Calila et Dimna, ou Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe.
4to. 2 parts in one volume. VIII, 140 pp. (8), 315, (1) pp. 19th century cloth with giltstamped spine title.
€ 3,500.00
The complete text of the Arabic version by Ibn al Muqaffa of this collection of animal fables with didactic overtones designed to illustrate wise conduct, printed in the beautiful types of the "Imprimerie Royale", with an introduction and critical notes in French. The typeface, based on Arab or Turkish specimens of calligraphy and cut in Rome in the early 17th century for Savary, "was the mainstay of Arabic typography in France until the late 19th century; it also provided a model for others" (Roper, p. 145).
Spine sunned; occasional browning and foxing, but a good copy.
Chauvin II, p. 11f., no. 17. Cf. G. Roper, Early Arabic Printing in Europe, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter (Westhofen 2002), pp. 129-150.