4to (182 x 275 mm). (6), VIII, 40 pp. Publisher's original illustrated printed wrappers. First edition of this study on the origins of the Wahhabis, published from the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With a preface by the French historian Édouard Driault (1864-1947). An Arabic translation ("al-Tadhkirah fi asl al-Wahhabiyin wa-dawlatihim") appeared at Riyadh as recently as 2004. - Binding somewhat frayed and chipped. Uncut, untrimmed copy from the library of the respected Cairo-based Egyptologist and dealer in antiquities, Roger Khawam (1922-2016), who dispersed his library four years before his death (his Scarab bookplate to the front free endpaper). Macro 1874. OCLC 5277329.
Small 4to. 8 pp. Study on the training of horses, submitted and presented to the Agricultural Society of Allier, by Marien de Mareschal, Mayor of Deux-Chaises (France). The author tries to demonstrate the benefits of horse breeding. - Small defects to edges; slight dust-soiling.
18868vo. 1 bl. f., (6), 232 pp. Original front printed wrapper cover bound within contemporary red half morocco with marbled boards and giltstamped spine. Marbled endpapers. Mémoires d'Histoire et de Géographie Orientales, No. 1, second edition (first published in 1862). Standard work on a mediaeval Shi'a Ismaili group, the Qarmatians of Bahrain, which at this period included much of eastern Arabia as well as the islands that comprise the present state. For much of the 10th century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman and collecting tribute from the caliph in Baghdad. They instigated what has been termed a "century of terrorism" in Kufa: they considered the pilgrimage to Mecca a superstition and, once in control of the Bahraini state, they launched raids along the pilgrim routes crossing Arabia. In 906 they ambushed the pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca and massacred 20,000 pilgrims. The Qarmatians came close to raiding Baghdad in 927 and sacked Mecca and Medina in 930. The assault on Islam's holiest sites saw the Qarmatians desecrate the Well of Zamzam with corpses of Hajj pilgrims and take the Black Stone from Mecca to Al-Hasa. - The Dutch Arabist and Orientalist de Goeje (1836-1909) taught at the University of Leiden. He was editor of the "Encyclopaedia of Islam" and collated the Bodleian manuscripts of al-Idrisi. - A few contemporary pencil notes in the margins. With an appendix containing relevant Arabic texts. Minor rubbing to binding, but altogether a fine copy of this rare work; no copy in auction records. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1052. OCLC 4738568. Cf. Fück 211 (for Goeje).
8vo. 158 pp. With frontispiece of a 'Cheval Arabe' after C. Vernet. Contemp. red half morocco with giltstamped spine and covers. Interesting work on the Arabian breed of horses, especially the military horses in France. - A fine copy. Boyd 26. Mennessier de la Lance I, 263. OCLC 4337831.
8vo. 126 pp. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine and blue morocco spine label. All edges marbled. Early account on the tribes of Egypt. A rare offprint from the "Déscription de l'Égypte", a compilation of the scientific results of Napoleon's Egyptian expedition published in 1809. The present work describes the main Bedouin tribes living in Egypt, including Tarabin, Néfahat, Ayaidi, Hannadi, Mahazi and Beni-Wassel. Also, it makes some observations on the noble Arabian horse, which is considered "more scarce in the deserts of Egypt than in those of the Hejaz and Syria". Prepared by Du Bois-Aymé (1779-1846), one of the leading scientists accompanying the expedition. - Rare variant edition (probably the first) with a slightly different title, also omitting the author's as well as the publisher's name from the title-page. Corners slightly bumped. Paper occasionally browned; light brownstaining near the end. Still a good copy. OCLC 742830325. Cf. Gay 2011; Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 194.
Small 8vo. (6), 330 pp. Contemporary half calf with marbled boards and giltstamped spine. Marbled endpapers. First French edition of this fascinating biography of the Princess of Oman and Zanzibar, who married a German and later fled to Aden and Hamburg after becoming pregnant by him. The work is considered the first known autobiography of an Arab woman. It presents a remarkable perspective on the daily life of the Sultan in the mid and late 19th century, viewed from the eyes of an well-educated woman - subjects such as "La situation de la femme en Orient" ("A Woman's Position in the East", ch. XVI), courtship ("La mariage arabe", "Arab Matchmaking", ch. XVII), harems and polygamy, and even slavery are discussed at length (the Princess appearing rather favourably disposed to the latter!). As a later Christian convert, she remains fiercely proud of her homeland: "But it is just in Arabia, and with the Arab people, that the true Mahometan spirit, upon which the views of other Eastern nations are founded, has maintained itself most pure" (transl.). Her view of Muslim life represents the level-headed appreciation of a native of both East and West: "I have seen too many of such unhappy cases [of Christian marriage] to make me believe that Christian wedlock stands on a higher level or renders people much happier than the Mahometan [...] it is quite a fallacy to think that woman in the East is placed socially on a lower level than man. The legitimate wife - the purchased Sarari are of course to be excepted - stands in all respects on a par with her husband, and she always retains her rank, and all rights and titles emanating from it". Emily (Sayyida Salme) and her husband lived comfortably in Germany until the latter's death in 1870, upon which Emily was prompted to write the present work partly to alleviate her financial concerns. - Evenly browned throughout. Rare. OCLC 38270253. Cf. Hiler 763 (English ed., New York, 1907).
8vo. (37)-84 pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped title to upper cover and spine. Endpapers marbled. All edges gilt. Only edition. - Rare account, by the French physician Paul Aubry, of Turkish military and civil hospitals, describing in detail their design and medical capacities, including accurate numbers of beds. An exceptional documentation of health care infrastructure in the Ottoman Empire, mentioning the Yildiz Ambulance, the Haider Pacha military hospital and the Haseki Hospital in Istanbul. The present offprint also contains a medical bibliography of works in German, Danish and Swedish published in 1886-87 as well as several abstracts, including an article on gonorrhoea by the Ottowa physician Coyteux Prévost, published in the "Union Médicale du Canada" in the same year. - Inscribed and signed by Aubry to Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) on the front flyleaf. Binding slightly rubbed. Small marginal tears to pp. 39-42; last few pages somewhat creased. Library stamps erased from flyleaf and first page. From the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to exert effective contol over the fracturing state and also remembered as a poet, translator and one of the dynasty's greatest bibliophiles. While his passion for books is memorialized by the many precious donations he gave to libraries all over the world and which mostly have remained intact to this day (including the 400-volume "Abdul-Hamid II Collection of Books and Serials" gifted to the Library of Congress), his own library was dispersed in the years following his deposition in 1909: books were removed to other palaces and even sold to Western collectors, the greatest part of his collection is today preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. U.S. Army, Index-catalogue of the library of the surgeon-general's office VII, 393. Wohnlich-Despaigne, Les Historiens Français de la Médecine au XIXe Siècle 59.
Large 4to (220 x 274 mm). (6), 47-58, 483-782 pp. With 4 tables. Later red half morocco over marbled boards with gilt title to spine. Offprints from vols. 47 & 48 of the "Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres" with separately printed title-page. The four "mémoires" which make up the first piece were variously read in public between 1787 and 1791, but published for the first time in 1793; the second, much longer part, was first heard on 5 April 1785. Includes long extracts in Arabic from Masoudi, Sirat Alresoul, Kitab Aldjouman, Tabari, and others. - Shelfmark to spine, unobtrusive blind library stamp to title & following 2 leaves. Ownership inscription of Col. S. B. Miles to front free endpaper, and his wife's presentation bookplate (Bath Public Reference Library) to front pastedown. Wilson 197.
Fort volume in 8 broché de 572 pages. Nombreuses p Très bel exemplaire. [HI-5/2]
2015Best.-Nr. 500177767Hachette 2015 2015.
7 parts in 3 volumes, bound as 1. 4to. 60; 67, [1 blank], 88, 40; [4], 84 (lacking pp. 85-102), 42, [2], 70 pp. Lacking pp. 85-102 in vol. 3. Contemporary stiff paper wrappers covered with paste-paper (calico pattern), with blank paper title-label on front. Rare first and only edition of a catalogue of the plants found on the island of Java, Indonesia. The work was published in three volumes, the first containing descriptions of plants not recorded by Rumphius and Houttuyn and the second and third listing all the plant names in Latin, Dutch and Malay/Javanese, with reference to Linnaeus, the Malay/Javanese set in roman type. The volumes were printed at the presses of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Batavia on the island of Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia). - Jacobus Cornelis Matthieu de Radermacher (1741-1783), started as a Dutch merchant in service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and rapidly rose in position in the company. By 1781 Radermacher was named Commissioner for the Fleet and the Army, and Common Council of India. He was one of the founding members of Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen and a proponent of the establishment of the botanical gardens of Buitenzorg. In 1783 he left for Holland because of his health, but was murdered during a mutiny on his way home. - With a tiny tear in the second leaf and a couple of minor spots, otherwise in very good condition and only slightly trimmed, but lacking pp. 85-102 of volume three. Leaves E1-E2 of the same volume are included twice. The spine of the wrappers is tattered and its foot completely gone. Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 615. Pritzel 7392. Stafleu & Cowan 8501 (2 copies, both incomplete). STCN (2 copies). WorldCat (3 copies). not in Hunt. Johnston. for the author: NNBW II, cols. 1153-1154.
8vo. (2), 78, (6) pp. With an engraved folding map of the Arabian Peninsula, 3 engraved folding plates, and an engraved title-vignette. Later full cloth. Rare first Dutch edition of the travelogue of a 16th-century sea voyage around the Arabian Peninsula. Castro's voyage took him from Socotra up the Red Sea. He landed on both the African and the Arabian coast before reaching Suez; his account includes descriptions of the various ports he encountered en route as well as observations on the naming of the Red Sea. - Dom João de Castro (1500-48) was a naval officer and later Viceroy of Portuguese India. In 1538 he embarked on his first voyage to India, arriving at Goa and immediately proceeding to the defense of Diu. Castro was responsible for the overthrow of Mahmud, King of Gujarat, whose interests threatened Portuguese control of the Goan coast. Castro died in Goa in 1548 and was initially buried there, but his remains were later exhumed and transferred to Portugal. - Traces of glue near the gutter of the title-page, but a good copy in a modern binding. Only three copies traceable in auction records. BMC V, 168:149. OCLC 224637211. Cf. Scholberg, Bibliography of Goa & the Portuguese in India, DC7. Avila Perez 1562. Welsh 4780 (other eds.).
Best.-Nr. 13703Naples et son golfe. Trente planches volantes, sur vélin, en couleurs, du peintre J.F BOUCHOR. Ornementation de David BURNAND. Henri Laurens éditeur 1928. In 8 cartonné, dos demi-toile écrue, pièce de titre chagrin rouge. 200x240mm. faux titre, titre, 172 pages. Achevé d’imprimer le 31 octobre 1927. Couverture insolée, quelques rousseurs en début et fin de volume.
Best.-Nr. 3523Paris, Henri Laurens, 1928. In-4 broché, couv. rempliée ill. (sirène), 172 p. 30 planches en couleur contrecollées d'après les tableaux du peintre, tirées par G. Kadar. Ornementations de David Burnand : bandeaux, lettrines, culs-de-lampe. Très bon état
Coloured folding map (81 x 110 cm). Scale 1:2,000,000. Original printed wrappers, with portrait of Reza Shah Pahlavi. (Constant ratio linear horizontal scale). The first-ever official map of modern Iran, printed in Farsi but by a Turkish publisher. Insignificant browning to spine; occasional slight paper damage in folds; altogether very well preserved. OCLC 422500836. Not in Al Ankary; Al-Qasimi.
193848 pages. Features: Nice cover illustration of lady on red background; Nice colour-photo ad for Swift's Premium bacon inside front cover; Brief news items include The Ledger of Life, A Good Resolution, The Glow of True Happiness, We are Mostly All Strangers, and Improved Seeing and Knowing; Nice one-page ad for two new Ford V-8 cars for 1938, the Standard Ford V-8 Tudor and the De Luxe Ford V-8 Fordor; Editorials touch on - The Farmer and the Income Tax, Fascist Influence in the New World, Sources of Wealth, and World Trade; Attractively illustrated one-page McLaughlin Buick ad features a blue Series 46-19, Five-Passenger Sedan with Trunk; London's Famous Underground - photo-illustrated article; The Batley Inheritance (short story); Liberal Reward (short story); The Vagabonds (short story); Junior G-Men - photo-illustrated article on Vancouver Police Constable Ronald Eveleigh and his initiative to reduce juvenile delinquency; Strange Achievement - Charles E. Jones is founder of the world bird sanctuary at Collingwood East, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.; The Murder on the Links (part III/3 of this Agatha Christie story); Mystery Man of Golf - Laverne Moore, alias Johnny Montague - article with photos; Sweet Caporals ad features photo of dog 'Rathlin Roundalay', owned by Miss Katherine Savage of Montreal West, Quebec; Hollywood news with photos of Andrea Leeds, Nita NAldi, Lily Pons, Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, Douglass Montgomery, Jean Parker, and more; Photo of Alice Faye in Woodbury Cold Cream ad; Scott's Emulsion ad includes Old Scottie comic; Article on Curling; Beauty article; Cooking article; Recipes; How to make a dinner mat; World Sayings; Nice colour ads inside back cover for Lifebuoy (lady in tub), and Rinso (lady on cliff); Canadian fish ad on back cover; and more. Moderate wear. Unmarked. A sound copy of this wonderful vintage issue. Book
193764 pages. Features: Circus cover illustration; Interesting one-page photo ad says "You Can Play 9 Holes of Golf on 3 Slices of Bread", includes image of woman putting from on top of three slices of bread; Nice one-page ad for Frigidaire fridges; Only Let Me Live (short story); The Romance of Albania's Soldier-King and his strange little Balkan State - photo-illustrated article on King Zog; Call of the Hell Cats (short story); Safety First (short story); The Organist (short story); Dust over Canada - interesting article on million of dollars are spent to fight soot, dust and dirt; The Judges Robbed Me! - photo-illustrated article on how ultra high speed movie cameras are used to decide the winners of horse races; Cornishman's Chance (short story); Canada's Place in Cricket - article with photo of the Canadian cricket team in Britain last year; Palmolive ad features images of the Dionne Quints; Richard Hudnut cosmetics ad features photos of Canadian radio stars Billie Bell, Jean Haig and Kathleen Kidd; Colgate ad features illustraion of the Dionne Quints; Movie news with photos of Paul Muni, Charles Winninger, Mirian Hopkins, Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Flora Robson, Laurence Olivier, and others; Half-page Quaker Puffed Wheat ad features four adorable photos of Shirley Temple on Vacation; Business News; Quarter-page ad for the 1937 C.N.E.; Nice two-page Oldsmobile ad shows a green Oldsmobile Six Coach with Trunk; Sweet Caporal ad features photo of daschunds "Wanda" and "Otto" owned by Mrs. Herbert Yuile of Westmount, Quebec; When the Sun Runs a Temperature - beauty article; Vintage one-page Heinz ad entitled "In the best regulated families" shows mother and kids with cans of soup; Cooking article; World Sayings; Colour Lifebuoy and Rinso ads inside back cover; Nice colour-photo back cover ad for Maxwell House Coffee features dancer Paul Haakon, tennis star Carolyn Roberts, accordion player Charles Wright, and Mrs. John Carver; and more. Above-average wear and soiling. A worthy copy of this vintage issue. Book
193672 pages. Features: Nice cover illustration of boy celebrating summer vacation; Sisman's Scampers shoe ad inside front cover; Editorials deal with these topics - Partial Relief, A Doctor, Not a Nurse, Maintaining the Tradition, The Cooperatives, Farewell Toscanini, and Not Conquest but Murder; Trollop (short story); This Peace (short story); A Modern Odyssey - photo-illustrated article by Edgar N. Brown describes sea travel; Rough 'Un (short story); The Black Ace (short story); The Smooth Silence (short story); The Dilemma of Debt; Scotland Yard Versus Crime - photo-illustrated article on the system employed by this world famous organization to track down criminals, law breakers and lesser offenders; Golf Duds & Meteors - photo-illustrated golf article with photos of Charles A. Whitcome, Albert "Scotty" Campbell, Lex Robson, Tony Manero, Willie Lamb, and Tommy Armour; It's In the Bag - interesting article on the history of purses; Half-page Canadian Pacific ad features Banff; Palmolive ad features photo of Montreal stylist and designer Doris Preston; Nostalgic half-page ad for McClary Stoves; Vintage half-page photo ad for Eddy's Sterilized White Swan toilet paper shows fellow in bathing suit at the beach; Movie news with photos of Clark Gable, Francis Lederer, Ida Lupino, William Powell, Jean Chadburn, Alison Skipworth, Warren William, Conrad Veidt, Renee Ray, and more; Lux soap ad features photo of Joan Bennett; Photo of Dick Powell in Quaker Puffed Wheat ad; Pond's ad features photos of Miss Barbara Hebbard and Lady Daphne Straight; Unusual half-page ad for Blue-Jay Corn Plaster, by Bauer & Black Scientific; Nice half-page Canadian Pacific photo-ad features the Empress of Britain; Business News includes mention of the recent Alberta default; Cooking article; Lovely one-page colour Kraft ad features their cheese products; Nice one-page Heinz ad features their vinegar and Olive Oil; Vintage half-page Rice Krispies ad; Beauty article; Why Baby Cries; One-page Carnation Milk ad features five large photos of each of the individual Dionne Quints; World Sayings; Colour ads inside back cover for Lifebuoy and Rinso; Rare colour back cover ad for Red Indian oil and Marathon Blue gasoline features illustration of native elders in feathered headgear, painted by Winold Reiss; and more. Covers loose but present. Average wear and soiling. A worthy copy of this nice vintage issue. Book
193968 pages. Features: Colour cover illustration blonde beauty clutching her list of suitors; Lovely one-page colour-photo ad for McLaughlin-Buick features green car and flower saleslady; News digest includes 'President Roosevelt intervenes', 'The Washington Proposal', The 'Halt-Hitler' movement; 'Parallel Perfidies', and 'Albania and Poland'; If I Die Before I Wake (part I); Thank-you Too Much (short story); Wings Over Britain - photo-illustrated article on the balloon barrages and fighter squadrons defending against hostile bombers; The Sweet Shot (short story); Behind the Goose Step - photo-illustrated article examines whether the people of Italy and Germany desire war or peace; Not in Our Stars (short story); Golf article includes photo of Henry Cotton, Sam Snead, Mrs. P.J. Mulqueen, Canadian Ladies' Open Champion, and Ralph Guldahl; One-page Palmolive soap ad includes photo inset of Dorothy Phelan of 24 Prince Arthur St., St. Lambert, Quebec; Automotive Industries of Canada-sponsored one-page feature on the province of Manitoba, with map and text; Cecille Has a Birthday (short story); Personal finance article; Movie News - with photos of Jeffrey Lynn, Paul Lucas, Victory Jory, Shirley Temple, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexander Hall, Zazu Pitts, and George Raft; Half-page Canadian Pacific ad for the Banff Springs Hotel; Woodbury soap ad features photo of Miss Gloria Armstrong of New York; Fashion illustrations; Vintage Craven "A" cigarette ad includes small photo of couple smoking up; Classy one-page colour ad for Crane kitchen and bath plumbing fixtures; Interesting Hair-Dos - article with photos; Pond's ad includes photos of The Lady Rosemary Gresham, Mrs. Robert Armstrong, of Toronto, and The Hon. Ann Shaughnessy; Photo of The Lady Patricia French in skin-vitamin ad; Article on the health impact of sugar; Nice half-page colour ad for Sisman's Scampers shoes; Canaries (half-page article); Cooking article with Bridge Luncheon suggestions; Frigidaire one-page fridge ad; Weed control in lawns; Quotes from around the world; Very nice colour back cover Coke ad features young man with tie blowing in breeze, and inset photo of Coke machine at gas station; and more. Unmarked with average wear. Binding intact. A sound copy of this great vintage issue. Book
193768 pages. Features: Cover illustration of lady golfer on blue background; Nice colour ad inside front cover for Chateau Cheeses; One-page Parker Pen ad mentions their "Full television ink supply'; "Nothing for Nothing and Very Little for Sixpence" - Rev. J. Richmond Craig; Canada's food manufacturing industries; The Honourable Amy (short story); Little Mother (short story); Robbers' Code (short story); Josef Stalin (part II) - photo-illustrated article on the cobbler's son who is mightier than all the Tsars; Mending Rifts in Home Sweet Home - Judge Hawley S. Mott and the Toronto Family Court; The Pied Piper of On-Track Gulch (short story); Only Let Me Live (short story); Senior Football and Sham Amateurs - football article with photos of "Brute" Strange, Gus Greco, and Coach Warren Stevens of the University of Toronto; Hollywood news includes photos of Sophie Tucker, Gracie Fields, Eddie Cantor, Christian Rube, and many more; Irene Dunne appears in Lux soap ad; Cooking article; Vintage Heinz ketchup one-page ad entitled "Not Only for beefeaters!"; Photo-illustrated fashion article; Sweet Caporals ad feature photo of racehorse "King Emperor", owned by Miss Diana Dawes of Montreal; World Sayings; Nice colour ads for Lifebuoy and Rinso inside back cover; Great colour ad for Westinghouse radios on back cover features illustration of old-time wood craftsman; and more. Average wear. Writing to bottom of front cover. A worthy copy of this nice vintage issue. Book
Folio. 268 ff. Contemporary vellum with ms. title to spine. Fine incunabular edition of Pliny's famous encylopedic work, covering the entire field of ancient knowledge. With his "Natural History", Pliny gives a mathematical and physical description of the world, discusses geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, mineralogy, sculpture and painting. As "a purveyor of information both scientific and nonscientific, Pliny holds a place of exceptional importance in the tradition and diffusion of culture" (DSB). Through the present work Pliny "gives us by far the most detailed account of the coast of the United Arab Emirates that has come down to us. Chapter 32 of Book 6 (§ 149-152), beginning near the Qatar peninsula, proceeds to describe the Emirates islands, tribes, and coast right up to the Musandam peninsula, before continuing on south along the coast of Oman. As such, it is a mine of invaluable information on the UAE in the late pre-Islamic era" (UAE History, online). Pliny "completed his 'Natural History' in 77 AD and, to judge from his account of the peoples and places of south-eastern Arabia [...], the area of the UAE was full of settlements, tribes, and physical features, the names of which he recorded for posterity" (Ghareeb/Al Abed 54). - "This appears to be the first edition of Barbarus' recension, the note of a 1496 edition by the same printer being probably due to a confusion (Hain 13099)" (BMC). Dated 1497 in the colophon, but the dedication is dated the Ides of February in the twelfth year of the Doge Augustinus Barbadicus (30 Aug. 1497 to 29 Aug. 1498). - Numerous contemporary marginalia. Slight worming to gutter and some waterstaining near end; spine restored. Late 19th-c. bookplate of Dr. J. Klauber on front pastedown. HC 13101*. Goff P-799. GW M34321. Klebs 786.14. Proctor 4893A. BMC V 377. ISTC ip00799000.
1998Best.-Nr. Q-0966352408Natural Golf Corp 1998-03-01. paperback. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! Natural Golf Corp paperback
19881st edition. Folio, 219 pages, illustrated. Nr fine condition hardback in very good condition dust jacket, jacket has been price clipped. Dedcation to previous owner from family on free front endpaper. 40796. eng
Folio. (16), 311, (60) ff. Title-page and sub-title to index with ornamental woodcut border. Woodcut initials, head and tail pieces. Calf, gold-tooled ribbed spine with title-label. Sprinkled edges. First edition of the "Natural history" edited by Johannes Caesarius (1468-1550), a humanist and close friend of Erasmus. The original text was by Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23 - August 25, AD 79), better known as Pliny the Elder. He was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. The text in the present edition is decorated with woodcut borders and many woodcut initials. - The "Naturalis Historia" is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. He claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work. It comprised 37 books in 10 volumes and covered over 20,000 facts on topics including the fields of botany, zoology, astronomy , geology and mineralogy as well as the exploitation of those resources. It remains a standard work for the Roman period and the advances in technology and understanding of natural phenomena at the time. Some technical advances he discusses are the only sources for those inventions, such as hushing in mining technology or the use of water mills for crushing or grinding corn. Much of what he wrote about has been confirmed by archaeology. ''We know from Pliny that there were important pearl fisheries in the Gulf [...] Pliny identifies Tylos (Bahrain) as a place famous for its pearls [... He] attests that pearls were the most highly rated valuable in Roman society, and that those from the Gulf were specially praised [...] The pearl related finds at the site of El-Dur indicate the site was integrated into the maritime trade routes linking the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, India and South Arabia'' (Carter). Book 6 holds a chapter that gives the first detailed account of the regions around the Gulf, including what are now Qatar, the Emirates and Oman. - Not only is it virtually the only work which describes the work of artists of the time, and has it become an important reference work for the history of art, due to the wide range of topics, the referencing system and index it became a model for later encyclopaedias. - With manuscript notes of multiple owners on pastedown (including written ex-libris by Antonii Mauritii Seguin 1713 and Mathon de la cour 1744). Some underling in text, and notes in the margins (partly lost due to trimmed edges). A very good copy with bookplate of De Ponsainpierre on pastedown. VD 16, P 3531. Adams P 1556. BM-STC German 704. Durling 3689 (imperfect copy). Hunt 23. USTC (11 copies).
2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. (8), 357, (3), 324, (4) pp. With engraved frontispiece, title-page printed in red and black, 16 engraved views and maps (2 folding, 14 double-page; 4 drawn by Charles Vasteau), and 22 engraved illustrations in the text (3 signed by Johannes Kip), further with 5 woodcut decorated initials (3 series) plus repeats and a woodcut headpiece and tailpiece. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum, manuscript spine title, red sprinkled edges. First edition of Olfert Dapper's important description of the Middle East. The first part is devoted to Mesopotamia or Algizira, Babylonia, Assyria and Anatolia, while the second is entirely devoted to Arabia. The work is especially important for the original and new information on Islam, Arabic science, astronomy, philosophy and historiography. Besides a map of Arabia, the fine plates include views of Mount Sinai, Bagdad, Basra, Nineveh, Abydos, Smyrna, Aden, Muscat, Mocha the Tower of Babel. The second part includes a description of coffee: "In Arabia Felix alone, and in no other place of the whole world, there grows a seed or corn or bean shrub which the Arabs call 'Bon' or 'Ban', of which they prepare a drink by cooking it in water over the fire ..." (part 2, pp. 61f.). The present copy includes a plate showing the plants "Abelmosch", "Semsen" and "Sambak", not called for in the binder's instructions, but included in some copies. - A German translation of Dapper's account appeared in 1681. - Front hinge cracked, otherwise in very good condition. Atabey 322; Hage Chahine 1206; Hünersdorff, Coffee, p. 386; Tiele, Bibl. 300; cf. Blackmer 450 (German ed.); Slot, The Arabs of the Gulf, p. 412.
