Sheets, G[len] S[cott].MareMagnum
4 492 résultats
895 x 945 mm. Polyconic projection, constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:4,000,000. Blue-line print. Framed. The only known example: a highly detailed map of the Arabian Peninsula, published by the "Arabian American Oil Co." in March 1942, two years before the company was formally so renamed, and the first effort to produce a large-scale map of the entire Peninsula that satisfied modern technical needs. Clearly produced in a very limited edition for internal use at the crucial, transitional moment in Arabian oil exploration, this is the earliest known map to use the name that still survives in "Saudi Aramco", issued at a time when the company was still officially Standard Oil of California. - The legend identifies railways, primary and secondary roads as well as "explorers' routes", oil pipelines, intermittent streams, airports, towns, "Arab wells", oases, "sand areas", "sabkhas", and "marsh". The Maidan-i-Naftun and Naft Safid oilfields in Iran (and the pipelines that link them to the A.I.O.C. Refinery at Abadan) are illustrated, as are the Kirkuk oilfield and the pipelines running from there to Haifa and Tripoli. Dammam and Dhahran, the sites of the first commercial oil wells in Saudi Arabia, also feature on the map. Aside from that, however, there is no illustrated oil development in the Middle East: the map effectively illustrates the blank slate that was Arabian oil exploration in the early 1940s. On the coast of what was then Trucial Oman, Sharjah, Dubai (with airfield) and Abu Dhabi are identified; the areas to the southwest of Abu Dhabi City are labelled "Sabkha es Salmiyah" and "Taff". Shows adjoining areas from the Bosporus to Somaliland and the USSR. - The "compiler and tracer" (cartographer and draughtsman) is identified as the Aramco engineer G. S. Sheets; separate fields to indicate "checked by" and "revisions" remain blank. Sheets had joined Aramco's predecessor, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, in 1939 and immediately began work in Dhahran as a geological draftsman in the Production (Exploration) department. Upon his return to the U.S. he prepared several geological maps including the present one and acted as liaison with the Army Map Service. In 1942 he became attached as a civilian to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Army Map Service, but he returned to Arabia in 1944 and in 1955 became staff assistant to the director of Concession Affairs. - In excellent state of preservation. Extremely rare: OCLC locates only two examples, both of which appear to be photocopies (Library of Congress and American University of Beirut). While the large 1963 map of Arabia that succeeded this, also produced by Aramco geologists, has occasionally appeared in the trade, no other original of this early map could be traced in libraries or in auction or trade records. A unique survival. OCLC 1048657705.
4to. (12), 506, (30). With woodcut title-vignette and headpiece. Near-contemporary giltstamped full calf with giltstamped spine-title. Leading edges gilt, sumptuously gilt inner dentelle bordering silk pastedowns. Later marbled flyleaves. All edges gilt. First edition of the travelogue of the Spanish diplomat Silva y Figueroa (1550-1624), who embarked on an embassy to Persia in 1614, hoping to secure from Shah Abbas exclusive trading rights in Persia and its dependencies. As the Latin manuscript was not published and a Spanish translation did not appear until the 20th century, this French translation published by de Puis (as well as the one issued by Louis Billaine the same year) long remained the only available version of the itinerary. - In 1619, Figueroa was granted an audience in Isfahan with the Shah, who sought to conclude a trading agreement with the Spanish but would not subscribe to the ambassador's demands for the restoration of Gombroon and other Portuguese enclaves, nor to the exclusion of the English and other nationalities. Negotiations were suspended and Figueroa ended up returning to Spain, where he arrived in 1624 after an absence of ten years. His account describes Lar, Shiraz, Kašan, Qazvin, and Qom as well as other places including the caravansaries where he stayed, and gives interesting ethnographic data on the non-Muslim communities, such as the Armenians in Jolfa or the Zoroastrians, as well as a precise description of Persepolis and its cuneiform inscriptions. Although Antonio de Goueva (1602) and Giambattista and Girolamo Vecchietti (1606) had already recognized cuneiform as a type of writing, Figueroa was the first person to describe the cuneiform characters as shaped like "pyramids" and "obelisks", thus anticipating Pietro della Valle. Of the Persian dependencies, Ormuz and Bahrain were considered of particular importance, the former for its trade in silks, the latter for pearls: "Mais ce Golfe [...] qui est beaucoup plus long que large, ayant au milieu cette fertile Isle de Baharen [...] si celebre par tout l'Orient, à cause de sa riche & precieuse pesche de perles" (p. 59). Furthermore, Figueroa mentions falcons "larger and stronger than in Europe" (p. 105) as well as "excellent horses" (p. 426), and "the best dates of all of Persia" (p. 94). - Covers slightly scuffed. Interior occasionally browned and waterstained; a few small marginal tears, not touching text. Several handwritten marginal annotations, particularly in the index. Bookplate of the bibliophile and horse enthusiast Joseph Guilhem de Lagondie (1809-79) to flyleaf, who sold the book in March 1878 (handwritten note of acquisition by the new owner to flyleaf). Shelfmark label and catalogue description mounted to flyleaf. Palau 313613. Wilson 70. Diba 3. Howgego I, S105. Encyclopaedia Iranica IX, 612f. OCLC 166132497. Not in Blackmer, Atabey or Weber.
(III)-XV, (1), 478 pp. Modern boards. With a folding map of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Edges sprinkled green. Rare, early British parliamentary papers and correspondence with British agents and residents regarding the slave trade. Includes communications relevant to slavery in Africa and India, with reports by the Agent at Muscat on the landing of slaves in that city's harbour (p. 383) and the kidnapping of children by Muslim slave dealers and their conveyance to "Arabia and the Persian Gulf" (p. 426f.), as well as instructions to the Resident in the Persian Gulf "immediately to communicate with the Arab Chiefs" to pursue the objective of suppressing the slave trade in the Arabian seas (p. 382). - Well preserved, with additional page numbers in a contemporary hand. OCLC 25471335.
Folio. XVIII, (2), 579, (1) pp. Modern blue wrappers with cover label. Top edge gilt. British papers and correspondence with local agents on the international slave trade, including missives exchanged between Colonel Sheil and Earl Granville about steps to be taken against slave trade by Persian vessels in the Arabian Gulf, plans to intercept slaving vessels in the Gulf, the continued slave trade by the "Arabs of the coast" (p. 324) and importation of slaves by Gulf sheiks and a discussion of the penalties to be inflicted on the sheikhs who persist in importing slaves. - Well-preserved.
Small folio (222 x 334 mm). VIII, 615, (1) pp. Later 19th c. buckram-backed marbled boards, labels lettered in gilt. Rare but frequently-cited British parliamentary papers with "Correspondence on the Slave Trade, and Measures Taken for its Abolition". Includes a printed sketch of the southern coast of Yemen, illustrating the area in possession of the "Boo-Mehree-Buddooee (Bedouin) Arabs" and identifiying the tribal chiefs as the Sultans of Qishn, Sayhut, and Dhofar (p. 156); also, correspondence between the Imaum of Muscat and the British Resident in the Gulf, in which the latter congratulates the Imaum on the recent peace made between "Tahnoon and Sultan Bin Suggur [the al-Qasimi ruler of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah], and that there was a prospect of the poor people of this Gulf enjoying a quiet pearl fishing season, free from the scourge of war, that affliction of mankind" (p. 86). Also, detailed reports on the slave trade at Muscat, Bahrein, Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah ("Last year Shaik Sultan Bin Sugger's own buggalow brought from the coast of Africa 30 slaves to Rasul Khyma, but this is a rare occurrence, vessels seldom going there from the Joasmee states", p. 90). In all, the volume contains a significant number of references to the Arabian Gulf, Muscat, "Arabs", etc. - Labels and lettering worn; a good clean copy. Formerly in the library of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society; ultimately withdrawn from the British Library of Political and Economic Science (cancellation stamp).
Large 8vo. (16), 759, (1) pp. Heavily worn contemporary quarter calf over original boards. Register of proceedings containing the records of numerous important debates in the Commons on the French Revolution and Slavery, with the abolitionist William Wilberforce tirelessly campaigning and arguing for abolition through the promotion of a number of bills. In February 1793 he had narrowly lost a vote in the Commons where he had been hoping to put pressure on the Lords, and during the sessions of 1793 and 1794 he promoted his Foreign Slave Bill, which would have prohibited the use of British ships to carry slaves to the territories of other countries. The debates in this year also centre on the ongoing situation in France after the Revolution, with concerns that radical agitation would spread to Britain, and Wilberforce believing that insufficient efforts were being made to avoid war with France. - Partially unopened. Spine chipped and worn, boards slightly stained, worn and creased; minor dampstaining.
2 vols. of text (4to) and one volume of plates (folio, 284 x 378 mm). Text: XXIII, (1), 228, (2) pp. With 3 genealogical tables and 2 folding maps. XVIII, 397, (1) pp. Half calf with gilt-stamped morocco label to spine. Atlas: 4 chromolithogr. plates (conjoined as 2), 6 (1 double-sized) toned lithogr. plates, and 65 mounted photographs on a total of 40 plates; 1 letterpress leaf of contents. Cloth portfolio with gilt cover title. Remarkable set, rarely encountered complete with the plates volume. The Dutch orientalist Snouck spent a year in Mecca and Jeddah during 1884/85 and was married to a Mecca woman. He was the first non-Muslim to visit the city outside the annual pilgrimage. The photographs, taken by himself and an Arabic physician, are among the earliest to show Mecca and its pilgrims. - Very nicely rebound, in matching period style portfolio and half calf. An unusually crisp and clean copy throughout: text volumes spotless; the plates with the vintage photographs, much sought after as the earliest photographic documents of the city, its dignitaries and its pilgrims, are backed on thin linen and preserved in perfect condition. Macro 1239 (omitting mention of the Atlas). Henze V, 177. Dinse 443.
2 vols. of text (4to) and one volume of plates (folio, 284 x 378 mm). Text: XXIII, (1), 228, (2) pp. With 3 genealogical tables and 2 folding maps. XVIII, 397, (1) pp. Atlas: 4 chromolithogr. plates, 5 (of 6) toned lithogr. plates (one folding), and 65 mounted photographs on a total of 39 (of 40) plates; 1 letterpress leaf of contents. Includes original printed upper board cover, loosely inserted. Modern black library cloth with gilt title to spine; atlas portfolio uniform with books. Contemporary black half roan, spines in five compartments with raised bands gilt, original atlas-portfolio of black cloth-backed printed cream boards. First edition, a complete set with both text volumes and the portfolio with all the photographic plates, but lacking one of the lithographs. The Dutch orientalist Snouck spent a year in Mecca and Jeddah during 1884/85 and was married to a Mecca woman. He was the first non-Muslim to visit the city outside the annual pilgrimage. The photographs, taken by himself and an Arabic physician, are among the earliest to show Mecca and its pilgrims. - Spines of both text volumes and portfolio professionally restored. Atlas lacks plate XVII (detail of Kiswah fabric), some light scattered spotting, minor creasing to mounts. Macro 1239 (omitting mention of the Atlas). Henze V, 177. Dinse 443.
A total of 350 topographic maps, colour-printed, ca. 52 x 47 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale. In Russian (Cyrillic). The Soviet Union's 1:200,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing Iran, Iraq and the countries of the Levant: Palestine and Israel, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria and Jordan. From the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. Nearly complete, only a few quadrangles missing along the south-western border regions and two lacunae on the very north-eastern fringe. Assembled continuously, the quadrangles would form an enormous map spanning nearly 14 x 9 metres!. - Products of a massive, clandestine cartographic project begun under Stalin and ultimately encompassing the entire globe, the Soviet General Staff maps are today noted for their extreme precision. Indeed, even in post-Soviet times they provide the most reliable mapping for many remoter parts of the world: "Soviet-era military maps were so good that when the United States first invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, American pilots relied on old Russian maps of Afghanistan. For almost a month after the United States began a bombing campaign to help oust the Taliban government, American pilots were guided by Russian maps dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s" (Davies/Kent, p. xi). - Although the details of the cartographic programme evolved over the decades, its overall system and plan remained remarkably constant. "The basic quadrangle is the 1:1,000,000 sheet spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude. The quadrangles are identified by lettered bands north from the equator and by numbered zones east from longitude 180° [...] Each 1:1,000,000 sheet is subdivided into four 1:500,000 sheets (from northwest to southeast), labeled [by] the first four letters of the Russian alphabet" (ibid., p. 19-21). "Printing such large-format plans in so many colors with near-perfect print registration itself testifies to the skill of the printers in the military map printing factories across the former Soviet Union. The quality of printing reflects the level of training and the reliability of humidity-control equipment and the electricity supply at the time" (ibid., p. 6f.). - The 1:200,000-scale maps are specifically labelled "Secret" or "For Offical Use". Indeed, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - Light traces of folds and occasional wrinkles and small edge flaws, but altogether in excellent condition. Cf. J. Davies / A. J. Kent, The Red Atlas (Chicago/London, 2017).
A total of 49 topographic maps, colour-printed, ca. 70 x 60 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale. In Russian (Cyrillic). The Soviet Union's 1:500,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing Iran, Iraq and the countries of the Levant: Palestine and Israel, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria and Jordan. From the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. Nearly complete, with only a few lacunae at Iran's easternmost fringes and at Bandar Abbas. Assembled continuously, the quadrangles would form an enormous map spanning roughly 6 x 3.5 metres!. - Products of a massive, clandestine cartographic project begun under Stalin and ultimately encompassing the entire globe, the Soviet General Staff maps are today noted for their extreme precision. Indeed, even in post-Soviet times they provide the most reliable mapping for many remoter parts of the world: "Soviet-era military maps were so good that when the United States first invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, American pilots relied on old Russian maps of Afghanistan. For almost a month after the United States began a bombing campaign to help oust the Taliban government, American pilots were guided by Russian maps dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s" (Davies/Kent, p. xi). - Although the details of the cartographic programme evolved over the decades, its overall system and plan remained remarkably constant. "The basic quadrangle is the 1:1,000,000 sheet spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude. The quadrangles are identified by lettered bands north from the equator and by numbered zones east from longitude 180° [...] Each 1:1,000,000 sheet is subdivided into four 1:500,000 sheets (from northwest to southeast), labeled [by] the first four letters of the Russian alphabet" (ibid., p. 19-21). "Printing such large-format plans in so many colors with near-perfect print registration itself testifies to the skill of the printers in the military map printing factories across the former Soviet Union. The quality of printing reflects the level of training and the reliability of humidity-control equipment and the electricity supply at the time" (ibid., p. 6f.). - Two of the maps carry the Russian air defense grid ("setka PVO") printed in pink. Although the general terrain evaluation maps and operational maps produced at the smaller scales of 1:1,000,000 and 1:500,000 were not usually marked as classified (larger-scale maps were routinely labelled "Secret" or "For Offical Use"), all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - Light traces of folds and occasional wrinkles and small edge flaws, but altogether in excellent condition. Cf. J. Davies / A. J. Kent, The Red Atlas (Chicago/London, 2017).
A total of 86 topographic maps, colour-printed, ca. 58 x 45 cm. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale. In Russian (Cyrillic). Nearly all of the Soviet Union's 1:200,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing the Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula: from the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. While there are a few lacunae in Yemen near the south-western tip of the Peninsula, most of the area is well-covered. Assembled continuously, the quadrangles would form an enormous map spanning ca. 8 x 4 metres. - Products of a massive, clandestine cartographic project begun under Stalin and ultimately encompassing the entire globe, the Soviet General Staff maps are today noted for their extreme precision. Indeed, even in post-Soviet times they provide the most reliable mapping for many remoter parts of the world: "Soviet-era military maps were so good that when the United States first invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, American pilots relied on old Russian maps of Afghanistan. For almost a month after the United States began a bombing campaign to help oust the Taliban government, American pilots were guided by Russian maps dating back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s" (Davies/Kent, p. xi). - Although the details of the cartographic programme evolved over the decades, its overall system and plan remained remarkably constant. "The basic quadrangle is the 1:1,000,000 sheet spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude [...] Each 1:1,000,000 sheet is [...] subdivided into 36 1:200,000 sheets in a six-by-six grid [... They] normally contain on the reverse side a detailed written description of the districts (towns, communications, topography, geology, hydrology, vegetation, and climate) together with a geological sketch map" (ibid., p. 19-21). "Printing such large-format plans in so many colors with near-perfect print registration itself testifies to the skill of the printers in the military map printing factories across the former Soviet Union. The quality of printing reflects the level of training and the reliability of humidity-control equipment and the electricity supply at the time" (ibid., p. 6f.). - The 1:200,000-scale maps are specifically labelled "For Offical Use". Indeed, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - Light traces of folds, occasional wrinkles and a few odd edge flaws, but altogether in excellent condition. Cf. J. Davies / A. J. Kent, The Red Atlas (Chicago/London, 2017).
8vo. 15 black and white photographs captioned in white, plus one repeat in a smaller print. Original board album, acquired from "M. Arthur, Beyrouth". Paper label to upper cover: "Arab Types. Syria". Small but fascinating collection of portrait photographs showing Arabian nobles as well as commoners, all captioned and the subject often identified by name and tribe. The photos, many of which are executed as highly expressive profile studies, were taken and assembled by Lt. Col. Walter Francis Stirling (1880-1958), Chief of Staff to T. E. Lawrence. While the present photographs were taken during his time with Lawrence, whom Stirling revered, it is not his British comrades but rather the striking features of the sheikhs and bedouins on which this collection is focused. Among the images are "Sheik Gawaileh of Nejd, one of Lawrence's Bodyguard", and "Sheikh Hamondi, Friend of Lawrence"; others are more ominously identified as "Yezidi Shepherd, Devil worshipper" or "Bad type of Hadadiyim Tribesman". Of many noble tribesmen here depicted, such as Fauraz ibn Sha'laan, Emir of the Ruwalla, or Sheikh Daham al-Hadi, Paramount Sheikh of the Shammar tribe, these probably constitute the only photographic record. - Stirling was trained at Sandhurst and served in the Transvaal operation during the Boer War before being seconded to the Egyptian Army in 1906. He spent five years patrolling with an Arab battalion on the Eritrean and Abyssinian borders. Throughout WWI he served at Gallipoli and the Palestinian campaign until he was appointed chief staff officer to Lawrence of Arabia, who called him "Stirling the imperturbable". In 1937, Stirling would reflect on his famous wartime comrade: "From then [early 1918] throughout the final phase of the Arab revolt on till the capture of Damascus, I worked, travelled, and fought alongside Lawrence [...] We sensed that we were serving with a man immeasurably our superior [...] In my considered opinion, Lawrence was the greatest genius whom England has produced in the last two centuries [...] If ever a genius, a scholar, an artist, and an imp of Shaitan were rolled into one personality, it was Lawrence." In 1919 Stirling became advisor to Emir Feisal and Deputy Political Officer in Cairo, then acting governor of Sinai and Governor of the Jaffa district in Palestine before moving to Albania in 1923 to take up a position advising and assisting in the reorganisation of the Albanian Ministry of the Interior.
2 vols. 18mo. (6), CLXX, 154 pp. 105, (1), 202 pp. With Arabic title-page printed in red and black. Contemporary tanned half sheepskin, gold-tooled spine. First edition in French of two Arabic travels to China and India. The text was translated from the Arabic by the French orientalist and professor Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795-1867). The Arabic text was first printed in 1811, under supervision of the French linguist and orientalist Louis-Mathieu Langlès. - The first volume starts with an introduction to the text, followed by the translation. The main text can be divided into two sections. The first account is based on statement from a merchant called Suleyman, who is said to have travelled to India and China in the years 851-852 (237), however, the actual author of the text is unknown. The following account is written down by Abu Zayd al-Hasan al-Sirafi. Al-Mas'udi, "the Herodotus of the Arabs", mentions al-Sirafi in one of his works, stating that he met him in the year 915-916 (303) in Basra, Iraq. Al-Sirafi tells us he was commanded to verify and extend the earlier account. The date of the second account is unclear, but it was probably written in the first half of the 10th century. The text gives a lively account of the life in China and India, with "… the first foreign descriptions of tea and porcelain, and a whole panorama of Chinese society, from the Son of Heaven and Confucian ethics down to toilet paper and bamboo urinals" (Mackintosh-Smith). The second volume gives notes to the translation, followed by the Arabic text. Added to the Arabic text are two extracts from works by Al-Mas'udi, including his "Muruj al-dhahab". - With owner's inscription on title-page. Sides slightly rubbed. A very good copy: only some minor browning. Cordier (Sinica) 1924f. Hage Chahine 3965. T. Mackintosh-Smith & J. Montgomery (eds.), Two Arabic travel books (2014), pp. 4-17.
490 x 725 mm. Various editions, 16 coloured sheets. Scale 1:100,000. Reliefs shown by contours, hachures and spot heights. Publisher's pictorial wrappers. Rarely found in such a complete group, these topographical maps document an important phase of the Survey of Palestine which was a direct result of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. - "The cadastral survey proceeded in fits and starts, through the Great Revolt of 1936-1939 and World War II. By the end of the mandate, the land was settled in less than 20 percent of Palestine, primarily in areas where Jewish colonies were established, such as the coastal plain, the Marj Ibn Amer valley, and north of Lake Tiberias by the Jordan River. The topographical maps were completed for all of Palestine, excluding the lower Negev. These were very valuable for military purposes during World War II" (Sitta). - Showing the district and sub-district boundaries, plus roads, notable buildings, police stations, minarets, in some cases Sheikh's tombs etc. The maps are as follows: 1. Metulla; 2. Haifa; 3. Safad; 4. Zikhron; 5. Nazareth; 6. Jaffa, Tel Aviv; 7. Nablus; 8. Yibna; 9. Ramle; 10 Jerusalem; 11. Gaza; 12. Hebron; 13. Dead Sea; 14. Rafah; 15. Beersheba; 16. Jebel Usdum. - A little edgewear and toning to wrappers; ownership inscription to each upper wrapper. Sitta, Salman Abu, [review] "A Survey of Palestine under the British Mandate, 1920-1948", in: Journal of Palestine Studies 35.2 (Winter 2006), p. 102.
4to (235 x 325 mm). (1), 118 pp. Lithographed throughout; pp. 8-97 comprise a continuous genealogical tree. Contemporary plain black cloth-covered boards with black sheepskin spine. First edition: a rare and important work on the genealogy of the Arab tribes, also an early, graphically sophisticated lithographic effort from the Arab World. The "Book of Gold Bars" by the prominent Iraqi theologian and historian Suwaydi (1786-1831) is a revised and expanded interpretation of the "Dictionary of the Arab Genealogy" by the legendary Medieval Egyptian scholar Ahmad ibn Ali Qalqashandi; notably, Suwaydi continued the genealogical profile up to modern times. The book seeks to trace the genealogy of the Arab peoples, and the branches of their tribes, from Biblical times up to the age of Muhammad and then to the modern era. The introductory text (pp. 1-7) is followed by the grand, 90-page genealogical table and ultimately by an alphabetical reference section and analytical section (pp. 98-118). - Suwaydi is thought to have commenced preparation of the work as early as 1814, although he did not complete the treatise until 1830 or 1831, shortly before his death. Highly regarded in its time, for some years a small number of manuscript copies circulated in Islamic academic circles. The present publication represents the first printed edition of the work. The second edition was published in Bombay in 1877 (and is likewise rare), while several subsequent editions appeared during the 20th century. - Covers slightly stained. Last 3 leaves with light tide-marking to outer margins and some sporadic light stains elsewhere, but overall in a good clean condition, a few leaves with short marginal tears some closed with discreet old restoration. Very rare: we can trace only six institutional examples (British Library; University of Cambridge; Bibliothèque de Genève; Yale University Library; University of California at Berkeley; National Library of Israel). No examples have appeared on the market over the last generation. OCLC 708712572 & 32728624. British Library: Asia, Pacific & Africa 14548.c.5. Yale University Library: CS1129.A2 S8 1864. On early lithography in Iraq, cf. A. Al-Rawi, Media Practice in Iraq (2012), passim.
8vo. (24), 179, (17) pp. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title label to spine (faded). First Latin translation of this three-part pharmacological treatise on the nature and effect of medicines gained from animals, vegetables, and minerals (including some quite superstitious material), published under the name of the mediaval Egyptian polymath Abd al-Rahman Al-Suyuti, whose "versatility stands out as unique in the history of Arabic literature" (GAL II, 144), but probably assembled from various Arabic sources. The first part, covering animals, is likely Al-Suyuti's own "Diwan al-Hayawan", translated by Abraham Ecchellensis after a manuscript in Cardinal Mazarin's library; the authors and manuscript sources of the following two parts remain unidentified. Within the notes, this edition uses several Greek, Hebrew, and even Arabic interspersions in the type. - Some browning to paper. 18th century French note on lower flyleaf; handwritten duplicate note and stamp to title-page. Insignificant paper flaws to pp. 103-106, merely affecting the pagination; small edge tear in p. 151f.; loss to lower margin of last leaf but one of the index (not touching text). Krivatsy 11586. Choulant 389. Wellcome II, 2. Ebert I, 9151. Krüger, Bibliographia botanica 35. Catalogue of the Library of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London 145.
Folio (214 x 310 mm). 6 parts in one vol. (18), 264 pp. (2), 214 pp. (2), 66 pp, (2). (12), 14, (4), 15-46, (4), 47-87, (1) pp. (6), 113, (1) pp. 154, (2) pp. With 17 full-page engr. plates, 13 folding plates, and numerous text illustrations (including plates of Arabian coins, the great name of Allah, and other Arabian inscriptions). Contemporary calf, spine rebacked. Rare first collected edition of Tavernier's works, profusely illustrated with a fold-out map of the Arabian Gulf, an unusual, large map of Japan, and a fold-out map of the Great Moghul. Comprising: 1) The First Book of Monsieur Taverner's [!] Persian Travels; 2) The Six Trabels of John Baptista Tavernier [...] Through Turky and Persia to the Indies: 3) A Relation of Japon; 4) A New and Particular Relation of the Kingdom of Tunquin; 5) A New Relation of the Inner-Part of the Grand Seignor's Seraglio; 6) The History of the Late Revolution of the Dominions of the Great Mogol. A rare and interesting account of Turkey, Persia, India, Japan, Tonkin, and Formosa. "The Persian Gulf is the most dangerous Gulf I know, by reason of the shallowness and sharp promontories that point out into Sea [...] The Merchant would be glad to find a way through the Coast of Arabia to get to Mascate [...] Elcatif a Sea Town in Arabia, where there is a fishery for Pearls that belong to the Emir of Elcatif" (pt. I, p. 95; "Qatif" being an oasis in Saudi Arabia). Chapter XI (p. 49) of the first part deals with the breeding and nature of camels; chapter III (p. 64) mentions a voyage to Mecca; chapter XXIII (p. 255) deals with the island of Ormus (with the map of the Arabian Gulf). - The second part begins with a discussion of Arabian currency and is illustrated with plates of Arabian coinage. The most important story is perhaps that of “The Imam of Muscat Pearl - That Surpassed in Beauty All Other Pearls in the World”. In chapter XVIII of book II, "Of Pearles and the places where to find them" (p. 145), Tavernier states: "In the first place, there is a Fishery for Pearls in the Persian Gulf, round about the Island of Bakren. It belongs to the King of Persia, and there is a strong Fort in it, Garrison'd with three hundred men." Tavernier then narrates: "There is a wondrous Pearl in the possession of an Arabian Prince, that took Mascate from the Portugals. He then call'd himself Imenhect Prince of Masscaté; being known before only by the name of Aceph Ben-Ali Prince of Norennaé. It is but a small Province, but it is the best of all in the Happy Arabia. Therein grow all things necessary for the life of man; particularly, delicate fruits, but more especially most excellent Grapes, which would make most incomparable Wine. This Prince has the most wonderful Pearl in the world, not so much for its bigness, for it weighs not above twelve Carats and one sixteenth, nor for its perfect roundness, but because it is so clear and so transparent that you may almost see through it. The Great Mogul offer'd him by a Banian forty thousand Crowns for his Pearl, but he would not accept it." The use of the phrase "clear and lustrous as to appear translucent" seem to indicate a white or colorless pearl, the most sought-after color in pearls, with an optimum of lustre and orient caused by the reflection and refraction of light, respectively. The surface quality of the pearl must be exceptional and almost blemish-free in order to characterize it as a specimen surpassing in beauty all other pearls in the world, at that time. The fact that the pearl was in the possession of the Imam of Muscat in the mid-17th century indicates without any doubt that the pearl originated in the most ancient pearl fishing grounds in the world, the Arabian Gulf, most probably in the kingdom of Oman itself, at its very doorstep - on the pearl banks situated closer to the country's shoreline in the Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz. Oyster bearing reefs were well distributed throughout the Gulf, but were greater in abundance on the Arabian side of the Gulf than the Persian one. The pearls are depicted on a plate opposite page 150: "Figure one is of a Pearl which the King of Persia bought at the Fishery of Catifa in Arabia. It cost him 32,000 Tomans, or 1,400,000 Livres of our Money, at forty-six Livres and six Deneers to a Toman. It is the fairest and most perfect Pearl that ever was yet found to this hour, having no defect". Blackmer 1632. Wing T251A, T252, T253. Campbell (Japan) 28. Cox I, 275f. OCLC 6071990. Cf. Wilson 223. Howgego T14. Severin 104-113. Not in Atabey or Weber.
Large folio (545 x 375 mm). (16) pp. With 6 hand-coloured lithographed plates and a lithographed title. Contemporary half calf with cloth sides, gold tooled title on front cover. First and only edition of an ethnographic study of native Indian people by William Tayler (1808-92), who was at the time Acting Salt Agent of the Central Division of Cuttack for the East India Company. He dedicated his work to "Lady William Bentinck" (born Lady Mary Acheson, 1809-50), who was the wife of the Governor-General of India. The illustrations were drawn by Tayler himself, who was an amateur artist and drew much of the Indian daily life that he encountered. He selected the present 6 drawings to be published and had them lithographed by J. Bouvier. The first 3 plates not only show the ways of Indian people, but even more so the luxurious life of the English in India. The first plate, "The Young Civilian's Toilet" shows a young man relaxing while being treated by several servants, who are named "Anglo-Indians". The room is strewn with objects of leisure. The next 2 plates, "The Young Ladies Toilet" & "The Breakfast" show equal scenes. The other 3 plates are more ethnographic in nature, showing native Indians in their everyday life: "Women grinding at the mill"; "the Sunyasees" (Sannyasis) & "The village barber". Tayler later became a controversial figure for his excessively harsh oppression of Indian people when he was the commissioner of Patna. - Spine and covers slightly worn, pages a little frayed, some foxing on the text pages. Dedication page browned. Plate 2 detached and inserted loosely. Plates in good condition. Abbey, Travel 465. Bobins I 272. H. K. Kaul, Early Writings on India 454. Prasannajit De Silva, Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India, c. 1785-1845 (2018), pp. 116-119.
8vo. 90 pp. (without the final blank leaf). Small woodcut device on title, woodcut decorations and initials. Fine 19th century mottled calf by Lloyd, with gilt arms of Sebastião Pinto Leite, Conde de Penha Longa (motto "Superabo") to both covers, gilt fillets and faux raised bands to spine, compartments tooled in gilt, two red lettering pieces. Leading edges gilt; inner dentelle gilt. Marbled endpapers. First English edition of this rare work, containing an account of the failed invasion led by the young king of Portugal, Dom Sebastian, to the north of Africa, his defeat and death, and the political unrest that ensued. - Sebastian, the 24 year-old King of Portugal, invaded Morocco in 1578 with an army of 18,000 men. The army was crushed by the forces of Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi at the battle of Alcacer Quibir and King Sebastian was killed. The fact that he had left no successor paved the way for a series of impostors claiming the throne, only to be captured and executed (ultimately, the Spanish king would accede to the throne of Portugal). Teixeira's work narrates the machinations of the fourth such impostor, a Calabrian by the name of Marco Tullio. - Bound for the Portuguese politician and entrepreneur Sebastião Pinto Leite (1815-92), Conde de Penha Longa. Bookplate of the Fox Pointe Collection Library of Dr. & Mrs. Howard R. Knohl to pastedown. Joints of the fine binding slightly rubbed. Lightly browned throughout; title-page and verso of final leaf lightly dustsoiled. Overall in excellent condition. Rare at auction, the last copy being sold in 1991. BM-STC 23864. OCLC 32330439.
8vo. (8), 384, (8), 115 [but: 215], (17) pp. With a woodcut on title-page, a woodcut initial and some woodcut tailpieces. 17th century marbled calf with gilt label to richly gilt spine, red edges. First edition of a "history of the kings of Persia compiled from the Persian histories of Mir Khwand and Turan Shah" (Howgego), in the original Spanish, by the Portuguese merchant and adventurer Pedro Teixeira (1563-1645?). It is one of the earliest European sources to mention Qatar, relating to the pearl fishery in the region: "The pearl fishery at Bahren begins some years in June, but generally in July, an lasts all that month and August … They generally go a fishing to Katar, a port on the coast of Arabia, 10 leagues to the southward of the Island Bahren. As soon an oyster is brought up, they open it, and take out the pearl. The pearls of this sea surpass all others in goodness and weight…" (English translation). The work is divided into three parts. The first, which is the largest, deals with the kings of Persia. It is a summarized translation of the voluminous Rawzat al-Safa by the Persian historian Mir Khwand (ca. 1434-1498), and is probably the first translation of the text into an European language. The second part is a translation of the Ayyibud emir Turan Shah's (d. 1180) chronicle of the kings of Hormuz, a text which is today only extant in translations. Though Teixeira's adventures started in 1586, he reached Hormuz in 1593, where he resided for several years to study its history. Both parts contain a chronological account of the kings, but also provide a more general history of the area. The last and third part contains an account of Teixeira's later travels from India to Italy in 1600-01 and 1604-05, visiting China, Mexico and the Middle East. In his preface Teixeira states that he originally wrote the work in Portuguese, but that it was translated into Spanish to appeal to a wider audience. The work appeared in a French translation in 1681, and extracts appeared in an English translation appeared in 1711, followed by a translation of the full text in 1715. - Binding slightly rubbed and with a small defect to upper spine. Slightly browned, otherwise immaculate copy in its first binding. Howgego, to 1800, T19. Maggs Bros., Spanish books 1014a. Not in Blackmer.
4to. (4), 264, (16) pp. With engraved map of Ethiopia, including part of the Red Sea and the source of the Blue Nile. Modern calf, gold-tooled spine, with red morocco title-label, and the sides blind-tooled in a panel design. Rare first English edition of Tellez's influential historical account of Ethiopia and Arabia. It is a digest of the accounts of all the Jesuit travellers to Ethiopia and Arabia, including Paez, De Montserrat, Almeida, Lobo and Mendes. It includes an account of the travels of the Jesuit missionaries Pédro Paez and Antonio de Montserrate, who were captured off the Kuria Muria islands on a mission from Goa to Ethiopia in 1590 and subsequently taken to Yemen, where they were held captive until 1596. After being sent to San'a by way of Melkis and the Wadi Hadramaut, then after three years taken to Al Mukha (Mocha), where they were forced to serve as galley slaves, they were finally ransomed in 1596 and returned to India. Paez discovered the source of the Blue Nile and is said to have been the first European to have tasted coffee in Al Mukha. - The work further includes a detailed description of Aden (Yemen) as well as of the Ethiopia-Adal War (1529-43), during which Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi led several expeditions against the Ethiopian emperor until most of Ethiopia came under the power of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal. The present English edition is based Almeida's "Historia geral de Ethiopia a alta" (1660), edited by Tellez. - With early owner's inscription ("W. G. Patchell") on title-page. Quires 2D and 2E transposed; a couple of millimetres shaved off the outer border of the map; a faint waterstain throughout; some leaves foxed and some occasional spots. A good copy. ESTC T133244. Paulitschke 1137. Cf. de Backer/Sommervogel VII, 1908-1910. Howgego, to 1800, A65 (Almeida).
4to (170 x 254 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 111 pp. (paginated in a later ballpoint hand), 11 lines, per extensum, black and red ink, written space ruled throughout with several sets of coloured borders. With numerous diagrams in the margins. Contemporary blindstamped full calf. An early 20th century Arabic manuscript of the "Sphaerics" by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Theodosius of Bithynia (ca. 169-100 BCE). Unknown in the West during the Middle Ages, the "Sphaerics" proved instrumental in the restoration of Euclidean geometry to Western civilization when the book was brought back from the Islamic world during the crusades and translated from Arabic into Latin. - The present manuscript was written in Afghanistan under the rule of Habibullah Khan, a reform-minded Emir who attempted to introduce modern medicine and other technology to his country. The prettily blindstamped binding would also appear to be of Afghan origin. - Paper a little browned and brittle; traces of former block-stitching; some of the first few leaves transposed during re-binding, according to the later ballpoint pagination.
Folio. (12), 125, (1) ff. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on final page, two pages with decorative woodcut borders (built up from 4 blocks, some with initials I.F.), and woodcut initials throughout. 18th-century half calf, with marbled paper in a tree pattern on sides, gold-tooled spine with the coat of arms of the Russian Tsars. First edition of a collection of four medical works, compiled by the Swiss physician Albanus Torinus (1489-1550). The main part of the work consists of "De re medica", also known as "Medicina Pliniana", a very popular medical text during the Middle Ages. Compiled in the fourth century by an anonymous author, it is generally ascribed to Plinius Valerianus, also called pseudo-Plinius, since it mainly derived from Pliny the Elder's "Historia naturalis". Consisting of five books, it gives various medicines and treatments for different diseases, ailments, wounds, tumours etc. The book also draws heavily from the works of Galen and Dioscorides, all highly esteemed in the Arabic world. - The work also contains three other medical works from different authors. "The contents are all either spurious works or later compilations from genuine works of the authors to whom they are attributed" (Durling). It starts with an introduction to "the art of healing", ascribed to Soranus of Ephesus. The second text is by Oribasius, a Greek medical writer from the fourth century BC. According to Durling, the text is an extract from the first chapter of his "Euporista ad Eunapium". The work closes with a botanical text, "De virtutibus herbarum", ascribed to Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, but written by an anonymous author from the 4th century, known as Pseudo-Apuleius. In one of the manuscripts Torinus used, the text was ascribed to the famous Italian physician Antonio Musa Brassavola (1500-55), an expert on the works of Galen and heavily influenced by his work. - The editor, Torinus, was appointed professor of practical medicine at the University of Basel after receiving the degree of doctor in medicine in Montpellier. He translated many Greek texts into Latin, or Latin works into the vernacular, including Vesalius' "De humani corporis fabrica". - From the library of the Russian tsars, with its letterpress library label with shelf number on pastedown and the coat of arms on the spine. With the place and date of printing added in manuscript on the title-page. Paper on boards slightly chafed, binding with traces of use along the extremities, corners bumped and spine restored. First five leaves with a minor water stain, but otherwise a very good copy. Adams S 1461. Durling 4351. Parkinson 2410.
4to. 75, (1) ff. - (Bound with) II: Fabri, Felix. Eigentliche beschreibung der hin unnd wider farth zu dem Heyligen Landt gen Jerusalem, und furter durch die grosse Wüsteney zu dem Heiligen Berge Horeb Sinay, darauß zuvernemen was wunders die Pilgrin hin und wider auff Land und wasser zu erfahren und zu besehen haben. [Frankfurt, David Zöpfel], 1556. 219, (1) ff. With a title woodcut depicting a pilgrim with two camels. Contemporary blindstamped leather over wooden boards. I: A fine Renaissance edition of Tucher's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, undertaken in 1479-80 and first published by Schönsberger in Augsburg in 1482. Tucher (1428-91) was a wealthy Nuremberg merchant who moved in humanistic circles; "his travel report is remarkable in several respects: geographically, because it provides a different, non-traditional route from Jerusalem to Mt. Sinai. Tucher departed from Gaza like Breydenbach, Count Solms, and Felix Fabri in 1483, and seems to have crossed the Tih by the pass el-Mureikhy (which he calls 'Roackie'). But Tucher's stations in the desert denote a different route and are even more difficult to reconcile with the known localities. In historical respect, Tucher's account is remarkable for abstaining largely from the fabulous and for revealing a sense of factual reporting, even though much space is given to miraculous episodes, as might be expected from a text of this genre and age. Finally, it is of linguistic interest" (ADB). - II: Editio princeps of Fabri's pilgrimage account. Felix Fabri, a native of Zurich and a Dominican preacher at Ulm, describes his two pilgrimages made to the Holy Land, the first in 1480, as chaplain to Georg von Stein, and the second in 1483-84 as chaplain to Johannes Truchsess von Waldburg, as part of the same party as Breydenbach. - Title-page of Tucher frayed. Some light staining throughout. Worldcat lists 3 copies of Tucher in the US, and 5 copies of Fabri. Not a single copy of Tucher in auction records; a copy of Fabri in a modern binding commanded £4140 at Sotheby's in 1998. I: VD 16, T 2164. Röhricht 390. ADB XXXVIII, 766. - II: VD 16, F 136. Röhricht 395 ("Ulm").
Colour-printed map, ca. 600 x 835. Scale 1:250,000. An extremely detailed map of what are today the northernmost six Emirates of the UAE (at the time of issue, the Trucial States): Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Ras al Khaimah, and Fujairah, also marking the names of all the tribes holding power in the various areas. Issued by the Geographical Section, General Staff (GSGS) as part of their 1:250,000 scale map series of Arabia. The GSGS, also known as MI 4, operated under the Director of Military Operations and Intelligence. Its role was to supply maps to the British armed forces, collect data on foreign survey networks, provide training, and prepare survey data for Expeditionary Force mobilisation. - Old folds, some staining. Numerous pin-holes to corners from former wall mounting; an old ballpoint penstroke. Otherwise well preserved.