Letellier, L.-Victor.MareMagnum
4.497 resultados
Oblong 8vo. LVI, 236 pp. Full brown calf, richly giltstamped on both covers. All edges gilt. White moirée endpapers. Splendidly bound dictionary of French and Italian words with their counterparts in Arabic, Turkish, and Modern Greek, all in Roman transliteration. Contains brief introductions to the grammar of the various languages. Written for the use of the French army in Northern Africa and the Levant as well as for travellers and tradesmen throughout the eastern Mediterranean. - Pencil note "Relie au Caire" to flyleaf. Some browning throughout, title page and preface as well as final leaves show more pronounced foxing. Bookplate of Gaetano Querci on pastedown; old collection stamps on half-title and title page. Not in Zaunmüller or Vater/Jülg.
8vo. (32), "290" (but: 288; omitting 257f.), 38 pp. With engraved frontispiece (portrait of Cosimo Medici III) and woodcut Medici coat of arms on title page. Contemporary limp vellum with handwritten spine title. Only edition of this uncommon Italian-Turkish dictionary by the Neapolitan linguist Mascis, interpreter to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (to whom his effort is dedicated). In Roman type throughout, even the table of Arabic letters consists only of the letters' transliterated names. The alphabetical word list is followed by quick-reference sections on the parts of the human body as well as on numbers and the names of the Islamic months, and lists of the languagues spoken throughout the Ottoman Empire (no fewer than 33), of the kingdoms and principalities ruled by the Ottomans, and of the names of all the Ottoman sultans to Mehmed IV, reigning at the date of publication. A final part with separate page numbering contains a basic grammar of Turkish to facilitate translation from Italian into the Turkish language. - Occasional brownstaining. Wants endpapers; contemporary ownership on front pastedown. A little loosened, but complete. A rare little vocabulary. The Macclesfield copy, which wanted the portrait frontispiece, commanded £1060. Zaunmüller 389. Vater/Jülg 414. BM-STC Italian XVII, 554.
4to. XVI, 144 pp. With 7 numbered plates (4 of which coloured) and several black and white illustrations in the text. Original full cloth with stamped falcon to front cover and stamped spine-title. First edition. - A standard work of modern falconry literature by one of the most renowned falconers of the 20th century, the British lawyer Mavrogordato (1905-87). This "excellent book" (Gallagher) is directed at a new generation of falconers choosing to work with the previously frowned-upon sparrowhawks instead of falcons, but also addresses experienced hawkers. It includes observations on the choice of a suitable bird, the treatment of eyasses, the falconer's equipment, and the calling-off of a bird, as well as the animals' diet and health. - The charming illustrations were carried out by the British artist George Edward Lodge (1860-1954), himself an authority on falconry. The plates show muskets and goshawks sitting or in flight; the text illustrations mainly display tools used by the falconer, including hoods, knots, and perches. - Title-page slightly foxed, otherwise in excellent condition. Gallagher, Falcon Fever 85. Oelgart 29B. OCLC 6399849.
8vo. XII, 83 pp., final blank page. With one photographic plate and 6 numbered illustrations in the text. Contemporary full cloth. The first and only edition of this "extremely interesting little book" (Jameson) on falconry by the British entomologist and member of the British Falconer's Club, J. E. M. Mellor (1890-1984). Enriched "with many historical comments not to be found in other works" (Jameson), it includes information on all relevant aspects of falconry, such as training, feeding, ailments, and parasites, as well as a glossary of falconry terms. The plate shows a neo-Hittite bas-relief in the Louvre displaying a child standing on his mothers knees holding the leash of a falcon. The text illustrations exhibit a falcon block, hoods, bells, jesses and swivels, how to prepare a dead bird to be fed to hawks, a bow-perch for a goshawk, and instructions for fixing damaged feathers. - Occasional light foxing. A very good copy of this rare work never seen at auction. Jameson, American Hawking 138. Chamerlat, La fauconnerie et l'art 251. OCLC 12438224. Not in Harting.
4to. IX, (1), 356 pp. With steel-engraved title-page, 79 engraved plates (of which 24 are coloured steel-engravings, 54 tinted woodcuts, and one a tinted lithograph), and one steel-engraved folding map of Palestine in original hand colour. Contemporary giltstamped and blindstamped full cloth with title to cover and spine. All edges gilt. First edition. - Lavishly illustrated work on the Holy Land by the professor of archaeology and later conservator at the Bavarian National Museum, Messmer (1829-79), featuring the same illustrations as Friedrich Adolph Strauss in his 1861 work "Die Länder und Stätten der heiligen Schrift". However, Messmer's work greatly differs in the text, which is "preferable [to that of Strauss] as it discusses the element of architecture much more thoroughly" (cf. Tobler). It is sometimes inaccurately described as an extract or abbridgement of another publication by Strauss, entitled "Sinai und Golgatha", first published in 1847. The steel-engraved illustrations include views of Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Damascus, the interior and exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, views of Mount Olivet, the Temple Mount, the Jericho desert, and Mount Sinai, as well as archaeological sites like Abu Simbel, and a violent scene showing the assassination of a Maronite priest and the kidnapping of women by Druzes and Bedouins. The woodcut plates include views of Beirut, Gaza, Hebron, Jericho and Sidon. - Hinges somewhat chafed. Several pages show traces of one or two horizontal folds starting from right margin (most prominent in pp. 151-175); occasional light brownstaining; small flaw to lower corner of p. 221f., no loss to text. Otherwise very well preserved. Tobler 171f. (note). Röhricht 2093 (note). OCLC 174874595.
8vo. XVII, (1 blank), 255, (27), VIII pp. Contemporary blindstamped full calf. Sixth and final edition of this manual of English hunting law, first published in 1727, deemed "still more useful and satisfactory" (p. 3 of the preface) than its predecessors. Opening with an introduction describing the history of English game law from the time Britain was under Saxon rule, when there "was such plenty of game, that there was no occasion for restraining laws to preserve them" (p. IX), until the reissue of the 1217 "Charter of the Forest" in 1225, the treatise explains key terms of hunting law in alphabetical order, describes exemplary law cases, and discusses when, where and by whom which animals can be chased, and in what manner offenders are proceeded against. The present copy includes the 8-page appendix, giving two acts relating to doves and fish that were passed shortly after the book was printed, which is lacking in some copies of this edition. - Extremities slightly rubbed; hinges cracked. Paper evenly browned throughout. Contemporary ownership of J. Kilsby, dated 1775, to title-page; later in the collection of Charles Henry Stanley Garton (b. 1920), his ownership, dated Kingswood, May 1946, to front pastedown. This edition not seen at auction since 1962. Westwood/Satchell 155. Cf. Schwerdt II, 40 (1732 ed.). ESTC T82611. OCLC 837605604. Not in Souhart, Harting.
4to. XVII, (1), 312 pp. Title-page printed in red and black. With engraved frontispiece and 12 plates. Contemporary full cloth with gilt hawk on front cover, giltstamped title to cover and spine. First edition. - Posthumously published work of natural history by the distinguished British ornithologist Lord Lilford (1833-96), whose aviaries at Lilford Hall, installed in the 1890s, aroused the envy of field ornithologists of the day and were especially noted for the collection of birds of prey. Edited by his friend, the traveller, naturalist and writer Aubyn Bernard Rochfort Trevor-Battye (1855-1922), it includes descriptions of the Lilford Hall premises, its ponds, paddocks, and aviaries, as well as notes on otter hunting, and an introduction to falconry written by Reverend Gage Earle Freeman, which, in matters of introducing the sport, is regarded "the best short essay ever written" (Barber). It features quotations from Lilford's earlier publications, as well as private letters, and a speech he gave in his role as President of the British Ornithologists' Union in February 1894, as well as some sections from the journal Lilford kept during his travels in the Mediterranean in 1874, 1878-79, and 1882. In addition, the work comprises an appendix drawing from Lilford's notes on everyday events in his aviaries, stating for example that his "English raven rolls and enjoys himself in the snow" (p. 272), as well as a complete list of his publications. The illustrations, carried out by the Scottish painter Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), are studies of individual birds in the Lilford aviaries, showing, inter alia, Lämmergeier, cranes, a golden eagle in its nest, a trained goshawk sitting on a falconer's hand, two ruffs fighting, flamingoes, and a Greenland falcon. The frontispiece depicts Lilford in his study with a dead falcon lying on his desk as well as a live song bird sitting on his backrest. - Small tears to spine; two small holes in the hinges; corners slightly bumped. Interior with occasional light brownstaining. Handwritten ownership of Charles Henry Stanley Garton (b. 1920), dated Kingswood, 16 January 1942, to front pastedown. Barber 10. Ballance, Birds in Counties 233. OCLC 314718094. Not in Harting, Schwerdt.
4to. (4), 22, (2), V pp. With 3 plates of drawings. Original printed wrappers, stapled. First edition, rare. - Practical beginner's guide to falconry by a member of the British Falconers' Club, reissued in the 1950s and 1960s. It recommends the kestrel as a suitable hawk for beginners due to the "ease with which young kestrels may be obtained, their amenability to training and their relative hardiness" (p. 3), and describes the preparations required before taking up an eyass, including the acquisition of suitable perches, blocks, jesses, swivels, leashes and gloves. Includes notes on the kestrel's feeding an training, as well as on the bird's health and common diseases, including damaged feathers, and gives instructions on how to hood a falcon. Originally hand-drawn, then printed, the illustrations show the main tools used by a falconer, including a block, perch, and jess, as well as a step-by-step guide to tying the falconer's knot. - A sheet of advertisements by the Bate and Slice Society for their 1976 reprint of Joseph Wolf's famous portrait of a hooded white gyrfalcon from Schlegel and Wulverhorst's 1844 "Traité de Fauconnerie", as well as a handwritten note ("Is this your permanent address?") signed "G. A.", are loosely enclosed. - Covers slightly creased. Interior with light brownstaining; traces of a fold to top right corner of first page. Two small annotations with ballpoint pen on pp. 19 and 22. Only three institutions holding copies of this treatise are traceable internationally (the British Library, the University of Oxford, and the US Air Force Academy). Never seen at auction. Oelgart 27A. OCLC 19755003.
8vo. 104 pp. With several black and white photographic illustrations in the text. Original printed wrappers. First edition. - The first 1947 issue of the "Field Sports" magazine, including essays on hawking, salmon fishing, hunting, rabbiting, and the study of footprints. Stunning wildlife photography shows eagles, mallards, seagulls, badgers, hounds, and salmons. The essay on falconry was prepared by the British author and broadcaster James Wentworth Day (1899-1983), who gives an atmospheric description of the tradition of hawking in England: "To see a party of falconers, some mounted and some on foot, hawks on fist [...] silhouetted against the sky-line of a Wilshire down, with all the green and noble emptiness of stubble, chalk down and misty hollow falling away at their feet in seemingly limitless immensity, is to see a page of English history reborn, to recapture something of the romance and colour of an earlier England [...]" (p. 33f.). - Advertisement on pastedowns. Extremities lightly bumped.
350 glass diapositive stereoviews (58 x 129 mm each), the majority with a metal strip along the top edge, preserved in 18 wooden cradles (each cradle with 20 slots); housed in a wooden [mahogany?] box. Includes a wooden stereoviewer. A unique collection of 350 glass stereo views by an unidentified photographer, showing the West Indies, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Turkey, Madeira, and Italy.
Small 4to. (2), 112 pp., final blank leaf. Slightly later full cloth with giltstamped title to cover and spine. Re-issue of this important guide to falconry by the "grand old man of British falconry" (Gallagher), Ronald Stevens (d. 1994), first published in 1956. The book questions several age-old concepts of the sport, such as the attempt of teaching falcons to wait on through flying to the lure, and introduces methods of teaching the birds to home to the falconer's house, which "caused a great deal of rethinking among falconers" (Gallagher). - Stevens settled in the remote Fermoyle Lodge in Connemara in Ireland in the early 1960s, the place quickly turning into something of a Mecca for falconers from all across the world, his treatises inspiring generations of aspired falconers. - Handwritten ownership of Charles Garton, dated Wadeford House, December 1987, to front pastedown. A typescript letter signed by John Cox from The Clock House bookshop to Garton is loosely enclosed, regarding his order of "A Falcon in the Field" by Jack Mavrogordato (London, Knightly Vernon Ltd., 1966), which could not be fulfilled as the work was not to be reprinted due to the author's recent death, offering to send him Stevens's work instead. With Garton's autograph reply on the same sheet, accepting the offer, and asking Cox to refund him the difference. The Clock House's advertisement for "A Falcon in the Field", with handwritten notes by Garton, is stapled to the letter. - Occasional light foxing. A very good copy of this influential work. Gallagher, Falcon Fever 74. OCLC 974238561.
8vo. XI, (1), 211, (1) pp. With a hand-coloured wood-engraved frontispiece and 4 large folding lithographed pedigree tables. Original burnt red cloth binding with giltstamped title to spine and upper cover. First edition. - Upton was one of the early experts on the bloodlines of British thoroughbreds. His book describes both the influence of the Arabian horse on the development of the English thoroughbred as well as many interesting aspects of the Arabian horse. Shortly after the publication of this work - intended to "point out errors that have been committed in the breeding of our horse" (p. iii) - he travelled in Arabia to obtain purebred horses and so improve the quality of British cavalry remounts. Upton served with the 9th Lancers. - Binding somewhat bumped and rubbed with traces of moisture to covers. Lightly browned throughout, paper brittle with occasional edge or corner flaws, frontispiece and title-page rather foxed. Rare. Boyd/P. 130. Huth 273. OCLC 12795478.
8vo. (4), 135, (3) pp. With 3 folding tables and 1 engraved plate. Later blue wrappers. Only edition of this introduction to Arabic, written by the Comte de Volney (1757-1820) as history professor at the newly-founded École normale, immediately after the end of the Terreur and his release from prison following the fall of Robespierre. In spite of its wide-ranging title, the book comprises essentially an Arabic grammar and a collection of Arabic proverbs; the long introductory chapter has been hailed a model of style. Volney had learned Arabic in 1782 in preparation of a long journey through Egypt and Syria. The work displays his ingenious method of simplifying the study of Arabic, Persian and Turkish by transliterating the alphabets into European characters. The tables give the Arabic alphabet, the conjugation of regular verbs, and instructions on how to write Arabic letters by hand, as well as the Arabic alphabet in European characters intended for merchants travelling to Asia and Africa. With a section of Arabian proverbs included as samples. - Pages 30-31 unopened. A good copy of this important work, untrimmed as issued. Gay 3429. Brunet V, 1351. Cioranescu 663767. Monglond III, 481. OCLC 21978700.
Folio (ca. 350 x 493 mm). 17 aquatint plates in original hand colour and one double-page-sized aquatint map of the Mediterranean in original hand colour, all with captions in English. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped title and 2 floral ornaments to spine. Marbled endpapers. Collection of 18 of the 43 illustrations from the account of the voyage of HMS Swiftsure and the Battle of the Nile by the British clergyman and artist Willyams (1762-1816), who served as chaplain aboard the ship, a vessel of Admiral Nelson's squadron captained by Benjamin Hallowell Carew. The 17 plates in the present volume show views of the caves of Gibraltar and the Spanish Church in the city, the Bay of Fournelles, Ischia, a street in Caiffe at the foot of Mount Carmel featuring two dromedars, Aboukir castle, caverns near Syracuse and the Temple of Minerva, the Palermo Capuchin catacombs, and a view of Scylla on the coast of Calabria, as well as an attack on the French camp near Aboukir, an attack of Turkish gun boats on the castle of Aboukir, and a group of three Arabs aboard the Swiftsure. The aquatint map shows the Mediterranean Sea with the courses of the British and French fleets up to their encounter in the Bay of Aboukir in August 1798. Designed by Willyams, the illustrations were engraved by Joseph Constantine Stadler. - Binding somewhat rubbed near extremities. Right margins of several plates brownstained or a little worn (not touching image); map brownstained on left and right margins and near the gutter (hardly touching image); the plate with the entrance into the Ear of Dionysius with traces of 2 folds near lower right corner (not touching image). An appealing compilation of decorative images documenting the route of the British fleet leading up to the Battle of the Nile. For the original publication cf. Abbey 196. Blackmer 1813. Atabey (2nd ed.) 1339. Graesse VII, 456.
4to. (2), CX, 637, (1) pp. With 2 coloured plates (including a portrait frontispiece) and 184 black and white plates (1 of which not included in pagination). Original full cloth with giltstamped spine and spine-title. Second edition of this important English translation of the famous Latin treatise on ornithology and falconry written in the 1240s by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. It was prepared by the Canadian ophthalmologist and comparative zoologist C. A. Wood (1856-1942), who studied animal vision, especially that of birds, and was first published in 1943 by Stanford University Press. The plentiful illustrations include a portrait frontispiece of Frederick II, photographs of various decorative manuscript pages from "De arte venandi cum avibus", falconer's equipment, and landmarks associated with the Emperor, including Castel del Monte and his tomb in Palermo, as well as drawings and photographs of various species of falcons and hawks, and a map of southern Italy and Sicily showing the Emperor's castles and hunting lodges. - Giltstamping somewhat faded; edges very slightly foxed. A very good copy of this second edition, never seen at auction. Oelgart 24B. U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Special Bibliography Series 81, 192. OCLC 459570612.
Small 4to. XVI, 192 pp. With photographic frontispiece, 11 photographic plates, and 9 illustrations in the text. Original full cloth with giltstamped falcon to cover and giltstamped spine-title. First edition. An authoritative textbook, one of two classics on falconry to appear in 1960 (the other being Jack Mavrogordato's "A Hawk for the Bush"). It discusses the choice of hawk for training with the necessary furniture and appliances, individual species used in falconry, their particular challenges in training and management, their handling when flown at quarry in the field, falcons' home life, their health and disease, as well as how to deal with lost hawks, and the moult. - With contributions by S. E. Allen and Jack Mavrogordato on game hawking and rook hawking. The impressive illustrations display various birds of prey, including lanners, sakers and peregrines, as well as merlins, kestrels, and goshawks, sometimes hooded or on perches. One photograph shows a young boy working with a kestrel. The other illustrations show the equipment typically used in the sport, including the falconers' knot, hoods, jesses, and bells. - Edges and endpapers slightly foxed. A single copy in auction records. Oelgart 31A. Cf. U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Special Bibliography Series 81, 590 (U.S. edition). OCLC 1079355522.
4to. English manuscript on paper. (4), 306 pp. With mounted engraved frontispiece in original hand colour and 21 mounted engraved plates, 13 of which in original hand colour. Contemporary half calf over patterned boards with giltstamped spine and spine-title. Marbled endpapers. All edges red. Intriguing manuscript comprising five Arabian tales allegedly recounted by officers at a Spahi camp in Algeria in the context of an imminent raid against the Haschemu tribe loyal to Emir Abdelkader in 1842, commanded by the French general Louis Juchault de Lamoricière (1806-65). The compiler, who gives his initals as "E. H. S. de R." on the title-page, states that he transcribed the tales from another book, but gives no clear indication whether or not the account is purely fictitious. He does, however, criticize the "cruel system of warfare which the French have hitherto employed in Africa" (p. 1). - Prefaced to the tales is an introduction describing the events leading up to the frame narrative, involving the rescue of a Douair chieftain by a member of the Spahi regiment, and the officers spending the evening together at the campfire. Five of them are prompted to tell stories, some autobiographical, which the editor has titled "The Unfortunate", "The Dervish of Anatolia", "The Renegade", "The Arab's Faith", "Love and Hate", and "The Fugitive of Armenya". The last tale is followed by an account of the fate of the two Douair and Spahi officers, who became close friends after the latter saved the life of the former. - The hand-coloured engravings which illustrate the volume depict characters and scenes from the tales; the frontispiece shows a lavishly decorated room in a palace with an Arab leader smoking a long pipe, surrounded by servants and followers. Continuously paginated, but with additional pagination for each tale. The additional heading "First series" on the title-page suggests that the present manuscript was conceived as part of a larger set. - Extremities slightly rubbed; interior very clean. A very well preserved volume providing an unusual look at French rule in Algeria during its early years.
8vo. French manuscript on paper. 216 pp. Text in brown ink with some word highlighted in red, enclosed within red and brown borders. With 5 hand-drawn plates, one of which folding, one in original hand colour. Contemporary full calf with gilt spine and green morocco label; name "Mr Decullant" gilt to upper cover within florally gilt borders; leading edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. All edges lightly sprinkled red. Unpublished hippological manuscript in neat French calligraphy, discussing horse breeds, proportions, balance, paces, coats, horseshoes, and warranty issues. A separate section on Arabian horses discusses the breeders' practice of issuing certificates of authenticity for each individual animal, as well as that of branding: "L'origine des individus [...] est attestée par des Certificats à l'authenticité des quels ils tiennent avec une Extrème Rigeur, ils les marquent de plus au feu sur nombre d'endroits du Corps" (p. 109f.). The Arabian horse is singled out for its speed and praised for its boldness, as are the riders' impressive skills, envied by many a European army: "Nos armées ont admiré [...] et deploré souvent, cette petulance des chevaux, aussi bien que la Bravour de leurs Cavaliers pour qu'il soit Bésoin d'en faire un éloge plus pompeux" (p. 111). Furthermore, the author collects useful advice for buying horses and on distinguishing features to appreciate, including various deformities to be considered. The drawings illustrate the horse's proportions, displaying the animal in profile, from front and from behind; they also show the effects of leverage and equilibrium, and illustrate basic concepts of geometry. Throughout the text, the author repeatedly refers to hippiatric authorities such as the veterinarians Charles Bourgelat (1712-79), François Alexandre de Garsault (1691-1778), and Philippe-Étienne Lafosse (1738-1820). The wording "cette troisième section du cours" (p. 1) suggests that the present manuscript was conceived as part of a series of hippological textbooks, but no publication could be traced, nor could the author be identified. - Early 20th century handwritten notes on the treatment of a riding horse, probably transcribed from another work, loosely inserted. Extremities slightly rubbed, interior crisp and clean. A unique survival.
Large 4to (230 x 280 mm). 2 parts in 4 volumes. (2), 144, (2) pp. (2), 145-281 pp. 360 pp. (8), XIV, 361-446 pp. Original printed blue wrappers. Arabic text with Latin translation and commentary of this chronicle of mediaeval Moroccan dynasties, including the Idrisids, Zanata, Almoravids, Almohads, and Merinids, by Zar al-Fasi (d. after 726/1326). - Somewhat wrinkled and dust-stained; untrimmed. GAL II, 240f. OCLC 682184610.
17 original gelatin silver photographs (14 small format and three postcard sized). All but three captioned on the versos in pencil. An excellent group of snapshots of Bahrain, chiefly focusing on the Bahrain International Airport and the capital, Manama. - The photographer is unidentified but was probably a serviceman based at RAF Bahrain, a military installation attached to the Bahrain International Airport from 1943 to 1971. Several photographs show the airfield, training base and the inside of some billets. Only one is aerial, a vertiginous bird’s-eye view of Muharraq Island, where the airfield was located. - In addition to the expected images of military life are glimpses of Manama, where the servicemen spent their time off. There are interesting views of commercial streets, the Al-Fadhel Mosque and the Bab Al-Bahrain. Some provide lively period detail, such as the film poster for Nau Bahar (an Indian drama released in 1952), a dealership advertising Ford cars, and a street lined with flags in preparation for the state visit of King Saud Ibn Abdulaziz in April 1954. That visit, undertaken shorty after Saud became King, was witness to the first suggestion of a bridge linking Eastern Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, an idea that eventually came into being with the construction of the King Fahd Causeway in the 1980s. - Some staining and spotting to the versos, a few printed from damaged negatives, otherwise very clean and clear with little fading.
8vo. XXIV, 213, (1) pp. With 2 folding engraved plates. Contemporary full mottled calf with giltstamped red morocco label to prettily gilt spine. Marbled endpapers. All edges red. First edition thus. Very rare French translation of two essays by the Scottish-born East India Company officer and orientalist Alexander Dow (1735-79), first published within his "History of Hindostan, translated from the Persian of Ferishta" (1768). The present edition omits the text of the world history of Firishta that Dow had presented in his book, giving only his "dissertation concerning the religion and philosophy of the Brahmins" as well as an outline of the then-current state of India, partly taken from Dow's preface. Contains two folding plates, engraved by P. L. Charpentier, showing the Sanskrit alphabet and the metre employed in the Vedas. Re-issued in 1780. - Early 19th century bookseller label of A. Claudin, Paris, pasted head-over-heels to lower pastedown. Binding very attractively preserved. Excepting the Sir Thomas Phillipps copy, sold at Sotheby's in 1977, this is the second copy known in trade records. Lanson III, 8161. OCLC 34570575.
8vo. (3)-245, (3) pp. Contemporary sprinkled boards. Second German translation of "Hayy ibn Yaqzan" by the 12th-century physician Ibn Tufail, widely considered the first philosophical novel and tremendously influential on Eastern and Western intellectual traditions alike. The Arabic tale (not to be confused with Avicenna's earlier like-named romance) was known in Europe as early as the 15th century through Pico della Mirandola's 1493 unpublished Latin translation, and scholars have since asserted its influence on Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Robert Boyle, the modern novel, Enlightenment thought, and even Robinson Crusoe. A bilingual Arabic and Latin edition appeared at Oxford in 1671, marking its first publication in Europe, and this was soon followed by English and Dutch translations. "A medieval philosophical treatise in literary form, written by the Andalusian philosopher Abu Bakr Ibn-Tufayl in the 1160s, it relates the story of human knowledge as it rises from a blank slate, through practical exploration of nature, to a mystical or direct experience of God. Its central argument is that human reason can independently access scientific knowledge unaided by religion or society and its conventions, leading not only to the tenets of natural philosophy but also to the attainment of mystical insight, the highest form of human knowledge" (Ben-Zaken, p. 2). Following the life of a young man stranded on an otherwise uninhabited island, it is easy to appreciate comparisons to Robinson Crusoe; given the protagonist's flair as an autodidact and faith in empiricism, it is similarly not difficult to understand the story's appeal to Enlightenment thinkers, whom this German edition would have served well. The work's Western influence is hardly to obscure its importance within the Arabic and Persian literary traditions, nor its influence on Islamic philosophy. The author was well placed to leave an enduring legacy. "He was the caliph's friend and confidant as well as his physician. The two could talk freely about the burning issues of the day, even including creation and whether the world had always been as we know it" (Goodman). - Unchanged re-issue of Eichhorn's new translation, styled "The Natural Man", which had first appeared the previous year. An earlier German translation, by J. G. Pritsius, had been published in 1726. - Ownership signature of the theologian Martin Hößler (b. 1877), dated 2 November 1919, written in indelible pencil on front flyleaf. Light dampstain to lower pastedown and moderate wear to the binding extremities. Complete, pagination notwithstanding, matching all digitized copies available for comparison. An appealing copy. VD 18, 11177462. OCLC 247720469. Avner Ben-Zaken, Reading Hayy Ibn-Yaqzan: A Cross-Cultural History of Autodidacticism (Baltimore, 2011), p. 10. Cf. GAL S I, p. 831 f. Schnurrer p. 472.
Folio. 6 pp., 1 bl. f., 637, (1) pp. Contemp. calf binding with fore-edge flap, blindstamped cover ornament and cloth spine. First edition of this Islamic chronicle by the Ottoman religious scholar and historian Kara Çelebi-zâde Abdul Aziz Efendi (1591-1658). The Bulaq press, established in 1235 (1819/20), "'wrote' printing history. This is the first Muslim printing press in the Arab world" (Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, p. 183). - Professionally restored. OCLC 462409245 (only the BnF copy).
8vo. (117)-127, (1) pp. Original printed wrappers. Offprint from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. About the Mahmal, the closed rectangular pyramidal canopy taken along on camelback on Egyptian and Syrian pilgrimages to Mecca before Ibn Saud's conquest of the Hejaz in 1925 - a "very curious custom in Islam", the origin and purport of which the present essay undertakes to investigate. "It is very improbable that the Mahmal [...] will be seen in the Hejaz again [...] The Mahmal is heretical to Islam, and the Wahhabis [...] have declined to admit the Mahmal into the Hejaz" (p. 117). - Wrapper shows insignificant ruststains from staples, otherwise in perfect condition. OCLC 47931240. Not in Macro.
5 colour-printed topographic maps, sheets ca. 77 x 63 cm each or smaller. Constant ratio linear horizontal scale 1:200,000. A rare set of 5 maps from the French military's cartography of the Levant, produced from the mid-1920s until the Second World War. The maps comprise: Antioche (Antakya and Iskenderun), Palmyre (Tadmur, Palmyra), Haiffa (Haifa, Acre, and Tyre), and Homs (2 different sheets). Considered products of military intelligence by the French government, the maps fell into German hands when Germany invaded France in 1940. The present maps were subsequently accessioned by the Geographical Institute of the University of Berlin and bear the Institute's stamps and pencil shelfmarks. - Two maps folded. Occasional edge and corner flaws, some wrinkling, duststaining and minor chips and tears to margins, but altogether well preserved. OCLC 904341885.