4 134 résultats
Tall 8vo (172 x 252 mm). 4 vols. Arabic text throughout apart from titles in English (lacking in second volume) and 4 pp. subscribers' list in vol. 4. Modern half calf over marbled boards with blindstamped spine title. The rare and celebrated first complete edition of the Arabic text, printed in Calcutta at the Baptist Mission Press. Also known as the "Calcutta II" version, this is described on the title as "now, for the first time, published complete in the original Arabic, from an Egyptian manuscript brought to India by the late Major Turner Macan, editor of the Shah-Nameh". - The original scattered Arabic texts were collected in four corpora: the so-called Calcutta I or Shirwanee edition (1814-18, 2 vols.), the Bulaq or Cairo edition (1835, 2 vols.), the Breslau edition (1825-38, 8 vols.), and the present one, the "Calcutta II" or the "MacNaghten" edition. Considered the most comprehensive text of the Arabian Nights, this is also the basis for the best-known translations including the English editions by John Payne and Richard F. Burton. - "Première édition complète du texte arabe [...] Elle a été donnée d'après un manuscrit égyptien pris dans l'Inde par le major Turner Macan, et elle a eu pour éditeur sir W.-H. Macnaghten" (Brunet). "It was only in 1839-1842 that the Arabic text [of the 1001 Nights] was edited in its entirety, by Macnaghten" (cf. Fück). - Browned and brownstained. Intermittent worming throughout, occasionally with extensive loss and stabilized with translucent paper, especially concerning the beginning and end of vol. 2. An extraordinary survival. Chauvin IV, p. 17, 20B. Brunet III, 1715. Graesse IV, 523. Fück, p. 139, n. 365.
Albumen prints: 3 cabinet cards (ca. 14 x 10 cm) and 3 cartes-de-visite (ca. 9 x 5 cm, including 1 repeat), all mounted on cardboard, two with Geiser's studio imprint. A collection of rare portraits by the Algiers-based photographer Jean Geiser (1848-1923) showing Algerian women in traditional dress, both veiled and with uncovered faces. - Occasional light staining, but well preserved.
Oblong album (320 x 410 mm). Album with 50 photographic prints of various sizes (135 x 95 to 290 x 215 mm), each pasted on thick paperboard. Half black leather with title in gold lettering on front board. Album with 50 albumen prints of scenes in Algeria and Tunisia, made by an unknown photographer. Most of the photographs have a caption naming the place photographed, but only 5 indicate place of production or publication of the photos. These were all produced in Tunis, at least some by the French photographer J. Garrigues, printed and published at his studio. Notable photographs in this album are the first, showing a veiled woman, a barber at work in the streets, riders on their horses, camels with riders and luggage, the Notre Dame d’Afrique in Algiers. Other subjects include city views, (fairly) candid photos of people in the streets, landscapes and the exterior and interior of a mosque. - The most remarkable print in this album actually does not fit in with the other images of places in North Africa. It is a photograph of pilgrims before the Great Mosque and Kaaba in Mecca, modern day Saudi Arabia with a caption in Arabic. This photograph was taken by the first Arab photographer Al-Sayyid ‘Abd al-Gaffar ca. 1887, making it one of the first photographs of Mecca. The present album contains this picture in its original form, including the Arabic caption. An edited version of the photograph (in which remnants of the Arabic caption are visible) can be found in Hurgronje’s "Bilder aus Mekka". - With a small Antwerp bookseller’s ticket on the front paste-down. The binding shows some signs of wear, slight foxing/browning of the outer edges of the paper boards (not affecting the photographic prints), some prints have slightly faded edges, which does not interfere with the actual image. Overall in good condition.
147 albumen and silver gelatin print photographs, mounted on loose cardstock (recto and verso). Some with inked captions in contemporary hand. Included is a typewritten military communication, also laid down on two sides of cardstock. Over one hundred photographs of French exploration of the Sahara by airplane and automobile in the first decade of flight, set against the backdrop of WWI, the first years of aviation, the Kaocen revolt, and French colonization of Algeria. - Thirty-two aerial photographs show not only towns and oases of the M'zab region of Saharan Algeria such as El Guerrara and Melika, but likely the landmarks by which early pilots were learning to navigate in vast tracts of desert; other photographs feature the Farman F.41 biplane, briefly in use in French North Africa in 1917. The goal to traverse the Sahara was not without dangers: two disasters appear in the record. One is a plane crash, shown in four photographs of a group of men inspecting the wreckage of a downed plane, possibly one of the Farman F.41s, though its state makes identification difficult. The second involves an altercation with local Tuareg people, with whom the French were at war at the time, in the midst of the larger conflict of WWI. The skirmish is described in a typed military communique. Addressed from the Gouvernement General de l'Algerie, 19th Corps d'Armee, Territoire du Sud, Territoire des Oasis, it reads: "Le commandant Militaire fait part aux Troupes du Territoire de la mort glorieuse due Personnel de l'Aviation Saharienne parti de Ouargla en reconnaissance automobile sure In-Salah le 27 Janvier [...] A leur arrivée dans les gorges d'Ain-Guettara; le Ier Février, les deux automobiles sont tombées dans une embuscade tendue par un rezzou de 80 Touaregs dissidents. Après une lutte héroique et après avoir épuisé toutes ses munitions, la petite troupe a été anéantie. Ce sont les premières victimes de la pénétration automobile et aérienne au Sahara [...] L'Escadrille Saharienne nouse aidera un jour à les venger". - Altogether, the collection provides a unique window into a series of historical moments: early aviation, exploration of the Sahara, French colonialism in Algeria, the Tuareg resistance, and the First World War. - A touch of wear, otherwise well preserved.
Large 4to. 2 pp. Together with a contemporary transcription into French. To the Crown prosecutor of Algeria, describing a case of child murder under Sharia law.
Together with a lithographic portrait (315:243 mm). In Arabic to King Louis-Philippe I, requesting recruitment of men and horses. Together with an autograph translation signed by Joseph-Marie Jouannin, the king's interpreter of Arabic (Paris, 14 Feb. 1837).
4to. 1 p. on bifolium. In Arabic, to General Viala Charon, French governor in Algeria. Includes contemporary French translation.
4to. (4) pp. With 2 woodcut vignettes. Sewn. Extremely scarce pamphlet on a naval battle in the Mediterranean near Cabo de Gata (Andalusia). It describes the destruction of a ship of corsairs from Algiers by the Spanish vessel "San Pedro" on 7 January 1621, killing 70 men. The victory proved important for the Spaniards, as the surviving corsairs provided them with useful intelligence, including information regarding the deployment of 30 Algerian vessels in the area, all seeking to rob other ships. However, the Ottomans were ignorant of any Royal Navy galleys which the Spanish suspected in the area, rather presuming them near Mallorca or Sardinia. - Large Jesuit woodcut vignette to the otherwise blank final page. Somewhat browned. Near-contemporary foliation in ink (205-206), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. No copies traceable in libraries worldwide. Not in OCLC.
4to. (3) pp., final blank page. With woodcut illustration on the title-page. Sewn. Scarce account of a naval battle in the Mediterranean that took place near Cap de Begur (Catalonia) between a Spanish vessel and a ship of corsairs from Algiers in April 1623. The latter, carrying "50 Turcs, 4 captured Christians, a black Moorish woman, and a Mallorcan renegade", went up in flames. Allegedly the copy of a letter by a soldier of the Spanish Armada. The illustration shows the Ottoman vessel features 11 sailors at the helms wearing turbans. - Slightly dampstained. Near-contemporary foliation in ink (137-138), suggesting the work was originally part of a larger volume. Palau 61131. Not in OCLC.
4to. (8) pp. Later marbled boards with shelfmark label to front cover. Extraordinary account of a fire in the port of Algiers planted by the British pirate-hunter Richard Gifford. Of the utmost rarity: "unknown to Lowndes, and other bibliographers" (Libri). Only two library copies traceable internationally (St. Pancras Library, London, and Amsterdam University Library). - On Holy Tuesday 1604, in the service of the Duke of Tuscany and under the pretext of becoming a pirate, Gifford set the Algerian galley fleet on fire in the notorious pirate-ridden port of Algiers, causing fierce retaliation by the Algerians. "Although he escaped and there was not much damage done, about a dozen Englishmen including his abandoned crew members were all executed. Furthermore, the pasha banned English ships, Janissaries seized English citizens and arrested English merchants, confiscating their goods for the damage done by Gifford" (Güvenç). - "During the Anglo-Spanish wars Captain Richard Gifford had served under Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins [...] after the wars he became a pirate-hunter, a freelance mercenary hired by the grand Duke of Florence to extirpate the infamous nest of sea rovers at Algiers" (Bak). - Spine rubbed; somewhat foxed throughout. Handwritten date "1825" to flyleaf, likely the date of acquisition. The celebrated library of M. Guglielmo Libri 184. Senlen Güvenç, "A Foe to All Christians": The Notorious English Corsair Captain and Ottoman Reis John Ward", Çanakkale Arastirmalari Türk Yilligi 29 (2020), 35-54, at p. 41. Bak, Barbary Pirate, Stroud 2006, 47.
4to. (2), 362 pp. (but: 360 pp.; p. 176f. omitted); 100 pp. (complete). With engraved frontispiece (margins trimmed) and 16 engraved plates. Contemporary full vellum with ms. spine title. Leaves Bb2-4 and Cc1-2 supplied from another copy. The first German edition of Vairasse's "Histoire des Sevarambes" ("History of the Sevarambians"), translated from the French 1677-79 edition. This is an account of an imaginary journey to Australia, a utopian history in the style of Thomas Moore. Presented in the manner of the then-current geographical and anthropological works, the book provides a direct criticism of revealed and imposed religions, in particular of 17th century Catholicism. Remarkably, this edition also includes the first German publication of Thomas Skinner's slavery narrative entitled "The adventures of an English merchant, taken prisoner by the Turks of Algiers, and carried into the inland countries of Africa" ("Die Selsamen Begebenheiten Herrn T. S. Eines Englischen Kauff-Herrens, Welcher von den Algierischen See-Räubern zum Sclaven gemacht, und in das inwendige Land von Africa geführet worden"). - Lower margin of title torn with some loss, final two leaves torn and frayed without loss of text. Minor foxing to the plates; binding worn, edges somewhat defective. From the library of Swedish antiquarian bookdealer Björn Löwendahl (1941-2013). VD 17, 39:131551R. Holzmann/Bohatta II, 12150.
8vo. 15, (1) pp. With printer's device to title page. Modern half calf. Brief introduction to the Arabic language for Catholic missionaries, "an exact reproduction of the 1715 edition" (Smitskamp). Includes a table of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria in Arabic. "The best known products of the Propaganda Press, apart from its missals, grammars, and dictionaries, are the Alphabeta" (Smitskamp 193). This is, perhaps, little surprise, for the missionaries sent forth to all parts of the globe by the Roman see through the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 for the purpose of spreading the Catholic interpretation of the Gospel, depended on language study textbooks such as these. The production of such alphabets was taken up as early as 1630 and was not discontinued until the early years of the 19th century; in 1812 the Congregation's in-house printing office was dissolved. - A good copy with deckle edges intact. Smitskamp 216. Cf. Streit XVII, p. 351, no. 6551.
Small 4to (146 x 206 mm). 64 pp. With printer's woodcut device on title-page. 19th century red boards. Only edition of this early milestone of Arabic typography from the Roman Medici Press, including a Latin treatise on Arabic script. The Medici Oriental Press, the first printing press in Europe dedicated to printing books in an Arabic typeface, was founded in Rome under the direction of Giovanni Battista Raimondi and the patronage of Pope Gregory XIII. For the Arabic types, Raimondi commissioned the famous typefounder Robert Granjon: "In a few years Granjon had cut a large number of oriental characters, following superb calligraphic designs provided by Raimondi. On September 6, 1586, he completed the small Arabic typeface [...] Because cutting the Arabic typefaces took such a long time, establishment of the Medici Press went slowly. Though the contracts formally setting up the press were signed on March 6, 1584, the first book to bear its imprint did not appear until 1591. Legible and much more 'oriental' in feel than those of de Gregorii, Postel or Spey, this face was not improved upon until the time of Ibrahim Müteferrika in the early 18th century [...] Once underway, however, the Medici Press was very productive. In 1592 it issued a prospectus of its Arabic type faces under the title 'Alphabetum arabicum' - a 64-page masterpiece of design which not only displays Granjon's beautiful types, but contains a careful Latin Essay on the Arabic writing system" (Lunde). Until 1610 Raimondi printed a mere eight works with Granjon's types, "all equally rare" (Smitskamp 29b), before a long hiatus ensued - probably due to the sluggish distribution of the works in the Orient, where everything produced in the West, and especially any printed specimen of Arabic script, was received with the utmost caution (cf. Fück 55). Even Smitskamp cites only four other productions of the Medici Press, but not this exceptionally rare one. One of the only three other copies known to have appeared in the trade was even thought to be incomplete by Sotheby's, since Adams's collation - based on the Trinity College copy - cites a 24-page appendix that is, in fact, an independent Medici Press grammar bound with the Trinity 'Alphabetum'. - Binding worn and rubbed; spine rebacked. Interior somewhat dust-soiled throughout with occasional light dampstaining; a few marginal annotations on the verso of the title cropped by binder. Title-page with minute wormhole affecting one word on verso; a small hole to the last leaf with loss of a few letters; stamp of a monk to margin of final page. Front pastedown has 1880s bookseller ticket by G. A. Young & Co. of Edinburgh pasted in. An entirely complete copy of an important and excessively rare publication. Adams A 780. BM-STC Italian 36. Schnurrer 41. Edit 16, CNCE 1227. OCLC 47816774. Lunde, Paul, "Arabic and the Art of Printing", in: Aramco World 32/2 (1981) (with illustration). J. Balagna, L'imprimerie arabe en occident (Paris 1984), p. 135. Le Livre et le Liban (mentioned on p. 190; no copy in the catalogue). Not in Smitskamp or Fück.
8vo. 8 ff. With woodcut printer's device to title page. Modern boards. Brief introduction to the Armenian language for Catholic missionaries. "The types are those cut by Grandjon in 1579, and this is therefore a late specimen of that fount" (Smitskamp). Includes a table of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria in Armenian. "The best known products of the Propaganda Press, apart from its missals, grammars, and dictionaries, are the Alphabeta" (Smitskamp 193). This is, perhaps, litte surprise, for the missionaries sent forth to all parts of the globe by the Roman see through the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 for the purpose of spreading the Catholic interpretation of the Gospel, depended on language study textbooks such as these. The production of such alphabets was taken up as early as 1630 and was not discontinued until the early years of the 18th century; in 1812 the Congregation's in-house printing office was dissolved. - Slightly browned throughout. Smitskamp 200. Graesse I, 85.
8vo. 24 pp. With woodcut printer's device to title page. Modern red half calf with marbled covers. Brief introduction to the Persian language for Catholic missionaries in the Middle East, with a table of the alphabet and the Lord's Prayer in Persian. "The best known products of the Propaganda Press, apart from its missals, grammars, and dictionaries, are the Alphabeta" (Smitskamp 193). This is, perhaps, litte surprise, for the missionaries sent forth to all parts of the globe by the Roman see through the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 for the purpose of spreading the Catholic interpretation of the Gospel, depended on language study textbooks such as these. The production of such alphabets was taken up as early as 1630 and was not discontinued until the early years of the 18th century; in 1812 the Congregation's in-house printing office was dissolved. - Slight waterstain to margins. Untrimmed copy. Smitskamp 210. Graesse I, 85. Brill II, 2109.
Original poster. 51.5 x 34.7 cm, one illustration in a box with titles in grey, signed 'DP' or 'PD' in a monogram in the stone, titles in black on grey, offset lithography. Old horizontal and vertical folds, a small tear on top edge (not affecting image), some trivial browning, worn through on one of the folds. A good, clean copy. A captivating poster from a campaign that redefined the strategy of relief efforts in the 20th century. - When news of the atrocities committed by the Ottoman government against Armenians reached America in 1915, a group of salubrious New Yorkers banded together to form the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief (named American Committee for Relief in the Near East from 1918-1919). After raising $60,000 for direct relief at their first meeting, the committee set about taking their cause to the public. The effort to do so centred around a media campaign of unprecedented ambition and modernity: one that utilised famous speakers, first-hand accounts from the Near East, and an array of visual media. - This poster was part of the imagery that inspired the American people to give over $116 million for direct relief between 1915 and 1930. The work of the committee also saved the lives of over a million refugees. It still exists today as the Near East Foundation and continues to provide support to over 40 countries in the Near East, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
480 x 680 mm. Fine handwritten, calligraphic description of a perfect horse's anatomy, explaining its ideal proportions. Located in the centre is a printed horse study taken from Bourgelat's "Treatise on the choice and care of horses they require" ("Traité du choix des chevaux et des soins qu'ils exigent", 1769). - The founder of veterinary colleges at Lyon in 1761, Claude Bourgelat, was as an oft-consulted authority on horse management. - Small defects to edges; some dust-staining on reverse.
8vo. (2), 368 pp. With frontispiece, 97 photo illustrations on 36 leaves of plates and one extending map. Original green cloth, gilt. Second, completely re-written edition of this handbook for Anglo-Iranian employees, never released to the general public. A shorter version was previously published in 1947 (and reprinted the following year). "The object of this book is to enable a man engaged in any one branch of the Company's activities to learn how his work fits into the wider picture" (preface). - Handwritten ownership inscription, dated 17th September 1953, to front pastedown. Well preserved.
Small folio (219 x 278 mm). 28 pp. With numerous black-and-white photographic prints. Original printed wrappers. Stapled. Illustrated history of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. This informative magazine includes high-quality images of the construction of pipelines, views of the Abadan refinery and other oil compounds, the Braim residential area, and an aerial view of Lali county - an area "typical of the difficult terrain in which the Company's main oilfields are situated". - Punched holes. Margins slightly worn.
Small folio (ca. 215 x 337 mm). 64 pp., interleaved by 30 blank pp., 3 of which with manuscript notes. Contemporary full blue leather with giltstamped spine and red spine-label. One of the founding documents of the 20th century's oil industry: the personal copy of Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004), later the first Secretary General of OPEC, with his autograph annotations and signature. - The historic agreement that provided Western oil companies with 50% ownership in Iranian oil production after its ratification in 1954. It expired in 1979. The agreement, which was heavily pressured by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, gave U.S. oil companies complete control over how much petroleum Iran pumped and the price it could sell for, and obliged Iran to compensate the AIOC with a sum of 25 million pounds - £15 million for the AIOC's loss of oil revenue from 1951 to 1954, and £10 million to transfer ownership to Iran of the Naft-e Shah oil fields, a small refinery in Kermanshah and domestic fuel distribution facilities. - Several marginal notes as well as 3 pp. of handwritten notes by Rouhani, listing the oil companies involved in the consortium, including references to later corporate developments such as the merger of Hancock Oil Company with Signal Oil and Gas Company in 1958. Rouhani, who was involved in the negotiations on behalf of Iran, was one of the founders of OPEC a few years later in 1961, and became OPEC's first Secretary General. - Extremities slightly rubbed, first leaf a little fingersoiled. A very good copy of the historic contract that overturned nationalization and placed control over Iran's oil in the hands of a group of international oil companies. Cf. OCLC 922021728.
6 telegram folios (208 x 304 mm), dated 6 to 18 January 1922, pinned together with a cover note marked "very confidential" with the oval embossed seal of the Government of India. Includes a Grant of the Dignity of a Companion of "the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire" to Eardley Garforth Bryan Peel, issued by King George V, dated 2 June 1923, signed by the King and by Viscount William Peel as Secretary of State for India, to acknowledge the services rendered to secure British interests in the southern provinces of Persia. Stored loosely in later dark green calf document holder box, spine stamped in gold "Residency Ahwaz Bushire 1922/3" (257 x 375 mm). A collection of confidential Anglo-Persian diplomatic cables relating to the appointment of Eardley Garforth Bryan Peel (1888-1976) as British Consul General at Ahwaz (Southern Iran) in view of his good relations with the Bakhtiari Khans, Sheikh Khazal of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). - This group of important telegram exchanges from Percy Lyham Loraine (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran), Arthur Prescott Trevor (Consul General at Bushehr, Southern Iran), and the Indian Political Service at Delhi, are pinned together with a cover note dated 18 January 1921, marked "very confidential" and bearing the stamp of the Government of India, indicating their subtle and yet relevant relation. They testify to the British government's shift of alliance from Sheikh Khazal of Mohammerah to Reza Khan and the central government in Tehran. The Grant of Dignity appointed to Peel further emphasises the connection between this prominent stakeholder and British oil interests. Thus, this collection plays a crucial role in shedding light and understanding the 'behind the scenes' of British foreign politics related to the protection of their oil fields in Khuzestan, and their procurement and management of Iranian oil in the first two decades of the 20th century. - Ever since the British discovery of oil in the Southern Iranian Province of Khuzestan in 1908, and the formation of the APOC the following year, a fine balance was maintained by knowledgeable British Consuls General between the Bakhtiari leaders, seated in Bushehr, and the powerful Sheikh Khazal (who inherited the Emirate of Mohammarah in 1897), seated at Mohammarah. The Khans and the Sheikh, ruler of Arabistan, received annual payments, political support, as well as arms and munitions from the British in return for guaranteeing support and protection of British interests against external attacks and providing security for the oil establishment. Until Reza Shah’s rise to near-absolute power and his coup d’état of 1921, the Iranian government had little control of the de facto autonomous province of Khuzistan and their local leader. This explains why all of Loraine’s formal and informal efforts, as British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Iran from 1921 until 1926, were directed towards achieving the peaceful submission of Britain’s Southern Iranian allies to the regime in Tehran. - In such delicate circumstances and given the inevitability of a conflict between the burgeoning central government in Tehran and the Southern Iranian tribal powers, the re-appointment of Eardley Garforth Bryan Peel, whose term of office at Ahwaz had ended in 1921 at the same time Loraine assumed office at Tehran, became a necessity to be able to mediate between the two litigious parties. In fact, Peel was the only person who not only had an in-depth understanding of the situation but was trusted by all members involved. As shown in our telegrams, the Indian Political Service at Delhi not only accepted Loraine’s advice to allow Peel to remain Consul General at Ahwaz but also nominated him to receive a British CIE order. Peel proved a skilled negotiator and succeeded in his mission of yielding a peaceful transition of power in Southern Persia and avoiding any threats to British interests in the oilfields. He managed to convince Khazal and the Bakhtiari Khans to meet in Dare Khazinah from 22 April to 2 May 1922 and made them promise to cooperate in virtue of protecting British interests, but also to continue to serve the Persian government faithfully and loyally, in order not to irritate Reza Khan. - Despite Peel’s tactful diplomacy, which averted great bloodshed, the British soon abandoned their Southern Iranian allies in favour of good relations with the increasingly powerful central government. Khazal was persuaded to surrender unconditionally and Reza Khan had him abducted and brought to Tehran, where he was kept for several years. His sheikhdom was abolished, and the provincial authority took full control of regional affairs. The Sheikh was stripped of all his powers and Iranian assets, and when he denied relocation to Iraq or Kuwait, he was assassinated in Mohammarah (now Khorramshahr) in 1936. These documents play a crucial role in unravelling the extremely complicated and confidential sequence of events that took place in those years, which stained early 20th-century Anglo-Persian diplomatic relations with the uncontrollable force of nature oil was to be in modern history, and specifically, in the geopolitical chessboard of Middle Eastern foreign affairs. - E. G. B. Peel was a British diplomat who, after achieving the rank of Captain in the Indian army, was posted first as Assistant-Superintendent of Police in Moradabad (Agra province, India) and later as a member of the Indian Political Service to the consulate at Mohammerah, where he rose to the rank of Acting Vice-Consul. In 1918 he was transferred to the consulate in Ahwaz, where he served until 1924 in the posts of Acting Vice-Consul (1918-21), Local rank Consul (1921-22), and Consul (1922-24). After completing his service at Ahwaz, he was posted to Agra and Kashmir provinces in India. He received the illustrious CIE (Companion Order of the Indian Empire) in 1923. - Provenance: the former property of a private English bibliophile, purchased from J & S. L. Bonham's, London, in 1999.
Engraved map, scale ca. 1:1 900,000. 714 x 529 mm. Original outline colour. Includes a smaller inset map: Plan des Isles Karak et Korgo et de la Baye de Bundereek. This fine, rare nautical map of the Arabian Gulf forms part of the famous "Neptune Oriental", a highly regarded collection of maps of the Middle and Far Eastern coasts which the author, the French hydrographer d’Après de Mannevillette (1707-80), had mapped during his time as captain for the French East India Company. The collection was first published in 1745, but redrawn and newly engraved by Guillaume-Nicolas Delahaye for the 1775 edition. The chart (plate 28 in the volume) is stated to be based on information collected by captain René Julien Le Floch de La Carriere and in many respects resembles the roughly contemporaneous works of William Herbert (Al Ankary no. 190) and d'Anville (Al Ankary no. 211). About the present map (in its 1745 version), Zoltán Biedermann writes, "It is interesting to note that, despite the fact that the shape of the Gulf is rooted in the Dutch tradition that we have come to name after Cornelis Roobacker, there are many new place names that were not there in the earlier decades. Like some other items from this period, this map is thus a precious document of the shifting commercial geography of Persia and the Persian Gulf" (Historical Atlas of the Persian Gulf, p. 290). Although the 1775 issue departs but little from its release three decades earlier, there are a number of differences: most notably, the new inset plan of the Kharg and Kharko Islands, and the inclusion of an island near Bahrain identified as "Deh-Rogn" - in fact, an early reference to Qatar; while "deh" means "village", "Rogn" signifies Ras Rakan at the northern tip of the Qatar peninsula, a prominent navigational landmark. - Evenly browned, with traces of insignificant waterstaining. A good copy. Cordier (Sinica) col. 134 ("superbe ouvrage"). OCLC 165808168. Cf. Tooley I, p. 40. Tibbetts no. 265. Historical Atlas of the Persian Gulf (Brepols 2006) no. 74 (the 1745 edition, unidentified, pictured in two sizes: p. 290 and pp. 292f.). Not in Al-Qasimi (2nd ed.). Not in Al Ankary (but cf. nos. 208f. for two other maps by Mannevillette - the Gulf of Aden and the port of Jeddah - hailed as "extremely accurate" and supplying "detailed information").
3 booklets, a magazine, and a menu. (1) EL-KHATIB, M. Fatallah (foreword). Basic Documents of the Arab Unifications. New York, Arab Information Center, June 1958. 8vo. 43 pp. Includes: the Proclamation of the United Arab Republic, the Proclamation of the Arab Union, the Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Republic, the Charter of the United Arab States and the Constitution of the Arab Union. - (2) OMRAN, Abdel-Rahim. Public Health & Welfare in the Arab States: Past, Present and Future. New York, Arab Information Center, November 1959. 8vo. 32 pp. The booklet opens with a history of the Arab contributions to medicine followed by modern statistics. - (3) WRIGHT, Esmond. The Arab World. Current Affairs no. 125. London, Bureau of Current Affairs, 3 February 1951. 8vo. 19, (1) pp. Short overview of the Arab world. - (4) [MENU]. P&O menu. On board the S.S. Arcadia, Sunday 25 March 1962. 8vo. Menu with on front a coloured illustration of a Dhow in the Arabian Sea. Probably offered during a cruise in the Gulf.
4to. Together 3½ pp. One letter on Aramco stationery. With a black-and-white original portrait photograph loosely enclosed. A small collection of letters by the Aramco employee Paul Schwarzenau, who joined the Dhahran Camp in 1952. - 3 letters to his mother describe his life in the Middle East. About an invasion of locusts: "The past 10 days here witnessed a mild invasion of locusts or what we commonly call grasshoppers. A year ago, shortly before i arrived here, they swarmed into this area as uninvited and unwelcome visitors and didn't leave until they had eaten or destroyed practically every piece of green vegetation. They certainly can pick out the color green with their acute vision and i barely reached home to hide my dollar bills from their search-for-green! [...]" (3 May 1953). - About Ramadan: "Three days ago the arab month of Ramadhan began [...] It's quite a hardship on the arabs who work daytime shift since they aren't heavyweights to begin with and after a few hours without nourishment they are in no shape for work-exertion. The company should abolish all daytime work during this month but of course it is all a big question of $$$$$$'s and the oil has to be kept moving regardless of any attempts, man-made or god-made, to interrupt the flow. Soooooo the old routine keeps spinning at a slower pace but in the same system [...]" (16 May 1953). - Enjoying living alone: "The young man who was rooming with me left for home yesterday after finishing his two-year contract. Not many new employees have been hired in recent months so that means that i'll be enjoying complete ownership of the room for some time to come. How lucky can i get? All this and a salary too! Ah yes, this is real living although I still can't understand why it should happen to a bum like me! [...]" (no place or date). - To Ruth, about the language barrier: "Yesterday spent some time with a man who had gone to Mt Hermon graduated in '34 - Edwin Thompson. He is in Training Dept & speaks arabic - took us more into Arab world - not too many Americans get over various hurdles - language being one important one. Most of Saudis get a little English" (no place or date). - The typed letters show cuts in several places.
Oblong 4to. 12 black-and-white glossy prints. Spiral binding. Photo book of the Abqaiq Senior Staff School, an institute for the children of Aramco employees. The prints show the school building, the Aramco compound and petrol facilities, children playing softball, a swimming tournament, a falconer with his falcon, dromedars, a fishing boat, and a group of Arabs enjoying their coffee. With reproductions of the signatures of the class of 1961 to lower pastedown. - Edges somewhat worn.
