Exceedingly scarce edition of the first Bengali translation of the Ramayana, completed in the 15th century by Krittibas Ojha (1381-1461) and of utmost importance to the literary history of the Bengali language. Despite its fame and history, no institutions hold a copy issued prior to 1926, and only two editions (1926 and 1977) are held in institutions globally, with no copies listed in auction records.
First printed in 1810, the text is entirely in Bangla, save for a partly English title-page. It tells the story of the Ramayana in Krittibas's loose, creative, and distinctively Bengali translation. The Ramayana, originally written in Sanskrit, cannot have its importance overstated, but it in Bengal it was also a text only available to the extremely literate upper class, who could read Sanskrit. The mass popularity of Krittibas's Bengali Ramayana has long been noted: "The translation of the Ramayana by Krittivasa is by far the most popular book in Bengal [...] It is in fact the Bible of the people of the Gangetic Valley, and it is for the most part the peasants who read it" (Dinesh Chandra Sen, p. 170). In many ways it has come to represent an era, that of "the birth of the native Bengali culture and literature, liberated from the shackles of Sanskritic school so long in vogue, which in turn gave birth to a popular indigenous culture" (Sandipan Sen, p. 52). Indeed, it was so closely related to the concept of non-Sanskritic Bengali literature as a whole that it was banned by Raja Krishnachandra of Krishnanagar, a patron of Sanskritic scholars. Despite this pressure and other, later translations into Bengali, Krittibas's Ramayana remains considered, quite simply, the oldest and the best.
This copy is accompanied by 11 woodcut plates showing scenes from the story, including the deaths of Mahiravan and Kumbhakarna, Ravana's battle with Sri Ramachandra, and the coronations of both Lob Kush and Sri Ramachandra.
First edition of this scholarly description of the architectural heritage of Damascus by the French oriental scholar Jean Sauvaget (1901-50). Discusses major landmarks of the Syrian capital including the Umayyad Mosque, the Citadel, and al-Adiliyah Madrasa. The plates include plans of the old town, al-Walid mosque, and the house of As'ad-Pacha el-'Azm.
Slight worming to the lower margin of the first third of the volume, otherwise very well preserved.
A fine set of nautical charts of the Arabian Gulf, including one Decca chart, covering the northern end of the Gulf, Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia, and the Strait of Hormuz with the Gulf of Oman. Includes tidal information, compass roses, oil rigs, loading and pipeline terminals, soundings, seabed notations, currents, sandbanks, shoals, and inland elevations (including a "conspicuous tree" on the island of Shaikh Shu'aib). First issued between 1955 and 1962 respectively, the present charts are enhanced editions from 1976. The practice was to print an initial edition based on a major hydrographic survey, and then to overprint them with subsequent data as it became available.
The maps are as follows: Ras At Tannura to Ras Al Qaliya (no. 2882); Jazh. Shaikh Shu'aib & Qalat to Ras at Tannura (no. 2883); Kalat and Ra's Al Khafji to Abadan (no. 2884); Ras Jask to Jazirat Sirri (no. 2888).
A few deletions by hand. Some creases along edges; otherwise very well preserved.
An einen Herrrn Gebhard: "Mit der Bitte um Autogramme bin ich bisher noch nicht beehrt worden. Ich zähle mich auch durchaus nicht zu den 'Prominenten', die alles heute Autogramme geben. Wir Soldaten befolgen immer noch den alten Schlieffen-Spruch: 'Mehr sein als scheinen!' [...]".
Katalog zur Ausstellung "Warhol '80" im Wiener Museum moderner Kunst/Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts (9. IV. bis 10. V. 1981), in der Arbeiten aus der sog. Reversal-Serie zu sehen waren, darunter mehrere Marylins, Mona Lisas und Mao Zedongs.
A souvenir from Southern Rhodesia: exceptional photo album from the interwar period compiled by Cyril N. V. Quinion (1901-77) of the British South Africa Police (BSAP). The rare images include views of BSAP camps at Gwanda, Belingwe, Salisbury and Filabusi, along with striking images of natives wearing feather crowns and bone necklaces, witch doctors, musicians, and members of the native police. Further notable themes include BSAP parades at the 1921 birthday celebrations for King George V in Salisbury, the local war memorial, and a dress ball aboard the Armadale Castle steamer in May 1924. Curiously, a group of four photographs shows views of Madeira, featuring Ocean Line steamers in the company of small fishing boats, the location of Madeira some 600 kilometres off the African coast suggesting that Quinion was an avid traveller. Depictions of locomotives, rivers, scenery and local fauna, as well as a view of Quinion's father's saddle and harness shop at Southall, Middlesex, photos of the Quinion family, and a set of stamps commemorating the British South Africa Company and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, complete the album.
The British South Africa Police served as Rhodesia's regular police force from 1896. In 1980, BSAP was superseded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police soon after the country's reconstitution into Zimbabwe in April that year.
Binding somewhat rubbed. Some photographs a little faded; few loose. A rare survival.
Second edition of this rare Russian topographic map of Egypt, or the United Arab Republic, as it would continue to style itself until 1971. Compiled and designed by the Scientific Editorial Cartographic Department of the Chief Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGK) of the Soviet Union. The map indicates the demarcation line of the 1949 Armstice Agreements and notes that "the borders of the State of Israel are shown in accordance with the resolution of the UN General Assembly dated 29 November 1947". Aside from towns and settlements, roads, railroads, pipelines, and ports, it details coral reefs, lava fields, permanent and moving sands, pyramids, and ruins. With inset maps of the Nile delta (scale 1:1,000,000), an economic map (scale 1:6,000,000), and a chart of annual rainfall and temperatures in the area. The accompanying explanatory booklet comprises a discussion of the country, along with an index of place names found on the map.
Edges of the cover slightly worn. Map and index in excellent condition.
An early French critical edition of the "Travels of Marco Polo", published from three manuscripts from the Bibliothèque Impériale de Paris, translated and annotated by Jean-Pierre Guillaume Pauthier. "The Travels of Marco Polo", also commonly known as "Book of the Marvels of the World", is Marco Polo's travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa in 1298. Polo's adventures in the unfamiliar lands of Asia were enthusiastically received in Europe, which made the book one of the most popular works of its time. Until 1530, the travelogue was translated into ten languages and 135 manuscripts were produced (Cruse, 171), a popularity that did not disappear after the invention of printing. The interest around the book also called for critical editions; and the first example was written by Giovanni Battista Ramusio and published in 1559.
Pauthier's critical edition is based on three manuscripts: BnF Français 5631 and BnF Français 2810, with variants of BnF Français 5649. BnF Français 5631 is a variant of the so-called corrected French version, written down by Thiébault de Cepoy as dictated by Marco Polo. Focusing on BnF 5631 along with two variants, this edition further provides historical and geographical context.
Jean-Pierre Guillaume Pauthier was a renowned French Orientalist mainly working on China. He published numerous studies on the history and civilization of China and famously translated Confucius.
A charming Ottoman manual of catechisms and prayers popular in 18th century Turkey. The manuscript opens with the standard prayer read after completing the recitation of the Qur'an, followed by a popular catechism known as the "Serh-i Vasiyyetname-i Birgivi", and a shorter yet equally popular catechism, "Jawahir al-Islam". The last part includes copies of various prayers, poems, and short chapters from other catechisms. Each part is written by different hands. The colophon of "Serh-i Vasiyyetname-i Birgivi" is dated 1126 H (1714 CE).
The "Vasiyyetname" was a highly appreciated and widely read book, considered one of the works which for centuries shaped the principles of being a Muslim in Ottoman minds. Many manuscripts, including the present one, record the date of Birgivi's completion if his work as "approximately 970 [1562]". The book's great popularity in the 17th century resulted in the production of commentaries such as the present one. Written by Sheikh Ali Sadrî el-Konevî in 1114 (1702), this commentary proved no less popular than the original work.
The appendix to "Vasiyyetname" is "Jawahir al-Islam", a popular anonymous catechism composed of 34 simple questions and straightforward answers that mostly focus on religious duties. The questions are introduced by the phrase, "Eger sorsalar" ("If they ask you"), written in red ink.
This is followed by "54 Fardh", a short chapter that is found in various catechism books, reciting the fifty-four religious duties in a manner easy to memorize. After a single-page poem written in the style of "murabba" and a few pages of prayers which a person may recite in certain situations, such as to seek protection from evil eye, another popular catechism chapter was added to the manuscript. This short section, "Attributes of Allah", enumerates the adjectives and attributes describing Allah. The manuscript ends with a three-page "qasidah" written by "Muhammed bin Ali Efendi", as recorded in a brief colophon.
Overall, a beautiful example of manuscript tradition, witnessing a collective effort to create a well-rounded, easily accessible manual of prayers and religious rules.
Einzige Ausgabe, selten. "Exhaustive survey of dracontiasis" (Garrison/M.), d.h. über den Medina- oder Guinea-Wurm, den Erreger der Dracontiasis. Die Ansteckung erfolgt, wie schon in der Antike bekannt war, durch den Genuss kontaminierten Trinkwassers. G. H. Welsch (1624-77) bringt zu Beginn den arabischen Text Avicennas aus dem Qanun (Buch IV, Fen III, Absatz II, Kapitel 21-22), dann frühere lateinische Übertragungen von Gerardus Cremonensis und Andrea Alpago sowie seine eigene neue Übersetzung mit ausführlichen Kommentaren. Im Text eingeschaltet sind Zitate aus 28 Sprachen (hierzu ein eigenes Register), darunter Äthiopisch (in hebräischen Typen), Brasilianisch, Mexikanisch, Japanisch und Chinesisch (in persischer Umschrift) etc. Beigedruckt ab S. 395 Georg Cunelius' "De Dracunculis" (erstmals Basel 1589). Die Kupfer mit Beispielen von Wurmknäueln in antiken Darstellungen (z. B. Medusa) sowie Therapien (Ausziehen des Wurms aus Venen). Enthält auch das meist fehlende Porträt der Kaiserin Claudia Felizitas.
Die ersten vierzehn Verse des Johannesevangeliums, beginnend mit dessen zum geflügelten Wort der westlichen Kultur gewordenen Anfang: "Initium Sancti Evangelii secundum Ioannem. In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud deum", hier endend mit "et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis. Amen Amen Amen" ("und das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnte unter uns, und wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit, eine Herrlichkeit als des eingeborenen Sohnes vom Vater, voller Gnade und Wahrheit"). In der Blattmitte rechts findet sich, vermutlich von der Hand des Schreibers, die Zeichnung einer Dame in der Tracht des ausgehenden 13. Jahrhunderts mit Crespine (Haarnetz), Stirn- und Halsbändern, in der Hand wohl ein Blumenstrauß.
Jubiläumsschrift zur 1842 endlich geglückten Inbetriebnahme der Wasserkünste in Park Sanssouci, gegliedert in einen historischen und einen sehr genauen technischen Teil. Der Verfasser war königlicher Maschinenmeister. Der von Artelt entworfene Plan verzeichnet nicht nur die mehr als 60 oberirdischen Anlagen, sondern auch das Rohrleitungssystem mit Durchmessern, Hähnen, Kesseln etc. Die Tafeln zeigen auch heute verschwundene, rudimentäre oder trockene Brunnen in schönstem Betrieb. Die Anlagen werden seit Jahren saniert.
First edition on this global investigation of the African slave trade, including a chapter dedicated to the challenges and successes of the Zanzibar treaties which had recently taken effect along the East African and Arabian Peninsula coastlines.
The volume opens with a large folding map of the African continent, its surrounding seas hand-painted in blue watercolour. Most of the continent itself is shaded in grey, and its caption reads, "The dark shade indicates those parts where Slavery and the Slave-trade more or less prevail. The uncoloured parts where freedom exists." One such place was the Sultanate of Zanzibar, whose experiments in suppressing the slave trade are discussed in Chapter IX.
First edition of this work on north-west Africa from the Maghreb to the Gold Coast, proposing an Arab-centric interpretation of a geopolitical landscape little understood by Europeans. Its author, the Irishman William Cooley, was aided and provided with Arabic texts and translations by the Spanish orientalist Pascual de Gayangos y Arce (1809-97).
Includes a large folding map titled "Sketch of a Map to illustrate the Arab Geography of Negroland", which delineates the African landscape from Tripoli to Cape Verde. Its most particularly detailed routes are along river systems, but also sketches out a landscape of Saharan place names and routes, including the territory of the Bedouin Beni Hassan tribes, who migrated thence in roughly the 11th century (with their origin placed by some scholars in Yemen). Saharan caravan routes run along place names such as Beni Wareth, Weinhilún, Aúkarit, and Támadelt.
Much of the text is devoted to the histories of ancient states like Ghana and Mali, as well as tracing the well-known travels of Ibn Battuta. Cooley was famous for his stubborn insistence on a few major errors in African geography, such as his opinion that there could be no snow-capped mountains on the continent (despite being presented with evidence of Mount Kilimanjaro), or that Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi) and Lake Tanganyika formed a single body of water. However, he spoke Kiswahili and was instrumental in debunking a famously (but, to this day, debatably) fraudulent account of a voyage through Africa by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Douville (1797-1837).
First edition of this work on the southern regions of the African continent, attempting to sketch a landscape heavily influenced - but little understood by - Europeans. Its author William Cooley was an Irishman who had himself travelled to some parts of Africa, and in his work he attempts to sketch some of his own routes as well as the journeys of Livingstone and other more famous names through sub-equatorial Africa.
Cooley was famous for his stubborn insistence on a few major errors in African geography, such as his opinion that there could be no snow-capped mountains on the continent (despite being presented with evidence of Mount Kilimanjaro), or that Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi) and Lake Tanganyika formed a single body of water. However, he spoke Kiswahili and was instrumental in debunking a famously (but, to this day, debatably) fraudulent account of a voyage through Africa by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Douville (1797-1837).
Teaching and preaching Islam: this anthology of sermons and religious devotions is notable for its inclusion of stories about women preaching to men on matters of religion. The collection is the work of an Egyptian Sufi ascetic named Shu'ayb al-Hurayfish (d. 1398 CE), who was himself a preacher; his work has been analysed by modern experts in order to glean a better understanding of the Muslim preaching traditions in al-Hurayfish's Egypt.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, such as the famous Ibn al-Hajj (ca. 1250-1336 CE), al-Hurayfish did not go out of his way to condemn women who preached freely to mixed audiences. Instead, in al-Hurayfish's work, women may give private audiences to one or more male listeners, to whom they dispense wisdom. This occurs within the specific confines of a culturally acceptable religious activity: that of a private space and within the practice of the Sufi siyaha, or "spiritual wandering", which was central to Sufi religious practice, but nevertheless shows a marked departure from other contemporary views. Al-Hurayfish's stories tell, for example, of a devout Sufi woman who improvises powerful speeches to a male listener. At times in the text the man asks her to speak, and at others she lectures of her own volition to her willing audience.
This manuscript copy is quite an early example, and is written on watermarked Ottoman laid paper which can be dated to the first half of the 17th century; despite its historical importance, manuscripts of this work are rare, and fewer still can be dated prior to 1700 CE.
