Important medieval geography of the Middle East: first separate printing

Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn 'Ali (Abulfeda). Albulfedae tabula Syriae cum excerpto geographico ex Ibn Ol Wardii geographia et historia naturali. Arabice nunc primum edidit, latine vertit, notis explanavit Io. Bernhardus Koehler.

Leipzig, Schönermarck, 1766.

Large 4to. (70), 240 pp. Near-contemporary marbled grey boards with giltstamped red spine label.

 4,500.00

First separate edition of this important medieval geography of the Middle East, concentrating on Syria. Printed in Latin and Arabic parallel text; edited with an extensive commentary by the versatile oriental scholar J. B. Köhler (1742-1802). Abu'l-Fida, born in Damascus in 1273, was a historian, geographer, military leader, and sultan. The crater Abulfeda on the Moon is named after him.

Extremities rubbed and bumped. Insignificant browning throughout; ink marginalia by a mid-19th-century owner, probably the Hamburg theologian and educator Carl Bertheau (1806-86), whose bookplate is on the front pastedown.

References

GAL II, 46. Ebert 29. Hamberger/Meusel IV, 189. ADB XVI, 444.

Stock Code: BN#33244 Tags: ,