The Sultan’s Mosque

Herz, Max / Lajnat Hifz al-Athar al-`Arabiyah. La mosquée du Sultan Hassan au Caire.

Cairo, Imprimerie de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1899.

Folio (422 x 522 mm). (8), 34 pp., 20 tables (3 double-sided, 1 coloured) and 9 illustrations within the text. Leaves and plates stored loosely in original decorated dark green cloth portfolio.

 8,500.00

First edition of this fundamental work on the Sultan Hassan mosque in Cairo, built in 1356/59 during the Mamluk era. One of the largest mosques in the world, it is famous not only for its sheer size, but also for its monumental portal, itself a work of art.

Herz (1856-1919), born a Hungarian in Arad County and trained as an architect in Budapest and Vienna, joined the Technical Office of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 1882. In 188 he was made head architect of the Cairo "Comité de conservation des monuments de l'art arabe" and head conservator of Arabic monuments at the Egyptian ministry for religious foundations (waqf). His hopes that the publication of the monograph would lead to a commission for restoring the mosque were not to be fulfilled.

Occasional minor edge flaws, but well preserved. Rare: a single copy on the market since 1975.

References

OCLC 7065880.

Stock Code: BN#46069 Tags: , ,