. Martyn's Persian version, with H. Brunton's Nogai NT of 1813, and with the London Polyglot. The translation of the NT was also carefully revised in view of the criticisms passed on the first edition. On crucial questions he had the advice of Baron Silvestre de Sacy. The complete Bible (without the Apocrypha) appeared in 1827, printed in Arabic character with full vocalization. The edition consisted of 5,000 copies of the Bible, and 2,000 copies of the NT issued separately" (Darlow/M.). - Binding insignificantly rubbed at extremities, very slight brownstaining due to paper. An excellent copy. Darlow/Moule 9456. Bruce Privratsky, A History of Turkish Bible Translations, v. S (2014), pp. 43ff. OCLC 61141750.
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.