Melzi D'Eril F. - Gallia A. (A cura di).MareMagnum
L'Oriente. Un'introduzione al mondo orientale.
Firenze, Le Monnier, (1965), in-8, br. editoriale, pp. 371, (3). Con tavole f.t.
Libreria Antiquaria Gozzini · Firenze, IT16,00 €
3 008 résultats
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.
Folio (141 x 42,5 cm). Five folio leaves, printed in French and Arabic in two columns and pasted together vertically to form a single broadside. A massive broadside intended for wall-mounting, by which the newly appointed commander-in-chief introduced his government (and himself) to the people of Egypt in Arabic and French: "Habitans de l'Egypte, écoutez ce qu j'ai à vous dire au nom de la République Francaise. Vous étiez malheureux; l'armée francaise est venue en Egypte pouir vous porter le bonheur [...]". - Menou, who succeeded Kleber at the head of Egypt as general-in-chief, following Kleber's assassination in June, converted to Islam and took the name of Abdallah. Unlike most announcements published by his predecessor at the same press, the present proclamation is not headed with the motto of the French Republic, but rather with the Shahada ("There is no deity but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God") in both languages. Menou continues to set out his principles for a good government for Egypt, emphasizing his firm stand against abuse and corruption in the local administration of taxation, justice and the police, and finally threatens any attempt at rebellion with severe retaliation. - An important document from the first printing press in Arab world, of the utmost rarity due to its sheer size and ephemeral nature, according to OCLC recorded in four copies only: "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). - Traces of folding, but uncut with temoins. A surprisingly fresh survival. 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.
in 8°, pp. XVI, 351, bross. edit. ill. Collana: Vie privée des anciens, nuova ediz. pubblicata da E. Rouveyre. Storia e geografia dell'Egitto e del Medio Oriente, con 340 ill. ed indice dei nomi. In ottimo stato. 362/30
Firenze, Le Monnier, (1965), in-8, br. editoriale, pp. 371, (3). Con tavole f.t.
8vo. XII, 83 pp., final blank page. With one photographic plate and 6 numbered illustrations in the text. Contemporary full cloth. The first and only edition of this "extremely interesting little book" (Jameson) on falconry by the British entomologist and member of the British Falconer's Club, J. E. M. Mellor (1890-1984). Enriched "with many historical comments not to be found in other works" (Jameson), it includes information on all relevant aspects of falconry, such as training, feeding, ailments, and parasites, as well as a glossary of falconry terms. The plate shows a neo-Hittite bas-relief in the Louvre displaying a child standing on his mothers knees holding the leash of a falcon. The text illustrations exhibit a falcon block, hoods, bells, jesses and swivels, how to prepare a dead bird to be fed to hawks, a bow-perch for a goshawk, and instructions for fixing damaged feathers. - Occasional light foxing. A very good copy of this rare work never seen at auction. Jameson, American Hawking 138. Chamerlat, La fauconnerie et l'art 251. OCLC 12438224. Not in Harting.
New English Paperback. Pbo. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Turkish. 128 p., color and b/w ills. Anilarla madencilik.
4to. XIII, (1), 624 pp. With 19 colour plates, 9 photographic plates, 53 text illustrations, 35 text maps, and a folding map of the Arabian Peninsula (48 x 50 cms) in a lower cover pouch. Publisher's original orange cloth with green spine title; no dust jacket. First edition of the author's magnum opus. - Stamp of the Göteborgs Museum (Zoological Dept.) on flyleaf; in excellent condition. OCLC 1836187.
Fine English Paperback. Pbo. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Turkish. [ix], 234 p. Modern Arap siiri. Kavram - kaynak - yapi. A study on modern Arabic poetry and its poetica.
Fine English Paperback., Fine., 20 x 14 cm., [ix], 84 p., color ills., "Hz.Ibrahim ve Nemrut (Tarihçe ve piyes).", Mehmet Emin Ertan, Surkav Yayinlari, Ank., 1999.
New New English Original binding with original dust wrapper. 4to. (29 x 24 cm). In Turkish and English. 159, [1] p. Fully color ills. With a CD. Istanbul azans.= Istanbul ezanlari. Edited by Yusuf Çaglar. Translator: Güney Ongun. Photos by Halit Ömer Camci, Mustafa S. Küçükasçi, Ömer Faruk Serifoglu, Yusuf Çaglar
Black ink on paper, ca. 34 x 57 cm. With gilt Tughra of the Sultan at the head. Certificate showing that Salahaddin Bey, auditor of the Hazine-i Hassa treasury (which managed the personal income and expenses of the Sultan), was awarded the Navy Aid Medal (in nickel) for his donation of 2024 Kurus to the Ottoman Naval Society. - As the Ottoman Empire dominated important waterways during the First World War, the government sought to strengthen its navy's defensive capabilities while fighting on many fronts on land. For this purpose, The Ottoman Naval Society was established. To finance the building of new ships, a campaign was initiated which was joined by many notables, including Sultan Mehmed Resad himself and state officials. The Navy Aid Medal was awarded to supporters who pledged a certain donation to the project, and the recipients' names were published in the press. - Meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink. On the reverse are official attestations of authenticity. Folded with tears and a few chips to edges. Full transcription available.
Ink on paper. With large gilt Tughra. Ca. 55 x 28 cm. In original, addressed envelope. Pretty Ottoman document from the last months before the beginning of the Balkan Wars, concerning an arms factors. Includes the rare envelope. - Berat certificates were official documents presented as appointments for office, exemption certificates from a tax or duty, or accompanying the award of a medal or other honour. This example is meticulously calligraphed in black and gold ink.
Tall folio (150 x 372 mm). Ottoman Turkish manuscript on polished cream paper. 56 leaves (including some blank separators), ca. 31 lines, written in a mixed script of Naskh and Taliq. First part composed in free form with notes in black ink, second part in regular black ink captioned in red. Contemporary full calf binding decorated in gilt and red (professionally restored). A rare document of Ottoman state administration during the early Modern period: the official chronological record-book kept by the Kazasker (chief judge) of Anatolia, Mehmed Sâlim, during the year 1731. - Within the Ottoman administrational structure, the Kazasker (or Qadi'asker) had jurisdiction over all judicial and educational officials such as Kadi (judge) and Müderris (Madrasa professor), suggested candidates for these offices to the Grand Vizier, to whom he was directly responsible, and handled appeals to lower-court decisions. Since the late 15th century, the enormous size of the Ottoman Empire had necessitated the appointment of two Kazaskers, usually for the period of one year: the Kazasker of Rumelia, with jurisdiction over the European part of the Empire, and the Kazasker of Anatolia, responsible for the Asian part, comprising Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula. - The Kasazker would record all business in a book of original entry such as this one, known as the "Kazasker Ruznamçesi" (Kazasker daybook register). The present Ruznamçe concerns an impressively wide and diverse geography, from Anatolia to the Caucasus, the Arabian lands, the Nile and Northern Africa. Places in Anatolia include Üsküdar (Scutari), Marzvan (Merzifon), Bergama (Pergamon), and Antakya (Antioch); in the South Caucasus the book mentions Tblisi, Ganja, Igdir, Yerevan, and Javanshir. Places covered in the Levant, Arabia and Mesopotamia include Safed, Idlib, Jericho, Beirut, Homs, Hama, Baalbek, Latakia, Kirkuk, Basra, and Jeddah. From the Mediterranean to the regions south of the Nile, the book records matters pertaining to Cairo, Gharbia, Dakahlia, Alexandria, Damietta, Qalyubiyya, Faiyum, Minya (Hermopolis), Beni Suef, Monufia, Asyut, and Beheira; also the Kazasker's counselor for Egypt is mentioned. In Northern Africa, the book covers Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, and Djerba. Further, even Tirhala (Thessaly) is included, which normally would fall within the remit of the Kazasker of Rumelia. - Among these records, the high volume of official missions back and forth within the vast borders of the empire is hard to miss. Every year, hundreds of posts are filled throughout the country: in 1731, for example, one Sayyid Nureddin from Seferihisar (Izmir) was appointed to fill a position in Basra, 2500 kilometres away. There is also a steady stream of civil servants between Istanbul and Jeddah, more than 3000 kilometres distant. Entries in the daybook include a record for a Mevlana Ahmed, who, after having studied at the Molla Gürani Madrasah in Constantinople, is appointed Kadi (Judge) at Jeddah, salaried at 150 coins per day (cf. p. 828f.). Soon after, Ahmed is in turn replaced by Suleyman: "Ahmed, serving as the Kadi of Jeddah, relinquished his post, which he would have held until the first day of Rabi ath-Thani next year. In Ahmed's place, Mevlana Suleyman, who studied with forty akces per day at the Tuti Latif Madrasah in Istanbul and passed the exam successfully by completing the waiting period, was appointed as a Kadi to Jeddah with one hundred and fifty akces per day" (p. 835, transl.). This continuity gives evidence of the close relationship between the capital Istanbul and the Hejaz. Civil servants who were successful at the leading madrasahs of Istanbul could be appointed as Kadi in Jeddah, with a salary almost four times the pocket money they received in Istanbul - circumstances which also reveal the sensitivity of this region for the Ottoman Empire. - Of particular interest is also the appointment of a Kadi for Yerevan, as the Causacus region was long contested throughout the Ottoman-Safavid wars and the city changed hands frequently. In 1731 Yerevan came under Ottoman rule, and the Porte immediately appointed a Kadi there to ensure administrative and legal sovereignty at a time of ongoing political and military instability. Since Yerevan was mostly under Safavid-Persian rule throughout these centuries, appointments concerning Yerevan are very rare in Ottoman records. - Mirzâzâde Mehmed Sâlim Efendi (1688-1743), the Kazasker of Anatolia for 1730/31, was a noted scholar, poet and writer; he took the pen name "Sâlim" in the Tulip Era and was also a master calligrapher. Highly educated and remembered as a versatile and colourful personality, he served in various senior civil service positions. He was a connoisseur of science, law and art, and composed numerous works; also a talented linguist, he knew Turkish, Arabic and Persian well enough to compile a dictionary. - Binding restored to style with original covers laid down, 20th century bookbinder stamp of Rafet Güngör, Istanbul, to lower flyleaf. Occasional light edge flaws; upper part of last 4 leaves torn away with substantial loss, otherwise complete. Several old waqf stamps. At the end of the volume are numerous elaborate seals of Mehmed Sâlim, certified by a civil servant named as Abdurrahman. Their official character is underlined by having been prepared separately and pasted into the completed daybook, with a crescent-shaped cut in the paper creating a flap that conceals the stamped seal. Cf. Abdurrahman Atcil, "The Route to the Top in the Ottoman Ilmiye Hierarchy of the Sixteenth Century", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 72.3 (2009), 489-512.
Small 8vo. (4), XII, 233, (1) pp. Contemporary full calf with gilt spine; leading edges gilt. All edges red. First edition, translated from Ottoman Turkish by Julien-Claude Galland. Mehmet Effendi (1680-1732) served as Ottoman ambassador to Paris between 1720 and 1721. Composed for Sultan Ahmet III and his Grand Vizier, his account, originally entitled "The Paradise of the Unfaithful", helped to change the image of European culture, lifestyle, and literature in the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, this is the first Turkish embassy of which we have a written account ("Sefaretname"). It was of special significance for the introduction of printing into Turkey, as Mehmet's son Said Effendi accompanied him and became convinced of the advantages of printing. On his return to Constantinople he began to petition to the Grand Vizier for permission to establish a press, and a few years later Ibrahim Müteferrika was famously licensed to print non-religious books: the beginning of "Ottoman book publishing in the Sultan's territory" (Neumann, p. 230). - A copy in the Bibliothèque nationale de France has an engraved portrait of the author, but this would appear to be a unique example: all other known copies were issued without a frontispiece (including the Atabey copy, formerly in the library of and bound for La Rochefoucauld, which commanded more than £3000 at Sotheby's in 2002). - Handwritten ownership "Bené" to pastedown; covers show insignificant traces of worming; a tear to the half-title repaired. A fine copy; rare. Atabey 471. OCLC 459449580. Cf. Christoph K. Neumann, Book and Newspaper Printing in Turkish, 18th-20th Centuries, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution (2002), p. 227-248. Not in Blackmer.
Folio (34 x 24 cm). 1 p. on bifolium. Brown ink on paper, written in a clear gothic hand. Folded for sending and addressed on the outside, with a slot for a ribbon and traces of a red wax seal. Watermark: B [crowned heart] P, (with the feet of the letters toward the centre of the sheet). An informative letter written by the French regent Catherina de' Medici concerning the exchange of gifts between France and the Ottoman Sultan. Written in French, from Catharine's favourite palace, Château de Chenonceau in the Loire valley near Tours, to Jacques de Germigny (d. 1587 or 1596), French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Catherine, mother of King Henry III, last of the Valois kings of France, was a powerful and colourful figure (familiar in literature from the historical novels of Alexandre Dumas), often running the government for her son. In the present letter she arranges an exchange of gifts with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1546-95). Germigny had written to her on 17 July concerning various items he had selected, and she asks him to send the gifts from the Sultan to André Hurault de Maisse (1539-1607) at Venice, who was France's ambassador there. She also suggests a change in one item they are giving the Sultan: "J[']ay receu v[ost]re l[ett]re du xvij de juillet avec la liste des presens que ma faict la sultane mere du grand seigneur lesquelz vous me mandez avoir retenuz par devers vous pour me les faire apporter quant vous partirez de par dela pour venir trouver le Roy monsieur mon filz. Et pour ce quil pourra passer plus de temps jusques la que je ne le vouldrois et que je seray bien ayse d[']avoir plustost lesd[its] presens je vous prie de les envoier au Sr de Maisse ambassadeur du Roy monsieur mon filz a Venize lequel me les fera tenir par apres. Au surplus j[']ay a vous dire touchant Le Rouge que desire recouvrer de moy lad[ite] Sultane semblable a celluy que je luy ay cy devant envoie quelle trouve meilleur, et mieulx faict que celluy d[']Espaigne, que je n[']en ay plus maintenant, et ne seay en sorte du monde la recepte et facon de le faire qui est cau[s]e que je ne puis contenter a p[rese]nt lad[ite] Sultane de ce qu[']elle desire de moy en cest endrent, dont du suis bien marrye mais j[']adviseray si j[']en pourray avoir le moien par cy apres dont je vous advertiray [...]". Counter-signed by her Secretary of State, Pierre Brulart, and addressed to "Mons[ieur] de Germigny, ch[eva]l[ie]r de l[']ordre du Roy monsieur mon filz, son con[seill]er et amba[ssa]deur en Levant". The two-leaf folio was folded twice on horizontal folds, then briefly once more on a vertical fold without a sharp crease for sending. A cut through the sixteen layers would have had a ribbon through it and one can see traces of red sealing wax around the slot on the back. The letter was stored folded horizontally, and eight small worm holes run through the eight layers, but they barely touch an occasional letter of the text. There are also a few small marginal tears. In very good condition and with the whole sheet of paper untrimmed.
210 x 170 mm. Pencil and ink on paper, the map ruled in red. Small plan of the city and the adjacent terrain, obviously drawn around the time of Snouck Hurgronje's visit, during the last decades of Ottoman rule.
<p>19 cm,brossura originale, risguardi dei piatti con carta geografica, The middle east; p. 334, 31 tavole in nero fuori testo. Copertina con tracce del tempo, il resto molto buono.</p>
Edizione: Prima traduzione in italiano . Pagine: 272 . Formato: 16° . Rilegatura: Brossura editoriale . Stato: Buono . Caratteristiche: Bruniture. Raro . Collana: Pandora 1 .
43, (1) pp., 2 blank ff. Contemporary wrappers. 8vo. The official Arabic edition of the canons of the first council of Ain Traz (southeast of Beirut, Lebanon), held in 1835; the Latin text is not considered official. The Synod of Ain-Traz "was convoked and presided over by the then newly elected patriarch Maximos Mazloum on Dec. 13, 1835. The canons outlined by this synod relate to the Melchite discipline. They regulate Baptism, Confirmation, the Liturgy of the Presanctified, Confession, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, Matrimony, communication in sacris, the holy days of obligation, the clergy (garb, commerce, residence, catechism, exercise of medicine, inheritance), the religious (garb, exclaustration), pastoral visits of the bishops, alms to the seminary of Ain-Traz, charitable foundations, fast and abstinence, pilgrimages to different churches, usury, etc. The Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith confirmed in forma generali the 25 canons listed above with few modifications of the text submitted. In this manner the Melchite discipline [...] received the official stamp of the Church on Jan. 13, 1838" (Cath. Encyclopedia). "Finalement, le 28 août 1841, la Congr. de la Propagande publia un décret approuvant in forma generali les canons de 1835; elle en assurait la publication et aucune autre édition ne ferait autorité. L'édition arabe ainsi faite en 1841 par ordre de la Congrégation contenait de très légères retouches aus quatre canons discutés" (Histoire des conciles). - Entirely printed in Arabic save for the "Decretum" (promulgation dated 28 August 1841) printed in Latin. A very good, untrimmed and uncut copy. Cf. Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux XI: conciles des orientaux catholiques, partie 1 (Paris 1949), p. 390.
Folio (422 x 528 cm). Lithogr. t. p. and 60 lithogr. plates, all in original hand colour, captions often raised in gilt. With 10 leaves of letterpress text. 10 instalments in the original printed wrappers as issued. Stored in contemporary green half calf with giltstamped spine and cover label. Ties. - (Includes): Die Uebergangsländer von Asien und Afrika, begreifend: Arabien nebst Mesopotamien und Syrien und das Nilgebiet. Munich, C. Wenng, 1845. Engraved map with contemporary border colour. 640 x 544 mm. Scale 1:7,000,000. Only edition of the rare variant with all the plates and in their splendid original colour: the personal copy of Duke Maximilian in Bavaria. "Published in ten parts. The plates show costume of the period and also that of earlier times, taken from paintings" (Hiler). The picturesque views, which include Cairo, Alexandria, Jerusalem, La Valletta, Luxor, and Thebes, genre scenes and landscapes, are all framed within a decorative border and arranged as a small painting. The Nuremberg artist Mayr, especially well-known for his depictions of battles scenes and horses, was personal painter to Duke Maximilian, whom he accompanied on his 1838 journey of the Orient. The group had departed from Munich on January 20 with a small entourage, travelling via Venice, Korfu, Patras, Athens, Alexandria, and Cairo to the Holy Land. They returned to Munich after eight months on 17 September 1838; the following year, Maximilian was made honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. - Some foxing to letterpress explanatory text, plates beautifully preserved with only the backing paper showing occasional duststaining. From the library of Duke Maximilian at Tegernsee Castle, retaining the original shelfmark label on the spine. - Includes the extremely rare map of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East which was published only in 1845, at the instigation of the naturalist Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (1780-1860) and the geologist Joseph von Russegger (1802-63), to satisfy this frequently noted lack in Mayr's production (some foxing, but also finely preserved). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 26. Gay 90 (only 36 plates). Lipperheide Ma 22 (= 1589). Hiler 578. Tobler 161. Graesse IV, 457. Engelmann 124. Kainbacher 265 ("a rarity"). Thieme/Becker XXIV, 477. Nagler VIII, 498f. ("highly memorable drawings"). ADB XXI, 139ff. Not in Blackmer or Abbey (Travel). Not in Colas.
Folio (422 x 528 cm). Lithographed title-page and 60 lithographed plates, all in original hand colour, captions often raised in gilt. With 10 leaves of letterpress text. Half calf with giltstamped spine. (Includes): Die Uebergangsländer von Asien und Afrika, begreifend: Arabien nebst Mesopotamien und Syrien und das Nilgebiet. Munich, C. Wenng, 1845. Engraved map with contemporary border colour. 640 x 544 mm. Scale 1:7,000,000. Only edition of the rare variant with all the plates and in their splendid original colour: "Published in ten parts. The plates show costume of the period and also that of earlier times, taken from paintings" (Hiler). The picturesque views, which include Cairo, Alexandria, Jerusalem, La Valletta, Luxor, and Thebes, genre scenes and landscapes, are all framed within a decorative border and arranged as a small painting. The Nuremberg artist Mayr, known especially for his depictions of battle scenes and horses, was personal painter to Duke Maximilian, whom he accompanied on his 1838 journey of the Orient. The group had departed from Munich on January 20 with a small entourage, travelling via Venice, Korfu, Patras, Athens, Alexandria, and Cairo to the Holy Land. They returned to Munich after eight months on 17 September 1838; the following year, Maximilian was made honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. - Some foxing, otherwise splendidly preserved. Includes the extremely rare map of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East which was published only in 1845, at the instigation of the naturalist Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (1780-1860) and the geologist Joseph von Russegger (1802-63), to satisfy this frequently noted lack in Mayr's production (some foxing, but also finely preserved). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 26. Gay 90 (only 36 plates). Lipperheide Ma 22 (= 1589). Hiler 578. Tobler 161. Graesse IV, 457. Engelmann 124. Kainbacher 265 ("a rarity"). Thieme/Becker XXIV, 477. Nagler VIII, 498f. ("highly memorable drawings"). ADB XXI, 139ff. Not in Blackmer or Abbey (Travel). Not in Colas.
Folio (490 x 375 mm). (2), 70 pp. With lithographed title-page and 48 lithogr. plates. Contemporary giltstamped half calf. Rare, elaborately produced publication about Maximilian's journey to Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, Syria, and Malta, on which he was accompanied by the artist Heinrich Mayr. The harem and market scenes are obviously indebted to the French orientalist tradition; several plates show details of architecture, costumes, camel and horse care, etc. They are not identical with the better known plates in Mayr's earlier "Malerische Ansichten aus dem Orient" (Leipzig 1839). - Spine professionally rebacked. Foxing throughout, mainly confined to the plates' margins. Blackmer 1101 (French ed.). Ibrahim-Hilmy II, 26. Tobler 161. Rohricht 1871. Lipperheide Ma 28 (French ed.). Thieme/B. 477 (citing 36 plates only). Kainbacher 299, 2 ("RR").
12mo. 3 vols. X, 238 pp. With 8 steel engraved plates. (4), 166 pp. With 6 steel engraved plates. (4), 279 pp. With 10 steel engraved plates. Contemporary long-grained red morocco, decorated raised bands, gilt fillet and decorative frames on covers, gilt edges. First edition of this early study of the Bedouins of Egypt and Syria, covering their manners, laws, civil and religious customs. Illustrated with 24 steel engraved plates by Charlin after F. Massart and finely watercoloured at the time. The notes by Dom Raphaël were most probably taken during the French occupation of Egypt. Raphaël Monachis (Rufa'il Zakhûr) was born in Egypt of Syriac ancestry and was a monk in the Greek community in Cairo. He was an Arab member of the French Institute of Egypte and the first interpreter of the Diwan from Cairo. - Rare complete copy, some corners slightly scuffed, spine faded, otherwise in good condition. Macro 1555. Gay 3587. OCLC 25988256.
Folio (340 x 490 mm). 2 ff, 24 coloured aquatints (1 folding). Contemp. half calf with giltstamped red morocco label to marbled front cover, spine rebacked and gilt. "The plates in this selection are not re-engraved, but plates available from the stock originally printed for Bowyer, with new title page" (Atabey). Includes views of Constantinople, the Voivode palace of Bucharest, Tripoli and Tortosa, a mosque in Laodicea, as well as antiquities from the Eolian Islands and Ephesus. - The German-Italian artist Luigi Mayer (1755-1803) was one of the foremost late 18th-century European painters of the Ottoman Empire. He was a close friend of Sir Robert Ainslie, British ambassador to Turkey between 1776 and 1792, and the bulk of his paintings and drawings during this period were commissioned by him. Mayer travelled extensively throughout the Ottoman Empire and became well known for his sketches and paintings of panoramic landscapes of ancient sites from the Balkans to Turkey and Egypt, particularly ancient monuments and the Nile. Many of the works were amassed in Ainslie's collection, which was later presented to the British Museum, providing a valuable insight into the Middle East of that period. - Occasional insignificant brownstaining. Formerly in the Ottoman collection of the Swiss industrialist Herry W. Schaefer. Atabey 790. Chatzipanagioti-S. 631. Hage Chahine 56. Cf. Blackmer 1100. Abbey 369.
8vo. XI, (1), (5)-343, (1) pp. With a photogravure portrait frontispiece. Publisher's stamped full cloth with gilt title to spine. Rare first and only edition: a collection of vivid letters by the Belfast-born engineer Maxwell (1838-80), written from Syria in 1870-73 to friends while he was performing surveys for a railroad through the valley of the Euphrates and planning the water supply of Beirut in Lebanon. - Maxwell travels via Brindisi and the Greek islands through Smyrna, Rhodes, Antioch, and Beilan, where he describes the difficulty of designing a railroad due to the lack of proper mapping of the area: "On many occasions I was tripped up, and sent rolling down amongst other unfriendly plants" (p. 50). He also gives an account of his visit to "the finest house of Aleppo" (p. 101) and a flood in Smyrna, describes the cities of Tripolis, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Port Said, and expresses his disappointment over the Sublime Porte interrupting his survey, which indeed was never carried out completely, on several occasions. - The second and third period of letters were prompted by Maxwell's engagement in providing the city of Beirut with a water supply. They give an account of Cairo and the pyramids as well as of Alexandria before going on to describe negotiations with the council in Beirut and the obstacles met there: "As a last hope, we determined, and I think wisely, to try and obtain by means of the Consuls and public opinion what cannot be obtained by polite asking" (p. 273). The letters from the second period include a trip to Cyprus as well as descriptions of Damascus and the ancient waterworks, while those from the third period show the works on the Nahr-al-Kalb in full swing and describe an inspection of the site by Rustem Pasha, Governor-General of the Lebanon. - The frontispiece shows a portrait of Maxwell with his reproduced signature. Binding discreetly rebacked, modern cloth hinges. Light foxing near the beginning; otherwise in excellent condition. Rare: OCLC lists only five copies internationally (2 in the US, 3 in the UK). OCLC 24929041.
