4 134 résultats
4to (170 x 227 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished paper. 42 written pp., 19-24 lines, per extensum, black and occasional red ink with red underlinings. With several astronomical diagrams in the text. Modern brown cloth binding with the original 18th century blindstamped leather covers pasted on the boards. An Arabic astronomical manuscript on quadrants in three parts, comprising: 1. Muhammad ibn al-Sheikh al-Hamid, Risalat al-kura (dhat al-kursi). - 2. Sabat Al-Mardini, Risalat mukhtasirat fi aleamal bialrabe alshamalii almaqtue (A brief treatise on the work in the northern quadrant). - 3. Sabat Al-Mardini, Risalat fi aleamal bialrabe almajib al-risalat al-fathiat fi al'aemal al-jibia (A treatise on work in the responding quadrant). All parts include detailed astronomical tables and diagrams in ink. - Well preserved manuscript in a professionally restored modern binding.
Folio (220 x 332 mm). (8), 556, (12) pp. With engraved frontispiece, 3 double-page-sized engraved maps, 20 engraved plates (13 double-page-sized, 1 folding), and 8 engravings in the text. Contemp. calf with gilt spine. First German edition of Dapper's description of the Middle East, including Mesopotamia or Algizira, Assyria, and Anatolia; the second part is entirely devoted to Arabia. Dapper's work is of special importance for its original and new information on Islam, Arab science, astronomy, philosophy, and historiography, as well as for its illustrations. "Dr. Olfert Dapper (1636-1689), physician, geographical and historical scholar, was the author of a series of works dealing with Africa, America and Asia. The fine plates [...] are after a number of mapmakers and artists, including Christiaan van Adrichom, Juan Bautista Villalpando and Wenzel Hollar among others" (Blackmer). Includes accounts of Mecca (with a description of the Hajj), Jeddah, Medina, Sana'a, etc. The engravings show costumes, religious rites, specimens of local flora, views, etc., including Aden, Mocha, Maskat, Babylon, Baghdad, Ninive, Ephesus, and Smyrna (re-engraved from the Dutch original edition). - Old repair to view of the Tower of Babylon (slight loss to image). Engraved armorial bookplate "ex Bibliotheca Blomiana" to pastedown. Formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. VD 17, 39:133144U. STC D 200. Blackmer 450. Tiele 300 (note).
8vo (129 x 195 mm). 146 pp., 1 blank leaf. Arabic manuscript on European laid paper (f. 6 coloured light green). South Arabian Naskh script with Ta'liq features, 19 lines, black ink with rubrication. Colophon on f. 73v with copyist verse. Entire text set within a single red frame, simple illumination over the beginning (f. 1v). Full leather binding with remnants of blind-tooled and coloured ornamentation. A commentary (or supercommentary) on the "dibacha", the introduction of the "Kitab al-Misbah fil-Nahw" on Arabic syntax by Nasir b. 'Abd al-Sayyid al-Mutarrizi (d. 610/1213). This appears to be a commentary which is closely related to - but not identical with - MS Berlin SBPK, Lbg. 841 (= Ahlwardt 6547) and MS Berlin, SBPK, Springer 1015 (= Ahlwardt 6545). The latter commentary is by Sa'd al-Din Mas'ud bin 'Umar al-Taftazani (d. 791/1389). - The Sharh is distinguished from the Matn by overlining (black and sometimes also red). The calligraphy is marked by nervous, short and quick strokes as well as some uncommon ligatures. A note on the final page below the colophon reads: "Kafa' al-katib mahrum fi'l-turab, tarikh itna-wa khamsin wa tisa-mi'a", i.e.: "The deprived scribe did enough of the required on the earth (literally, "dust"), [in the] year two and fifty and nine hundred" (= 952 H). The paleographical and ornamental evidence fully agrees with such a date. - Provenance: Christie's South Kensington, London, 11 October 2013, lot 765. Cf. GAL I, 293.
2 topographic maps, colour-printed. Lambert conformal conic projection, scale 1:1,000,000. In Russian (Cyrillic). Ca. 86 x 107 cm each. Extremely rare: the two massively-sized synoptic 1:1,000,000 maps covering the Arabian Gulf in its entirety, as published by the Soviet Union's General Staff of the army. Not to be confused with the Soviet Union's vastly smaller General Staff map quadrangles of the same scale which are aligned along the graticules, spanning 4° latitude by 6° longitude and covering only roughly half the area shown by each of the present sheets. - Edited from information sourced during the years 1972-1983 by D. D. Trushin and I. A. Medvedev. Although not specifically marked as classified, all General Staff maps de facto constituted closely guarded military material, none of which became available in the West before the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. - A few insignificant edge flaws, but generally in perfect condition.
Landscape folio (30 x 42 cm). 16 hand-coloured lithographed plates, all with captions and decorative borders (lacks title-page). A fine example of Adam's expertise in lithography. The plates depict a variety of unusual equestrian racing scenes including female chariot racing and monkeys riding horseback. Victor Adam (1801-67) was originally employed as painter for the Museum at Versailles. However, in the 1840s he decided to concentrate on the art of lithography, and this scarce album is typical of his work. - 10 plates show some spotting, mainly marginal; one plate with tear in margin (ca. 1 cm, not affecting the plate). Paper on front pastedown wrinkled, bookseller's label, bound in original blue gilt decorated cloth. Overall an attractive copy. Not in Schwerdt, Lipperheide or Colas.
8vo. (4), VI, 71 pp., final blank page. With folding map in colour and 10 black-and-white photo illustrations and maps on plates. Original illustrated wrappers printed in red and black. Only edition, rare. - Report on the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, with spectacular views of the holy city and the Kaaba, as well as the Beirut quarantine hospital. The French-trained Lebanese physican and medical historian Ahmed Chérif discusses not only the history and rituals of the Hajj, but also focuses on aspects of health and hygiene during the week-long mass gathering. - Occasional foxing to margins. Two temporary block-stitches to gutter; a few pages and plates loose. Untrimmed copy much in the original condition as issued, awaiting its first proper binding. Macro 16. OCLC 936820237.
Small folio (ca. 230 x 304 mm). (2), 62 pp. Original printed boards. Blue and white illustrated flyleaves. Signed, illustrated (with a portrait of Tintin and Milou/Snowy) and inscribed by the artist on the verso of the front flyleaf to Denis Jamin for his birthday, dated 3 September 1971. The recipient was the grandson of the Belgian caricaturist Paul Jamin (1911-95), an old friend of Hergé's. - An early Tintin adventure, set in the Middle East, where the young reporter attempts to uncover a militant group responsible for sabotaging oil supplies. First published in album form in 1950. The story was originally set in Palestine under the British Mandate, but Hergé's publisher requested several alterations, and the setting was transferred to the fictional state of Khemed. - Extremeties a little bumped and chipped, internally an excellent copy.
4to (285 x 233 mm). 2 vols. VIII, (6), 484, (2) pp. (16), 455, (1) pp. With engraved vignette by N. van der Meer to each title-page, 94 plates (30 folding, 64 full-page), and 31 maps and plans (7 folding, 24 full-page, of which the folding map of Yemen handcoloured in outline), engraved by C. Philips, Th. and C. H. de Koning, C. J. de Huyser, C. F. Fritsch, O. de Vries and others. 19th-century half calf. Untrimmed. First Dutch translation of this important and famous account of the Royal Danish Expedition (1761-67) to the Middle East, Egypt, Persia and India, the first scientific expedition to this area. The original German edition was published in Copenhagen in 1744-1778 under the title "Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern". - ''In volume II, p. 317 he [Niebuhr] begins his description of the journey from Beit el Fakih in the coffee mountains. This is accompanied by three engravings'' (Hünersdorff). There are some 40 other references to coffee in this work, including the journey from Sana'a to Mocha. The plates, the same as used for the first German language edition, include many views of cities, antiquities and statues, natives in traditional dress, hieroglyphs, Arabic script, musical instruments, a reception with the Iman of Sana'a (Yemen), and views of the mosque in Meshed Ali. The 31 maps and plans are of Constantinople, the Nile, Jeddah in the province of Mecca, Bombay, the palace of Persepolis, Muscat, the Arabian ("Persian") Gulf, Baghdad, Mosul, etc. Niebuhr's map of Yemen, the first exact map of the area ever, remained the standard for the next 200 years. - "The expedition had been proposed by the Hebrew scholar Johann David Michäelis of Göttingen for the purpose of illustrating certain passages of the Old Testament, and initially envisaged only a single traveller, possible an Arabic scholar. However, the idea rapidly blossomed into a fully-fledged scientific expedition. The team eventually assembled, for which there was no appointed leader, included Niebuhr as surveyor, along with Friedrich Christian von Haven, Peter Forskall, Christian Carl Kramer, Georg Baurenfeind, and a Swedish ex-soldier named Berggren" (Howgego). Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was the sole survivor, and his work represents an important contribution to the study of the Middle East. - Bindings used. Large-margined copy of this famous account of the Middle East, Egypt, Persia, and India in fine condition. Howgego I, N24. Hünersdorff, Coffee, p. 1081. Van Hulthem 15024. Nyon 21018. Tiele, Bibl. 796. Cf. Atabey 873-874. Cox I, pp. 237-238. Gay, Bibl. de l'Afrique et Arabe 3589. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1700. Carter, Robert A. Sea of Pearls, p. 116. Not in Atabey or Blackmer.
4to. 2 vols. VIII, (6), 409, (1) pp. VI, (10), 389, (1) pp. With 2 engraved titles (in counted prelims.), 124 engraved plates (many folding), and folding map of Yemen (in partial colour). Contemp. full calf with gilt cover borders and giltstamped labels in red and green to fully gilt spine. Marbled endpapers. All edges red. First French edition, translated from the German ("Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern", 1774) by F. L. Mourier. Title pages are dated 1776-80; colophones dated 1775-79. The famous account of the Royal Danish Expedition (1761-67) to the Middle East, Egypt, Persia and India, the first scientific expedition to this area. Niebuhr's "work on Arabia was the first European attempt at a complete account of Arabia, its people and their way of life. He amassed a vast quantity of factual information which he relates in a simple unrhetorical fashion, distinguishing clearly between things observed personally and things learned from others. The expedition, which lasted six years, was sponsored by the Danish king, and included the brilliant Swedish scientist, Peter Forsskal, who died while in Yemen" (Cat. Sotheby‘s, 13 Oct 98, lot 1010). Of the five scientists, Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was the sole survivor, and his work represents an important contribution to the study of the Middle East. His map of the Yemen, the first exact map of the area ever, remained the standard for the next 200 years. - Old stamps erased from title pages (leaving insignificant waterstain), otherwise a perfect set in immaculate original French bindings. Howgego I, N24 (p. 752). Weber II, 549. Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 66. Gay 3589. Van Hulthem 15024. Nyon 21018. Cf. Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 1700. Carter, Robert A. Sea of Pearls, p. 116. Not in Atabey or Blackmer.
3 vols. Large 8vo (178 x 245 mm). 344, (1), 15 pp. 557, (3) pp. (3)-400, (4) pp. All with a portrait frontispiece and numerous halftone illustrations throughout. Printed original wrappers (Arabic cover printed in green and black). - Includes: Chenoufi (Shanufi), Ali. Un savant Tunisien du XIXème siècle: Muhammad As-Sanusi. Sa vie et son oeuvre. Tunis, Imprimérie Officielle, 1977. 8vo. 244, (4) pp. With portrait frontispiece and several halftone illustrations. Printed original wrappers. First edition of this valuable account of a 19th century Hajj. - Muhammad as-Sanusi was an important law teacher at the University of Ez-Zitouna in Tunis, remembered as a scholar who was part of the late-19th century "Nahdha" Muslim reformist movement. Dismissed from civil service in 1881 for opposing the French Protectorate in Tunisia, he decided to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1882/83. His journey took him to Hejaz via Italy, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and finally back to Tunisia via Malta. He kept extensive notes on the customs of the countries visited, the persons he met, and the technological advances of Europe - particularly describing the railway, which in his opinion made it possible to "bring cities and believers closer together". His manuscript travel diary, a valuable perspective by a North African outsider on his Western and Middle Eastern contemporaries, was long neglected until it was rediscovered and published for the first time in 1976. - Bindings a little rubbed and bumped, but altogether a good, unmarked set. Includes the biography of As-Sanusi by the editor of his travelogue, the Tunisian scholar 'Ali Shanufi. Mahfoudh III, 251 A. Abdesselem, Historiens Tunisiens, 407 ff. OCLC 10523199, 6247132.
4to (170 x 254 mm). Arabic manuscript on polished oriental paper. 111 pp. (paginated in a later ballpoint hand), 11 lines, per extensum, black and red ink, written space ruled throughout with several sets of coloured borders. With numerous diagrams in the margins. Contemporary blindstamped full calf. An early 20th century Arabic manuscript of the "Sphaerics" by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Theodosius of Bithynia (ca. 169-100 BCE). Unknown in the West during the Middle Ages, the "Sphaerics" proved instrumental in the restoration of Euclidean geometry to Western civilization when the book was brought back from the Islamic world during the crusades and translated from Arabic into Latin. - The present manuscript was written in Afghanistan under the rule of Habibullah Khan, a reform-minded Emir who attempted to introduce modern medicine and other technology to his country. The prettily blindstamped binding would also appear to be of Afghan origin. - Paper a little browned and brittle; traces of former block-stitching; some of the first few leaves transposed during re-binding, according to the later ballpoint pagination.
Large 8vo. 2 vols. XIII, (3), 405, (1) pp. VIII, 347, (1) pp. With 2 lithogr. frontispieces and a folding map of the Arabian Peninsula. Contemp. blindstamped cloth with gilt title to spine. Only edition. One of the best English 19th-c. accounts of Arabia and the Gulf. Wellsted's short career was almost entirely devoted to the surveying of the Red Sea, Arabia and Oman, undertaken on a number of expeditions between 1830 and 1837. On board the surveying ship Palinurus he was the first European to set foot in the interior of Oman. Starting late in 1835 from the easternmost point of Oman, Wellsted made his way westward through the Ja`alan region to the Wahibah Sands and then struck north up the Wadi Batha to Samad. There he was joined by Lieutenant F. Whitelock, also of the Indian Navy, who had set out from Muscat later. Together they reached Nazwa, the ancient capital of Oman, and climbed the lower slopes of the Jabal al-Akhdhar, in central Oman. In January 1836 they arrived on the Al-Batinah coast and then turned west, recrossing the Hajar mountains and emerging on the edge of the Dhaharah, the rocky steppe that stretches west toward the Rub` al-Khali. - Bindings rubbed; spines rebacked. Interior somewhat foxed as common. Removed from the Worcester Public Library. Rare; the Peter Hopkirk copy fetched £3,500 at Sotheby's (Oct 14, 1998, lot 1192). Macro, Bibliography of the Arabian Peninsula, 2283. Howgego III, 635. Weber I, 67. Wilson 242. Henze IV, 476. Not in Gay, Blackmer, or Ghani.
Large 4to. 2 vols. (7), 208 ff. (5), 238 ff. Title vignettes (royal arms of Portugal). Uniform mottled calf with giltstamped red and green spine labels. All edges yellow. Second edition of the first two of the three "Decades" on Portugal's Middle Eastern enterprises (a fourth volume was produced posthumously in 1615, and the set was continued by other hands). "This is considered by Du Fresnoy as being a good edition" (Clarke, The Progress of Maritime Discovery, p. 132). The writer de Barros (1496-1570), head agent for the Portuguese overseas trade authority "Casa da Índia", managed to persuade King João III to commission from him a history of the Portuguese in India (including Asia and southeast Africa). The result, published between 1552 and 1563, earned him renown as one of the first great Portuguese historians, and the the title of a "Portuguese Livy". The 'Decades' contain "the early history of the Portuguese in India and Asia and reveal careful study of Eastern historians and geographers, as well as of the records of his own country. They are distinguished by clearness of exposition and orderly arrangement. They are also lively accounts" (Enc. Britannica). Books 2 and 3 of the "Decada Segunda" (fols. 21 ff.) offer a detailed narrative of Afonso de Albuquerque's expedition to the Arabian Gulf and his conquest of Ormuz in 1507; the island remained under Portuese occupation from 1515 to 1622. As vassals of the Portuguese state, the Kingdom of Ormuz jointly participated in the 1521 invasion of Bahrain that ended Jabrid rule of the Arabian archipelago. - Slight waterstaining throughout first volume; old handwritten ownership "Jose Joares E Britto" to title pages, with earlier ink ownerships obliterated (ink corrosion to title of vol. 2 and final leaf of vol. 1). A good set. Palau I.181b. Howgego I, B34, p. 91. Arouca B 56f. Löwendahl, Sino-Western Cultural Relations I, p. 42, no. 75. OCLC 4507939. Cf. Macro 474.
12mo. With a woodcut of the main character on the title-page. Contemporary plain wrappers. Very rare first edition of a Croatian translation of the popular comic novel "Le sottilissime astuzie di Bertoldo" by Giulio Cesare Croce, first published in 1606. Based on oral traditions, this highly popular novel told the story of the farmer Bertoldo, who is sometimes cunning and at other times stupid. In this Croatian version the translator "localized" the name of the main character to Nasreddin, thereby establishing a link with the famous 13th-century Turkish satirist Nasreddin Hodja, whose stories were well known in the Balkan region. The translator, Nikola Palikuca from Prokljan (near Šibenik) was probably the pseudonym of a friar or nun. A second edition of the book was published in 1799 in Venice. - With owner's inscriptions on the final blank and interior of the wrapper and some pencil crossing on the back of the title-page. Browned and with waterstains throughout, nevertheless a structurally good edition of a very rare book. Deželjin, "Bertoldi di Giulio Cesare Croce e il riflesso di quest'opera nell'altra sponda dell'Adriatico" in: Capasso, L'Italia altrove, atti del III convegno internazionale di studi dell'AIBA, pp. 135-144. Not in WorldCat; ICCU.
4to. (2), XXXVIII, 184 pp. Title-page printed in red and black. With a woodcut in the text. - (Bound with) II: Hottinger, Johann Heinrich. Exercitationes Anti-Morinianae: De pentateucho Samaritano. Zurich, Bodmer, 1644. (20), 116 pp. Contemporary vellum. The first book in Arabic ever printed in England, some parts set in Arabic and Latin parallel text. "Partial edition of the Annals of the Melkite patriarch Said ibn Batriq as a polemic on the origin of the Alexandrian Church and the distinction between priests and bishops, to which Ecchellensis was to reply in extenso" (Smitskamp). - II: First edition of Hottinger's study on the Samaritan pentateuch, directed against the findings of the Oratorian Jean Morin. - Insignificant browning due to paper; altogether a fine copy. I: Ibrahim-Hilmy I, 225. Graf II, 34. Schnurrer 171. Fück 86. Smitskamp 370 (with different imprint). - II: BM-STC H 1722. Fürst I, 414.
4to. 2 vols. (4), XXIV, 453, (19) pp. (2), VIII, 537, (2) pp. With 2 engr. title vignettes, 10 engr. initials, 20 engr. text vignettes, 2 engr. frontispieces, and 28 engr. plates. Contemp. calf gilt with giltstamped spine labels. Second issue in the year of first publication. "This work is especially valued for its engravings of Turkish costume figures and genre scences by Duflos after Boucher and Hallé" (Navari Greek), as well as for "its fine folding panorama of Constantinople" (Atabey). "The French writer and jurist Guer (1713-64) had not travelled. His work is based on a wide knowledge of historiography and travel literature. It is singled out by the high quality of its wealth of illustrations" (Chatzipanagioti-Sangmeister). The first edition was published by Coustelier in Paris, 1746-47; the same year saw the second edition (Merigot and Piget in Paris) as well as the third (Mortier in Amsterdam). - Inconspicuous repairs to folds of Constantinople view; occasional slight browning. Formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Atabey 534. Auboyneau 301. Blackmer 762. Weber II, 761. Chatzipanagioti-S. 382. Cohen/R. 465. Colas 1348. Hage Chahine 2000. Navari (Greek) 308. Sander 872. Cf. Aboussoan 308. Lipperheide Lb 31 (Mortier). Brunet II, 1783 (1746).
Small folio (215 x 308 mm). Broadsheet, 2 pp. Printed in French and Arabic in two columns. A rare broadsheet from the first printing press in the Arab world, announcing the peace concluded between Napoleon and the rulers of Algiers and Tunis: "Je vous annonce qu'il nous est parvenu récemment des lettres de la part du Gouvernement de la République Française, et de son premier Consul, l'illustre guerrier Bonaparte. Elles nous donnent avis que la paix a été conclue définitivement entre la République Française et les royaumes d'Alger et de Tunis. Que Dieu en soit loué! [...] Habitans de l'Égypte! Dieu favorise toutes les entreprises des Français et du premier consul Bonaparte, qui ne veulent que justice: la tranquillité, la sécurité et le bonheur des peuples [...]". Napoleon's peace treaty was intended to send a strong signal to the Muslim world and pave the way for more ready acceptance of French power in Egypt. - "The expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt from 1798 until 1801 was a prelude to modernity. It was to change permanently the traditional Arab world [...] The French brought Arabic typography to Egypt, where it was practised under the supervision [...] of Jean Joseph Marcel [...]. Only a few days after the French troops landed [...] they set up the Imprimerie Orientale et Française there. It was an extraordinarily important turning point. For, leaving aside the Hebrew printing presses in Egypt of the 16th to the 18th centuries, until this date announcements and news adressed to Arabs there, as well as in other parts of the Arab-Islamic world, had been spread only in hand-writing or orally, by criers, preachers or storytellers" (Glass/Roper). - The productions of the Imprimerie included rare scientific and practical brochures, periodicals, but above all broadsheets and notices in French, Arabic and Turkish, intended for authorities, soldiers and the literate general population. The Imprimerie employed more than 30 men, including several Egyptians hired and trained on the spot, among them Yousef Msabky, later head of the royal printing press in Egypt. For the printing of Arabic and Turkish texts the Imprimerie had extensive typographical material at its disposal, including the entire set of oriental types that Monge had seized in Rome from the Congregatio Fide press. Jean-Joseph Marcel, himself a very competent Arabist, enlisted the services of the Turkish interpreter Elia Fatalla and of two scholars from Acre, Yakoub and Mikhaïl, who had fled the persecutions of Jazzar Pasha. - Folded horizontally. Untrimmed an in excellent state of preservation. Cf. D. Glass/G. Roper, The Printing of Arabic Books in the Arab World, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution (Gutenberg Museum Mainz 2002), p. 177-225, at 182.
4to. 2 vols. XVI, (6), 505, (1) pp. With 72 plates and folding map. (16), 479, (1) pp. With 52 plates and maps. Contemporary vellum with title to spine. First edition. - Niebuhr's "work on Arabia was the first European attempt at a complete account of Arabia, its people and their way of life. He amassed a vast quantity of factual information which he relates in a simple unrhetorical fashion, distinguishing clearly between things observed personally and things learned from others. The expedition, which lasted six years, was sponsored by the Danish king, and included the brilliant Swedish scientist, Peter Forsskal, who died while in Yemen" (Cat. Sotheby‘s, 13 Oct 98, lot 1010). Of the five scientists, Carsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was the sole survivor, and his work represents an important contribution to the study of the Middle East. His map of the Yemen, the first exact map of the area ever, remained the standard for the next 200 years. - An unsophisticated, exceptionally fine copy. Macro 1700. Gay 3589. Howgego I, N24 (p. 752).
4to. 2 vols. bound in one. 14 pp. (index), 210 pp., (1 blank), 7 pp. (index), 190 pp. Original full calf with later paper label; later marbled paper on the spine. An important first-hand account of relations between the Porte and central Europe as well as the wider political events during the second half of the 18th century. Written by the Baghdad-born diplomat Ahmed Vasif Effendi and also known as "Vasif Tarihi" ("Vasif's History"), it forms one of the most important works of Ottoman political history for the period between 1754 and 1774, when the author actively participated in the world of diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire, on the Balkans, in Russia and in Vienna. Vasif was known for his quick temper and was later described by the German orientalist Franz Babinger as "vain, stingy, jealous, and excessively vicious" (cf. p. 336). His text was left unfinished after a dispute with the Istanbul-based press of Rasid Efendi, which Vasif himself had helped establish, and it was completed by Sadullah Enveri (d. 1794), who himself had participated in the military events described. - At the time one of the few available printed historico-political accounts of contemporary Middle Eastern relations with the West during the age of Enlightenment, the book proved extremely popular throughout Europe and is today found in many European libraries. This is the third and last edition, the second printed at Bulaq, by the first official and governmental printing press in Egypt, after first being published in Istanbul in 1219 (1803/04). - Bulaqor Al-Amiriya Press, the first official and governmental printing press established in Egypt, was founded in 1820 by the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali. As early as in 1815 the first delegation was sent from Egypt to Milan to learn printing. After the building for the press was finished in the autumn of 1820, it took another two years to transport the machines and train the employees, and the first book, an Arabic-Italian dictionary, was published in 1822. Viceroy Muhammad Ali started several reform programmes with a view to create a modern Egyptian society after the European model, and the press was part of this modernisation. He is remembered for establishing modern Egypt as an independent country. - Printed on thick paper. Interior clean with sporadic old staining; old pencil and ink annotations to endpapers. Binding shows larger scratches and loss of material, but still in the original Bulaq covers. Provenance: 19th century bookseller's label of Benjamin Duprat, Paris, on front pastedown; later owned by the Iraqi architect Mohamed Makiya (2015). Özege V, 22519. OCLC 949617481, 777193206, 320228577, 780208235, 165361809, 26779362 and 600848792 (some examples on microfilm). Ethan L. Menchinger, The First of the Modern Ottomans: The Intellectual History of Ahmed Vasif (2017). Franz Babinger, Die Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke (1927), pp. 335-337.
4to. (10), 648 [but: 598], (4) pp. Contemporary half calf with giltstamped spine. Rare first edition of "the oldest complete translation of the Qur'an into a European vernacular" (Encylopedia of the Qur'an). Du Ryer's work served as the basis for further translations of the Qur'an into English, German, Dutch, and Russian, and was instrumental in introducing Europeans to the tenets of the Muslim faith. Du Ryer was a celebrated linguist and had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he studied classical Arabic. His introduction briefly summarizes the Muslim religion for Christian readers, noting customs such as Ramadan, circumcision, the practice of having as many as four wives, the significance of Mecca and Medina, Sufi brotherhoods and wandering ascetics, and finally the Islamic recognition of Jesus as a prophet but not the son of God. A prayer printed in Arabic is included on the verso of leaf e2. - "Du Ryer's translation of the Qur'an [...] became an unparalleled literary success [...] The easy availability of the Qur'an accompanied a newfound interest in the Orient; additionally, du Ryer's translation lacked the polemical tone of previous editions, an orientation which arose mainly in ecclesiastical contexts. Du Ryer used Islamic commentaries such as al-Bayawi's Anwar al-tanzil, the Tafsir al-Jalalayan by al-Mahalli (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyu i (d. 911/1505), or an excerpt from al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) great commentary made by al-Raghi al-Tunisi (d. 715/1315) entitled al-Tanwir fi l-tafsir, quite casually in his translation, merely noting them in the margins. The deprecatory tone present in the introductory chapter, 'Sommaire de la religion des Turcs,' can be understood as an attempt at camouflage (cf. Hamilton and Richard, André du Ryer, 94f)" (Encyclopedia of the Qur'an). - Some waterstaining throughout; occasional worming; more pronounced edge damage near end. Provenance: 1714 ms. ownership (partly stricken out) of the Castelnaudary Capuchins, dissolved in 1789; acquired by the notary J. L. E. Bauzit of Castelnaudary (his ownership on title and flyleaf). Chauvin X, p. 126. Schnurrer 427. Fück 74. Brunet III, 1309. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an V, 347.
985 x 645 mm. Scale 1:500,000. Key in English. Printed on cloth. Blueprint map of the Gulf, showing Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and parts of Qatar. The map pays particular interest to oil and gas exploration, detailing the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, the old tapline survey route, and the offshore terminal and refinery at Ras Tanura, as well as the Jafurah basin, the largest natural gas field in the Kingdom stretching 170 by 100 kilometers. - Among the most notable places are Hofuf, Dhahran, and Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia, as well as Manama, Awali, and al-Muharraq in Bahrain. Labelled locations in the displayed portion of Qatar's coast include Hawar Island, Dukhan and Salwa. The map illustrates trails, roads, and airstrips, as well as topographical features such as dunes, sand and gravel patches, and sabkhas. - The sheet was prepared as a working document by Aramco and the U.S. Geological Survey to help them in the early stages of comprehensive nationwide mapping and exploration work for the Saudi Government. First published in May 1953, the present map was revised in February 1954. - Two minor brown spots; upper left edge a little toned and frayed.
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.
2 photos (ca. 85 x 110 mm) mounted on backing cardboard. In black picture frame (220 x 270 mm). Showing scenes from the camel market in Dubai, depicting resting camels on the ground as well as several customers and cameleers on foot or riding mules. - Rare.
Painting and embroidery on silk, 650 x 935 mm. Near-life-size embroidery of a lady falconer in green dress, her hat highlighted with gold sequins. A charming and skillfully executed work in the Viennese neo-classical style, obviously commissioned for the decoration of a so-called Hunter's Salon in an Austrian nobleman's castle.
Folio (212 x 298 mm). 25 ff. Contemporary brown leatherette binding with giltstamped cover-title. The original Joint Venture Agreement between the state-owned Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) and the Mesopotamia Petroleum Company (MPC), with the autograph signatures of Idriss Muhsen Al-Yassiri, General Director of IDC, Stephen Remp, Director of MPC and its associate Ramco Energy, and Peter Redman, Director of Midmar Energy and Firstdrill, other associate companies of MPC. - This joint venture, known as the Iraqi Oil Services Company LLC (IOSCO), was created with the objective of drilling 60 new wells each year in the Republic of Iraq, thus significantly increasing oil and gas production. This groundbreaking deal was the first joint venture of its kind between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and a foreign oil company since the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. On 7 July 2009, IDC terminated the agreement after MPC failed to fulfil financial obligations. MPC was unable to confirm funding of $44.1 million to meet the initial capital commitments to preserve its 49 percent stake in the venture. - Handwritten addition by Stephen Remp on fol. 4 specifying the territory of the joint venture: "(i.e. Missan Province or any other Provinces to be mutually agreed by The Parties.) [...]". - In mint condition.