Gervais-Courtellemont, [Jules].MareMagnum
18968vo. (2), 236 pp. With frontispiece, large folding panorama, and 30 wood-engraved text illustrations (some full-page). Contemp. green half calf with giltstamped title to spine. Marbled endpapers. Second edition. - Jules Gervais-Courtellemont (1863-1931), a convert to Islam, was one of the few Western visitors to Mecca during his time. His classic account of his pilgrimage is of special interest for the numerous illustrations engraved after photographs by the author. Many of the buildings and sites thus documented have since changed significantly or disappeared altogether. - Foxed throughout; old library stamp on t. p. Binding rubbed and bumped; spine faded. From the library of the "Cercle Militaire d'Amiens" with their name giltstamped to lower spine-end. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1016. OCLC 490071086.
18968vo. (2), 236 pp. With frontispiece, large folding panorama, and 30 text illustrations. Original illustrated wrappers. Rare first edition. Jules Gervais-Courtellemont (1863-1931), a convert to Islam, was one of the very few Western visitors to Mecca during his time. The classic account of his pilgrimage is of special interest due to the numerous illustrations drawn after photographs by the author and documenting buildings that have survived only greatly changed or which have disappeared altogether. - An untrimmed, well-preserved copy with very slight browning. Uncommon; auction records list the 2nd edition only (published in the same year), fetching as much as £950 (Sotheby's, Oct 14, 1998, lot 740); last sold for £750 (Sotheby's, Oct 15, 2003, lot 638). Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1016. Howgego III, G10. OCLC 23429140.
8vo. (8), 216 pp. With 13 genealogical tables printed on 12 folding plates. Contemporary marbled boards. Rare first edition of this corpus of sources on ancient Arabic history. With extensive passages in Arabic, largely presenting excerpts from the historical works of Ibn Qutaybah, the renowned Islamic scholar of Persian origin (cf. GAL I, 120ff.). He served as a judge during the Abbasid Caliphate, but was best known for his contributions to Arabic literature. - Binding rubbed and bumped at extremeties. Some brownstaining throughout (more pronounced in title page). From the collection of the Lower Saxon educator and rector Friedrich Hülsemann (1771-1835) with his ownership to front pastedown (dated 31 July 1799); later in the library of the Badenian rabbi Levi Bodenheimer (1807-67; his ownership on flyleaf; Hebrew pencil note on rear pastedown). Last in the collection of the German zoologists Barbara and Ragnar Kinzelbach (their bookplate). Macro 888 ("8 volumes" in error for "8vo"). Schnurrer 160f. Fück I, 768. NYPL Arabia Coll. 23. Aboussouan 304 & 833. Cf. NDB IV, 377. Not in Smitskamp.
1989Sm. folio, First Edition, with numerous photographs and facsimiles throughout, and large folding coloured map in pocket at end; blue cloth, upper board blocked in gilt, gilt back, blue endpapers, a fine copy in publisher's board slip-case. Detailed account of the mansion and estate, now a prestigious golfing complex. During WWII it served as HQ for 1st Airborne Corps, part of 21st Army Group, and the spearhead of MARKET GARDEN at Arnhem and Oosterbeck. Urquhart played the course the day before departure for Arnhem.
19841st Fontana edition. VG pbk. Sticker on the front cover. Small crease to the back cover. ISBN 0006366171. Illustrations by Colin Whittock. 20522. eng
Folio. (32), 248, (36) pp. With separate engraved title-page, engr. portrait, double-page engraved map and 21 large text engravings by Christian Rothgießer; woodcut initials and head- and tailpieces. - (Bound after) II: Saadi (ed. Adam Olearius). Persianischer Rosenthal. In welchem viel lustige Historien, scharffsinnige Reden, und nützliche Regeln. Ibid., Johann Holwein for Johann Naumann, 1654. (52), 196, (30) pp, final blank f. With separate engraved title-page, engr. portrait and 33 large text engravings by Rothgießer. Contemporary vellum. First edition of this famous travel report, containing "many interesting details of the eternally plentiful oriental world" (cf. Henze). While the engraved maps depict Southeast Asia from Persia to Japan and Java, the remaining engravings mainly illustrate the customs of the Arab world, of Persia and India. "Mandelslo was a German traveller and adventurer (1616-44). Originally a page at the court of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in 1635 Mandelslo was attached to the duke's embassy to Moscow and Persia, a mission intended to open trade negotiations. The Duke's librarian and mathematician, Adam Olearius, accompanied the embassy as its secretary. The ambassadors themselves remained in Persia, but in 1638 Mandelslo, feeling the need for wider travel, obtained permission to travel on to India. Sailing from Hormuz, he landed at Surat in April 1638 then travelled through Gujarat to Agra, Lahore, Goa, Bijapur and Malabar. He sailed for England from Surat in January 1639, calling at Ceylon and Madagascar, but was to die of smallpox five years later. Before his death, Mandelslo had entrusted his rough notes to Olearius, who subsequently published them bound with his numerous official accounts of the embassy" (Howgego I, 677). This first edition is significantly rarer than its later reworkings and translations; ABPC lists a single complete copy at auctions of the last decades (Sotheby's, Oct 11, 2005, lot 177, £3,400). - Bound with this is the first German edition of Saadi's "Gulistan", also edited by Olearius. - Old armorial bookplate (name erased) and bookplate of Eivind Hassler (1939-2009) on front pastedown. I: VD 17, 23:233226D. Lipperheide Ld 1. Adelung II, pp. 306-308. Alt-Japan-Katalog 943. Bircher A 6927f. Cordier, Japonica, cols. 362-368. Cox I, 271f. Dünnhaupt, pp. 293-294, 30.1. V. Gelder, Het Oost-Indisch avontuur, pp. 77, 99, 263. Howgego I M38. Commissariat, "Mandelslo's Travels in Western India", in: The Geographical Journal, 78 (1931), pp. 375ff. - II: VD 17, 23:282436H. Dünnhaupt S. 2991, 24.1. Bircher A 251. Goedeke III, 65, 7.
Folio. (32), 248, (36) pp. With engraved frontispiece by Christian Rothgiesser, full-page engraved author's portrait, double-page engraved map, and 21 large engravings in text, mostly signed by Rothgiesser; woodcut initials and head- and tailpieces. Contemporary blind-ruled leather, remnants of ties. First complete German edition of an important and entertaining travel account by Johann Albrecht von Mandelslo, edited by Adam Olearius. Mandelslo was attached to the diplomatic mission of Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, to Moscow and Persia. Frederick's aim was to negotiate a new trade route for Persian silk and to make his small duchy an important centre of European silk trade. After visiting Moscow, the mission continued along the Volga to Astrakhan and from there to Persia, crossing the Caspian Sea near Shamakhi. Via Ardabil, Qazvin and Kasan the party finally reached the capital, Isfahan. The ambassadors remained in Persia for several months (only to return without concrete results), but Mandelslo travelled further to the east. He sailed from Hormuz to Surat and proceeded through Gujarat to Agra, Lahore, Goa, Bijapur and Malaba, visiting Ceylon, Madagascar, the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena on his return voyage in 1639. Before his death 5 years later, he had entrusted his rough notes to Olearius, who subsequently published them with a third part containing descriptions of the Coromandel coast, Bengal, Siam, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Bantam, the Philippines, Formosa (Tai-wan), China and Japan. Small contemporary owner's entry ("Jos[eph] Baudler"?). Some foxing and brownstaining; slight tears in lower margin of pp. 31 and 137. A very good copy of an important account of an embassy to Persia and further to the East. VD 17, 23:233226D. Lipperheide Ld 1. Adelung II, pp. 306-308. Alt-Japan-Katalog 943. Bircher A 6927f. Cordier, Japonica, cols. 362-368. Cox I, 271f. Dünnhaupt, pp. 293-294, 30.1. V. Gelder, Het Oost-Indisch avontuur, pp. 77, 99, 263. Howgego I M38. Commissariat, "Mandelslo's Travels in Western India", in: The Geographical Journal, 78 (1931), pp. 375ff.
Folio (280 x 374 mm). 12 pp. With 15 phototypes. Printed original boards. Fine, beautifully illustrated and extensively annotated catalogue of Martin's collection of Islamic textiles, including the fragment of a 19th century Kiswah: the elaborately embroidered cloth curtain that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, replaced every year. Translated from Swedish by C. O. Nordgren. A perfect copy. Rare. OCLC 9140858.
1900A set of two oil panels, 285 x 130 mm each. Signed at bottom right "Marin Tanger".
Folio (286 x 390 mm). Colour lithogr. title, 303 [i.e., 305], (1) p. With 7 leaves of plates, illustrated throughout (some in colour). Colour advertisement bound after p. 70. Modern red cloth with giltstamped spine title and original giltstamped cover title inset on upper board. Original edition of the Moseman Brothers' sumptuously produced sales catalogue of luxury horse tack and equipment. Dated from a printed letter (March 6, 1893), appearing on p. 67. Contains more than 1000 detailed illustrations of all items relating to the horse including halters, muzzles, halter ties, hitching weights, oils, dressings, stallion shields, boots, toe weights, bitting harness, hopples, spreaders, cart saddles, collars, riding & driving bits, whip sockets, whips, hunting crops, ornaments, chains, snaps, clothing, saddles, veterinary preparations, stable requisites such as brushes, curry cards, brooms, forks, and much more. One of the finest equestrian trade catalogues of the 19th century produced by a leading New York City concern, C. M. Moseman and Brother, offering a vast range of high-quality equestrian goods. Rare, most libraries hold copies of the late 20th century reprints only. OCLC 24193302.
8vo. LVI, (2), 427 pp. Contemp. half cloth with giltstamped spine title. First German edition of the highly influential poems of al-Mutanabbî (915-965). The famous poet of the Abbasidic era exerted a decisive influence on all subsequent poets in Arabic. - Ms. library shelfmark and stamp on title page (withdrawn). Brunet III, 1924. Goedeke VII, 764, 68. Wurzbach VII, 276, 44. Cf. GAL I, p. 86f. (for Motenebbi).
Map (117 x 102 cm). Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
An enormous panoramic view drawn in coloured gouaches on a single, continuous roll of unwatermarked wove paper (70 x 583 cm), the drawing running to the edges of the paper. Rolled and stored in a cardboard tube. A panoramic view of what appears to be a fantasy Middle Eastern landscape, with spectacular mountains in the background, a body of water near each end, and a wide variety of buildings and ruins, some clearly classical Roman and others Middle Eastern. The combination of classical Roman architecture with dromedaries and other Middle Eastern features places it very likely in Palestine, but we have not been able to identify specific buildings. The most distinctive ruin, a round Roman temple with five columns on the viewer's side (perhaps a third of the circle), an entablature above them and a vertical base below them, looks more like the Temple of the Vesta at Tivoli than like any known temple in the Middle East (the columns are not rendered in sufficient detail to determine their order, but they are almost certainly not Ionic and are probably Corinthian). There are also classical Roman aqueducts. The six shepherds with their flocks all wear broad-brimmed hats and have staffs, and two are blowing long, slightly curved horns. Several additional figures with broad-brimmed hats and staffs might be pilgrims, one together with what is presumably his wife. - With a 33 cm tear into the left edge, slightly affecting a mountain and the top of a tree, a few insignificant and much smaller tears and with pin holes about 1 cm from the edges from mounting on a wall, but otherwise in very good condition and with the colours fresh and bright. A spectacular panoramic view of the Middle East, including many classical Roman ruins.
1942Book shows light wear to covers, a little water stain on lower corner of last few pages, age-toned paper. 325 pages with b&w photos at back, small b&w illustrations in text. Section of b&w photos at back.
1025 x 700 mm. Scale 1:100,000. Engraved chart of Shatt Al Arab and Bahmanshir River (1235), with inset charts showing Abadan to Coal Island including Al Basra and Karun River. Includes tidal information, compass roses, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, lighthouses and beacons picked out in yellow and red, inland elevations, detailing and buildings. First published in 1921, last revised in 1931. Folded and browned, with a few paper flaws in the fold.
Folio (242 x 344 mm). 14 tables on double-page-spreads (15 ff.). Original printed wrappers. Rare report on the regulation and organisation of the Hajj produced under the auspices of the Administration Sanitaire de l'Empire Ottoman for the Hejaz region. The detailed statistics on the numbers and origins of the pilgrims, their ships and ports of embarkation, their travel routes, etc., were published annually between 1896 and 1914. - A light dampstain to the inner margin of lower wrapper, backstrip starting to split. OCLC 73048636. ZDB-ID 2444067-X.
1898pp. xviii, 260. Decorated title page. 8vo. Original full green gold stamped cloth binding. Spine slightly darkened. Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. His fictional 'Mr. Dooley' expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub and he spoke with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant from County Roscommon. Dunne's sly humor and political acumen even won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs. Indeed Dunne's sketches became so popular and such a litmus test of public opinion that they were read each week at cabinet meetings in Roosevelt's White House. HUMOR 3 x
1899pp. xviii, 260. Decorated title page. 8vo. Original full green gold stamped cloth binding. Penciled ownership. Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. His fictional 'Mr. Dooley' expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub and he spoke with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant from County Roscommon. Dunne's sly humor and political acumen even won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs. Indeed Dunne's sketches became so popular and such a litmus test of public opinion that they were read each week at cabinet meetings in Roosevelt's White House. HUMOR 3 = 8c.
Tall 8vo (150 x 265 mm). Persian manuscript on polished oriental paper. (340) ff., 23 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. Modern red blindstamped full calf, bound to style. Expansive commentary on the "Qanunchah" ("Qanunceh", "Small Canon") of Mahmud al-Jaghmini, the important Persian medical compendium based on Ibn Sina's famous Arabic "Qanun". Al-Jaghmini's handbook of medicine was widely used at Eastern Persian schools as an introductory medical instruction manual for at least three centuries. The present commentary by Shah Arzani was copied by Fadhl al-Din in 1119-1120 H. - Paper browned and brittle, some edge tears (rarely touching the text). Prettily bound to style in a modern full leather binding with oriental cover decorations stamped in relief.
8vo. 64 pp. Contemporary half cloth. Very rare second edition of this Yiddish-language study of the Prophet Muhammad, essentially a reissue of the Meir Chinsky edition of 1898. It includes not only a biography of the Prophet and a discussion of the Qur'an and of Islam, but also chapters with a specifically Jewish perspective, such as on the Jewish population of Arabia (especially in Mecca and Medina), on Muhammad's "dreadful revenge on the Jews", etc. The author published similar accounts on Jesus of Nazareth ("Yeyshu Hanoytsri: zayn ersheynen, leben und toydt: algemeyner iberblik vegen der entshtehung fun kristenthum") and Sabbatai Zevi ("Der Terkisher Meshieh: a historish romantishe shilderung iber dem leben und virken fun Shabtay Tsvi"). The highly versatile journalist, novelist, and playwright D. M. Hermalin (1865-1921) was born and educated in Bucharest, where he worked for various newspapers before being compelled to leave Romania and emigrating to the United States at the age of twenty. Here, he taught French and Hebrew and achieved distinction as a much-admired family page editor for Yiddish newspapers such as the "Folks Advokat", the "Yiddisher Herold", and the "Wahrheit". He wrote thrillers, but also translated Tolstoy, Maupassant, Zola, Bocaccio, and Shakespeare into Yiddish; his 1901 translation of Goethe's "Faust" was the first complete Yiddish version. - Stamps of ownership of the Jewish Socialist Branch of Chelsea as well as the Chelsea Labor Lyceum Association Library to lower pastedown and several pages, including the title-page. Shelfmarks to front pastedown and title-page. Extremities slightly rubbed, paper browned and brittle. - No copy in trade records; online library catalogues list copies at the British Library, Brandeis University Library (Waltham, MA), Yivo Institute for Jewish Research (New York), and the Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati). OCLC 122983891.
8vo. 64 pp. Contemporary marbled boards with title clipped from the original upper wrapper and pasted on the upper cover; lower wrapper cover bound within. Cloth spine. First edition of this Yiddish-language study of the Prophet Muhammad. Includes not only a biography of the Prophet and a discussion of the Qur'an and of Islam, but also chapters with a specifically Jewish perspective, such as on the Jewish population of Arabia (especially in Mecca and Medina), on Muhammad's "dreadful revenge on the Jews", etc. The author published similar accounts on Jesus of Nazareth ("Yeyshu Hanoytsri: zayn ersheynen, leben und toydt: algemeyner iberblik vegen der entshtehung fun kristenthum") and Sabbatai Zevi ("Der Terkisher Meshieh: a historish romantishe shilderung iber dem leben und virken fun Shabtay Tsvi"). The highly versatile journalist, novelist, and playwright D. M. Hermalin (1865-1921) was born and educated in Bucharest, where he worked for various newspapers before being compelled to leave Romania and emigrating to the United States at the age of twenty. Here, he taught French and Hebrew and achieved distinction as a much-admired family page editor for Yiddish newspapers such as the "Folks Advokat", the "Yiddisher Herold", and the "Wahrheit". He wrote thrillers, but also translated Tolstoy, Maupassant, Zola, Bocaccio, and Shakespeare into Yiddish; his 1901 translation of Goethe's "Faust" was the first complete Yiddish version. - Binding severely rubbed; extremeties bumped. Paper browned and brittle with noticeable fingerstaining. The lower wrapper cover, preserved inside the boards, has an English title: "Mohammed. A Study Of the Advent, Life and Activity of the Mussulman Law-Giver and the Results of his Religion", with the publisher's advert of books on sale ("oysferkoyf katalog fun mayn aygenem ferlag") on the reverse. Extremely rare: no copy in trade records; online library catalogues list copies at YIVO, Yale, Harvard, University of California, and Florida Atlantic University, as well as the British Library; several research libraries in the US hold microform copies. OCLC 122740986.
8vo. XXIX, (1), 879, (1), 28, (3) pp. Publisher's temporary wrappers with series title stamped to upper cover. Detailed study of the Shafi'i school of fiqh named after Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris, Imam al-Shafi'i, or 'Shaykh al-Islam'. Al-Shafi‘i developed the science of fiqh unifying 'revealed sources' - the Quran and hadith - with human reasoning to provide a basis in law. With this systematization of shari'a he provided a legacy of unity for all Muslims and forestalled the development of independent, regionally based legal systems. The four Sunni legals schools or madhhabs- keep their traditions within the framework that Shafi'i established. The Shafi'i school is followed in many different places in the Islamic world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Somalia, and Yemen. - Includes the Arabic text of 'Abû-Shugâ. - An uncut, untrimmed copy.
8vo. 2 parts in 1 volume. Arabic manuscript on paper. 144 ff., 1 leaf of index. Text in black naskh with important words and phrases in red, occasional marginal notes. 19th century three quarter red boards with red morocco spine, ruled and lettered in gilt. An uncommon epitome of a 13th century medical treatise by 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad Sha'rani (1492/3-1565), known primarily for his mystical writings. While Al-Sha'rani famously founded an Egyptian order of Sufism, Sa'rawiyyah, which remained active until the 19th century and wrote extensively on religious law and Sufism; his interest in medicine is less well known. This book, which discusses a treatise by the physician Al-Suwaydi (1204-92), is unique among his works as a scientific text, and is important in forming an idea of Al-Sha'rani as a man of numerous intellectual interests, equally able to debate religious law and explain medical recipes and procedures. Indee, these were not interests at odds with each other: magical and occult remedies are prominent throughout the text. Al-Sha'rani retains some of Al-Suwaydi's stylistic choices as well, most noticeably the organization of the medical recipes by body part to be treated: the work starts with ailments of the head and proceeds down the body to end with the feet. - This specimen was copied on Sunday, the 11th of Safar 1108 AH by the scribe Muhammad Muhyi al-Din Abi al-Anas al-Shafi'i al-Miliji al-Ash'ari al-Sha'rani. Two of the ownership entries are dated 1251 and 1322 H, and annotations and notes at the end with an added index in Maghribi script suggest that it was last owned by a physician in Morocco or elsewhere in North Africa. - Boards somewhat worn, a few minor stains and wormholes. Index has been reinforced. An interesting medical work from a Sufi theologian. GAL II, 335f.
8vo (162 x 239 mm). 588 pp. Contemporary blindstamped blue cloth. Third Beirut edition of Ibn Khaldun's famous "Muqaddimat fi'l tarikh" (Prolegomena to History). "Ibn Khaldun's title to enduring fame [...] is bound up with that remarkable product of his pen, the Prolegomena to History. Here his genius reveals itself in its full splendor. Here he scatters with lavish hands the ripe fruits of his reflection on the course of human history. Hammer-Purgstall hailed him as an Oriental Montesquieu [...] He was indeed the first to describe comprehensively the state of the various sciences in the Muslim world: the arts, the trades, the commerce, the means of obtaining a living; the forms of government and the administration of justice and public affairs; every important aspect of the social life known to him" (Schmidt, p. 14). The Beirut edition, first issued in 1879, was the first produced by Arabic scholars; previously, the text had been published only by Etienne Quatremère (Paris 1858). - Binding a little rubbed; extremeties bumped. Front flyleaf loose; final leaves a little stained with light edge flaws, but a complete, sound copy. Schmidt, Ibn Khaldun, p. 56. OCLC 993710073.
Small 4to (235 x 170 mm). 246 pp., including 3 maps. Bound in original printed buff wrappers. First and only edition. - A scarce and important analysis of the Saudi Arabian oil economy, featuring authoritative data and illustrated by three maps, published on the eve of the 1973 Oil Crisis and the Saudi government's takeover of ARAMCO. Mohammed Ali Redha Al-Jasim was a Saudi academic who authored several pioneering studies on Saudi economy during the 1960s and 1970s. Entirely in Arabic, the work employs the latest official data, combined with Dr. Al-Jasim's skilled analysis, to provide an authoritative insight into the nature of the world's most dynamic petroleum industry and its effects upon Saudi Arabia's national ambitions. Illustrated with numerous tables and three intriguing maps, the work is an invaluable source for anyone interested in the modern development of the global petroleum industry and the economic history of Saudi Arabia in particular. - Slight wear to spine and edges of covers; internally clean and crisp. A very good copy. OCLC 4771175724 / 235989266.
