From the printing office of St. John the Baptist at al-Shuwayr

[Biblia arabica - Psalmi]. Kitab al-Mazamir.

€ 4.500,00

Rare Psalter from the printing office of the Melkite monastery of St. John the Baptist at al-Shuwayr in the Lebanese Kisrawan mountains, operative between 1734 and 1899, during which time it produced in all 69 Arabic books, including re-editions (cf. Silvestre de Sacy I, pp. 412-414; Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter, Westhofen 2002, pp. 179-181). Nasrallah counts 15 editions of the Psalter alone, the last (produced in 1899, the only as-Shuwayr Psalter in the Aboussouan collection) constituting the swan-song of that important press. "Le Psautier a longtemps été le livre classique unique des écoles d'Orient. Cela nous explique pourquoi il fut si souvent édité" (Nasrallah, p. 38).

Binding a little rubbed; some light browning and brownstaining (mainly confined to margins). A good copy.