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8vo. XXII, 290, 8 pp. Contemporary full blue cloth with remains of a printed spine title. First edition. Entitled "The Book of Wonder, or the Summary of News of the Maghreb", this is the best-known work of the Moroccan historian 'Abd al-Wahid (1185-1250): a personal and at the same time neutral account of Almohad rule from its foundation to the 13th century, but also of the preceding dynasty of the Almoravids, with a summary of Al-Andalus history from the Muslim conquest until 1224. The book is written in a lighthearted spirit with many anecdotes; 'Abd al-Wahid explained that his intention was to inform and entertain the students in a summarized way since academic history books tend to be overly lengthy which can sometimes bore the reader. The work also contains valuable information about 'Abd al-Wahid's contemporary Ibn Rushd (Averroes), whom he may have known personally, as well as information directly taken from the Almohad archives, various princes and accounts of events that the author witnessed. A number of details point to Egypt as the place of writing, and the author himself states that he completed the work on 15 July 1224. Dozy's important edition of the Leyden MS. was republished in 1881. - Corners and spine-ends a little bumped. Occasional quite insignificant foxing; uncut and untrimmed as issued. Provenance: removed from the library of Carberry Tower, the Scottish castle mansion owned by the Elphinstone family from the 1860s to the 1960s, with bookplate and shelfmark to front pastedown. GAL I, 322. For Dozy's editions of historical texts on the history of Muslim Spain see Fück, p. 182.
4to (170 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 77 ff. Black and occasional red ink, 21 lines, per extensum, extensive marginalia throughout, a few smaller interleaved sheets of commentary. Contemporary brown papered boards with rebacked leather spine. An extensive Arabic astronomical manuscript in seven parts, comprising: - 1. (fols. 1-18) a rare treatise on the astrolabe, providing the names of its various parts and segments and instructions as to its use, by Abd al-Hakim al-Qaysari (Sweilam Zadeh, Abdalhalim al-Qaysari Söylemzade). - 2. (fols. 19-33) Muhammad Abi Bakr (Sajjili Zadeh), Taeliqat ealaa risalat al-adab 'l-i-Tash Kabry Zadeh (a commentary on Tashkoprizadeh). - 3. (fols. 34-42) Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Arabshah al-Isfara'ini (d. 944 H/1537 CE), Sawf ealaa risalat alayjy. - 4. (fols. 43-62) Ahmed bin Omar bin Ali, Hashiat ealaa Tash Kabry Zadeh (brief remarks on Tashkoprizadeh). - 5. (fols. 63-66) Ejalat kfayyt liwasayil alssayilin liwazayif alkalam (Sufficient urgency for the questioners' means for speech functions). - 6. (fols. 67-71) Sharah alshamsya (Explanation of the sun). - 7. (fols. 71-77) Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Qaz Abadi, Sharah risalat al-adab li-'l-Barkawi (Explanation of the commentary on manners by al-Barkawi). - Binding a little stained; paper slightly brittle along the edges, but clean. Cf. GAL S II, 1017.
4to (156 x 225 mm). Arabic manuscript on strong laid paper. 154 pp, 24 lines per extensum, calligraphy in beautiful and fine Maghribi in brown ink, titles in yellow, emphases words are in yellow, red, or green. Bound in late 19th century marbled boards with cloth spine. Uncommon commentary by Ibn Miqlash al-Wahrani on a versification of the "Ajurrumiya", the famously popular outline of Arabic grammar written by Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Da'ud as-Sanhaji Ibn Ajurrum (d. 723 H / 1323 CE in Safar). A Northern African manuscript from the early 18th century CE, colophon signed by the scribe Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Ramadan ibn Isma'il al-Hariri and dated 16 Rajab 1141 AH, "at the time of the noon prayer". - Numerous marginal annotations; modern pencil pagination. Binding rubbed, old stamp to front endpaper, otherwise well preserved. Cf. GAL II, 237ff.
4to. (148) pp. With a small floral vignette on the title-page and two woodcut initials. 18th century full vellum with gilt title label on spine. First edition under this title, and the definitive edition of the Renaissance. Al-Hasan is "often quoted in astrological works of the Christian middle ages under the name Albubather. He flourished about the middle of the third century A.H., for Ahmad b. Abi Tahir Taifur (died 280 = 893) mentions him in his Kitab Baghdad as a contemporary" (Suter). Notable is the scholar-printer responsible for the work: Johannes Petraeus was soon to cement his historical reputation by printing Copernicus's "De Revolutionibus" (1543). In the present work, Petraeus offers his own justification for printing the work of Al-Hasan alongside such luminaries, for "true majestic Astronomy is on a higher level than the things intelligible to students. However this should not dissuade them from its handmaiden, Astrology, as its fruits and rewards are adjudged to be pure, and itself offering many advantages" (preface to the reader). Astronomy was properly regarded as being essential for deriving accurate figures needed for the sciences of Astrology and Prognostication; a heavily annotated copy of this edition of Al-Hasan is known from Tycho Brahe’s library (cf. Prandtl, Die Bibliothek des Tycho Brahe), and Robert Westman has argued that Copernicus not only embraced astrology but sought to defend it in his "De Revolutionibus" ("Copernicus and the Astrologers", Dibner Library Lecture, 2013). - The important 9th century astrologer and physician Abu Bakr al-Hasan is best known for this work on casting nativities, or divination as to the destinies of newborns, which was "translated by Salio of Padua in or around 1218. The work is extant in a least seven manuscripts and four early printed editions from 1492 to 1540. A treatise in 206 chapters on nativities (birth horoscopes) providing answers to a wide number of questions pertaining to the twelve houses" (The Warburg Institute, Bibliotheca Astrologica Latina). The questions range from correct aspects of insemination and conception to the effects of delayed birth; the effects of the moon and planets on the pregnancy; the feeding of the newborn; and even whether the birth will take place "modestly" or "immodestly". According to Al-Hasan, if Mars and Mercury align, the newborn will unfortunately be a liar; he also gives guidelines for how to determine whether the offspring will be pious; whether they will be a "hypocrite"; intelligent; gifted with a keen memory; foolish; faithful; generous; greedy; jealous; beautiful; argumentative; a fornicator; a thief; a sodomist (chapters 37 & 38); and prone to chastity or prone to sins against nature. - OCLC shows one copy in US libraries, at Brown. - Minor dampstaining to blank margin of a handful of leaves, more pronounced on fol. b4, otherwise only very light browning. Contemporary annotation to fol. h1r, a few modern pencil underlinings and marginal marks. 20th century bookplate of the Italian writer Enrico Gaetani to pastedown. VD 16, A 59. Zinner 1732. Houzeau/Lancaster II, 3941. Lalande p. 60. Sarton I.603. Aboussouan 6. Rosenthal 3352. Graesse I, 60. Suter, H., "al-Hasan", in: First Encyclopaedia of Islam III, p. 274f. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation (Berkeley, 1956), pp. 136f., no. 1. Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums VII, p. 123, no. 1.3. Cf. GAL S I, 394.
An archive of 183 photographs: 133 loose b/w photos (ca. 30 x 25 cm), 30 smaller photos (ca. 5 x 6 cm) numbered and mounted together on a single sheet of paper, and 20 photos in the album. Original black half morocco, with green cloth sides with title and emblem of Pakistan's United Bank Limited on upper board. Includes numerous rolls of original medium format negatives. A trove of unpublished photographs depicting two official visits to Pakistan by HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The earlier one, in 1967, is documented by a separate photo album containing images of the visit to Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, between 16 and 28 November 1967. (Almost 20 years later, in 1986, Sheikh Zayed would donate a hospital to the city, now the "Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex", which is one of the premier medical institutions in the country.) The album opens with a picture of HH Sheikh Zayed arriving in his car; later pictures show him being honoured and presented with an album very similar to the present one, and in the company of officials representing Pakistan's UBL bank (United Bank Limited). - The 30 small photographs show an audience with Sheikh Zayed as well as a banquet in his honour, attended by various Pakistani dignitaries including Agha Hasan Abedi (1922-95), the illustrious founder of UBL. These photos, apparently clipped from a set of medium format contact prints, are mounted on a sheet of coated black photographic paper. - The largest set in size and number shows the state visit that took place on 20-22 January 1970 at the invitation of President Yahya Khan (1917-80). It provides extensive documentation of how the large Abu Dhabi delegation is formally received by Yahya Khan, who served as president of Pakistan between March 1969 and December 1971. Many show HH Sheikh Zayed shaking hands with and speaking to President Yahya; others show the airport reception, formal dinners, speeches, but also informal conversations, members of the delegation handling falcons, and numerous high-ranking Abu Dhabi retainers. Among the persons depicted is again Agha Hasan Abedi, but there are also several pictures of Butti Bin Bishr, secretary to Sheikh Zayed, and of Ahmed Bin Khalifa Al Suwaidi, the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE and the Personal Representative of Sheikh Zayed. - President Yahya Khan had been "one of the very first international leaders to reach out to Sheikh Zayed after the UAE had been founded and had, prior to this, in July 1970, been instrumental in creating an agreement to provide technical assistance to the then Trucial States. With the December 1971 union agreement approaching, Pakistan was quick to forge even closer ties, and Khan had been one of the first foreign leaders to offer his congratulations and reiterate his country's support when the UAE was born. Full diplomatic ties were then quickly established, and Pakistan became one of the first to extend recognition to the new country [...] All his life Sheikh Zayed had held a personal affinity for Pakistan. He had hunted there extensively, came to know the people, its culture and lands, and enjoyed close ties with leaders" (Wilson). - Binding of the album slightly rubbed. Some of the loose photographs slightly scuffed along the edges, occasional nicks or slight tears, but on the whole in excellent state of preservation. The majority of the photographs are entirely unmarked, save for the odd Arabic inscription or stamp on the reverse. A fine, unpublished set, entirely unknown and without counterparts in the UAEhistory, Keystone or Hulton/Getty press photo archives. From the estate of Azhar Abbas Hashmi (1940-2016), Pakistani financial manager and eminent literary patron with close ties to Karachi University. Long with UBL, Hashmi would serve as the bank's vice-president before founding several important cultural organisations and becoming known as a man of letters in his own right. It was because of Hashmi’s close connections to the Gulf states that Abu Dhabi provided funds to build the Karachi University’s faculty of Islamic studies, along with Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre and Jamiya Masjid Ibrahi. Cf. Graeme H. Wilson: Zayed - Man Who Built a Nation (Dubai 2013), pp. 111f.
4to (165 x 224 mm). (64) ff.; complete with final blank. With woodcut illustration on title, woodcut initials, 43 small woodcuts in the text (22 repeats), 2 diagrams, and printer's device on final leaf verso. - (Bound with) II: Albumasar de magnis coniunctionibus annorum revolutionibus ac eorum profectionibus octo continens tractatus. (Ibid., 31 May 1515). (94) ff. With woodcut illustration on title, woodcut initials, 270 woodcuts in the text, 2 diagrams, and printer's device on final leaf recto. Contemporary French full calf on four raised double bands. A humanist sammelband comprising two attractive, finely illustrated Venetian editions of key astrological works by the great Arab astronomer Abu Ma'shar, who furnished the West with Aristotelian thinking. These 12th-century Latin versions of Abu Ma'shar's immense introduction to astrology, "Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir 'ala 'ilm ahkam al-nujum" (translated by Hermann of Carintha), and of his book on planetary conjunctions, "Kitab al-qiranat" (translated by John of Seville; for both cf. GAL I, 221f.), were previously published only by Erhard Ratdolt at Augsburg in 1489. Both of Penzio's Venetian editions are rare; of the first, a single copy is known in the trade since 1952 (sold through us in 2017). - Of all the Arabic writers on astrology, the most imposing is Ja'far ibn Muhammad Abû Ma'shar (c. 787-886), known in the West as Albumasar. Born in Balkh (now Afghanistan), he travelled to Baghdad during the caliphate of al-Ma'mum (813-33) and there became the main rival of al-Kindi, the father of Arab philosophy, though principally he "devoted himself to the account and justification of astrology [...] He drew together into one great synthesis many ancient traditions Indian, Greek, and Iranian. The Greek influence consisted of the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Theon. Yet he also drew on Syriac Neoplatonic sources and on al-Kindi for a general metaphysics" (Hackett, "Albumasar", in Gracia & Noone, eds., A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages, p. 102). Abu Ma'shar was an important influence on such thinkers as Albert the Great and Roger Bacon, who commonly referred to him as the "auctor in astronomia", granting him the same status in astronomy that Aristotle enjoyed in philosophy. - Binding somewhat rubbed; extremities and spine professionally restored. From the library of the French theologian and scholar Nicolas Maillard (documented 1508-65), an admirer of Erasmus of Rotterdam, whom he knew and with whom he corresponded, with his autograph humanist ownership "Mallarii kai ton philon" at the top of the first title-page. 17th century ownership of the Barnabites of Annecy ("Collegii Annessiatensis congregationis Sancti Pauli") below the woodcut; a few 18th century bibliographical notes on the pastedowns. Later in the collection of Arthur Brölemann (1826-1904), bibliophile and president of the Tribunal de Commerce de Lyon, with his engraved bookplate on front pastedown. His library was dispersed by his great-granddaughter Blanche Bontoux (Mme. Étienne Mallet) in 1926. I: Edit 16, CNCE 822. Adams A 567. Gaselee, Early printed books in Corpus Christi Cambridge, 166. Essling I, 525. Isaac 12913. BM-STC Italian 345. DSB I, 35. Graesse I, 60. Caillet I, 154. The Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. S, no. 31, and p. 30. Panzer VIII, 380, 344. - II: Edit 16, CNCE 823. Adams A 566. Isaac 12926. BM-STC Italian 345. DSB I, 36. Graesse I, 60. Houzeau/L. 3821. IA 102.834. Sander 215. Essling I, 449. Caillet I, 154. Honeyman Coll. 57. The Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. S, no. 32 ("Augsburg" in error). OCLC 31479499.
4to (187 x 234 mm). Arabic manuscript on wove paper. 49 ff., 16 lines per extensum within blue and gilt rules. Written in brown maghribi with headings and emphases in gold, blue and red; numerals written in red; one illuminated headpiece in colours and gold. Pretty contemporary brown leather binding with gilt borders and recessed central medallions and corner pieces, stamped in relief and outlined in gold. Green endpapers. Prettily calligraphed and bound manuscript treatise on mathematics and arithemetics, being a compendium of the author’s larger work entitled "Kashf al-jilb?b 'an 'ilm al-hisab", copied in the late 19th century CE in Northern Africa, very likely in Morocco. - The author Abu'l-Hasan ibn Ali al-Qalasadi (1412-86) was a Muslim Arab mathematician from Al-Andalus; Franz Woepcke singled him out as one of the most influential voices in algebraic notation for having taking "the first steps toward the introduction of algebraic symbolism". Al-Qalasadi was born in Baza, an outpost of the Emirate of Granada. He received his education in Granada, but continued to support his family in Baza. He wrote numerous books on arithmetic and algebra, eventually retiring to his native Baza. His algebraic works provided precise mathematical answers to problems of everyday life, such as the composition of medications, how to calculate the inclination of irrigation canals, and the explanation of frauds linked to measuring instruments. Others belonged to the ancient tradition of judicial and cultural mathematics, including a collection of little arithmetical problems presented in the form of verse riddles. - Occasional insignificant foxing and browning; very well preserved. GAL I, 266, 2.
Folio (250 x 310 mm). (28), 586, (2) pp. Contemporary blindstamped full calf; spine rebacked. Second Henricpetri edition of this elaborate system of astrology, edited by Antonius Stupa. Abul Hasan Ali ibn abi Rijal (also known as Haly or Hali, and by the Latinized versions of his name, Haly Albohazen and Haly Abenragel), probably born in Cordoba, flourished in Tunis from ca 1020 to 1040, where he served as court astrologer to Prince Al-Muizz Ibn Badis. His "Distinguished Book on Horoscopes from the Constellations" enjoyed a great reputation, and he was celebrated as "Ptolemaeus Alter" and "summus astrologus". The work was translated from Arabic into Castilian by Judah ben Moses, upon orders of King Alfonso X of Spain, and - in 1485 - from the Castilian into Latin, by Aegidius de Tebaldis and Petrus de Regio. A manuscript copy containing five of the eight books of a translation into Old Castilian by Yehuda ben Moshe Cohen survives in the National Library of Spain. "De Judiciis Astrorum", a Latin translation of the Old Castilian manuscript, was first published in Venice in 1485 and became an important source in Renaissance Europe for the understanding of medieval astrology. - Spine and binding repaired; some duststaining to the first pages. Entirely complete: VD 16 cites 20 ff. of prelims in error; all digitized copies entirely agree with the present specimen. Removed from the Ampleforth Abbey library in North Yorkshire with their bookplate to pastedown. A good copy. VD 16, A 1884. Cf. BM-STC German (1551 ed.). M. H. Fikri, Treasures fron the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, Bibliography, no. 26 (1551 ed.). Honeyman I, 54 (editio princeps). Not in Adams.
8vo. (8), 312, (8) pp. With woodcut device to title page. Contemporary limp vellum. Extremely rare French edition of the "Kitab al-Jawami", an Arabic work on the interpretation of dreams by an "Achmet, son of Seirim" - almost certainly identical with the 8th century Muslim mystic Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Sirin. The work survived in a Greek translation ("Biblion oneirokritikon") prepared in the 12th century. This is the French translation of Leunclavius's Latin edition, published by Wechel at Frankfurt in 1577: Leunclavius had erroneously attributed the work to "Apomazar" (Albumasar, i.e. Ga`far Abu Ma`sar al-Balhi), which mistake he later acknowledged, though it is repeated by the present edition. "The author Ahmed served as interpreter of dreams to Caliph Al-Mamun around 820 [...] The mediaeval conflation of medicine with astrology originated with the Arabs. Through the Salernitanian school, which had many Arabic works translated, the notion reached Europe in the 11th century, where it remained predominant as late as the 17th and 18th century [...] In 1577 J. Loewenklau published a Latin translation of the Oneirokritiká of Ahmed, whom he calls Apomasar" (cf. Schöll). - Some waterstains and edge flaws, especially to the first and last leaves. 17th c. handwritten ownership of the Discalced Carmelites of Bordeaux on title page; a few old annotations in ink. Several small defects to the vellum binding have been repaired. While the 1577 Latin edition (which Caillet calls "rarissime") has been auctioned three times since 1959, no copy of the present French edition is known in auction records internationally. Caillet I, 153 (note). Graesse, Bibl. mag. et pneum. 97 ("1580" in error). OCLC 1218171. Not in Adams or BM-STC French. Cf. GAL I, 66. Schöll, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur III, 487.
8vo. 11 pp. Original wrapperless covers. Agreement between the UK and the Government of the United Arab Emirates regarding the operation of airlines between the two countries. Such an agreement had become necessary following the Emirates' independence in 1971, when the British-Trucial Sheikhdoms treaty expired.
4to (180 x 236 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 546 ff. (foliated in a somewhat later hand), 23 lines per extensum, written in black naskh, with chapter headings and emphases in red. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. Rare, complete late 16th century Arabic manuscript of the "Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil" ("The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation"), better known as "Tafsir al-Baydawi". One of the most popular classical Sunni Qur'anic interpretational works (tafsir), it was composed by the 13th-century Muslim scholar al-Baydawi (d. 1319?), who flourished in Persia. The "Tafsir al-Baydawi" is considered to contain the most concise analysis of the Qur'anic use of Arabic grammar and style to date and was hailed early on by Muslims as the foremost demonstration of the Qur'an's essential and structural inimitability ("i'jaz ma'nawi wa-lughawi") in Sunni literature. Due to its fame and influence, the work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and significant, and many commentaries have been written on Baydawi's work. According to the contemporary Islamic scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad, the work "became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all tafsirs" and it is to be regarded as "the most important commentary on the Qur'an in the history of Islam". - Paper rather browned; some waterstaining to margins of the first 70-odd leaves and occasionally beyond. The first 130 pages are closely annotated in the margins by a near-contemporary owner with several additional annotated sheets (some folding) pasted in. Old waqf stamps to recto of first leaf. Restored binding uses original cover material, showing traces of worming. Removed from the Kutub Khana-i-Sultani (Sultani Library), one of the libraries the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, established in 1926 at Dera Nawab Sahib in south Punjab. GAL I, 417.
Folio (210 x 290 mm). 2 volumes bound in one. Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 166 ff; 273 ff. (foliated in a later hand), 40 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. Fiqh commentary on the famous and much-glossed Hanafi manual "Mukhtasar al-Qudurii" (known among Hanafi scholars simply as "al-Kitab") of Abu al-Husayn Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Quduri al-Baghdadi (362-428 H). The author of this commentary, Abu Bakr bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Haddad al-Zubaidi al-Yamani (d. 800 H / 1397 CE), was a Hanafi jurist and exegete. He hailed from the people of Abadieh, from the villages (Wadi Zabid) in Tihama, historically in Yemen but today mostly in Saudi Arabia. - The first volume, copied in 1046 H (1636 CE), has an ownership inscription of Abdullah bin Hassan Al-Afif Al-Kazaruni, a Hanafi jurist from Mecca, dated 1063 H (1653 CE). The second volume has an inscription stating this was commissioned by him in 1071 H (1661 CE). - Handwritten table of contents on the preserved original flyleaves. Some light browning and brownstaining throughout; a few repairs; old waqf stamps and inscription to first page of both parts; marginal annotations throughout. The restored binding uses the prettily stamped original cover material. Removed from the Kutub Khana-i-Sultani (Sultani Library), one of the libraries the Nawabs of Bahawalpur, established in 1926 at Dera Nawab Sahib in south Punjab. GAL I, 175; II, 189; II S, 250.
4to. (32), "171" (recte: 471), (1) pp. With printer's woodcut device to title page, two initials and 19 woodcut diagrams in the text. Slightly later vellum. First edition of this important commentary on al-Qabisi's most influential work, "al-Madkhal" (the text of which is included in the Latin translation of Joannes Hispalensis prepared in 1144): an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy, the astrological science of casting nativities, or divination as to the destinies of newborns. The author, known as "Alchabitius" in the Latin tradition, flourished in Aleppo, Syria, in the middle of the 10th century. "Although al-Qabisi's education was primarily in geometry and astronomy, his principal surviving treatise, 'Al-madkhal ila sina'at ahkam al-nujum' ('Introduction into the Art of Astrology') in five sections [...], is on astrology. The book, as the title indicates, is an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy; its present usefulness lies primarily in its quotations from the Sassanian Andarzghar literature and from al-Kindi, the Indians, Ptolemy, Dorotheus of Sidon, Masha'allah, Hermes Trismegistus, and Valens. Although completely lacking in originality, it was highly valued as a textbook" (DSB). "Together with the writings of Abu Ma'shar and Sacrobosco's 'Sphaera mundi', 'al-Madkhal' became Europe's authoritative introduction to astrology between the 13th and the 16th century [...] In 1560 the commentary of Naibod (also known as Nabod or Naiboda) appeared in Cologne. This professor of mathematics had previously published the first book of Euclid's 'Elementa' and his own treatise on arithmetics. For his commentary he relies mainly on Ptolemy, Bonatti and Regiomontanus. Its wide circulation bears evidence to the vivid interest which al-Qabisi's astrology engendered as late as the early 17th century A.D." (cf. Arnzen, p. 96 & 106f.). Naibod (1523-93) taught at the universities of Cologne and Erfurt, adhering to the Ptolemaic principles. His commentary on al-Qabisi was banned by the Catholic church. Naibod is said to have discovered a new method to prognosticate a man's fate, but was unable to avert his own murder in spite of his having presaged it (cf. Jöcher III, 806). - Slightly browned but a good copy. Provenance: 1) Contemporary handwritten ownership "Joannis Roberti Aurelii" on the title page, probably by Jean Robert of Orléans who in 1557 published "Sententiarum juris libri quatuor". 2) Later in the famous collection of the Polish theologian Józef Andrzej Zaluski (1702-74), with his stamp on the title page. With his brother, Zaluski founded the Bibliotheca Zalusciana, the first Polish public library, dispersed in 1795. 3) The book was subsequently acquired by the Warsaw industrialist Jan Henryk Geysmer (1780-1835) (his stamp on the foot of the title). 4) Bookplate of the composer Robert Curt von Gorrissen (1887-1978) on front pastedown. VD 16, N 14. Adams N 3. BM-STC German 642 Houzeau/Lancaster 4882. Zinner 2239. Thorndike VI, 119f. BNHCat N 2. Grassi p. 483. Dewhirst I.1, 781. Hamel II, 187f. Cantamessa 5437. DSB XI, 226. R. Arnzen, "Vergessene Pflichtlektüre: Al-Qabisis astrologische Lehrschrift im europäischen Mittelalter", in: Zft. für Geschichte der arab.-islam. Wiss. 13 (2000), pp. 93-128, at p. 112 no. 6. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from The Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe (Qatar 2009), nos. 9f.
4to. 64 ff. With several diagrams and woodcut initials in the text and the printer's full-page woodcut device on the final page, printed in red and black. Modern limp vellum with ties. "Early edition of Alchabitius' 'Introduction to the Mystery of Judgments from the Stars', with the 'modern' version by Antonius de Fantis. Sessa issued the same work at the same time, but Liechtenstein's edition is superior and especially esteemed for the fine woodcut in black and red (printer's mark) at the end" (Weil). Translated by Joannes Hispalensis (in 1144), with the commentary of Joannes de Saxonia. "Although al-Qabisi's education was primarily in geometry and astronomy, his principal surviving treatise, 'Al-madkhal ila sina'at ahkam al-nujum' ('Introduction into the Art of Astrology') in five sections [...], is on astrology. The book, as the title indicates, is an introductory exposition of some of the fundamental principles of genethlialogy; its present usefulness lies primarily in its quotations from the Sassanian Andarzghar literature and from al-Kindi, the Indians, Ptolemy, Dorotheus of Sidon, Masha'allah, Hermes Trismegistus, and Valens. Although completely lacking in originality, it was highly valued as a textbook [... The] Latin version was commented on by Joannes de Saxonia at Paris in 1331" (DSB). - Title slightly smudged; occasional light waterstaining. From the library of Curt Wallin with his armorial bookplate on the pastedown. Rare; a single copy in auction records since 1975. Edit 16, CNCE 834. Adams A 24. BM-STC 1. BM I, 307. IA 102.864. Essling 301. Sander 223. Houzeau/Lancaster I, 3848. DSB XI, 226. Weil, Cat. VI, 29. OCLC 46413115. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from The Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe (Qatar 2009), nos. 9f.
8vo. LXXII, 452 pp. Near-contemporary half cloth with giltstamped red spine label. Edges sprinkled in red and blue. First edition. - A rare and scholarly investigation of the Arabic origins of star names, incorporating the first edition (with a German translation) of the relevant part of the famous "Aja'ib al-makhluqat" by the astronomer Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203-83), which contains a description of the 48 constellations of Ptolemy and is hailed by Brockelmann as "the most valuable cosmography in Islamic culture" (GAL). Taking Qazwini's text as his guideline, the Prussian astronomer Ideler (1766-1846) provides a detailed commentary elucidating the respective Greek, Latin, oriental, and modern names of the stars. The final chapter is an essay on the Arabic nomenclature of celestial bodies, tracing the names' origins to the ancient nomadic Arabs (Bedu). Although Ideler was not an orientalist and claimed merely a scholarly working knowledge of Arabic, he had the advice of Oluf Gerhard Tychsen and Georg Beigel. The resulting text edition, translation and critical study were highly praised by Fück, who called the annotations "excellent". - Some browning throughout as common; professional repairs to spine. Old stamp and shelfmark of the Boston Arts Academy Library to title; handwritten ownership "J. Johnson / Jan.y 1930" to pastedown. Schnurrer p. 466f., no. 404. Fück 160 ("1810" in error). Kayser III, 248. OCLC 11828254. Cf. GAL S I, 882.
8vo. (48), 662, (2) pp. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on verso of final leaf. 18th century half calf with marbled boards and title giltstamped to spine. First Latin edition of this collection, published in Greek by Stephanus in Paris the previous year (itself a translation from Syriac): the twelve books on medicine by Alexander of Tralles, the first parasitologist in medical history (and the younger brother of Anthemius, architect of the Hagia Sophia), issued with al-Razi's classic treatise on smallpox and measles ("Kitab fi al-Jadari wa al-Hasaba"), also known as "Peri loimikes" or "De pestilentia": the first book ever published on smallpox. Indeed, al-Razi was the first physician in the history of medicine to differentiate between smallpox and measles, and consider them as two different diseases. The influence of his diagnostic concepts on Muslim medicine was very clear, especially on Ibn Sina. This work gained great popularity in Europe and was also translated into French, English and German; Brockelmann states it saw some 40 Latin editions between 1498 and 1866. - Al-Razi (also known as Rhazes; 850-923 or 932) is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna; he also conducted alchemical experiments. According to his biographer al-Gildaki, he was blinded for refusing to share his secrets of chemistry. - Binding lightly rubbed. Light brownstaining throughout, with a waterstain to the upper edge. A misprint has been overpasted with replacement text on pp. 40f. ("imo interdum mors talium potionem comitatur"). Rare; only two copies in auction records internationally since 1950. VD 16, A 1786. Muller III, 448, 7. Ritter 36. BM-STC German 20. Wellcome I, 209. Durling 148. GAL S I, 419, no. 3. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, No. 44 (Venice 1555 ed.). Not in Adams.
4to (178 x 240 mm). Arabic manuscript on paper. (136) pp. Calligraphic text with cursive writing in red ink, black and gold in a frame of double red rules, 15-23 lines, frontispiece on double page, 4 banners. Contemporary blindstamped red morocco binding with fore-edge flap. Arabic manuscript on the virtue of prayer upon the Prophet Muhammad. The very neat cursive calligraphy is finely executed in three inks: black, red and gold (the latter having taken on an olive green hue). The manuscript begins with the last three suras of the Qur'an, followed by the Asma ul-Husna, an introduction, and a prayer. A superb frontispiece on a double page (pp. 5-6) is executed in black ink on a red background within polychrome frames. The one on the right-hand side, decorated with five outward-facing arches in the margins, gives the names of Allah, of the Prophet, and of his four caliphs; the panel on the left indicates the name of the manuscript and its author, "Abi Abdallah Hashim ibn Abdulaziz al-Mohammadi al-Shafei". The titles of each of the six chapters are written in red ink or gold, followed by the "Bismillah" in larger calligraphy. The first colophon, at the end of the first chapter, is calligraphed in red ink in a banner; the other three colophons, arranged within triangular tiers, announce the end of each chapter and repeat the name of the author. The text ends with the "Qasida" to the glory of the Prophet. The analysis of the document and the use of the term "Shafei" suggest that its author was an imam trained in the Shafiist school of jurisprudence, one of four schools (madhhab) of jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, based on the teaching of Imam Al-Shafi'i (767-820) and his followers. This "madhhab" is widespread in Yemen and around the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia), as well as in Kurdistan and Egypt. Binding and paper suggest a date in the second half of the 18th century.
8vo (145 x 215 mm). 70 pp. In Ottoman script within rules, lithographed throughout. The heading (serlevha) and borders of the first double page are printed in gilt. Bound in contemporary wrappers, taken from a volume, and stored loosely within protective giltstamped cloth boards (modern spine). First and only printed edition of one of the earliest Islamic travel accounts of China and the first description of the Silk Road in the Islamic world, pre-dating even Ibn Battuta's Rihla. - The present work, one of the most complete descriptions of Ming Dynasty China in the 16th century, was originally written in Persian in 1516. Completed and issued soon after Khitai reached Istanbul in 1520, it was later translated into Turkish by Hezârfen Huseyin (d. 1691) and became influential also in the Turkish-speaking Muslim world. According to the colophon, the book was finished on the last day or days of Rabî I 922 (3 May 1516), while the preface contains a panegyric on Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520-66). - Based on the author's personal observations, the book's 20 chapters discuss roads, cities and castles, stores, brothels and prostitutes, eunuchs, legislation, administration, jails, law and law-abidance, the military, agriculture, magazines, the imperial throne, the various religions, celebrations, entertainments, wonderful arts and strange cures, schools, persons from the West, Qalmaqs, gold, silver and currency, as well as Chinese temples and other matters. Thus Ali Akbar's book conveyed to a reader of the 16th century a fair impression of China: as a guidebook it could serve as a companion especially for Muslim merchants travelling along the Silk Road. - The Chinese scholar Lin Yih-Min describes Ali Akbar as a "Turkish businessman" (58) who probably journeyed only to Central Asia, where he gathered the information for his book before returning then to Turkey. The book was dedicated to Sultan Suleiman, and as the author's name suggests a Shi'ite background, it is possible that Ali Akbar may have wished to impress on the Ottoman court the difficult conditions of the Shi'ite community living in Istanbul, among a dominant Sunnite community. - Also known as the "Khataynameh" ("Book on China"), the work aroused considerable interest not only in the Ottoman Empire but also in Europe in the 19th century. The book's immediate impact is difficult to estimate, but astonishingly the Ottoman Empire, here referred to as "Lumi", would figure quite prominently in Chinese sources after a first embassy arrived in Beijing in 1524, four years after the book was first issued; other embassies followed until 1618. Thus, it is entirely possible that Ali Akbar's book had a direct influence on Ottoman diplomacy and commerce in China and Central Asia. - A few holes in the last leaf (minor loss of a few letters); some browning. A few contemporary pencil marginalia and calligraphic examples on the last blank page. Overall a good copy. Özege 20686. Cf. Ralph Kauz, "One of the Last Documents of the Silk Road: The Khataynameh of Ali Akbar", The Silk Road 1 (2005), p. 59f. Lin Yih-Min, "A comparative and critical study of Ali Akbar’s Khitây-nâma with reference to Chinese sources", Central Asiatic Journal 27 (1983), pp. 58-78.
4to. XV, (5), 80 pp. Modern red half cloth with giltstamped title to spine. The sayings of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad and one of the central figures in Shia Islam, who ruled as the fourth caliph from 656 to 661. Text in Arabic, Persian, and Latin. Based on a Weimar manuscript, this was an early effort by the German scholar J. G. Stickel (1805-96), a student of Silvestre de Sacy, to establish himself as an oriental philologist at Jena University. - Deaccessioned from the Bamberg University Library with their stamps and shelfmark label. OCLC 4423742.
Small 4to (146 x 206 mm). 64 pp. With printer's woodcut device on title-page. 19th century red boards. Only edition of this early milestone of Arabic typography from the Roman Medici Press, including a Latin treatise on Arabic script. The Medici Oriental Press, the first printing press in Europe dedicated to printing books in an Arabic typeface, was founded in Rome under the direction of Giovanni Battista Raimondi and the patronage of Pope Gregory XIII. For the Arabic types, Raimondi commissioned the famous typefounder Robert Granjon: "In a few years Granjon had cut a large number of oriental characters, following superb calligraphic designs provided by Raimondi. On September 6, 1586, he completed the small Arabic typeface [...] Because cutting the Arabic typefaces took such a long time, establishment of the Medici Press went slowly. Though the contracts formally setting up the press were signed on March 6, 1584, the first book to bear its imprint did not appear until 1591. Legible and much more 'oriental' in feel than those of de Gregorii, Postel or Spey, this face was not improved upon until the time of Ibrahim Müteferrika in the early 18th century [...] Once underway, however, the Medici Press was very productive. In 1592 it issued a prospectus of its Arabic type faces under the title 'Alphabetum arabicum' - a 64-page masterpiece of design which not only displays Granjon's beautiful types, but contains a careful Latin Essay on the Arabic writing system" (Lunde). Until 1610 Raimondi printed a mere eight works with Granjon's types, "all equally rare" (Smitskamp 29b), before a long hiatus ensued - probably due to the sluggish distribution of the works in the Orient, where everything produced in the West, and especially any printed specimen of Arabic script, was received with the utmost caution (cf. Fück 55). Even Smitskamp cites only four other productions of the Medici Press, but not this exceptionally rare one. One of the only three other copies known to have appeared in the trade was even thought to be incomplete by Sotheby's, since Adams's collation - based on the Trinity College copy - cites a 24-page appendix that is, in fact, an independent Medici Press grammar bound with the Trinity 'Alphabetum'. - Binding worn and rubbed; spine rebacked. Interior somewhat dust-soiled throughout with occasional light dampstaining; a few marginal annotations on the verso of the title cropped by binder. Title-page with minute wormhole affecting one word on verso; a small hole to the last leaf with loss of a few letters; stamp of a monk to margin of final page. Front pastedown has 1880s bookseller ticket by G. A. Young & Co. of Edinburgh pasted in. An entirely complete copy of an important and excessively rare publication. Adams A 780. BM-STC Italian 36. Schnurrer 41. Edit 16, CNCE 1227. OCLC 47816774. Lunde, Paul, "Arabic and the Art of Printing", in: Aramco World 32/2 (1981) (with illustration). J. Balagna, L'imprimerie arabe en occident (Paris 1984), p. 135. Le Livre et le Liban (mentioned on p. 190; no copy in the catalogue). Not in Smitskamp or Fück.
4to. 2 consecutively paginated parts. (4), 80 (but: 84), (8) ff. (Pt. 2 has separate title page). With woodcut printer's device to title-page and 50 large woodcut plant illustrations (many page-sized). 18th century marbled wooden boards. All edges sprinkled in red. First edition of the earliest treatise on the native Egyptian flora, the author's most important scientific work. The Italian physician and botanist Alpini (1553-1617) spent three years in Egypt studying botany and hygiene as a companion to the Venetian Consul Giorgio Emi. He was "among the first of the Italian physician-botanists of the 16th century to examine plants outside the context of their therapeutic uses. Today this work is best known for containing the first European illustration of the coffee plant" (Hünersdorff). Alpini writes: "I saw in the garden of Halybey the Turk a tree [...] which is the source of those seeds, very common there, which are called Ban or Bon; from them everyone, Egyptians and Arabs alike, prepare a decoction which they drink instead of wine and which is sold in public bars just as is wine here and they call it 'Caova'. These seeds are imported from the Arabian peninsula [...]" (f. 26r, transl.). The coffee plant is pictured on f. 26v, captioned "Bon". - Binding rather rubbed and bumped (especially the spine); trimmed somewhat closely at upper edge; occasional brownstaining throughout with the odd waterstain; slight defect to title page repaired by a former owner. A good copy from the library of Karl Martin and Siri Hilda Karolina Norrman (1900-95) with their joint bookplate on front pastedown. Edit 16, CNCE 1244. BM-STC Italian 20. Adams A 803. IA 103.853. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 32. Gay 1678. Wellcome I, 233. Durling 179. Nissen 20. Pritzel 111. Mueller 5 (& plate I). Hünersdorff I, 29-32.
4to. (16), 344 pp. Engraved architectural title with portraits of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, 145 finely etched and engraved botanical plates in the text, ornamental initials. Contemporary blind-tooled calf with gilt spine. Edges sprinkled red. Third edition (in fact, a re-issue with changed title page date only) of Alpini's further observations on exotic plants. The specimens here presented were collected primarily in Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean, including many xerophilous plants from Egypt and scores of plants not mentioned in earlier works. The first edition was published posthumously in 1627 and was edited by the author's son, Alpini Alpini. The work (in all its editions) is much rarer than the author's better-known "De plantis Aegyptii". "Date altered by hand [from 1629] to MDCLVI" (Krivatsy). - Prospero Alpini (1553-1617), an Italian physician and botanist, travelled through Greece, Crete, and Egypt from 1580 to 1583 with the Venetian Consul Giorgio Eno. He worked as a medical advisor and took the opportunity to carry out botanical investigations. His work includes the first European recognition of the medicinal value of coffee and introduced banana and baobab. "Alpini became professor of botany at Padua after having spent three years in Egypt" (Garrison/M., p. 992). - Binding rebacked, showing some light wear to extremeties, but a good, clean copy. Provenance: removed from the Large Library at Goodwood House (Chichester, West Sussex) with bookplate on front pastedown; latterly in the collection of Cornelius J. Hauck (his tree bookplate dated 15 March 1944). Nissen BBI 21. Krivatsy 241 (copy 2). Cf. Pritzel 112. Not in Wellcome, Waller, or Osler.
Small 4to (225 x 175 mm). 2 parts in one vol. (11), 150, (25) ff. 39, (1) ff. Title-page printed in red and black; woodcut chapter initial and head-tail pieces, 2 text illustrations and 3 full-page woodcuts. Full vellum, title gilt on spine red label. Somewhat later edition of the first important work on the history of Egyptian medicine. Alpini (1553-1617) was an Italian physician and botanist who spent three years in Egypt studying botany and hygiene as a companion to the Venetian Consul Giorgio Emo. This work is considered "one of the earliest European studies of non-western medicine. Alpini’s work dealt primarily with contemporary (i.e. Arabic) practices observed during his sojourn in Egypt. These included moxibustion - the production of counter-irritation by placing burning or heated material on the skin - which Alpini introduced into European medicine [...] Alpini also mentioned coffee for the first time in this work" (Norman). Jacobus Bontius (Jacques de Bondt, 1592-1631), whose work on Indian medicine is included, was a Dutch physician and botanist. He travelled to Persia and Indonesia to study the botany of the area. He was the first to study cholera on the island of Batavia in 1689, before it was known in Europe, and died on Java. His botanic and medical works were published after his death by Pisonius. He "was probably the first to regard tropical medicine as an independent branch of medical science. He spent the last four years of his life in the Dutch East Indies, and his book incorporates the experience he gained there. It is the first Dutch work on tropical medicine and includes the first modern descriptions of beri-beri and cholera" (Garrison/M. 2263, citing the 1642 first edition). - Binding slightly brownstained in places. Small tear to 3rd leaf, not affecting text; occasional browning. Caillet 230. Krivatsy 236. Wellcome II, 36. Hirsch/Hübotter I, 101 & 627. Hunt 161 (note). Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 32. Osler 1796. Waller 12509. Cf. Garrison/Morton 6468. Norman 39 (1591 first edition); Heirs 384 (1646 edition) and 463 (1642 edition).
8vo. X, 273, (1 blank) pp. With two black and white maps on the endpapers. Brown cloth with publisher's illustrated dust jacket. First and only edition of a thorough description of the history of the nine Arab states of the Lower Gulf, that gained independence in 1971, just four years before the publication of this book. The author has managed to discuss the individual politics of each state and that of the bigger picture, making this a handbook for all who wish to learn more about Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain). The several infographics that are used to explain the political structures are very helpful in this respect. Oil plays a key role in the relationship between the individual states and this is intricately laid out by the American author. Because this book was written in such a key moment in the history of the region, it has gained much importance. The author Dr. John Duke Anthony is a leading figure in United States-Arab relations and has held many influential government positions in this field. Amongst others, he is the founder and president of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and he is part of the United States Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy's Subcommittee on Sanctions. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Middle East Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies. In the years leading up to this publication the author has conducted first-hand research on the Lower Gulf region's political and socio-economic structures, obviously with oil playing a major role. The fruits of this research are presented in this book, offering the reader a comprehensive overview of a complex subject. This book was published in The James Terry Duce Memorial Series, which started in 1966. The first and second volumes were on North Africa and Jerusalem respectively, this is the final volume of the series. - Ink annotations in the margins throughout. A good copy with the original dustjacket well preserved. OCLC 1700964.
4to. 63 pp., final blank page. With map frontispiece and several illustrations and tables in the text. Contemporary printed wrappers. Stapled. First edition. Rare climatological study originating from a series of meteorological handbooks of the Indian Ocean issued by the British government between 1940 and 1944. The three-volume series, comprising a total of 12 parts, was prepared by the Meteorologial Office, Air Ministry, in cooperation with the Naval Meteorological Branch, Admiralty, London; it was reprinted for the U.S. Navy as late as 1980. The ESSA Technical Memorandum of 1969 mentions another reprint in 1945. - The present volume is the last of nine parts of volume II, covering the climate of the East African coast from the equator to Cape Delgado, discussing tropical cyclones and depressions, winds, visibility, clouds, rain and hail, temperature, humidity and other meteorological events. The frontispiece shows a map of the relevant area; additional diagrams illustrate surface winds and higher winds, as well as the amount of clouds and rainfall. The tables show the general climate in Mombasa, Tanga, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Kilwa, and Lindi, as well as the monthly frequency of wind direction and force at sea and in the upper air, and the visibility at coastal stations. - Library shelfmark in pencil, as well as a mounted blank loaning sheet to final blank page. 7 combinations of letters and digits in black felt pen to lower cover. Traces of a shelfmark label and a cancelled inscription to front cover. Not a single copy in auction records. U.S. Department of Commerce, ESSA Technical Memorandum EDSTM10, A Note on Climatology of Thailand and Southeast Asia, 164, 19. OCLC 1181290135.