1697 — In Folio (mm 340x240); 16 carte non num., pagine 1059, (1); frontespizio in rosso e nero; legatura in tutta pelle coeva con dorso a sei nervi, titolo e fregi agli scomparti, titolo su tassello, tagli spruzzati. Buon esemplare con qualche traccia di usura lieve alla legatura, cuffie restaurate. Internamente ottimo esemplare fresco e marginoso, ma occhiello con un restauro, prime carte con piccola mancanza all'angolo inf. Prima edizione di questa celebre opera fondamentale per la conoscenza del mondo orientale basata sulla immensa bibliografia arabica di Hadji Khalfa (Katip Çelebi), di cui d'Herbelot fece sostanzialmente un ampio compendio aggiungendo però numerose notizie da altre fonti arabe e turche, a stampa e manoscritte. L'opera fu pubblicata postuma, due anni dopo la morte, dall'orientalista Galland. Furono stampate quattro edizioni, l'ultima nel 1781-83. Atabey, 563: "Herbelot spent the last thirty years of his life working on his Bibliothèque orientale, a landmark in Arabic studies which was unfinished at his death and completed and published two years later by the orientalist Antoine Galland in 1697. He knew a range of languages, including Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew, and was familiar with their literature and history, of which this work forms an encyclopaedia." Brunet II, 664; Zischka 15; Graesse II, 376 First edition, folio, pp. [32], 1059, [1]; title page printed in red and black, woodcut ornaments and initials; full contemporary calf, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1. Good general condition, edges somewhat worn, some restorations at spine, short-title reinforced and restored, titlepage and next two leaves with minor defects and small lacks at bottom corner. Based on the immense Arabic bibliography (the Kashf al-Zunun) of Hadji Khalfa (Katip Çelebi), of which it is largely an abridged translation, but it also contains the substance of a vast number of other Arabic and Turkish compilations and manuscripts. Four editions of this encyclopedia on the culture and history of the Near East were printed, the last being 1781-83. Atabey, 563: "Herbelot spent the last thirty years of his life working on his Bibliothèque orientale, a landmark in Arabic studies which was unfinished at his death and completed and published two years later by the orientalist Antoine Galland in 1697. He knew a range of languages, including Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew, and was familiar with their literature and history, of which this work forms an encyclopaedia." A supplement compiled by Claude de Visdelou was published in 1780. Brunet II, 664; Zischka 15; Graesse II, 376
