4 134 résultats
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").
Large 8vo. 88 pp. Printed in black with red headings, within printed gilt rules. Illuminated head-piece and 'unwan printed in three colours and gilt, in imitation of manuscript illumination. Gilt tail-piece. (Bound with:) Raccolta dei trattati e delle principali convenzioni concernanti il commercio e la navigazione dei sudditi Austriaci negli Stati della Porta Ottomana. Ibid., 1844. (4), VIII, 224 pp. Contemporary green morocco binding with fore-edge flap, covers giltstamped with an oriental design. All edges gilt. The full text of 19 trade treaties, in Ottoman Turkish throughout, closed between the Austrian and the Ottoman Empire between 1110/1699 (Peace of Karlovac) and 1259/1844. Bound in the same volume is the 1844 Italian-language edition, containing the texts of the various treaties in their respective original European language, with an Italian translation on the opposite pages. - Ownership "C Fr Jelinek 1855" signed to endpaper. The Turkish text shows occasional insignificant foxing, as common; altogether very well preserved. A splendidly bound copy. Zenker, BO II, 805.
Italian manuscript on vellum (445 x 160 mm). Written space ca. 270 x 140 mm. In a fine cursive handwriting by two hands. Written by a notary public of the Much Serene Republic of Venice: a statement of debt for 3,300 ducats owed to the main commissioner of Venice by the gentleman Francesco Marcello, for the collection of custom taxes in Damascus. The creditor renounces all other claims, and the debt is to be paid in annual instalments of 300 ducats, beginning the year following the drafting of this document, but after a deposit has been paid the following month: "Parendo debitor ser Thadio Polo del Cothimo de Damasco et general de la soria de certa suma de denari, de i qual ser Francesco Marcello se ne chiama piezo: et per i magnifici siori de le raxon vechie el fo sententiando volontarie in ducati tremillia et trexento per parte. Et perchè per le grande sue adversità come publicamente ognuno intende, non è possibele che senza qualche axeveleza el possi pagar et essendo visto et cognossudo questo per li comessi del dicto Cothimo, misier Francesco Falier, misser Zuan Bembo et misser Benedeto Sanudo, azoché scorando el tempo senza qualche conclusion de haverse con qualche habilità a pagar per nome del dicto Cothimo sono venuti a questa ultima conclusion et acordo chel dicto ser Francesco se chiama come piezo debitor per resto de tute raxon de Cothimo, et de le uxure seguide computando la sententia tolta ut supra de ducati tremillia et trexento da esser pagadi per el dicto ser Francesco ducati trexento alanno et sia obligato dar bona et sufficiente piezarìa over caution de paga in paga. Et comenza el tempo anno uno da poi concluso tal acordo: et die mexe uno da poi tal acordo dar dicta piezarìa over caution, et cussi de paga in paga fin integra satisfatction havendoli isoproducti per nome del Cothimo a pregar Carta de Segurtà de non li haver ni poder altro domandar [...]". Immediately underneath this statement is a confirmation by the Damascus consul, ser Giovanni Mocenigo, of the obligation to pay the sum of 3,300 ducats in 11 annual instalments, by the Venetian gentleman Francesco Marcello and his son. - A remarkable early Renaissance document concerning a legal agreement set up by the three commissioners of the council of the Venetian court known as "Quarantia Civil Vecchia", commissioned to oversee the correct collection of the customs tax which was to be paid by merchants on goods imported from or exported to Egypt and Syria. - Perfectly preserved.
8vo. 37, (1) pp. Giltstamped purple cloth with white moirée endpapers. Extremely rare anonymous pamphlet by the political writer Georges Giacometti about the political position of Turkey during the crisis of December 1876, after the outbreak of the Serbian-Ottoman War that would soon develop into the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. OCLC lists a single copy in public collections (British Library, not identifying the author). - Extremeties a little rubbed. Removed from the library of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, with traces of requisite marks and the author's handwritten inscription to front flyleaf: "A Sa Majesté Impériale / Hommage Respectueux de l'auteur. G. Giacometti". - Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) was 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. OCLC 504499620.
4to. With woodcut device on title-page. Contemporary limp vellum. Rare first and only edition of a commentary on book I, fen I of Avicenna's Canon, including the Latin version of the text by Andrea Alpago and Jacob Mantino. Like most of Oddi's work it was published posthumously by his son Marco degli Oddi. "Although in the body of his work much of the time he treated Avicenna with nominal respect, this was apt to be achieved through a procedure of deducing Avicenna's 'real' opinion by consulting Galen. In addition, Oddo Oddi had a long-standing interest in the problem of securing a better Latin text of the Canon (he was on the academic committee that approved Alpago's work and he encouraged Graziolo many years later); he based his exposition on Alpago's text, which he claimed to be in general use, and rather frequently compared the latter's renderings with those of Gerard of Cremona and Jakob Mantino." (Siraisi). Before practicing Medicine in Venice, Oddo degli Oddi (1478-1558) taught classics (Greek and Latin) at the University of Padua. Eventually he went back to Padua, where he taught Medicine. He was a committed supporter of Galen's doctrines. - With owner's inscription on fly-leaf dated 1586, two owner's names on title-page (one struck trough) and some manuscript notes in the margins. Binding slightly wrinkled, but internally in very good condition. Arcadian library 15358. Durling 3388. Edit 16, 30889. USTC 845237 (4 copies outside Italy). Cf. N. G. Siraisi, Avicenna in Renaissance Italy: The Canon and medical teaching in Italian universities after 1500 (1987), p. 193.
Tall 8vo (150 x 265 mm). Persian manuscript on polished oriental paper. (340) ff., 23 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. Modern red blindstamped full calf, bound to style. Expansive commentary on the "Qanunchah" ("Qanunceh", "Small Canon") of Mahmud al-Jaghmini, the important Persian medical compendium based on Ibn Sina's famous Arabic "Qanun". Al-Jaghmini's handbook of medicine was widely used at Eastern Persian schools as an introductory medical instruction manual for at least three centuries. The present commentary by Shah Arzani was copied by Fadhl al-Din in 1119-1120 H. - Paper browned and brittle, some edge tears (rarely touching the text). Prettily bound to style in a modern full leather binding with oriental cover decorations stamped in relief.
Drawing in ink and grayish watercolour (ca. 445 x 370 mm) of a Saker or Barbary falcon on paper. With some (later) added verses in Persian and Urdu, written in black ink. In a modern golden frame (ca. 565 x 480 mm). A fine, large Indo-Persian inscribed drawing of a falcon, very likely a Saker falcon or a Barbary falcon, both occurring in the Arabian Peninsula and throughout the Middle East and Pakistan. In the lower right corner, this drawing is signed "Jahangir Yahya" and dated 1301 H (1883 CE). Nothing is known about this (likely Pakistani) artist. The drawing was later juxtaposed with poetry, a practice not uncommon in the Persian and Islamic world. Sometimes there is a relationship between the text and the painting or drawing, sometimes not. For the poem at the right upper corner, the relationship between the drawing and the poem is evident. This verse is signed, reading the name of the poet Allama Iqbal and the date 1351 H (1932 CE), suggesting these verses were written a few years later than the drawing of the falcon. Allama Iqbal refers to the renowned Pakistani poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), who wrote in both Urdu and Persian and whose Urdu poetry is considered among the greatest of the 20th century. The verses written on the drawing here compare the beloved to a falcon. - The other three verses in the upper left corner and to the left and right side of the falcon are Persian verses by Hafiz (1315-90), one of the most highly regarded classical Persian poets who is best known for his collection of over 400 ghazals. Very likely the ghazals of Hafiz, here added to the drawing, bore a metaphorical meaning relating to the illustration. Although the consistency of the hand suggests the lines were written by the same calligrapher some fifty years after the drawings was made, there is no evidence to suggest whether it was Iqbal himself who signed his name to the verse in the upper right corner or whether it was someone else who added the name of the poet. - Altogether a beautiful drawing of a falcon, beautifully reflecting the Indo-Persian tradition of juxtaposing visual and textual art, here offering verses of some of the greatest Urdu and Persian poets. A few creases and some very minor holes, but overall in good condition.
8vo. 163 ff. (without final leaf, blank except for anchor on verso). Aldine anchor device on title page. 18th-century English polished calf. Second edition (first published in 1543) of this collection of Venetian voyages to the Near and Middle East, edited by Antonio Manuzio, son of Aldus. "Tana was the name which the Genoese gave to their factory at Azov at the mouth of the river Don. This volume contains voyages by Giosafat Barbaro (Tana in 1436, Persia 1471), Ambrogio Contarini (Persia 1473-77), and Luigi Roncinotto (Ethiopia 1532, Persia and India in 1529). It also includes Benedetto Ramberti's account of the Turkish Sultan's campaign against the Portuguese settlement of Diu in northern India in 1538" (Atabey). "This appears to be one of the very few travel books from the Aldine press" (Blackmer). - Extremities rubbed and bumped, short cracks in joints. Light dampstain to first few leaves. Contemp. ink ownership to title page, further ownership trimmed away at lower edge (remargined without loss); further contemp. ownership "Gioseppe Custodi" under the colophon. Modern ownership inscription "J. W. S. M. / Caius. / Cambridge. / Jan. 1899" on front pastedown - very likely the Caius-educated English entomologist John William Scott Macfie (1879-1948). Later himself a traveller to the East, he served as director of the Medical Research Institute in Accra between 1914 and 1923, having undertaken the same responsibilities in an acting capacity at Lagos in 1913. Adams V 624. Blackmer 1071. Göllner 861. Renouard 134 (noting that of the two editions the present is "bien mieux imprimée"). Cf. Atabey 761 (first edition).
4to. (6), 119, (1) pp. With separate engraved title and 9 engravings in the text. - (Bound with) II: Prophetien, of voorseggingen der beyde Keyseren Severi en Leonis, die beyde in Orienten geregeert hebben. Ibid., 1640. (4), 41, (3) pp. 19th century vellum with calligraphed title to spine; covers ruled in red. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. Very rare, prettily illustrated biography of the Prophet Muhammad. Second edition, previously published in 1627 and based on de Bry's "Acta Mehmeti" from 1597. The engraved title page shows ten different scenes which enframe the worlds of the title. Nine of these are taken directly from de Bry and are repeated throughout the book, enlarged and with much greater detail; only the Ottoman army train at the top is likely based on a different source. The book also comprises the divinations of the Byzantine Emperors Leo and Severus about the fall of Constantinople. - An appealing and well-preserved copy from the library of the adventurer, linguist, diplomat, and collector Charles Schefer (1820-98) with his bookplate on the front pastedown. Schefer, who held a chair at the Ecole des Langues Orientales, was perhaps best known in his day as the most prominent Orientalist of his generation. I: Chauvin XI, 572. Theunissen, p. 39f. OCLC 65527830. II: Knuttel 3725. Waller 1389. OCLC 914266113.
Small folio (190 x 268 mm). Eight issues and eight supplements (1 October 1957 to 1 August 1959), bound in one. Vol. 5 (nos. 1-4 & supplements 18-21): 234 pp.; vol. 6 (nos. 1-4 & supplements 22-25): 256 pp. Contemporary sand buckram; red and black labels with gilt lettering to spine, 'Foreign Office' stamped in black to upper cover. Two early volumes from the highly important "Persian Gulf Gazette", which ran from 1953 to 1972. Published in the final decades before the independence of the Gulf States, it is a fascinating record of the waning of direct British involvement in the governments of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates). - The Gazette was a quarterly publication containing notices of anything relevant to Britain's jurisdiction in the aforementioned States, from political appointments to new Orders and Regulations. It was sold at H.M. Political Agencies in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Dubai, as well as at H.M. Consulate, Muscat. Supplements were published with each issue, printing the Orders and Regulations in full. These include all manner of regulations - often created in response to rapidly developing infrastructure - covering, inter alia, employment, shipping, patents and the penal system. - Provenance: withdrawn from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library with stamps to endpapers. Some very minor dampstaining to the top edge of textblock, handwritten ink reference numbers to some title-pages, rest of interior clean and fresh. Very well preserved. Though fairly well-held institutionally, original issues (not to mention volumes and runs) are rare in commerce.
Oblong 4to. Coloured engraving of flags (civil and war ensigns) as frontispiece, engraved title page and 163 engaved maps (some lightly coloured). With 2 letterpress pp. of index at the end and a folding engr. plan of the harbor of Odessa (not belonging to this work). Contemprary half calf. Pocket-size atlas of the principal harbour installations and bays of the Mediterranean, many of which at the time were still in Ottoman possession. They include numerous ports on the Barbary Coast (Tanger, Oran, Algiers, Tunis, Monastir, Sfax, Tripoli, Bengasi, Essaouira), the Greek islands, and the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean (Beirut, Tyre). - Long the principal route for merchants and travellers between Europe and the East, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between the many peoples of the region, the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean from the late 15th century onwards made possible the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe and diminished the importance of the Mediterranean route. Only in the second half of the 19th century would it once more become an important passageway for goods and travellers: after the opening of the Suez Canal half a century after the present publication, it enabled ships to reach the Eastern world in record time, with dramatic effects on world trade. - Binding slightly rubbed; handwritten ownership "L. Falciola" on flyleaf. A good, clean copy, formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Scheepvaart Mus. 62. OCLC 560616922. Cf. Phillips 196, 3974 & 5172; Zacharakis 1967-2040 (other eds.).
Small folio (222 x 334 mm). VIII, 615, (1) pp. Later 19th c. buckram-backed marbled boards, labels lettered in gilt. Rare but frequently-cited British parliamentary papers with "Correspondence on the Slave Trade, and Measures Taken for its Abolition". Includes a printed sketch of the southern coast of Yemen, illustrating the area in possession of the "Boo-Mehree-Buddooee (Bedouin) Arabs" and identifiying the tribal chiefs as the Sultans of Qishn, Sayhut, and Dhofar (p. 156); also, correspondence between the Imaum of Muscat and the British Resident in the Gulf, in which the latter congratulates the Imaum on the recent peace made between "Tahnoon and Sultan Bin Suggur [the al-Qasimi ruler of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah], and that there was a prospect of the poor people of this Gulf enjoying a quiet pearl fishing season, free from the scourge of war, that affliction of mankind" (p. 86). Also, detailed reports on the slave trade at Muscat, Bahrein, Ras al-Khaimah and Sharjah ("Last year Shaik Sultan Bin Sugger's own buggalow brought from the coast of Africa 30 slaves to Rasul Khyma, but this is a rare occurrence, vessels seldom going there from the Joasmee states", p. 90). In all, the volume contains a significant number of references to the Arabian Gulf, Muscat, "Arabs", etc. - Labels and lettering worn; a good clean copy. Formerly in the library of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society; ultimately withdrawn from the British Library of Political and Economic Science (cancellation stamp).
Oblong 8vo (200 x 160 mm). With 96 silver gelatin photographs mounted in album frames under canvas-covered boards, captioned in ink; later paper label on front pastedown identifying the owner and/or photographer of the album. Contemporary blue cloth with gilt decoration on upper cover. Compiled by the British army surgeon Alfred Tulloch Thompson of Darlington, County Durham, during the Mesopotamian campaign of 1914-18, this prettily presented collection of snapshots of towns such as Basra and Amara reveals the integration of British troops and military life into the local landscapes. Alongside native villages, women fetching water, mosques, and street scenes are subtle signs of the war. One snapshot shows a "sunken Turkish gunboat", likely sunk deliberately by Ottoman forces to block the Shatt-al-Arab channel. Another two are labelled as the 3rd and 32nd British General Hospitals - important to a surgeon - while another shows a hospital boat. Many scenes show the Tigris and local boats (including a dhow plying the "Persian Gulf"), though one additionally shows a "P Boat," a British river steamer. Other images show locals going about daily life in wartime, as well as portraits of British soldiers - likely fellow members of the RAMC, including several of Thompson himself (one showing him in traditional Arab costume). - Light wear and occasional light fading, but altogether very well preserved.
Small 8vo. (6), 43, (1) pp. Stiff green cloth wrappers titled in black. Extremely rare manual, marked "For Official use only" and prepared for the troops of the Indian Expeditionary Force "D", giving an account of the political and historical context of the British Mesopotamian campaign of World War I. - Expeditionary Force "D" was made up of Indian and British troops and is infamous for its doomed defense of the siege of Kut, where disease and starvation forced a surrender in April 1916. However, the pamphlet does not limit itself to Iraq, but crucially provides an entire chapter on the history of, and British interest in, the Arabian Peninsula, titled "Arabia - Our Left Flank", including an entire section on Abdulaziz Ibn Saud (1875-1953). The author summarizes the history of British presence in the Gulf, noting the sack of Ras-al-Khaimah in retribution for alleged pirate activity, after which "the climate forced [the British] to evacuate that position". The book further refers to the "maritime truce" imposed by Britain upon the Arabian Coast from "Masandam to Kuwait" in 1836 and notes that the suppression of the arms trade in Muscat was successful thanks to the regulations put in place by Faisal bin Turki, Sultan of Muscat and Oman (1864-1913), the direct ancestor of Sultan Haitham. In more general terms the author describes "The rich oases of the Qasim, with their population of enterprizing merchants" and "the Hasa, coveted for its date groves and its ports on the Persian Gulf" which "was finally wrested from the Ottoman Government by Ibn Sa'ud in 1913". The author lists British treaties along the Gulf Coast, including with "the Shaikh of Bahrain" (Abdullah bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, 1769-1849) in 1820 "and in 1798 with the chiefs of the Trucial Coast". - Cloth gently rubbed. Interior shows a hint of foxing, otherwise in very good condition. A single copy is listed in auction records, and that volume included a pencil note attributing authorship to Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (1884-1940), a captain in the British Indian Army. As then-acting civil commissioner for Mesopotamia who later became known for his strong opinions on the postwar fate of Iraq, he is not an unlikely candidate.
Correspondence, memoranda, and notes in English and Arabic. 2 typescript pp. in-folio, 15 handwritten pp. in-4to, 32 handwritten pp. in-8vo. A collection of prewar and wartime notes and correspondence, some labelled "secret", from the desk of the longtime First Assistant Resident in Aden, Lt. Col. Harold F. Jacob, who served in this capacity from 1910 to 1917 (and, once the War started, was also Chief Political Officer to the Aden Field Force). - In a classified report to a superior concerning tribal allegiances in Yemen and the threat of an Ottoman incursion, dated 30 June 1915, he writes: "Interviewed the Abdali Sultan at Lahej yesterday and the following is what I have been able to elicit. 1. The Sheikh Ibn Nasir Mukbil appears to be particularly anxious to secure our armed presence on the Haushabi border and Sheikh Husen Saleh the Azraki (our stipendiary) and Ali Ba Saleh the Haushabi Sultan's Minister seem to be willing tools in his hand to effect that purpose. It must be remembered that Ibn Nasir Mukbil is still friendly to us or rather his unfriendliness is not proved. [...] It is hard to prophesy correctly in Arabia, and from a distance, since Arab politics change in so kaleidoscopic a fashion, but I am inclined to believe, even if there be certain hostile Turks and Arabs at Al Dareja, that the situation is not so critical as our friend the Abdali Sultan would have us believe. [...] [A]s the Sultan of Lahej is able to procure at this stage 600 camels in 2 days I am strongly in favour of our engaging them since, if hostilities open, he will find it extremely difficult to raise these numbers [...]". - A telegram draft of 10 January 1917 to the General Officer Commanding Aden, likewise "secret", Jacob writes: "Idrisi quite ready conclude supplementary agreement as outlined by Secretary of State (stop) [...] Says Farasan is part & parcel his sea-board and expects British protection from all outside interference (stop) Says British flag, however, as repugnant on Farasan as would be at Jizan and likely draw Turkish vengeance as implying cession of Islands to us; further will preclude future favours qua arms from France and Italy (stop) I fully sympathize with both agreements and believe presence of flag will place Farasan in category of annexation subject to 'post-bellum' adjudication (stop) [...]". - Also, several items of Arabic correspondence, often with Jacob's handwritten translation into English underneath. Also, a quantity of 8vo pencil notes in English and Arabic, some in the hand of another officer (possibly the Aden Resident) and as early as 1911, often not easily legible, apparently referring among other subjects to "Philby", "How Turks lost the Yemen", etc. - Jacob spoke Arabic fluently and knew the Qur'an intimately. As Political Agent in Aden and in the Hinterland he served on Lord Allenby's staff as an advisor on South West Arabia, where he became acquainted with Lawrence of Arabia. In 1915 he published a book on Southern Arabia, "Perfumes of Araby. Silhouettes of Al Yemen". - Edges brittle; some browning and folds, but altogether a well-preserved survival.
8vo. (48), 662, (2) pp. With woodcut printer's device on title-page, repeated on verso of final leaf. 18th century half calf with marbled boards and title giltstamped to spine. First Latin edition of this collection, published in Greek by Stephanus in Paris the previous year (itself a translation from Syriac): the twelve books on medicine by Alexander of Tralles, the first parasitologist in medical history (and the younger brother of Anthemius, architect of the Hagia Sophia), issued with al-Razi's classic treatise on smallpox and measles ("Kitab fi al-Jadari wa al-Hasaba"), also known as "Peri loimikes" or "De pestilentia": the first book ever published on smallpox. Indeed, al-Razi was the first physician in the history of medicine to differentiate between smallpox and measles, and consider them as two different diseases. The influence of his diagnostic concepts on Muslim medicine was very clear, especially on Ibn Sina. This work gained great popularity in Europe and was also translated into French, English and German; Brockelmann states it saw some 40 Latin editions between 1498 and 1866. - Al-Razi (also known as Rhazes; 850-923 or 932) is considered the greatest mediaeval physician next to Avicenna; he also conducted alchemical experiments. According to his biographer al-Gildaki, he was blinded for refusing to share his secrets of chemistry. - Binding lightly rubbed. Light brownstaining throughout, with a waterstain to the upper edge. A misprint has been overpasted with replacement text on pp. 40f. ("imo interdum mors talium potionem comitatur"). Rare; only two copies in auction records internationally since 1950. VD 16, A 1786. Muller III, 448, 7. Ritter 36. BM-STC German 20. Wellcome I, 209. Durling 148. GAL S I, 419, no. 3. Cf. M. H. Fikri, Treasures from the Arab Scientific Legacy in Europe, No. 44 (Venice 1555 ed.). Not in Adams.
8vo (160 x 252 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 12 pp. on 7 ff., ca. 18 lines, per extensum. Black ink with red emphases. With numerous red and black ink diagrams in the text. Contemporary blindstamped full calf, restored and spine rebacked. The "Tashrih al-aflak", known as "general outline of astronomy" or "anatomy of the celestial spheres", is a summary of theoretical astronomy. The philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer and poet Baha' al-Din (953-1030 H / 1547-1621), a native of Baalbek, relocated to Iran with his father. Having completed his studies, he is said to have travelled for 30 years before settling in Isfahan, where he was highly respected as Sheikh al-Islam at the court of Shah Abbas. In the present treatise he affirmed a view in support of the positional rotation of the Earth. Baha' al-Din was one of the first Islamic astronomers to advocate the feasibility of the Earth's rotation in the 16th century, independent of Western influences. - Noticeable duststaining throughout; edges remargined. The restored binding uses the stamped original cover material. GAL II, 415, 6.
8vo. 2 vols. (4), IV, 150 pp. (2), 921, (1) pp. Modern green library cloth with gilt lettering to spine. First edition of this early Arabic and Persian dictionary, long considered one of the best of its kind (cf. Encyclopaedia Americana X, 39). Prepared by Joseph Barretto junior (d. 1825), a Calcutta merchant and banker. The Barrettos were a Portuguese family long established in India, producing two governors of the country. "Arabic, Persian, and Urdu printing in India really began in Calcutta under the East India Company from the 1780s onwards. Of the three languages, Persian was paramount to the Company's interests" (Ency. of Islam VI, 805). - Small hole to f. C2 of vol. 1 (affecting one word of the text); lower corner of final leaf of vol. 2 torn away (affecting one letter of text); some light foxing throughout (more so to initial and terminal leaves). Withdrawn from the Glasgow University Library with their bookplate and withdrawal stamp to pastedowns. Rare. Vater/Jülg 25 ("1805-06"). Graesse I, 298. Not in Zaunmüller or Kaul.
8vo (155 x 228 mm). 45, (5) pp. With a folding, coloured map and 14 wood-engraved illustrations in the text (one repeated as a frontispiece). Publisher's original blue wrappers, printed in red and black. First edition thus: a French translation of the author's essay on the Hajj first published in Arabic in the "Roznémé Tounsié" (Annuaire Tunisien). The folding map at the back of the volume shows the route of the Hejaz railway, its course completed only as far as Tabouk at the time of publication, while the remainder of the line is shown in its projected state, still planned to run as far as Mecca. Indeed, when the rails reached Al-'Ula station very soon after this book came out, local tribes protested against the railroad, fearing it threatened their livelihood as providers of transport camels. Afterwards, Sultan Abdulhamid ruled that the railway would only run as far as Medina, where the line was completed on 1 September 1908. - M'hamed Bel-Khodja (1869-1943) was born into an Ottoman and Tunisian religious dynasty that was among the most important in the country in the 19th century. In 1902 he became director of the government press; in 1919 he was appointed qaid governor of Gabès and Bizerte, remaining an influential government adviser even after retirement. - A few tiny edge chips to covers, but generally very well preserved. Extremely rare: OCLC lists a single copy (Bibliothèque Gernet-Glotz in Paris). OCLC 690876832.
Large 8vo and folio (290 x 442 mm). 3 volumes. (4), LV, 406, (2) pp. (4), 355, (1) pp. Vol. 3 (atlas): title-page, index, and 18 double-sided engraved maps (ca. 45 x 31,5 cm neatline). Contemporary half calf with gilt title to spine and giltstamped morocco label to upper cover of the atlas, identifying the volumes as a gift from Bertrand's son. Original wrappers bound within. Marbled endpapers. First and only edition of Napoleon's memoirs of his French campaign in Egypt and Syria as dictated to his general and grand maréchal du palais, Henri-Gatien Bertrand (1773-1844), during his exile in St. Helena (1815-21). Bertrand was the only one of Napoleon's loyal companions in exile to have participated in the Egyptian campaign, which explains his choice of subject. - The two volumes of text present an ample, if subjective account of the famous military campaigns, enriched with transcripts of numerous official documents and letters relating to the events described. The beautiful atlas, engraved by Alexandre Moisy (1763-1827), presents 18 partly hand-coloured maps that are mostly in direct connection with the campaign. Including a general map of the south-eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, a map of the Mediterranean with the movements of the French and British fleets, a map of Egypt, a map of Syria and the Middle East, maps of the invasion of Malta, the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of the Pyramids, the Siege of Acre (with an engraved veduta of the city), the Battle of Mount Tabor, and the Battle of Aboukir. Four maps of parts of Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands represent additional theatres of the War of the Second Coalition in 1799. - Bertrand's "Guerre d'Orient" was published 26 years after Napoleon's death in exile and three years after Bertrand's own passing, on the initiative of his son, general Henri-Alexandre-Arthur Bertrand, who gifted the copy at hand to its first owner, as indicated by the morocco cover label on the atlas. - Lower right corner of the atlas slightly bumped, occasional minor foxing and browning in all volumes. Atlas with several minor tears (not affecting the maps) and occasional marks and scribbles in ink, ballpoint, and crayon.
Oblong folio (360 x 260 mm). 96 albumen photographs mounted on card. Contemporary vellum elaborately ruled in floral gilt. A thorough collection of late 19th century Holy Land souvenir photographs, featuring photography by American Colony, the Bonfils studio, and others, depicting views of Cairo, Palestine, and surroundings. - Félix Bonfils (1831-85) was a French-born photographer who had come to the Levant with General d'Hautpoul in 1860 and remained active in the East. Based in Beirut, Bonfils produced thousands of photographs depicting Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Greece and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of Western tourism to the Middle East, his works soon became popular as souvenirs. - The photographs depict views in and around Palestine and Egypt, including scenes of grotto chapels and many interior scenes of churches and mosques, including the Al-Aqsa (Qibli) Mosque, the Mosque of Omar, the Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Al-Azhar Mosque, and Sultan Qaytbay's mosque and mausoleum complex. - Bookseller's ticket of C. Glingler, Rome, to front pastedown. Light wear and fading to photographs. A handsomely bound collection.
8vo. VIII, 488 pp. With coloured frontispiece map and 12 plates. Original dark grey decorated cloth with bevelled edges, ruled and lettered in silver and gold. First edition. - Lady Burton's second book, detailing a journey made with her husband Sir Richard Francis Burton to India via Arabia and Egypt between 1875 and 1876. Although the work is predominantly focused on India, there is a chapter devoted to Jeddah and some notes on Trieste, where this particular voyage began. - Provenance: Georgiana Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, with the author's presentation inscription on the half-title: "The Duchess of Somerset with affecti[onate] love from Isabel Burton / 21 Feb 1879". The beautiful Jane Georgiana Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1809-84), was the granddaughter of the Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. - Neat restoration to extremities and inner hinges. A fine association copy. Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 108. OCLC 64763306.
4to. 2 parts in 1 vol. (48), 94 (but: 96), (6) pp. (2), 256 (but: 156) pp. Title page printed in red and black. With 2 folding engr. plates and some 20 text engravings, all showing script specimens. - (Bound after) II: Morin, Stephan. Exercitationes de lingua primaeva ejusque appendicibus. Utrecht, Willem Broedelet, 1694. (14), 448, (8) pp. With engr. title page and 4 folding engr. plates. Contemp. Dutch blindstamped vellum with oriental-style, lozenge-shaped cover ornaments. First edition. - The Lord’s Prayer in more than 150 languages, including many European and Asian languages, but also Arabic (in two styles), Persian (in two styles), Syriac, Ottoman Turkish, etc., many of which are rendered both in Latin transliteration and in their original scripts, engraved in the text or as folding plates. The second part contains nine remarkable treatises on typefaces and languages, including the first publication ever of "De variis linguis" by the great German philosopher and polymath G. W. Leibniz. The English courtier John Chamberlayne (1666-1723) is said to have known sixteen languages; among his many writings is an immensely popular, amusing tract on coffee, tea, and hot chocolate which he published at the age of 19 (cf. DNB). - II: First edition. The plates show coins and medals from Palestine and Samaria. - One corner bumped. Insignificant browning; a good, clean copy. I: Ebert 3978. DNB IV, 9. Brunet I, 1761. Graesse II, 112. Ravier 317 (pt. 2 only). - II: Ebert 14415. Fürst II, 390. Lipsius 268.
8vo. (166) pp., final blank f. With several Arabic interspersions in the text. Modern half calf with marbled covers, spine gilt with red label. All edges sprinkled in red. Second, significantly expanded edition of 24 travel letters by the Dutch educator and enthusiast of Arabic Nicolaes Cleynaerts (Clénard, 1493-1542), who visited Spain, Portugal and Morocco during the last years of his life, sending Latin letters "dated variously from 1535 to 1541" (Weber) to friends in his native Belgium: "He moved from Louvain to Salamanca and then to Fez (in 1540), so as to expand his knowledge of the Arabic language. In Granada he undertook a translation of the Qur'an. His letters to Latomus (1510-96) date from this time, when he was preoccupied with Qur'anic studies" (cf. Göllner I, p. 416); "his missives give a narrative of his journey to Morocco and provide critical commentaries on Islam" (cf. Göllner II, p. 18). Latomus's first collection, published in 1550, had comprised no more than 14 letters (while a "fragmentary publication" of Clénard's letters "concerned with the teaching of Latin" had appeared as early as 1546). "Notably the letters to Latomus of July 1539 and of April 1541 contain quotations in Arabic in a barely readable version of the original script" (Smitskamp, PO 248). Clénard had become acquainted with Islamic theology in Granada, learning Arabic from a local Moor, and endeavoured to familiarize Christianity and Islam with each other more closely. In Morocco he was welcomed by the Sultan, but his opposition to the slave trade, in which the Portuguese consul in Fez was involved, resulted in a cabal that forced him to flee back to Spain, and he died in the Alhambra soon after. His letters bear witness to the Spanish, Portuguese, and Moroccan history of his age and preserve his thoughts about the common ground between the Muslim and Christian faiths. - Some insignificant browning; an appealing copy. Rare: in 1999 the Burrell copy, the only copy in auction records, commanded £1,400 in spite of poor condition. Adams C 2160. BM-STC Dutch 54. Göllner 903. Weber II, 142. Pettegree/Walsby, Netherlandish Books 8448. Riant 3531. Chauvin (Clénard), p. 170f. Cf. Brunet II, 99 (other eds.).
8vo. 2 parts in one volume. XXIII, 512 pp. XII, 495 pp. With 14 (13 hand-coloured) aquatint plates and an engr. map. Contemp. red half morocco with marbled boards, endpapers and edges. Second edition of this detailed account of Kabulistan. The pretty engravings mainly depict costumes. "According to A. Janta, Elphinstone's encompassing scope and psychological insight have never been surpassed: for the historically leaning ethnologist, Elphinstone's work remains a source of the very highest caliber" (cf. Henze). - Occasional insignificant brownstaining. The pretty binding was probably prepared for Lt. Joseph Davey Cunningham (1812-51), who in 1849 published the standard "History of the Sikhs" (his autogr. ownership, "J. D. Cunningham, Caubul", on the flyleaf). Latterly in the collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Abbey 504 (note). Hiler 269. Cf. Lipperheide Ld 16. Colas 960. Henze II, 164. Wilson 66. Howgego II, E10 (first and later eds.). Brunet II, 966.