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8vo. 8 pp. With woodcut title vignette. Wrappers. First (and only?) printing of the letter by the Capuchin friar Pacifico Scaliger, leader of his order's mission to Persia and Armenia, written to the Capuchin Guardian of Leghorn (dated 21 May 1627), with the two mandates received from Sultan Murad IV: the first a permit to found a hospital at Aleppo, Syria (12 April 1627); the other granting the Capuchins free passage and permission to reside and teach throughout the Ottoman Empire, wherever there are Christians (26 April 1627). - Some brownstaining; old pagination in manuscript and stamped (apparently removed from an old collection). Of special interest is the title woodcut, showing a round moon within the oriental crescent. The round moon bears a crudely drawn face, incorporating the western notion of a "man in the moon", but the heavily structured lunar surface also provides a curious counterpiece to the famous woodcuts which had appeared in Galileo's groundbreaking "Sidereus Nuncius" but eighteen years previously. - Excessively rare: a single copy in library catalogues (HAB Wolfenbüttel); no records via WorldCat or in Italian libraries via SBN. OCLC 258074666 (no holding records). HAB Wolfenbüttel shelfmark M:Gv Kapsel 7 (46).
8vo. (10), 70, (6), (43 plates), (2), 106, (1) pp. With folding map frontispiece. Red leather-backed blue cloth. A guide to the treasury of Qur'ans in the Museum of Ancient Iran in Tehran, printed in Persian and illustrated with over forty black and white plates from photographs. The plates illustrate the range of time periods, decoration practices, and calligraphic styles represented in the museum's mid-century Qur'an collection. A folding map frontispiece shows a floor plan of the relevant gallery, with arrows helpfully indicating to an interested visitor which way to best take in the exhibits. - The Iran Bastan Museum, also called the Museum of Ancient Iran, falls under the umbrella of the Iran National Museum. However, it is housed in its own specially designed building in Tehran, and was in fact the first structure in Iran purpose-built to act as a museum: its large arched entryway and brickwork are representative of the famous arch of Taq-e Kasra of Ctesiphon and the ancient traditions of Persian brick construction. Today, the Iran Bastan Museum largely houses much earlier relics of Iran's past, such as Neolithic spear points and Sassanian artifacts, with other sites of the Iran National Museum taking up the focus on Muslim-era manuscripts. A scarce piece of literature on Qur'ans in 1940s Iranian museum collections. - Exterior lightly worn, but in good condition. Uncommon. OCLC 61120487.
Oblong folio. (15) ff. With 5 ink wash drawings, 4 pencil drawings, 4 coloured pencil drawings, 1 pen drawing painted with watercolours, 1 pen drawing, 1 coloured lithograph and 1 photograph, all in various formats, on (12) pp. Contemporary green morocco binding, cover giltstamped with crowned monogram "PA". All edges gilt. Includes a loose pencil portrait of a young lady (192 x 262 mm) and a photograph of a castle pasted on the free endpaper. Charming collection of sketches and watercolours, including a pen-drawn genre piece with soldiers (ca. 222 x 174 mm) by the French painter André Dutertre, member of the Institut d'Égypte, and the portrait of a soldier in pencil (ca. 138 x 194 mm) by Claude Vaulot (1818-42), both signed. Dutertre is best known for his portraits of military men, especially in connection with Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, in which he participated. Of particular interest are four orientalist landscape drawings and four character studies of portraits from Kabylia (Algeria). These unsigned pieces are probably connected with the 1830 "Éxpédition de Médéa", part of the French conquest of Algeria. They include a pencil drawing of a road near Medea, a pencil drawing of a source near Mouzaïa, where a battle took place on 21 November 1830, an ink wash drawing of a military encampment in Kabylia, and the portrait of a Kabylian marabout, or holy man. This small portrait is arranged on one page with the other three portraits, two Kabyle women and one man, and a well-executed ink wash drawing of a landscape in Kabylia with the tombs of two marabouts. The collection is completed by a charming lithographed invitation to a puppet play "Theatre de Polichinelle", signed "Nouvian", a photo collage of political caricatures with a written legend, an ink wash of a peasant woman, signed "J. Chastenet", and a watercolour of a group of soldiers marching to war, their wives wringing their hands. - The photo collage is strongly faded, some pages with minor tears and foxing but all drawings and the lithograph well preserved. Spine and edges of binding scuffed.
8vo. XLIV, 224 pp, 2 blank leaves. Modern half calf with giltstamped red spine label. First translation (by Károly Comte de Reviczky) of Müteferrika's discussion of the reform of the Ottoman military, which the author himself had published at his own press in 1732. This is the second issue, without the Arabic words "Usul al-hikam fi nizam al-umam" or the word "la" on the title-page and a new page-count (agreeing with the copy in the BSB). - Ownership and bookplate of an Italian collector Antuzzi on flyleaf. Untrimmed; a good copy. Rare, no copy can be traced in auction or trade records. Seemann (Trattner) 1958. Giese 1005. Petrik II, 200. Kriegsarchiv-Bibliothek Dg. 13. Oravetz, 119. Oravetz S., 25.
8vo. Pt. 1 (of 2) only. XXIV, 170 pp. With folding engraved map. Contemporary blue wrappers. Probably a pirated version of the first German edition (Hamburg, Villaume); translated from the English "Copies of original letters from the Army of General Bonaparte in Egypt". Also published in French ("Correspondence interceptée de Bonaparte et de son armée en Egypte"). The map shows the Nile delta from Giza to the Mediterranean estuary. - Untrimmed copy; some defects to spine. Ibrahim-Hilmy 245. Cf. Gay 1990. Not in Kainbacher.
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.
Large 8vo (165 x 240 mm). 40 volumes, prettily gilt to covers and spines. With more than 400 engraved and aquatint plates, maps, charts and portraits (many by Nicholas Pocock). Marbled endpapers. The complete 40-volume run of the "Naval Chronicle", the most influential maritime publication of its time and today a key source for British maritime and military history. Founded by the Royal Navy chaplain James Stanier Clarke and the naval officer James Stanier Clarke, the monthly periodical ran for two full decades from January, 1799 to December, 1818. It contains a wealth of information about the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, including biographies, histories, anecdotes and news, essays on nautical subjects, as well as poems and ballads on a variety of related topics. - Several volumes include material on events in the Arabian Gulf and Sea, often recounting episodes of "piracy" against British vessels, such as the capture of the East India Company's ships "Shannon" and "Trimmer" on 1 Dec. 1804 (an account is found in vol. XV, pp. 24f.) or the Arab raid on the "Minerva" on 29 May 1809, during which the crew were massacred and the vessel converted into the Al-Qasimi flagship (reported in vol. XXIII, p. 281f.; vol. XXIV, p. 30f.). Such events provoked the British "Persian Gulf" campaign of 1809, in which a large British force was deployed to destroy Al-Qasimi bases and ships. The Battle of Ras al-Khaimah, fought on 11-13 Nov. 1809, is reflected in reports printed in vol. XXIV (pp. 73 and 363), and renewed interest in the region and its history, customs and religion prompted a lengthy article on "The Wahebite Arabs" (vol. XXIV, pp. 293ff.; 371ff.), or "the Wahebbi, whose name is much connected with the Iowassimi pirates". A decade later, the British Navy would return in another massive operation against Ras Al Khaimah, which would lead to the signing of the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 between the British and the Sheikhs of the coast which today comprises the United Arab Emirates. - Bindings variously rubbed and bumped, some quite severely with hinges split and extremeties chipped; some spines rebacked, some labels lost. Occasional brownstaining throughout, but largely confined to tissue guards and opposite pages. In all a worn but still appealingly bound set, often encountered in separate volumes only. Sabin 52076. ZDB-ID 1053834-3.
Large 8vo. 2 parts in one vol. (4), XV, (1 blank), 599, (1); (2), 60, (2 blank) pp. With 3 maps (of which 2 folding) and 82 views of coastal profiles on 52 plates. Blue cloth with title information in yellow on front cover and spine, the supplement has been separately inserted (loose at the end of the vol.). - With: [Navigation - Red Sea - Navy Pilot]. Supplement No. 7 - 1977 to Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot (11th edition, 1967) corrected to 4th March, 1977. Whenever reference is made to the pilot this supplement must be consulted. London, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1977. With 2 folding maps (double-sided on the same leaf) and 4 views of coastal profiles on 3 pages. Grey/blue back wrapper; the two quires, map and back wrapper are held together by two metal staples. The essential standard sailing directions for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, corresponding with zone NP64 on the official Admiralty charts. These nautical works - the pilots and the charts - are published by the United Kingdom's Hydrographic Office, which provides necessary hydrographic and marine geospatial data to all kinds of maritime organisations across the world. The publications are not only used by the British Royal Navy, but can also be found on board the majority of international merchant ships. The data provided in the pilots and other publications are compliant with SOLAS (the Safety of Life at Sea treaty) guidelines and are updated constantly in weekly "Notices to Mariners", and in supplements to and new editions of the pilots whenever necessary. - The present copy is the 11th edition (1967) of the pilot with sailing directions and other information on the weather, currents, radar ranges etc. relating to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including the supplement issued in 1977. It includes a foreword by the Hydrographer of the Navy, Rear-Admiral George Stephen Ritchie (1914-2012), who served most of his Naval career in the Surveying Service providing the raw data for the Hydrographic Office. The introduction clearly states that with the publication of this volume the previous edition and its supplements are cancelled, since the most up-to-date information has been compiled in the new edition and the weekly "Notices to Mariners" that appear after the publication of the 11th edition. The 11th edition of 1967 and its 1977 supplement were made redundant with the publication of the 12th edition in 1980. Each subsequent edition of the pilot supersedes the last, which have appeared infrequently depending on newly available information since the mid-19th century until the present day. - Binding slightly rubbed and faded, first two pages are printed on red/pink paper, edges of the volume are very slightly soiled. Fore-edge of the supplement is slightly frayed. Overall in good condition.
Folio (240 x 376 mm). 65 ff., 66-114, (4) pp. With 79 (incl. 1 repeat) engravings in the text. Contemporary leather binding over wooden boards (restored) with 8 brass bosses to corners. Remains of clasps. These explanations of the Ottoman and Arabian costume engravings based on the account of Nicolas Nicolay d'Arfeuille and on the Byzantine prophecies of Thomas Artus, Sieur d’Embry (c. 1550-after 1614), who is known for his satirical take on the French court, "Les Hermaphrodites", were variously published throughout the 17th century as an appendix to the history of the Ottoman Empire of Chalkokondyles, but were also issued separately, as is the case with the present copy. The repeated plate 60/61 and the duplicated plate number 64 identify this as Guillemot's 1632 Paris edition. Among the plates are an "Arabic merchant", an "Emir, descended from Muhammad", "Pilgrims returning from Makkah", a "Persian gentleman", a "Turkish lady dressed for going to town" etc.; at the end: prophecies foretelling the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. - Occasional insignificant brownstaining; some slight worming (also touching text and images); some repaired edge defects. Formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Colas 2207 (note). OCLC 83490314. Cf. Hage Chahine 860. This edition not in Hiler or Lipperheide.
8vo. (24), 455, (23) pp. With 4 engr. plates. Contemporary half calf with gilt title label on gilt spine. Edges sprinkled red. Extremely rare sole edition of this account of the Niebuhr expedition to Arabia in the 1760s. Produced as a cheaper alternative to the hefty 3-volume sets which appeared in German, Danish, French, and other languages, the present work was printed by the Royal press and gives a summary of the journey intended for a popular audience. Swedish interest in the expedition was elicited by the presence of the Swedish botanist and explorer Peter Forsskål in Niebuhr's caravan. After studying Arabic dialects, Forsskål was the first to scientifically describe many plants of the Arabian Peninsula, before dying in Yemen of malaria in 1763. - The plates, modeled after those of the German edition of 1772, depict a Turkish Pilgrim to Mecca; an Arab woman in a hijab, with an inset detail of a burkha; an Arab farm-girl from the 'Coffee Mountains' of southern Arabia; and an Arab nobleman of Yemen. - Binding rather rubbed; blank margin of first few leaves a little toned, otherwise a very good copy, clean and fresh. OCLC shows just 3 copies worldwide: the University of Texas, the Swedish National Library, and the Danish National Library. No copy seen at Anglo-American auction since 1999. OCLC 156793368. James Ford Bell 340.
8vo. (24), 455, (23) pp. With 4 engr. plates. Contemporary half calf with gilt title label on spine. Extremely rare sole edition of this account of the Niebuhr expedition to Arabia in the 1760s. Produced as a cheaper alternative to the hefty 3-volume sets which appeared in German, Danish, French, and other languages, the present work was printed by the Royal press and gives a summary of the journey intended for a popular audience. Swedish interest in the expedition was elicited by the presence of the Swedish botanist and explorer Peter Forsskål in Niebuhr's caravan. After studying Arabic dialects, Forsskål was the first to scientifically describe many plants of the Arabian Peninsula, before dying in Yemen of malaria in 1763. - The plates, modeled after those of the German edition of 1772, depict a Turkish Pilgrim to Mecca; an Arab woman in a hijab, with an inset detail of a burkha; an Arab farm-girl from the 'Coffee Mountains' of southern Arabia; and an Arab nobleman of Yemen. - Binding rather rubbed; some chipping to spine; blank margin of first few leaves a little toned, otherwise a very good copy, clean and fresh. OCLC shows just 3 copies worldwide: the University of Texas, the Swedish National Library, and the Danish National Library. No copy seen at Anglo-American auction since 1999. OCLC 156793368. James Ford Bell 340.
4to. (167) ff. on smoothed paper. With many magic squares containing letters and numbers. Somewhat damaged contemp. blindstamped calf with fore-edge flap. Unsophisticated manuscript for private practical use, showing signs of heavy wear and apparently continued until fairly recently (with several modern ballpoint entries). Many postscripts on the flyleaves and empty leaves at the beginning and end (7 and 5 ff., respectively) are written in Maghribi style, suggesting a northern African provenance, but the main text is written in a different style. Sprinkled throughout the ms. are numerous magical squares, some bearing numbers, others words (such as "Allah", "light", "earth", etc.), sometimes both combined. Many quotations from the Qur'an and Islamic scholars. Continued at the end by other hands, with many prayers and invocations. Occult manuscripts are rare in the Islamic tradition, as the official taboo against such items was very strong. - Incomplete, but supplemented by an early hand. Occasional loose leaves; frequent fingerstaining and browning; numerous marginalia; edge wear throughout.
Small folio (30 × 23.5 cm). With many reproductions of photographs, ground plans, maps, and cross-sections. Later cardboard binder. Extract from the periodical "The Petroleum Times", containing an extensive article on oil in the Middle East. It opens with a list of Middle East oil companies and their concessions, accompanied by a map showing their oil fields, followed by a section on the future of Middle East oil. Individual chapters are devoted to the oil industry in Iran, Iraq, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, Haifa (Israel) and Kuwait, describing the area's geology, oil fields, reservoirs, and more, illustrated with photographs and cross-sections of the soil. The first 25 and last 16 pages consist of advertisements. - Lacking the first 4 leaves of the preliminaries (probably advertisements), but the article itself complete, some leaves slightly creased, otherwise in very good condition.
494 x 324 mm. Chromolithographic map. Scale 1:5,900,000. A medium-sized wall map showing the Middle East between the Suez Crisis and the Six-Day War, covering the area from the Eastern Mediterranean to Iran including most of Turkey as well as Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Northern Saudi Arabia and the Gulf as far south as Qatar. Oil production capacities are shown in barrels, with oilfields, refineries, pipelines, and associated infrastructure indicated on the map. The massive 'tapline' is seen crossing the northern Saudi desert from the Gulf coast to Sidon, while double pipelines run from Kirkuk to Tripoli and to Haifa. From the atlas of Yediot Achronot. - After the Suez Crisis and its associated geopolitical shifts, Britain and France were forced by the USA to abandon their post-imperial plans, and Israel now counted in both U.S. and Soviet plans for their control of Middle Eastern politics. Britain was forced to anchor its Middle Eastern influence in Cyprus, Aden and Iraq, while the increased American influence is evident in the vast Aramco oilfields at Ras Tanura. - Well preserved.
Large folding heliozincographed colour map, 1 sheet (of 4), measuring 940 x 700 mm. Original printed covers. Separate section of Hunter's large and extremely detailed map of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf, showing southern Oman with the eastern tip of Yemen. - The Canadian-born Hunter later became a major figure in British India's Intelligence Service. He initially compiled the map between 1905 and 1908, to accompany J. G. Lorimer's "Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf". As the author recalls in his 1919 "Reminiscences", "a great deal of the information on the map was from sources considered secret at the time" (p. 357). Special surveys of the country's interior areas were carried out to achieve a hitherto unprecedented degree of accuracy: "The map was a distinct advance on anything which existed, as in 1908 no general map of Arabia on such a large scale existed" (p. 360). The "Hunter" map was used (and praised) by St John Philby during his journey across Arabia. - Such was the detail of Hunter's map that the Survey of India reissued it, with corrections, several times during the First World War and interwar period. As the maps were issued in parts and used on active service it is not unusual for sections to be missing. Many of the surviving copies show signs of official use; this issue bears a flight route, sketched out in red ink, from Ghaidhah (Al Ghaydah) in southeast Yemen toward Muscat. - Some light browning, several small tears to folds, otherwise very good. Ownership inscription in red ink to cover, "H. R. Tidd. F/O", by Flight Officer Herbert Richard Tidd (1912-42), proving that the maps were still issued to RAF personnel in the early 1930s. - Scarce. OCLC locates complete copies at the Library of Congress, University of Wisconsin, National Library of Israel and the BNF. Cf. Macro 1228.
Two hand-coloured wood-engraved views, ca. 28 x 19 cms each. Unframed with traces of former mounting. The pretty views show ships and the fort in Elphinstone Inlet (Khor Ash Sham, the inner inlet of Khasab Bay) at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, which juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Arabian Gulf. The mountains of Musandam are seen towering in the distance. - Removed from The Illustrated London News, 8 July 1865, published when the connection of the UK's "Persian Gulf Telegraphic Cable" between Karachi and Ottoman telegraphic lines was achieved across the Musandam Peninsula. Well preserved.
Folio (ca. 200 x 315 mm). Over 360 pp. with manuscript entries and 16 blank leaves. Brown ink on blueish watermarked laid paper. With 13 ink-drawn charts and sketches (8 on the logbook pages and 5 on separate thick album leaves). Period-style black half calf with original brown cloth boards; spine with gilt-lettered title "Log H.M.S. Cyclops". Overall an important, finely illustrated logbook, written in a legible hand. Historically significant manuscript logbook, containing a detailed record of the first attempt at laying a submarine telegraph cable to connect London with British India. The expedition took place from May 1859 (the Red Sea leg from Suez to Aden) to February 1860 (from Aden to the Khuriya-Muriya Islands, Muscat and Karachi). The two specially designed cable ships, Imperador and Imperatrix, were supported by HMS Cyclops, which surveyed the coastlines and reported on the depth and structure of the ocean floor. - The entries from February 1859 to May 1860, documenting the ship's Red Sea and Arabian Sea mission, span over 200 pages. We first find the Cyclops near Cape Ras al Hadd on the eastern coast of Oman, at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman: "Cape Ras al Hadd ... terminates in a low sandy spit at the head of which is a village and mud fort. There is an inlet about 4 miles to the northward of the cape, but inaccessible to large vessels. There is a heavy surf on the beach during northerly winds" (9 February 1859). The ship then plied in the Red and Arabian Seas between Egypt, Yemen and Oman, eventually finishing in Bombay. - During its expedition, the Cyclops visited and moored in Quseer and Zabardag Island (Egypt), Suakin (Sudan), Perim Island (Strait Bab-el-Mandeb, Yemen), the Hanish Islands (Yemen), Palinurus Shoal and Cape Fartak (Yemen), Al-Hallaniyah and Al-Qibliyah (Khuriya Muriya Islands, Oman), Ras Madrakah and Ras Al Hadd (Oman), Charna Island and Karachi (Pakistan). The logbook entries record the conducting of soundings and the laying of cable, along with quotidian ship activity. Brief entries touch on the death of crew members; discharging coal; punishing men for wrongdoings; maintenance of the ship; making notes of other ships in company; visits on board by local notables, etc. Six larger entries, occupying up to two pages of text, describe the topography, landmarks, soundings and economy of Karachi, Zabargad Island, and Muscat Cove, which latter harbour is said to be "formed by Muscat Island on the east and Ras Muscat on the West, it is one mile deep by half a mile wide with 12 fms at entrance, decreasing to 3 fathoms ahead of the town. It is defended by two ... batteries on the island, one on the height to the seat of town and two on Ras Muscat. They are all in a stay of decay. The entrance to the cove is difficult to make out when coming from the eastward ... The exports of Muscat are wheat, dried fish, dates and cattle, the imports being European and Indian manufactured goods, sugar, etc. The revenue is about £100,000. The Imaum's Palace faces the water, his army generally consists of from 10 to 12,000 men, and the fleet of 2 frigates, 2 corvettes, a transport and brig, the greater part of the Navy having been removed to Zanzibar, the Captains of these vessels being educated at Bombay or Calcutta. Supplies of all kind are cheap and plentiful. Boats may be hired thro' the medium of the Agent of the Indian Government for the shipment of coals" (26 November 1859). - Illustrated with eight well-executed ink-drawn charts, showing the tracks of Cyclops in the Red and Arabian Seas, as well as the harbours of Muscat Cove and other places. Five beautiful ink sketches show the city of Muscat, "Hallani Bluff from Addington Cove" (Al-Hallaniyah, the largest of the Khuriya Muriya Islands, Oman), Ras Fartak (Yemen), Karachi harbour, and Colombo. - Lightly armoured and laid with too little slack, the cable soon failed: indeed, the 1859 section had already broken down by the time the route was completed in 1860. Messages were passed over individual sections, but the entire cable never worked as a unit. Communication to India would not be established until the 1864 Persian Gulf cable was laid. The captain of the Cyclops, William Pullen (1813-87), was a noted British navigator and Arctic explorer who took part in John Franklin's search and in 1849 became the first European to sail along the north coast of Alaska from the Bering Strait to the Mackenzie River in Canada. - A final part of log, comprising some additional ca. 150 pp. (May 1860-May 1861), covers the Cyclops's survey of the south-eastern coast of Ceylon and her return voyage to England. Overall, an important content-rich source on the early history of the submarine telegraph cable around the Arabian Peninsula to British India.
9 original gelatin silver photographs laid down on thick cream card (likely removed from an album), each measuring approx. 92 by 138 mm. Three captioned and/or numbered in the negative. Rare photographs of Muscat depicting variously, "The Rock of Muscat", the Al-Jalali Fort, and the Al-Mirani Fort. A number of the images are of a military nature, from which it is possible to surmise that the photographer was an officer: a torpedo being fired, a significant cache of weapons and troops (bluejackets) disembarking on the shore to be greeted by a crowd of civilians. Such scenes reflect the British presence in the Gulf of Oman at the time, where they were engaged in combatting the East African slave trade, suppressing the smuggling of arms and generally attempting to exert influence whenever possible. - Some marginal fading, otherwise very good. Original photographs of Muscat from this era are exceedingly rare, especially in this condition. The best-known examples were taken by the professional photographer A. R. Fernandez, but the present set certainly represents an amateur effort, and these are likely to be the only surviving prints of the images.
8 issues bound in 11 volumes. Each volume with a frontispiece photographic portrait of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, one in colour. With numerous black-and-white and colour photographic illustrations, maps, plans and charts in the text or as plates. Original printed wrappers. Scholarly journal on aspects of natural and cultural heritage relevant to the Sultanate of Oman. Includes occasional remarks on neighbouring countries, such as a list of documents relating to foreign relations between 1790 to 1970, and mentioning the 1896 treaty between Oman and Abu Dhabi which invested the latter with an annual payment of 3,000 dollars to keep the peace in the al-Buraimi area. For the most part the research focuses on prehistoric times and on early settlements along the Gulf. Interestingly, one paper points out a scarcity of prehistoric communities in large areas of the present-day United Arab Emirates, as "a paucity of suitable anchorages such as can be found at Abu Dhabi, Umm an-Nar, or Jazirat Yas [...] and a lack of fresh water along the coast from Abu Dhabi to Qatar probably restricted prehistoric settlement in the area" (vol. 4, p. 32). Apart from prehistoric sites and archaeological findings, the journal addresses matters of social history, discussing the diminishing Shawawi population of Northern Oman, many members of which migrated to more prosperous areas such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain, as well as questions of biology, including papers on falcon breeding as well as the life of the Arabian tahr on the Musandam Peninsula. - Vol. 3 part 2 has an additional title-page loosely inserted. Wrappers occasionally slightly worn; interior in excellent condition. An academic publication of great scientific value drawing attention to the rich cultural heritage of Oman. OCLC 263595432.
92 x 126 cm. Scale: 1:1,000. Whiteprint on thick paper. Title, scale and compass executed in manuscript in blue pen. Impressive plan of the excavation site of Tell Halaf (now on the Syrian-Turkish border), the location of the great ancient Aramaean town of Guzana, and one of the most important archaeological revelations of the modern era. Then in the Ottoman Empire, it was discovered in 1899 by the German diplomat Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946) while travelling through northern Mesopotamia on behalf of Deutsche Bank, working on establishing a route for the Bagdad Railway. - This is a working copy of the official, authoritative plan of the site produced during the 1911-13 excavation led by Oppenheim, printed at Tell Halaf for the use of the senior archaeological team. Signed in the upper right-hand corner by Theodor Dombart (1884-1969), a professional architect and one of Oppenheim’s principal associates, later an esteemed professor of ancient Middle Eastern architecture and an authority on Munich history. - A little worn, slight toning along old folds, else very good.
Five oblong albums (445 x 315 mm), consecutively numbered with 847 vintage albumen prints (various formats, 115 x 85 to 280 x 205 mm) laid down and captioned on thick cream card. Contemporary red half sheepskin, title and year stamped in gilt lettering to front covers of each volume. Spine and edges ruled in gilt, silk-watered endpapers, album sheets edged in gilt. An exceptional trove of early exploration and travel photographs, documenting a two-year tour around the coast of Africa and Yemen, through the Gulf from Muscat to Bahrein, then on by the Arabian Sea to Karachi and finally back to Syria and Jerusalem. The collection is preserved in its original massive oblong albums with each of the partly large-format photographs meticulously captioned in the traveller's own hand. Numerous photographs of himself are included within the albums and witness the transformation of a well-groomed English gentleman at the beginning of the tour in East Africa, in early 1900 ("being carried to small boat at Majunga"), into a bearded explorer camping with the Bedouins in 1901(showing him in front of "My camp at El Bagdadi on the Euphrates"). - The unidentified traveller was hosted by local dignitaries and had an obvious special interest in architecture and archeological excavations. His photographs provide extraordinary insights into the social and cultural life of the British protectorates he visited. Indeed, his journey to the Gulf, documented here, pre-dates Hermann Burchardt's 1903/04 expedition, famed for providing the first visual records of many places in the region, and the numerous previously unrecorded photographs of Muscat, Bahrein and other places in the Gulf contained in the present albums are therefore a particularly important find. - Apart from the views of Muscat castle and port there are highly unusual snapshots of street life both outside and within Muscat's city walls, a stunning double portrait of "Men with Hawks belonging to the son of the Sheikh of Bahrein", a view of Bahrein harbour, captioned the "Head Quarters of Pearl Fishing", the Bahrein Post Office, the market in Bandar Abbas, the Quarantine Station at Basra, as well as photos of horse dealers, women selling salt or just date palms. The 1901 photograph of the Arch of Ctesiphon is captioned "Left wing fell in April 1887 the rest will probably soon follow", also recording height and length of the remaining structure, as well as the width of the entrance. A photo of the "British Residents Wife's Bay Arabian" documents the rare occasion of a "Ladies' nomination Race", also recording the names of the winners of this race held in Bagdad. "Dr. Robert Koldewey from the German expedition" is met and photographed in Babylon at the Temple of the Venus. Visits to several ships at sea are documented in photos of the vessels themselves, as well as by group portraits of their captains and crews on board. A remarkable photograph shows the warship Persepolis returning from its campaign under Daria Begi against the shores of the Trucial States. - Bindings a little rubbed, boards partly stained, some of the album leaves affected by minor waterstaining and some foxing. Photographs mostly unfaded with good, strong contrast and in excellent condition throughout. An extraordinary record and a unique collection.
50 plates with 5 ff. of letterpress text. In original half cloth portfolio. Folio (340 x 465 mm). A fine collection of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman as well as Indian and Asian decorated metal objects, including bowls, basins, water pitchers, and tea pots. Several separate plates show details of the elaborate ornamentation. - Some foxing; slight defects to portfolio flaps. Removed from the Vienna University of International Trade with their cancelled stamps on the portfolio. OCLC 3124615.
Large folio (approx. 33 x 49 cm). (4), 41, (3) pp. With 58 plates (all with tissue guards; all edges gilt). Contemporary cloth portfolio. A fine set of plates, with extensive scholarly commentaries by three specialists, showing not only a wealth of Chinese and and Japanese, but also Arabic ceramics from Austrian princely and noble collection. The Middle-Eastern works are mainly in the Hispano-Mauric tradition of mediaeval Spain. Includes an illustrated essay by Josef Karabacek on Muslim ceramics. - Occasional slight foxing to wide margins of plates, otherwise well-preserved.
40 volumes, mainly 4to. Mostly printed in the second half of the 18th century, the present collection includes the works of the principal Swedish orientalists of their time, mainly teaching and publishing at the universities of Uppsala and Lund, many by the great Matthias Norberg (1747-1826). Among the topics covered are medicine in the Middle East, history, linguistics and literature, education, and the learnedness of Middle Eastern rulers. - Detailed list of all titles available upon request.
Poster (ca. 52.5 × 32.5 cm) printed in black and red, with an image of four armed Arabian horsemen, with Arabic text above and below, and with the title in Spanish, French and English at the foot of the poster, together with the logo of the OSPAAAL. Rare propaganda poster of the OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America, designed by Olivio Martinez. The poster depicts four Arabian (Bedouin?) men on horseback, holding guns and galloping towards the viewer, with the text "Unity of the Arab peoples - Nationalization of oil" in Arabic above and below the image. At the foot of the poster is the logo of the OSPAAAL, flanked by the same text, given English, Spanish and French. OSPAAAL is a socialist Cuban political movement against imperialism and to defend human rights. The organization was founded in 1966 and was especially active in less developed countries. The posters were often stapled into copies of Tricontinental, the organization's magazine. - With only a small fold in the lower right corner, otherwise in very good condition. R. Frick, The Tricontinental Solidarity Poster (2003).
