[Saudi Arabia - Riyadh].MareMagnum
4 361 résultats
630 x 800 mm. Scale 1:1,000,000. Detailed map of the central quadrangle of the Arabian Peninsula, including Riyadh and its environs. Edition 3-GSGS, based on a 1945 Second Edition. - A few small dents, some pencilled numbers to lower right angle, otherwise very good. Provenance: Army Map Services stamp; stamp of Arizona State University and a red "Withdrawn" Stamp to the verso.
Black ink on paper, ca. 38 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. An award of the Third Order of the Chefakat (Charity) to the "precious daughter" of Hafiz Ibrahim Edhem Efendi, accountant of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), in recognition of his outstanding achievements. - Berat certificates are official documents presented as appointments for office, exemption certificates from a tax or duty, or accompanying the award of a medal or other honour. This example is meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity, with a brief summary of the document. - Folded with extensive tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.
Black ink on paper, ca. 38 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. An award of the Order of Osmaniye (fourth class) to Salahaddin Bey, recording clerk on the executive board of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), for diligence in the discharge of his duties. - Berat certificates are official documents presented as appointments for office, exemption certificates from a tax or duty, or accompanying the award of a medal or other honour. This example is meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity, with a brief summary of the document. - Folded with extensive tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.
Small 4to (150 x 195 mm). Part 1 (of 2). (4), 168 pp. With a large woodcut illustration on title-page, hand-coloured by an early hand, and woodcut printer's device on the last leaf verso. 17th century sheepskin vellum over thin boards. Extremely rare edition of this collection of nine alchemical tracts, including "De tinctura metallorum" (On the Colorations of Metals), attributed to the great Arab scientist Ibn Sina, who is known in the Latin tradition as Avicenna. Ibn Sina was one of the most significant thinkers and writers of the Islamic golden age, and his bibliography comprises nearly 270 titles, several of which fall into the category of the arcane sciences (cf. GAL I 458 V and GAL I S, p. 828). "Ibn Sina studied the philosophical and scientific foundations of this subject [alchemy] and even undertook alchemical experiments" (DSB). - The collection further includes two works attributed to Raymond Lull, one of the most interesting scholars of the Middle Ages, another published under the name of Aristotle, and five anonymous ones. A second part was published in the same year, containing only one work: the famous Rosarium philosophorum. It can be regarded as a separate publication and is not included here. Curiously, a late 16th century manuscript copy of only this volume (a folio of 70 leaves) is held by the Wellcome Collection (MS.233, acquired in 1906). - Binding very well preserved. Contemporary handwritten marginal annotations and underscoring throughout, an early owner's inscription (struck through) and some further notes on the title-page. Annotations slightly trimmed by the 17th century binder's knife, somewhat browned throughout and dampstains in the first half of the book, otherwise in fine condition. VD 16, A 1632. BM-STC German 17. Adams A 574. Duveen, p. 11 ("excessively rare"). Ferguson, Bib. chem. I, p. 18. MacPhail I, 20. Schmieder, Geschichte der Alchemie (1832), p. 98, no. 3. For Ibn Sina see DSB XV, pp. 494-500.
8vo. 258-274 pp. With several black-and-white photographic illustrations. Original plain wrappers with title-label, bound within contemporary full cloth with giltstamped calf label to spine. Swedish paper about the collection of ancient Egyptian textiles woven in the "dukagång" technique, kept at the "Kulturen" museum in Lund. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. With detailed descriptions of the cloth fragments as well as a bibliography on the subject. - Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - In near-mint condition. OCLC 36400924.
4to. (43)-77 pp., final blank page. With 16 numbered plates of photographic illustrations. Original printed wrappers bound within contemporary full cloth with giltstamped spine-title, signed by R. Numans. Scarce treatise on early medieval textiles produced in the Near East, investigating the relation between Sasanian and Egyptian art. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. Contains detailed descriptions and images of 62 fragments of tapestry kept at the Stockholm National Museum, the Röhss Museum in Gothenburg, and the "Kulturen" museum in Lund. - Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - In near-mint condition. Offprint from vol. XXX of "Le Monde Oriental", a journal on oriental studies published in Uppsala from 1906. OCLC 82868449.
4to. (2), 51-130 pp. With several black-and-white photographic and schematic illustrations. Original printed wrappers bound within contemporary full cloth with giltstamped spine-title, signed by R. Numans. Scarce essay on medieval carpet weaving in Egypt, particularly on the so-called Marby Rug, the oldest preserved oriental carpet in Sweden discovered in 1925 in the abandoned church of Marby in the province of Jämtland. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. In an attempt "to fix the place of the Marby rug in the early evolution of Oriental carpet knotting", the essay discusses 29 fragments of carpets obtained from antiquity dealers in Cairo, including Abbasid rugs, carpets of the "Konya" type, chiefly Seljuq, and Anatolian carpets of the 14th and early 15th centuries, as well as Anatolian or Caucasian carpets of "nomad" type, Mamluk carpets, and Anatolian "Holbein" carpets of the 15th century. - Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - Offprint from the Swedish Oriental Society's yearbook. In near-mint condition. OCLC 472515825.
Small folio (ca. 234 x 303 mm). 167-170 pp. With one plate with black-and-white illustrations (some photographic) and several text illustrations. Original printed wrappers bound within contemporary half cloth over marbled boards with giltstamped title-label to spine, sgned by Thure Anderson, Uppsala. Brief essay on two otherwise poorly documented exhibitions of Islamic art held at the Stockholm National Museum in 1939 and 1940. The personal copy of Carl Johan Lamm with his bookplate to front pastedown. The article describes several specimens of Sasanian cloth and related types of fragmentary textiles showcased at the second exhibition, which was "entirely devoted to textiles excavated in Egypt and filled four rooms" (p. 167). - Lamm studied archaeology at the University of Stockholm. He wrote about the glass excavated at Samarra in 1928 and became a leading scholar on Islamic arts and crafts, notably in glass and carpets. He was on the staff of the Stockholm Museum and taught at Uppsala University. - Offprint from Ars Islamica, volume VII, part 2. In near-mint condition. OCLC 1159047717.
Black ink on paper, ca. 34 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. Certificate showing that Salahaddin Bey, auditor of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), was awarded the Navy Aid Medal (in nickel) for his donation of 2024 Kurus to the Ottoman Naval Society. - As the Ottoman Empire dominated important waterways during the First World War, the government sought to strengthen its navy's defensive capabilities while fighting on many fronts on land. For this purpose, The Ottoman Naval Society was established. To finance the building of new ships, a campaign was initiated which was joined by many notables, including Sultan Mehmed Resad himself and state officials. The Navy Aid Medal was awarded to supporters who pledged a certain donation to the project, and the recipients' names were published in the press. - Meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity. Folded with tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.
Hand-coloured engraved map, 440 x 315 mm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale, ca 1:8,122,000. Includes the entire Gulf coast of the Arabian Peninsula, showing Kuwait, El Katif, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Musandam Peninsula, including the territory of today's United Arab Emirates (here still labeled the "Pirate Coast"). "Debai", Sharja", "Ras-el-Khaimah", "Khorfakan" and "Fejerah" are identified. - Well preserved. Issued as plate XXXVIII in Sidney Hall's General Atlas of the World. OCLC 781690561.
Folio (210 x 340 mm). 4 pp. Typescript. Lively report of an eventful flight taken by Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), Civil Commissioner of Mesopotamia, aboard one of two RAF aircraft leaving Baghdad on 25 February 1919 bound for Cairo. Bad weather conditions and repeated engine trouble resulted in several emergency landings and delayed the journey, which Wilson eventually had to complete by train. - The first day of the trip involved heavy wind and a failing petrol pump causing the pilots Boyd, Nuttall and Lapraik to land and fix the pump near Tadmur before carrying on to Damascus, where they remained for three days of heavy rain. Upon continuing the journey on 28 February, one of the engines failed and the planes were forced to land in "difficult country". As repair seemed hopeless, Boyd decided to fly Wilson on to Ramleh and then return for Nuttall and Lapraik: "The taking off proved a difficult undertaking as the machine was firmly bogged, and the engine fall out would not move it. The Arabs however rendered enthusiastic assistance. About 200 of them surrounded the machine, and in spite of the fact that most of them pulled in different directions [...] after an hour's work and much shouting, succeeded in moving it to a comparatively firm piece of ground, from which it was possible to take off [...]". - When the aircraft got hopelessely bogged again near Tulkarm, Wilson continued his journey by train. In the meantime, Nuttall and Lapraik, who "were hospitably entertained by the Arabs", succeeded in a makeshift repair of the first plane's engine and picked up Boyd. The return flight to Baghdad with two substitute aircraft proved much smoother, involving only minor repairs and no emergency landings off the runway. The 500 mile distance between Damascus and Baghdad was completed in a non-stop flight of 4 hours 10 minutes "which probably constitutes a World's Record". - Slightly dampstained near right margins; a little foxed and creased. Traces of a rusty paper pin. A rare survival.
635 x 910 mm (image); 680 x 990 mm (sheet). Colour-printed poster mounted on cloth with wooden rods for hanging. German teaching material on Saudi Arabia, stereotyping the symbiotic simultaneity of modern oil exploration and the traditional bedouin lifestyle. Prepared for introducing students to the economic value of desert landscapes for oil exploration, this large poster depicts an utterly idyllic scence with a resting caravan watering their camels near a pipeline and three oil rigs. Another caravan on the move, as well as two bedouin tents and an oasis are displayed in the background. - Chart number 7 from the series "Dr. te Neues Geographische Bilder" after a work by the German painter Michael Mathias Kiefer (1902-80), bearing his reproduced signature. - Vertical tear near upper margin (measuring ca. 9 cm); margins occasionally slightly waterstained, not affecting image.
8vo. 8 pp. on 2 bifolia. To W. Cabell, regarding the potential independence of Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the British occupation of Kharg Island. - A fascinating letter, composed at a time of great tumult in the Near and Middle East. It relays news of important events and evidences the willingness of the British to use force to implement their policy in the region. Lieut. Col. Robert Taylor went to India as a cadet in 1803 and did not return to England for over forty years, serving as Political Resident at Basra (1819-21) and Baghdad (1821-43). His library was purchased by the British Library in 1860 and forms the bedrock of its Arabic-language collection. - Writing from Baghdad, Taylor addresses W. Cabell of the India Board Office in London. He first informs Cabell of two loads of missing post; one outgoing tranche "lost by dromedaries running away with the bags and throwing their riders", and the mail from India "robbed by a party of Wahabis". He then notes Ottoman alarm at "the threatened independence of Mohamed Ali", and comments at length on relations with Persia, which were extremely tense due to the ongoing siege of Herat by Qajar and Russian forces: "Our envoy [John McNeill] ... was not listened to; while the Russian [Count Simonich] & his staff conducted their approaches to the fortress which was expected to fall." In response, the British occupied Kharg Island with a "small force ... not exceeding 500 men", thereby threatening military intervention. Reporting that it had "instilled a wholesome fear into the Persians", Taylor advocates the use of gunboat diplomacy elsewhere "to produce similar effects". - Official correspondence relating to Persia and the Gulf region is rarely found outside of institutional archives such as the India Office Records. This example is interesting on a number of levels, not least for showing how Britain's aggression in the first decades of "The Great Game" manifested in the Gulf. - A few later pencil annotations in a different hand; pages a little dusty.
8vo. 200, (2) pp. (front flyleaves included in pagination). Printed in red and black throughout. With 12 watercolour plates. Original printed wrappers. First edition of this French translation of the classics of Islamic poetry. Prepared by the French writer and orientalist Toussaint (1879-1955), this anthology features some prominent examples of love and war poetry, including the Mu'allaqat, and the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, as well as excerpts from the Quran, al-Burda, the Arabian Nights, and the work of Ibn al-Farid. With decorative watercolour plates by Antoine de Roux. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Small tear to lower margin of pp. 33f., not touching text, otherwise in excellent condition. A lovely Laffont production. OCLC 492849402.
Oblong folio (498 x 370 mm). Lithographed title-page, 29 chromolithographed plates, protected by tissue guards. Original green cloth with blind-ruled and ornamental borders to both covers and gilt Tughra of Sultan Abdulmejid I to the upper cover. First edition, second issue. - Complete suite comprising 29 chromolithographs with captions in French and English, depicting life scenes and views of Istanbul: a druggist's shop, Turkish ladies walking, a guard house, carriage, silk bazar, sweetmeat shop, water carrier, the Bosporus, a coffee house, whirling dervishes, etc. The Maltese painter Preziosi (1816-82) is known for his watercolours and prints of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and Romania. In 1842 he moved to Constantinople, where he remained until his death. - Some foxing, more extensive on title-page. Covers slightly rubbed, but generally in fine condition. - Provenance: The title-page bears a handwritten inscription in French from Catinca Nico de Catargi, a member of the notable Wallachian family Catargiu, to "la Comtesse Han" (i.e., the German writer Ida Countess von Hahn-Hahn, 1805-80), dated 16 April 1865. Atabey 999. OCLC 70296476. Cf. Blackmer 1353 (1865 ed.); Colas 2422 (1858 ed.).
54 x 90 mm. Black-and-white photographic print on cardboard backing (62 x 104 mm). Captioned in French. Rare photograph of two mounted camel couriers in a desert landscape, by the celebrated French photographer Claude-Joseph Portier (d. 1910), active in Algeria in the 1860s. The picture shows one camel resting on the ground, the other standing. Featuring a bedouin tent in the background, as well as 2 bedouins sitting on the ground near the left side of the image. - Small scratch mark near the centre.
8vo. 2 parts in one vol. VIII, (3)-159, (1); (2), 118, (2) pp. With 20 (10 folding) numbered plates. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine and spine-label. First edition of this important early grammar of Semitic languages. Contains an introduction to Hebrew, Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic, including conjugation tables for regular and irregular verbs. - Appointed to teach oriental languages and the Old Testament in Lemberg (Lviv), Fessler prepared the present work as a textbook for his lectures. - Contrary to the indication on the title-page, an Arabic chrestomathy by Johann Gottfried Eichhorn was not published with this work. - Extremities slightly rubbed. Paper evenly browned throughout. Contemporary handwritten ownership of the Swedish theologian Johan Gustaf Bergius (1720-1805) to lower pastedown. Unidentified early 19th century ownership stamp "COG" to front pastedown. OCLC 69349977.
8vo. (40), 312, 53, (19) pp. With one folding plate. - (Bound with) II: Tarnow, Hermann / Weidner, Johann Joachim. Grammatica Hebraeo-Biblica, comprehendens etymologiam, syntaxin, eloquentiam [...]. Rostock, Nikolaus Schwiegerau, 1722. (8), 248, (16) pp. 19th century half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine and spine-label. First edition of the Hebrew grammar prepared by the most celebrated orientalist of his day. The Göttingen scholar Johann David Michaelis (1717-1791) was the leading expert on Hebrew philology and Biblical exegesis. The present work advocates a new approach to emancipating Hebrew philology from the Greek and Roman tradition of linguistics, discussing verbs before nouns, as opposed to traditional Latin grammars. Fürst dates the first edition to 1744, in apparent error for 1745. - II: First edition of this grammar of biblical Hebrew by the German Lutheran theologians J. J. Weidner (1672-1732) and H. Tarnow (1674-1741). - Extremities slightly rubbed; tiny portion of upper hinge chipped away. Paper evenly browned troughout; occasional light spotting. ADB XXI, 685-690. OCLC 258323863. Cf. Fürst II, 375 (1744 ed.). Goedeke IV, 221. Not in Smitskamp. - II: Fürst III, 410. VD 18, 13308904. OCLC 248815662. Not in Smitskamp.
8vo. 31 pp., final blank page. Disbound. Very scarce pamphlet in which the Cambridge orientalist Ockley (1678-1720) endeavoured to clear himself of the charge of sympathising with William Whiston's Arian tendencies. Ockley translated the Second Book of Esdras from an Arabic manuscript in the Bodleian Library for Whiston's controversial work "Primitive Christianity Reviv'd" (1711), but issued his translation separately in 1716, so as to emphasise his disagreement with Whiston. In the present account Ockley states that he was hesitant to prepare the translation, stressing that he "was loath that any thing with [his] Name to it should be extant only in his [Whiston's] Heretical Volumes" (p. 31). - Margins slightly worn; lower right corner of last page clipped, no loss to text. Rarely seen in the trade. OCLC 563593889. DNB XLI, 364.
Small folio (190 x 270 mm). 5 vols. (I:) XIV, (4), 507, (3) pp., final blank leaf. With 30 plates, 5 of which folding. (II:) XV, (1), 689, (3) pp. With numerous illustrations in the text. (Atlas:) XI, (1), pp. With 155 (instead of 153) plates. (Supplement:) (4), 98, (1) pp., final blank page. (III:) 2 vols. (text and atlas) bound as one. (6), 134, (2) pp. with 21 text illustrations. III-VII, (1) pp., 58 plates and plans (some folding). Contemporary full cloth with giltstamped calf title label. Vol. III in mid-20th century green cloth with giltstamped spine. Edges of three volumes sprinkled red. First edition of this classic of archaeology, documenting expeditions to Northern Arabia undertaken by the French orientalists Jaussen (1871-1962) and Savignac (1874-1951) prior to World War I. "Still indispensable" (Bowersock), the work is particularly remarkable for its epigraphical observations. Many ancient Arabic inscriptions were reproduced, translated and analysed here for the first time. - The set was published by the Societé des Fouilles Archéologiques between 1909 and 1922 in three parts. Parts I and II (the latter comprising a text volume, an atlas and a supplemental volume) describe the expedition from Jerusalem to Mada'in-Salih in the Hejaz in the spring of 1907, as well as the exploration of the ancient cities of Dadan, Teima and Harrah de Tebouk in 1909 and 1910. The plentiful illustrations include plans of the itinerary as well as photographs of archaeological sites and inscriptions, including impressive depictions of the monumental rock-cut tombs at Mada'in Salih, just north of the oasis Al-'Ula. The archaeologists also mapped the Arabic old town of Al-'Ula on the site of the biblical Dedan in order to localize a wealth of ancient Dadanitic inscriptions that were used as spolia in the Arabic houses. Jaussen and Savignac thus achieved the first systematic archaeological documentation of Mada'in Salih and Al-'Ula. Part III is dedicated entirely to the famous Umayyad desert castles Quseir Amra, Qasr Al-Kharanah, and Qasr Tuba in present-day eastern Jordan. - Volume I with a hole in the right margin throughout the second half, the hole fading to a tear throughout the first half, resulting in flaws to the covers, repaired with brown tape. Volume II has small flaws to extremities of boards; small tear in spine label. Atlas volume lacks plate 132, but includes duplicate plates of nos. 17, 131 and 137, further showing three small piercings to the lower board. An advertisement for the "Oeuvre catholique international pour la protection de la jeune fille", an organisation founded in Fribourg in 1897, is loosely inserted in vol. I. Rarely seen at auction. Bowersock, Roman Arabia 4 (note). OCLC 1204802.
12mo. 8 vols. XXIV, 334; (4), 356; (4), 356; (4), 353, final blank; (4), 348, (2); (4), 353, (3); (4), 425, (3); (4), 410, (2) pp. With 36 engraved plates, including 8 frontispieces. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine and spine-title. All edges marbled. Illustrated edition of Galland's highly influential French translation of the Arabian Nights, complete in eight volumes. Published simultaneously with the slightly more common 1832 edition by Hiard. Not a single copy of the Ledentu edition traceable at auction within the last decades. - Adapted to Parisian tastes, Galland's translation of the "Nights" had been first published in 12 volumes between 1704 and 1717, and "was quickly translated into English and German. It enjoyed a most remarkable success throughout Europe, perceptible even in children's literature, and contributed significantly to the new image which enlightened Europeans entertained of the Islamic East: after Galland, this was no longer the home of the Antichrist and of accursed heresy, but rather the ever-constant Orient beneath an eternally fair sky, boasting splendid colours and unheard-of wealth, Caliphs, Viziers, and Kadis, harems, fairy-tale princes, fairies and genies, sorcerers and sages, a world of fantastic adventure and outrageous incidents" (cf. Fück). - Extremities slightly rubbed; occasional light spotting and a few minimal edge flaws; pp. 47-50 of volume VII loose. A charming set. Chauvin IV, 24. Cf. Fück 101. OCLC 82688412.
8vo. (6), 350 pp. With woodcut device to title-page. Contemporary full calf with gilt spine and spine-label. Marbled endpapers. All edges red. Charming edition of the "Hezaryek-Rouz" or "Thousand and One Days", so called to "give the work an air of originality" (Chauvin IV, 124). The last tome of an original five-volume set of these oriental tales unfolding around the Kashmiri princess Farrukhnaz. - These tales are the translation of a manuscript that the oriental scholar François Pétis de la Croix is said to have received in Isfahan in 1675 from the dervish Moclès, the latter having translated and adapted into Persian the Indian tales known in Turkish as "al-Farage Bada Al-schidda". - Although the work enjoyed far fewer editions and translations than the "Alf layla wa-layla" and is commonly said to be an imitation of the same, it cannot, as Chauvin notes, be determined whether the "Thousand and One Days" or the "Thousand and One Nights" was composed first. Chauvin quotes one commentator who prefers the "Days" to the "Nights", declaring the former "much more ingenious and more realistic, as it sometimes includes marvels, following the taste of the Oriental" (Chauvin IV, 125). Nevertheless, to this day the "Hezaryek-Rouz" is much less known in the West. - Corners slightly rubbed; small portion at head of spine chipped away; binding minimally wormed; faint traces of glue to covers. Lower edges of a few pages torn without loss to text; pp. 126f. with a grayish mark, presumably left by a bookmark. Occasional light spotting; a few pages slightly creased. Chauvin IV, 312 B. Cf. Graesse IV, 525 (later eds.).
5 original black and white photographs. 68 x 44 mm to 104 x 74 mm. On Velox photographic paper. Rare original photos of five aircraft on the runway. Includes one of the few surviving images of the G-ALYU de Havilland Comet - the plane that in May 1952 completed the world's first passenger jet service from London to Johannesburg. Less than two years later G-ALYU was scrapped and its fuselage used for metal fatigue research following the crash of another B.O.A.C. Comet in January 1954. All Comet 1 aircraft were grounded in April 1954. - Among the other depicted aircraft is a Handley Page Hermes IV, registered G-ALDM. The Hermes IV model entered service with B.O.A.C. in 1950, taking over from the Avro York on the West Africa service from London to Accra via Tripoli, Kano and Lagos, with services to Kenya and South Africa commencing before the end of the year. - Pencil annotations to versos. Somewhat warped; slightly toned. Some notable specimens of aviation photography.
4to. (8) pp. Later marbled boards with shelfmark label to front cover. Extraordinary account of a fire in the port of Algiers planted by the British pirate-hunter Richard Gifford. Of the utmost rarity: "unknown to Lowndes, and other bibliographers" (Libri). Only two library copies traceable internationally (St. Pancras Library, London, and Amsterdam University Library). - On Holy Tuesday 1604, in the service of the Duke of Tuscany and under the pretext of becoming a pirate, Gifford set the Algerian galley fleet on fire in the notorious pirate-ridden port of Algiers, causing fierce retaliation by the Algerians. "Although he escaped and there was not much damage done, about a dozen Englishmen including his abandoned crew members were all executed. Furthermore, the pasha banned English ships, Janissaries seized English citizens and arrested English merchants, confiscating their goods for the damage done by Gifford" (Güvenç). - "During the Anglo-Spanish wars Captain Richard Gifford had served under Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins [...] after the wars he became a pirate-hunter, a freelance mercenary hired by the grand Duke of Florence to extirpate the infamous nest of sea rovers at Algiers" (Bak). - Spine rubbed; somewhat foxed throughout. Handwritten date "1825" to flyleaf, likely the date of acquisition. The celebrated library of M. Guglielmo Libri 184. Senlen Güvenç, "A Foe to All Christians": The Notorious English Corsair Captain and Ottoman Reis John Ward", Çanakkale Arastirmalari Türk Yilligi 29 (2020), 35-54, at p. 41. Bak, Barbary Pirate, Stroud 2006, 47.
4to. XXIV, 231 pp., final blank page. Original Italian carta rustica binding, spine reinforced with paper and bearing a handwritten title-label. First Italian edition of this detailed report of a journey from Constantinople to Poland via Bulgaria and Moldavia. A snapshot of the Ottoman Balkans and their varied inhabitants in the mid-18th century, enriched with an intriguing description of the ruins of Troy. - The journey was untertaken by the Jesuit polymath Boscovich (1711-87) together with the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte Sir James Porter (1710-86). Boscovich, who is today celebrated for having anticipated features of atomic physics as early as 1758 in his "Philosophiae naturalis theoria", had travelled to Constantinople in 1761 with the Venetian ambassador Pierre Correro to observe the transit of Venus. As he arrived late and failed to observe the transit, Boscovich accompanied Sir James on his return to England via Poland, the outbreak of war between Austria and the Ottoman Empire having rendered other routes impassable. From Poland Boscovich then proceeded to St Petersburg, where he was elected a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ill health soon compelled him to return to Italy. - Couched as a travel diary, the account covers the entirety of Boscovich's journey to Poland from 25 May to 15 July 1762, describing in detail the small villages and towns he visited. From Ragusan merchants to Greek princes, and the quality of 'eau de vie' in Bulgar villages, Boscovich notes details with the detached skill of the scientist. The account of the 'mihmandar', the Ottoman official assigned to act as a guide-cum-minder for diplomatic travellers within the empire, is a particularly substantial one. The work concludes with an account of the ruins of Troy as observed by Correro in 1761, as well as a brief summary of Boscovich's forthcoming magnum opus, the five-volume "Opera pertinentia ad opticam et astronomiam" (1785). - The "Journal" was first published in French in 1772; the present edition is the first in the original Italian. An alleged 1772 Italian edition recorded by De Backer/S. appears to be a ghost. - Hinges and head of spine worn. Binding somewhat foxed and loosened in places. A light waterstain to the lower corner of a few leaves. Acquired in 1890 from the Italian bookseller Franceschini as noted on front pastedown. Untrimmed, wide-margined copy. De Backer/S. I, 1844, 87. DSB II, 331. Whyte, Boscovich, p. 220. OCLC 20041024. Cf. Atabey 137 (1772 ed.). Not in Blackmer or Weber.