4.409 Ergebnisse
Standard issue, 687 x 860 mm. Scale 1:17,980. Nautical chart of the southernmost part of the Red Sea with Perim Island, prepared by the British Admiralty. With a view of the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb near lower margin. - Perim Island, as a dependency of Aden, was part of the British Empire between 1857 and 1967. The island encloses a deep and comparatively large natural harbour on the southwestern coast. The chart labels the pilot's house, piers, coal stacks, the hospital, and the Lloyd's signal station. Other prominent places on the island include the fishing village of Meyun, Murray Point, William Bay, the old fort, and a parade ground. The chart includes the Arabian coast of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, detailing Sheikh Malu or Oyster Island, Ras Sheikh Syed, and Jebel Manhali. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys between 1874 and 1918; it was first published in 1874 and saw several corrections up to 1924. - With a single fold. Some manuscript corrections and a note in pencil: "Caution / The 2 Red Lights on Lloyd's Signal Station are now discontinued". With a stamp "Increase 50%" near lower right corner. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. A large tear in the centrefold.
Standard issue, 696 x 1020 mm. Scale 1:200,000. Nautical chart of the Gulf of Aden from the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the city of Aden, prepared by the British Admiralty. The chart details the approximate western boundary of the British Protectorate and pays particular attention to geological features, labelling the Jebel Arror or Chimney Peaks, as well as numerous other hills along the coast including the Sugarloaf near Aden. Among the most prominent labelled places are Perim Island, Jezirath Sowabih, Jebel Manhali, Sakiah, Ras al Ara, Aden, and Aden Harbour. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1900 and 1929; it was first published in 1930 and saw several corrections up to 1935. - With a single fold. Small ruststains near lower corners; a few manuscript notes. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso.
Standard issue, 700 x 1024 mm. Scale 1:10,000 and 1:25,000. Detailed nautical chart of Port Sudan, the primary port of Sudan, prepared by the British Admiralty. Undoubtedly one of the best maps of the young city, which was built between 1905 and 1909 by the administration of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to replace Suakin. Both the city of Port Sudan as well as the approaches to Port Sudan are combined on a single sheet. - The chart details numerous mooring posts, the port police, cranes and the customs office, as well as dangerous coral reefs stretching across the entire shore of Port Sudan. It includes landmarks such as churches and mosques, the Governor's residence, the public garden, school, and hospital, as well as sports clubs and the Polo grounds. Another interesting detail is the "pilgrim quarantine enclosure" to the south of the city, as well as the Atbara and Port Sudan railway. In addition, the Approaches chart displays offshore features like the Wingate Reefs and the North Towartit Reef. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The Port Sudan chart was composed after an Admiralty survey of 1904; it saw corrections in 1916 and 1920. The Approaches chart is the result of a 1927 survey carried out by HMS Endeavour. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes; stamp "Increase 50%" to lower margin. Captioned on verso in two former collectors' hands.
Standard issue, 700 x 1025 mm. Scale 1:10,000 and 1:25,000. Detailed nautical chart of Port Sudan, the primary port of Sudan, prepared by the British Admiralty. Undoubtedly one of the best maps of the young city, which was built between 1905 and 1909 by the administration of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to replace Suakin. Both the city of Port Sudan as well as the approaches to Port Sudan are combined on a single sheet. - The chart details numerous mooring posts, the port police, cranes and the customs office, as well as dangerous coral reefs stretching across the entire shore of Port Sudan. It includes landmarks such as churches and mosques, the Governor's residence, the public garden, school, and hospital, as well as sports clubs and the Polo grounds. Another interesting detail is the pipeline from the West to the South Town as well as the Atbara and Port Sudan railway. In addition, the Approaches chart displays offshore features like the Wingate Reefs and the North Towartit Reef. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The Port Sudan chart was composed after an Admiralty survey of 1904; the Approaches chart is the result of a 1927 survey carried out by HMS Endeavour. The entire chart was first published in 1929 and saw several corrections up to 1937. - With a single fold. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso.
Standard issue, 687 x 1024 mm. Scale 1:8,100. Detailed nautical chart of Port Sudan, the primary port of Sudan, prepared by the British Admiralty. Undoubtedly one of the best maps of the young city, which was built between 1905 and 1909 by the administration of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to replace Suakin. - The chart details numerous mooring posts, the port police, cranes and the customs office, as well as dangerous coral reefs stretching across the entire shore of Port Sudan. It includes landmarks like churches and mosques, the Governor's residence, the public garden, school, and hospital, as well as sports clubs and the Polo ground. Another interesting detail is the "pilgrim quarantine enclosure" south of the city, as well as the Atbara and Port Sudan railway. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1904; it was first published in 1905 and saw several corrections up to 1918. - With a single fold. Captioned in a former collector's hand on verso. Two small marginal tears, hardly touching image.
Standard issue, 515 x 700 mm. Scale 1:4,850. Nautical chart of Port Ibrahim at the entrance of the Suez Canal, prepared by the British Admiralty. It details the north and south harbour basins and the railway station in between, as well as marina buildings including the coast guard station, a quarantine building, a telegraph office, a mosque, and the naval school. The chart includes the Canal Company's premises, showing their southern basin, workshops and offices. Further, it features notes on fairways being dredged in the 1930s and shows the sandbank of Kad el Marakeb south of the port. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after surveys carried out by the Suez Canal Company from 1899 to 1930; it was first published in 1901 and saw several corrections up to 1936. - Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. Small brownstain and small marginal tear near lower right corner.
Standard issue, 700 x 1020 mm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:2,189,000. General nautical chart of the entire Red Sea with the coastlines of Hejaz and Yemen, as well as Egypt, Nubia, Sudan, and Abyssinia, prepared by the British Admiralty. - The chart details the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, the Sinai Peninsula, the Strait of Jubal, and the open sea in its entirety, including several archipels like the Farisan and Hanish islands, concluding with the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and the westernmost part of the Gulf of Aden. It features many details ashore including the Hejaz Railway, the river Nile and the Nubian desert. Among the most prominent labeled cities are Suez, Yenbo, Jidda, Lith, Medina, Mokka, Aden, Khartum, and Port Sudan. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys up to 1884; it was first published in 1885 and saw several corrections up to 1928. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes and a stamp "Increase 50%" near title. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. Two tears in the left and right margin at the centrefold; remains of old adhesive tape in an attempt to repair the tear; a few smaller marginal tears.
Standard issue, 710 x 860 mm. Scale 1:71,920. Nautical chart of the Red Sea from Mersa Denebh to Kunfida in Saudi Arabia, and from Abú Dara to Trinkitat in Sudan, prepared by the British Admiralty. With six inset maps of Lith, Jelajil, and Kunfida, as well as Khor Delwen, Khor Shinab, Mersa Ar-Rakiyaí, as well as four mountain views. - The chart shows a vast portion of the Red Sea, featuring the Farsan Bank and the Suakin Group, as well as dangerous reefs covering large parts of the shores. Among the most prominent labelled cities are Jiddah, Lith, and Kunfida in Saudi Arabia, as well as Port Sudan and Suakin in Sudan. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of the 19th century; it was first published in 1873 and saw several corrections up to 1937. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso.
Standard issue, 710 x 860 mm. No scale information. Nautical chart of the Red Sea between Trinkitat in Sudan and Hodeida in Saudi Arabia, prepared by the British Admiralty. With three inset maps of Khor Nohud, Gizán, and the Disei Village Bay, as well as a view of Jabal at Tair Island. - The chart shows the Farasan Islands as well as the Dahlak Archipelago and the Zubair Group. Among the most prominent labelled cities are Loheiya, Hodeida, Gizán, and Massawa. Other interesting details include an Egyptian military station at Mount Keren, an Italian post near the Arafale craters, the Husna-l Majis Hill Fort, and the Sheikh's Tomb near Hali Point in Saudi Arabia. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of the 19th century; it was first published in 1873 and saw several corrections up to 1936. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. Brown smudge near left margin; faint marginal flaws.
Standard issue, 710 x 1050 mm. Scale 1:144,820. Nautical chart of the southern portion of the Gulf of Suez, prepared by the British Admiralty. With two inset maps of the Hurghada anchorage and the approaches to the Hurghada south pier, as well as small views of the Ashrafi and Shadwán lighthouse, and three mountain views. - The chart details the Tor Bank, the Strait of Jubal, the Ashrafi Islands, and the Jifátin Islands. Among the most prominent places are Tor, Jebal, Ras Muhammed, and Hurghada. The inset map of Hurghada labels the Egyptian frontier force, oil and water tanks, as well as fishermen's huts. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1871-72; it was first published in 1873 and saw several corrections up to 1931. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes. With a stamp "Increase 50%" near lower right margin. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. Some small marginal tears, hardly affecting image.
Standard issue, 700 x 1024 mm. Scale 1:175,000 approx. Nautical chart of a small portion of the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, prepared by the British Admiralty. It shows Perim Island and Halib Island, as well as Mokka as its northernmost city. Other notable places include Ras al Ara, Ras Bab-el-Mandeb, Khor Omeira, and the Jezirat Sowabih islands. The chart pays particular attention to geological features, labelling larger and smaller hills including the Jebel Arrar or Chimney Peaks, as well as dunes and sandy plains. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1891, 1900 and 1901; it was first published in 1902 and saw several corrections up to 1936. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso.
Standard issue, 710 x 875 mm. Scale 1:36,370. Nautical chart of the Gulf of Suez from Suez southward to Ras el Ghubah on the African coast and Kad-el Towila on the Arabian coast, prepared by the British Admiralty. With small views of the light beacons on Kal ah Kebireh Shoal and Newport Rock lighthouse. - The chart shows the city of Suez, labelling hospitals, railway stations, cemeteries, the water works, and a mosque, as well as the maritime canal, Port Ibrahim and Port Thewfik. Other details include the plain of Atakah and the fresh water conduit from Atakah to Suez, the plains of Mohaggiara, and Oyun Musa, marked "the traditionary well of Moses". - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1870, and saw corrections following a 1927 survey carried out by the Suez Canal Company; it was first published in 1871 and saw several corrections up to 1931. - With a single fold. A few manuscript notes. With a stamp "Increase 50%" near lower right corner. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso. Small marginal tears in the centrefold; not touching image.
Standard issue, 710 x 864 mm. Various scales. Nautical chart of the northern Red Sea, showing the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, prepared by the British Admiralty. With 4 inset maps displaying the Tiran Island anchorage, Sherm Yahar, Sherm Jubba, and El Tor harbour. - The chart details major cities including Sharm-el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Aqaba, Magna, and Suez, as well as historic landmarks like Mowila fort. In addition, the chart warns the mariner of dangerous currents in the Red Sea as well as tidal streams in the Gulf of Suez. The inset map of El Tor harbour shows hospital buildings, a well of fresh water, pilgrims' baracks, mosques, ruins, and the camel track to Wadi Sillah. - With a small illustration of the Ashrafi lighthouse. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys of 1830-34 and 1911; it was first published in 1873 and saw several corrections up to 1931. - Small tear in lower margin, not touching image. Top margin slightly creased. A single fold; a few manuscript notes. With a stamp "Increase 50%" near lower right corner. Captioned in print and in a former collector's hand on verso.
Standard issue, 700 x 1024 mm. Scale 1:50,000. Detailed nautical chart of the approaches to Mina Salman, the primary cargo port and customs point of Bahrain, prepared by the British Admiralty. Undoubtedly one of the better antiquarian maps of northern Bahrain. - The chart details the approaches to Mina Salman as well as the Sitra anchorage. Approach channels to Mina Salman were built in 1954, and a pier was constructed in 1956, mainly used by dhows. In 1958 it became a free port, and in 1962 a deep water wharf composed of six berths was constructed. The wharf allowed cargo to be directly loaded onto the port for the first time. In the 1960s, the port had refrigeration, storage facilities and equipment for handling large ships. - The map includes the cities of Muharraq and Manama, showing numerous minarets. Bahrain Fort, the Portuguese Fort, Abu Mahur Fort, and the Sheikh's palace are labelled. Another prominent site is Muharraq Airfield, a military base established by the Royal Air Force in April 1943 as RAF Bahrain (later RAF Muharraq) that remained in use until 1971, when Bahrain declared independence. - The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. The present chart was composed after Admiralty surveys from 1932 to 1960. The 1951 first edition saw revisions and corrections in 1962-65. - Very well preserved with a single fold. Provenance: stamps of Maria K. Iatrou, seller of nautical charts, books and instruments in Piraeus, Greece.
Engraved map. 1230 x 690 mm. Detailed British Admiralty chart of the approaches to Jeddah, present-day Saudi Arabia, with an inset chart of Jeddah Harbour and the city itself. - This is undoubtedly one of the better antiquarian maps of the gateway city to Mecca and Medina. Jeddah was an important diplomatic city when the map was made; illustrated are the consulates of Britain, Russia, Austria, the Netherlands, Egypt, and France. Numerous minarets of the old city are shown. The old city walls and the gates of Mecca, Cherif, and Medina are labeled. The Ummina Howwa (Eve's Tomb) is shown. - At the beginning of the 20th century, Jeddah was an important Red Sea port, but with many islands and much shoaling in the approaches, it was a dangerous one. The British Admiralty has produced nautical charts since 1795 under the auspices of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (HO). Its main task was to provide the Royal Navy with navigational products and service, but since 1821 it has also sold charts to the public. In 1795, King George III appointed Alexander Dalrymple, a pedantic geographer, to consolidate, catalogue, and improve the Royal Navy’s charts. He produced the first chart as the Hydrographer to the Admiralty in 1802. Dalrymple, known for his sticky personality, served until his death in 1808, when he was succeeded by Captain Thomas Hurd. The HO has been run by naval officers ever since. Hurd professionalized the office and increased its efficiency. He was succeeded by the Arctic explorer Captain William Parry in 1823. By 1825, the HO was offering over 700 charts and views for sale. Under Parry, the HO also began to participate in exploratory expeditions. The first was a joint French-Spanish-British trip to the South Atlantic, a voyage organized in part by the Royal Society of London. In 1829, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort was appointed Hydrographer Royal. Under his management, the HO introduced the wind force scale named for him, as well as began issuing official tide tables (1833). It was under Beaufort that HMS Beagle completed several surveying missions, including its most famous voyage commanded by Captain FitzRoy with Charles Darwin onboard. When Beaufort retired in 1855, the HO had nearly two thousand charts in its catalogue. Later in the 19th century, the HO supported the Challenger expedition, which is credited with helping to found the discipline of oceanography. The HO participated in the International Meridian Conference which decided on the Greenwich Meridian as the Prime Meridian. Regulation and standardization of oceanic and navigational measures continued into the 20th century, with the HO participating at the first International Hydrographic Organization meeting in 1921. During World War II, the HO chart making facility moved to Taunton, the first purpose-built building it ever inhabited. In 1953, the first purpose-built survey ship went to sea, the HMS Vidal. Today, there is an entire class of survey vessels that make up the Royal Navy’s Hydrographic Squadron. The HO began to computerize their charts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, the compilation staff also came to Taunton, and the HO continues to work from there today.
4to. 48 ff., printed in red and black throughout. Contemporary yellow boards with restored calf spine. First edition. "Editio princeps of this popular short syntax of the Arabic language, written in the 13th century. Two centuries later an Oriental printed edition was published in Istanbul (1786), but in the meantime this edition, printed in Arabic (30 point) throughout, could well have passed for a manuscript [...] To some copies a Latin title page was added bearing the legend: 'Grammatica Arabica dicta Caphia auctore filio Alhagiabi'" (Smitskamp). - Composed by the Arabian grammarian Uthman Ibn Umar, known as Ibn al-Hajib (1175-1249), and printed at the Medicean Press, founded in 1584 by Cardinal Ferdinando I de’ Medici and directed by Giambattista Raimondi (1536-1614), an able scholar of Arabic. - Some edge faults (professionally repaired), old repairs to title page, with slight loss to letterpress. A wide-margined copy, generously printed in 13 lines per page. An exceptionally appealing typographical achievement. Edit 16, CNCE 44392. Adams U 102 (both s. v. Uthman). BM-STC Italian 706. GAL I, p. 303. Smitskamp 30. Schnurrer 42.
Folio (235 x 328 mm). 2 parts in 1 vol. (6) pp., 1 blank leaf, 288 pp. (8), 474, (2) pp. With 2 different woodcut printer's devices on title-page and colophon, half-page woodcut on reverse of title-page (repeated on half-title of pt. 2), and numerous diagrams in the text. Contemporary full limp vellum binding with later ink spine label (wants ties). First edition of "the most important work of its kind in Arabic literature" (cf. Poggendorf), this copy inscribed by the German humanist Wilhelm Xylander (1532-76), sometime rector of Heidelberg University. - Ibn al-Haytham (965-c. 1040), known as Alhazen in the Western tradition, has been hailed as "the greatest Muslim physicist and one of the greatest students of optics of all times [...] The Latin translation [...] exerted a great influence upon Western science. It showed a great progress in experimental method. [Alhazen's book contains] research in catoptrics, [a] study of atmospheric refraction, [a] better description of the eye, and better understanding of vision [as well as an] attempt to explain binocular vision [and the] earliest use of the camera obscura" (Sarton). "This combined edition served as the standard reference work on optics well into the 17th century, influencing scientists such as Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Descartes" (Norman). - "The Arab physicist Alhazen preserved for us all that was known by the ancients in the field of optics and added some contributions of his own. His book remained a standard authority thru the 1600s. He understood that light emanated spherically from a point and greatly improved on Ptolemy's uncertain rule for refraction which, he showed, held true only for small angles. He covered many cases of reflection and refraction and his explanation of the structure and function of the eye was followed for 600 years" (Dibner). - The 'Liber de crepusculis', the work on dawn and twilight included in Risner's 'Opticae thesaurus' and attributed to Alhazen, is actually the work of his contemporary Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Mu'adh al-Jayyani (cf. Norman; DSB, p. 208). The optical study by the Polish scholar Witelo, likewise here included, is "a massive work that relies extensively on Alhazen [and] offers an analysis of reflection that was not surpassed until the 17th century" (Norman). - An old dampstain throughout, almost entirely confined to the outer and lower margins. Endpapers restored with old material. Upper corner of the title-page shows old blind-stamped rosette device and early calculations done in ink. 20th century bookplate to front pastedown. From the library of the French industrialist and patron Pierre Bergé (1930-2017); acquired from the sale of his estate. VD 16, H 693 (H 692, V 1761). Adams A 745. BM-STC 383. Dibner 138. Norman 1027. Honeyman I, 73. DSB VI, 205 & XIV, 461. GAL I, 470. Poggendorf I, 31. Duncan 113. Sarton I, 721. Carmody p. 140. Thorndike/Kibre 803, 1208. Vagnetti D62. BNHCat A 241. IA 103.705. Brunet I, 180. Arabick Roots Doha AR79. Collection Nachet (1929), 50 (this copy).
4to. XIII, (1), 310, (40) pp. (thus complete). Modern boards. First edition thus, containing the Arabic text as well as the Latin translation. Based on a series of 39 dissertations inceived by Hylander in 1784, this is only the second European publication in book form of any extract from the great cosmographic treatise "Haridat al-'Aja'ib wa-Faridat al-Ghara'ib" ("The Pearl of Wonders") by the Arab historian Ibn Al-Wardi (1292-1349 CE), a compilation largely based on the works of Najmaddin al-Harrani and Al-Maqdisi's "Bad' al-halq". Arabia is discussed extensively on pp. 176ff. The 40-page index is alphabetized by the Arabic alphabet, from Alif to Ya'. - "Hylander commenca la publication de cet ouvrage en 1784 dans des cahiers separés, dont les 3 premiers (p. 1-32) ne contienent que la traduction latine, les cahiers 4 et suivantes le texte arabe avec la traduction latine. Il en a paru 39 jusqu'en 1809, les cahiers 40-44 contenant les régistres se sont suivis jusqu'en 1823. Le livre 'Alpha kai Omega' contient le texte arabe des trois premiers cahiers et la fin de l'ouvrage" (Graesse). - Light waterstaining in the lower margin; very light worming to upper gutter of a few quires; trimmed farily closely at the lower edge. In all a good copy. GAL II, 131. Graesse III, 406. Brunet III, 397. OCLC 7535239. Cf. Ebert 10444 (32 dissertations only).
Large 4to (32 x 26). "XVIII" [= XX], (2), 243, (1) pp. With various passages including the original Arabic text. Also with a subscription leaf for the Marquess of Lansdowne ("this copy was printed for the most noble the Marquess of Lansdowne"), printed in black and blue, with wood-engraved illustration, in a cast floral border printed in red. Later half calf. Top edge gilt. First edition of the first substantial English translation of the travel account of Abu Abdullah Mohammed ibn Batuta (1304-68/69), known in the West as the Arabian Marco Polo, with extensive footnotes. "While on a pilgrimage to Mecca he made a decision to extend his travels throughout the whole of the Islamic world. Possibly the most remarkable of the Arab travellers, he is estimated to have covered 75,000 miles in forty years" (Howgego). His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. - The account, known as the Rihla, is esteemed for its lively descriptions of his travels, giving notable information on the history, geography and botany of the countries and cities Ibn Batuta visited. He describes, for example, the city of Aden as follows: "From this place I went to the city of Aden, which is situated on the sea-shore. This is a large city, but without either seed, water, or tree. They have, however, reservoirs, in which they collect the rain-water for drinking. Some rich merchants reside here: and vessels from India occasionally arrive here. The inhabitants are modest and religious" (p. 55). - Endpapers, half-title and subscription leaf foxed, some spots on the title-page, otherwise a very good copy, only slightly trimmed leaving generous margins. Binding very good as well. Howgego, to 1800, B47.
Folio (213 x 310 mm). (1), 108 pp. Contemporary carta rustica binding. The "al-Taysir" ("Theysir") of Ibn Zuhr, and the "al-Kulliyyat" ("Colliget") of Ibn Rushd, here edited by Hieronymus Surianus. This is the fourth edition in all, the first having appeared in Venice in 1490. Printed by the press of Gregorius de Gregoriis, which in the same year had produced the first book entirely printed in Arabic, the famous Fano Book of Hours. - The "Taysir" and the "Kulliyyat" were composed as complements to a comprehensive medical work on the anatomy of organs, health, disease, clinical symptoms, drugs and food, hygiene and therapeutics. Ibn Rushd, not himself a practicing physician, wrote on the generalities of medicine and invited Ibn Zuhr, one of the pre-eminent clinicians and medical therapists of Moorish Spain, to write on the particulars. The resulting book was Ibn Zuhr's most important work, and it was highly influential in the West until the Renaissance. - "Although a true follower of Hippocrates and Galen, [Ibn Zuhr] developed numerous original ideas through his medical experimentation and observation. [He] wrote on the therapeutic value of good diets and on antidotes against poisons, and cautioned against deliberate uses of purgatives in treating the sick, who needed curing medications, not 'poisons' [...] He also recommended tracheotomy" (DSB XIV, 637f.). - Provenance: Hand-drawn armorial shield, "Maureni" (?), Verona, 1656. A clean, appealing copy with insignificant worm damage to binding, affecting the margin of the first two and the last two leaves (professionally repaired; no loss to text). No copy in trade records. BM-STC Italian 2. Durling 368 (imperfect). Waller 563. OCLC 978244354. Not in Adams or Wellcome.
Folio (ca. 31 x 42 cm). 2 vols. 379 ff. with 1 diagrammatic woodcut. 357 ff. Contemporary full calf over wooden boards on four raised double bands, blind- and giltstamped, one volume with 2 brass clasps (and remnants on the other volume). Two complete volumes, in their contemporary Renaissance bindings, of the four-volume Latin edition of Avicenna's magnum opus. Gerard de Cremona's widely received translation was here edited by Jacques Ponceau with the commentaries of Jacobus de Partibus and Johannes Lascaris. - The principal writing of Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdullah ibn Sina (ca. 980-1037), the "Qanun" is the most authoritative medical text in the Islamic world. Written in Arabic, it was widely translated throughout the Middle Ages and formed the basis of medical training in the West as late as the mid-17th century. Through this encyclopedic work, the author exerted "perhaps a wider influence in the eastern and western hemispheres than any other Islamic thinker" (PMM). "The 'Qanun' [...] contains some of the most illuminating thoughts pertaining to distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisy; contagious nature of phthisis; distribution of diseases by water and soil; careful description of skin troubles; of sexual diseases and perversions; of nervous ailments" (Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science). "[Avicenna's] Canon is one of the most famous medical texts ever written, a complete exposition of Galenism. Neuburger says: 'It stands for the epitome of all precedent development, the final codification of all Graeco-Arabic medicine'. It dominated the medical schools of Europe and Asia for five centuries" (Garrison/M. 43). - The present two volumes comprise the complete Third Book, fen 1-12 and 13-22, and thus cover the principal part of the Qanun: special pathology and therapy "a capite ad calces" (from head to toe), including ailments of the ear, nose, and throat, as well as obstetrics. Volumes 1 and 4 (not present here) comprised books I (452 ff.) and book IV, fen 1 (142 ff.); books II and V were not part of this edition. - Both volumes lack merely the final blank leaf, otherwise complete with ample margins showing occasional deckle edges. Some light browning, some waterstaining to edges (mainly towards end of vol. 2), otherwise very little staining; some worming mostly confined to blank margins. A few contemporary ms. annotations. Both volumes in their original, prettily blind- and gilt-tooled brown leather bindings over wooden boards. - Provenance: traces of removed bookplates on pastedowns. According to a pencil note on the inside front cover of the first volume, the set was removed from the Fritzlar Cathedral Library, parts of which were dispersed in 1724 and in 1803. Later sold at Venator (Cologne), sale 23/24 (1962), lot 15 (with illustration plate IV); old sales notice pasted to inside front cover of first volume. H 2214. GW 3127. Goff A-1428. BMC VIII, 302. Proctor 8616. BSB-Ink A 964. IGI 1125 u. Corr. Pell. 1668. Polain 444. Voull. Bln. 4708. Claudin IV, 88-93. Klebs 131.13. Panzer I, 553, 200. Not in Oates, Osler, Waller, or Wellcome.
Folio (240 x 350 mm). Vol. 1 (of 3). (52), 590, 583-982 pp. Title-page and half-title printed in red and black; half-title with an engraved border showing great medical practitioners. Further with woodcut device on title, a nearly full-page woodcut diagram of the ocular anatomy, and 2 full-page woodcuts with a total of 6 illustrations showing the practice of osteopathy. Near-contemporary full calf with giltstamped label to gilt spine. Marbled endpapers. All edges sprinkled red. Rare, early illustrated edition of "the most famous medical text ever written" (Garrison/M. 43). Giunta's was the first edition ever to contain illustrations (six meticulous woodcuts of a physician performing chiropractic treatments, as well as a diagram of the human eye anatomy). The present volume, the first and by far most copious of a set of three commonly bound in two volumes, comprises books 1 through 3 (out of 5). - Ibn Sina's "Keta-b al-qanun fi'l-tebb" ("Canon of Medicine"), written in Arabic but widely translated throughout the Middle Ages and the basis of medical training in the West as late as the mid-17th century. Finished in 1025, the Qanun is divided into 5 books, devoted to the basic principles of medicine, the Materia Medica (listing about 800 drugs), pathology, diseases affecting the body as a whole and finally the formulary. - Ibn Sina (c. 980-1037), in the West known by his Latinized name Avicenna, was physician to the ruling caliphs. The influence of his Qanun can hardly be overestimated. Translated into Latin in the 12th century, it became a standard textbook of Galenic medicine, influencing many generations of physicians. "From the early fourteenth to the mid-sixteenth century Avicenna held a high place in Western European medical studies, ranking together with Hippocrates and Galen as an acknowledged authority" (Weisser). "[T]he final codification of all Greco-Arabic medicine. It dominated the medical schools of Europe and Asia for five centuries" (Garrison/M. 43). - Some light brownstaining, mainly confined to upper margin. Early 20th century bookplate to front pastedown. Binding uncommonly well preserved; a very appealing copy. Krivatsy 496. OCLC 4457623. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Heritage Library, Scientific Treasures, p. 57, no. 23. Norman 1590. N. G. Siraisi, Avicenna in Renaissance Italy (2014), pp. 140, 165. Garrison/M. 43f. Hayes, Genius of Arab Civilisation, Source of Renaissance, pp. 168-169. PMM 11.
8vo. (2), CLXVI ff. With several botanical woodcut initials. Contemporary dark goatskin, blind-tooled in a panel design. First edition of this important capsule edition of Ibn Sina's comprehensive Canon of Medicine (Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb). Designed with the Western medical student and practicioner in mind, Michael de Capella's abridgement of the greatest and most influential work in mediaeval and early modern medical history is here pared down to a nutshell manual of 166 leaves. "The preface … refers to the importance in medicine of aphoristic works that can readily be committed to memory and to the example of Hippocratic writings. The task of abbreviation was undertaken with such enthusiasm that Avicenna's chapter on the elements (Canon 1:1:2) [...] was compressed from about 550 words in the full Gerard of Cremona version into 53 in the 'Flores'. This compendium was twice reissued, in 1514 and again in 1528" (Siraisi). - Provenance: 1) Title-page shows handwritten ownership of the Augustinian monastery of Zaragoza, Spain, dated 1743. 2) 20th century bookplate of Karl and Thilde Wagner to front pastedown. - Binding somewhat worn, spine-ends and extremeties chipped. Some browning throughout, inkstains on title-page and a couple of minor stains in text. A good copy. Adams A 2319. Durling 411. USTC 143378. N. G. Siraisi, "The Changing Fortunes of a Traditional Text", in The Medical Renaissance of the Sixteenth Century (1985), p. 21. Cf. BM-STC French 234 (1514 ed. only). Cf. Wellcome I, 577 (1528 ed. only).
4to. CI, (3) ff. Title-page printed in red and black with Trot's woodcut publisher's device (lion holding arms bearing a globus cruciger with a parochial cross and initials BT). 12 decorated woodcut initials (white-on-black Lombardic capitals with leaf and flower decorations, 3 series) plus 3 repeats. Set in rotunda gothic types (2 sizes) with 3-line "Lombardic" capitals (and a couple 2-line), and 2 spaces with guide letters left to be filled in by hand. 17th-century calf sewn on 5 double supports, gold-tooled spine with titles in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of 6 compartments and a fleur-de-lis in each of the others, blind fillets on sides. Rebacked with the original backstrip laid down. Rare fourth (?) edition of a collection of ten mediaeval works by seven authors concerning medicine, health, food and wine, several first published in this collection in 1500. They include: Maynus de Maynis (ca. 1295-1368?), Regimen Sanitatis, on health (ff. III-LXIX); a work on phlebotomy attributed to Arnaldus de Villanova (ca. 1295-1368?) (ff. LXIX-LXXII); Astronomia, on astrological influences on health, attributed to Hippocrates (ff. LXXII-LXXIV); Johannes de Zantvliete (fl. 1343-50), De dieta, on food (ff. LXXIV-LXXV); Nicolaus Salernitanus (12th c.), Quid pro quo, a list of medicines for numerous ailments (ff. LXXV-LXXVII); Averroes (1126-1311) on poisons (ff. LXXVII-LXXVIII) and on theriac, a poisonous concoction used as an antidote to other poisons, especially poisoned wounds (ff. LXXVIII-LXXXIV); Secreta, a short piece attributed to Hippocrates (f. LXXXIV); Villanova, Tractatus de vinis, an extensive and important work on wine (LXXXIV-XCI); and Roger Bacon (ca. 1220-92), De regimine senum et seniorum, a treatise on geriatrics, here erroneously attributed to Villanova (ff. XCI-CI). Some incorporate notes taken from the works of Ibn Sina (Avicenna). The book ends with an index and table of contents. This collection was first printed at Paris in 1500, some of the works appearing there for the first time, and was reprinted in Lyon editions of ca. 1501 (anonymous, known from a unique copy) and ca. 1502 (by François Fradin). A few of the pieces had been published earlier: Salernitanus (Pavia 1478/79), De Maynis (Louvain 1482), both Averroes works together with the Secreta, (Bologna ca. 1497/1500). - Occasional underlining and marginal marks by an early hand. Leaves 4 and 5 (originally conjugate) now present as singleton leaves mounted on stubs (though we see no other indication that they are sophisticated): otherwise in very good condition, with only very slight browning. Rebacked as noted, and with the surface of the leather refurbished, but now structurally sound. One of the rare earliest editions of several mediaeval treatises on health, medicine, food and wine. Baudrier VIII, 431. Durling 3044. Gültlingen, Bibl. Lyon II, 127: 47. Simon, Bacchica 421. USTC 144805 (8 copies). Vicaire 549f. Cf. Johnston, Cleveland herbal colls. 24 (ca. 1502 Lyon ed.); Wellcome 13965 (ca. 1502 Lyon ed.).
4to (150 x 210 mm). 137 ff. Arabic manuscript on polished laid paper. 17 lines per extensum, text in black ink with marks in red. Text in black ink in a neat commentary naskh style, influenced by the widespread Persian nastaliq hand. Limp tan goatskin binding with red goatskin spine. Late 18th century Arabic manuscript apparently written in Western Persia, containing a commentary on several theological propositions taken from various parts of Ibn Sina's encyclopedical Kitab al-Shifa’, the author's major work on science and philosophy, intended to "cure" or "heal" ignorance of the soul. Thus, despite its title, it is not concerned with medicine, in contrast to his earlier "Qanun". The book is divided into four parts: logic, natural sciences, mathematics (a quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music), and metaphysics. It was influenced by ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, Hellenistic thinkers such as Ptolemy, and earlier Muslim scientists and philosophers such as Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, and Al-Biruni. - The author of this commentary was the Shiite Iranian polymath and scholar Mohammed Mahdi ibn Abi Zarr Naraqi (1716-95). Praised by Henry Corbin in his "Histoire de la philosophie islamique", Naraqi was a significant figure on the verge of the early Qagar era of Shiite philosophy. Here, each Avicennian proposition is highlighted by the rubrication of the Arabic expression "qawl-hu" ("his saying [is … etc.]"). In some contrast to Ibn Sina's own Neo-Platonically informed interpretation of Islam, Naraqi's commentary belongs to a deeply Shiite mystical tradition. - Some paper repairs. With a Persian bequest statement (waqfiya), elegantly penned in tawqi hand, stating: "This [leather-]bound (mugallad) manuscript had been donated for the study of the religious sciences (ulum diniya) on the part of the residents of the Dar as-Saltanat in Esfahan, Persia, at the month of Rabi at-Tani 1292 H (= May 1875 CE)". Cf. GAL I, 454, 18.