Firsts. London's Rare Book Fair 2023
18-21 May 2023
The Saatchi Gallery, London SW3
Booth B14
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1Probably the fourth or fifth oldest witness to the Gospel of Matthew in the text of the Latin VulgateSixth century uncial fragment of the Vulgate, Matthew 6.22-28, 8.8-16.Italy, mid-6th century CE.
€ 350,000.00Two fragments forming one of the earliest known Vulgate manuscripts for the Gospel of St Matthew, probably the fourth or fifth oldest, written only two centuries after St Jerome had prepared the Vulgate New Testament, from the original Greek, at the commission of Pope Damasus I.
Early copies of the Vulgate translation are surprisingly rare: …
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214th century account book of the Church of Sant'AndreaAccount book of the Church of Sant'Andrea in Mels.Udine, ca. 1335.
€ 12,500.00A fascinating mediaeval account book of the Church of Sant'Andrea in Mels, a village in the northern Italian province of Udine. The manuscript, with dated entries spanning from 13 August 1271 to 17 August 1335, is copied in a single tidy, formal 14th century hand, placing the date of the manuscript sometime at or after 1335. It provides an intriguing …
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3With a contemporary scholar's grotesque caricatures illustrating matrimonial law[Lectura Infortiati].Southern France, ca. 1406-1430.
€ 250,000.00First part (of two) of Bartolus's commentary on the Infortiatum, the second part of the Digest or Pandects. The subjects under discussion in this part include matrimonial law, divorce, dowries, guardianship, wills, and intestate succession. This early 15th century manuscript is finely illuminated with initials in colours and gilt; the opening initial …
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4An outstanding Flemish Book of Hours with 14 high-quality illuminationsBook of Hours (use of Rome).Southern Netherlands, probably Ghent, ca. 1500.
€ 150,000.00An outstanding, unpublished Book of Hours, produced around the year 1500, at the apogee of Flemish book illumination. The quality of illumination is remarkable, both in the borders and the full-page miniatures. The execution is neat and flawless.
At least three different miniaturists worked on the illumination cycle of this precious Book of …
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5Rare elementary work on the use of the table abacusAlgorithmus linealis numerationem additionem subtractionem duplationem …Leipzig, 1510.
€ 6,500.00An important mathematical work by Heinrich Stromer (d. 1542), humanist, scholar and physician, rector of Leipzig University, professor of pathology and dean of the medical faculty. This is one of many editions of his introduction to arithmetic, based on the use of the table abacus. "It covers all the basic arithmetic operations from simple addition …
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6Persian dictionary glossed in Arabic and TurkishKitab tarjamah fi al-lughah (Tohfet el edeb fi'l loghat).Ottoman Empire, 1531 CE = 938 H.
€ 8,500.00An interesting collection of Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and Persian, including two texts and two dictionaries. In the first section, Persian terms are arranged in alphabetical order, and in the second they are divided by parts of speech: nouns, verbs, etc. The initial section begins with a brief introduction in Persian followed by an extensive alphabetical …
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7On Persian enigmas and riddlesSharh-i mu'ammayat-i Mir Husayn.Persia, May 1557 CE = Rajab 964.
€ 8,500.00A brief commentary on the Riddles of Mir Husayn ibn Muhammad Nishapuri al-Mu'mayi and other riddles, either by the commentator himself or taken from other poets. Mir Husayn Nayshapuri (known as "Mu'amma'i") had been the author's teacher; his well-known collection of versified conundrums on the 99 names of Allah was composed in 916 H (1510/11 CE).
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8The recipe book of Magdalena of Hohenlohe, the daughter of Juliana of StolbergAutograph collection of perfumery and cosmetics recipes.Probably Weikersheim Southern Germany, ca. 1604.
€ 9,500.00Extensive recipe collection of the "book of secrets" or "Kunstbuch" genre, assembled by a southern German Renaissance noblewoman, containing a trove of instructions for the preparation of all kinds of fragrant powders and pills, lozenges, beard and hair oils, for aromatic smoke and hygienic glove treatments, various balms, soaps, varnishes, and candles, …
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912 Shillings and SixpenceAutograph note signed ("Jo. Milton").No place, 1634.
€ 8,000.00Autograph signature with words in his hand: "pro [or pre?] 12s 6d 1634".
Provenance: John Nichols (1745-1826), printer, author and antiquary, an intimate friend of Dr Johnson, Boswell, Horace Walpole, etc. This autograph was contained in an early 19th century album, the first page of which bears the laid-down inscription "These Autographs …
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10Plotting the marriage of Richard CromwellAutograph letter signed ("O Cromwelle").No place, 3 Apr 1648.
€ 58,000.00To Richard Norton, a leading parliamentarian who had served as a colonel of cavalry in the first civil war and had returned as member of parliament for Hampshire in 1645, seeking to expedite the marriage of his son Richard Cromwell to Dorothy Maijor (1627-76), as the country descended into the Second Civil War.
Dorothy was the daughter of …
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11Recipes for ointments, tinctures, and the transmutation of metalsEin Tractat von dem Lapide Philosophorum, darinnen kürtzlich begriffen …Probably Germany, ca. 1650.
€ 6,500.00Pretty pocket-sized alchemical manual by at least two different scribes, extensively discussing classic problems of alchemy: about the nature and composition of the Philosopher's Stone, on the transmutation of metals, the "vera et naturalis Via Tinctura universalis", etc., with repeated reference to Paracelsian writings. Also copious recipes for …
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12By and for the artisanal practitionerPraeparationes variae aluminii calcinatio. [A collection of recipes for …Probably Germany, ca. 1650.
€ 8,500.00A pretty pocket-sized manual of early modern artisanal recipes, with much alchemical content but also strongly devoted to colours and gilding. Chapters include: "salis amoniaci", "aqua de albumine ovorum", "nota de calcinatione", "cinobrium fixum", "how to make borras", "aqua auripigmenti", "how to make arsenic metallic", "aqua ardens", "de antimonio …
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13Scarce work on teaAmbrosia asiatica, seu, de virtute, & usu herbae the sive cia. Nec …Genoa, 1672.
€ 3,500.00First edition of this scarce little work on "Asiatic ambrosia; or, Concerning the virtue and use of the herb 'Tea' or 'Cia'". Noted as the first to refute Simon Paulii's theory that the Dutch myrtle plant was the European relation of the oriental tea plant.
Some dampstaining throughout and slight traces of worming to first few leaves; rather …
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14The alchemical manual of the chief physician to Emperor Leopold IAutograph alchemical manuscript notebook.Probably Austria or Moravia, later 17th century.
€ 35,000.00Hertodt's working alchemical notebook, written in a fluid mixture of German and Latin. The manuscript contains detailed instructions on alchemical processes, including the transmutation of lesser substances into gold (with first-person remarks on experiments), alongside a cryptographic alphabet and a list of inauspicious dates for the practice of …
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15"People are made mad by those intoxicating Drams"Autograph letter signed ("Stephen Hales").Teddington, 25 Dec 1750.
€ 3,500.00To Mr. Joyne "in Lambe Buildinge in the Inner Temple, London": "I heartily condole with you on the unhappy Death of your Brother. These villanies must necessarily increase yearly more & more, while the lower People are made mad by those intoxicating Drams, which by a consummate folly are held in great Profusion to the mouth of the meanest. A …
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16Four tales from four dervishesQissat Shahar Darvish [The Story of the Four Dervishes].Mughal India, 1767 CE = 1184 H.
€ 4,500.00Qissa-ye Chahar Darvesh ("The Story of the Four Dervishes"), a collection of four lively allegorical tales attributed to Indian Sufi poet and writer Abu'l Hasan Yamin ud-Din Khusrau (1253-1325), known as Amir Khusrau.
Khusrau was the most famous Persian poet in mediaeval India, famous for a wide variety of poems, music, and epics. The Four …
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17Regency tabletop game for the armchair adventurerWallis's Elegant and Instructive Game Exhibiting the Wonders of Nature, …London, 1818.
€ 4,800.00A fascinating Regency-era tabletop game featuring hand-coloured copper engravings of famous (and dangerous) landmarks to stir the imaginations of British armchair adventurers. The gameboard consists of twenty-six sections depicting various natural wonders, through which a player must move, facing hazards along the way. The accompanying booklet contains …
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18The Royal Württemberg stud, the first Arabian stud in EuropeAbbildungen Königlich Württembergischer Gestütts Pferde von orientalischen …Stuttgart, 1823-1824.
€ 65,000.00First and only edition. Commissioned by the Board of the Württemberg Stud, the first Arabian stud in Europe, this almost unobtainable series of large format plates shows the Stud's full-blooded Arabian horses with decorative oriental backgrounds. The plates constitute extremely early examples of chalk lithographs (listed individually by Winkler, …
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19Overtures for a Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Commerce between the Ottoman Empire and the Duchy of TuscanyDocument signed.Florence, 15 Oct 1832.
€ 4,500.00The Grand Duke of Tuscany extends a message of friendship to the powerful Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II (1785-1839, here addressed as "Kan Ottomanorum, Asiae et Graeciae Imperator"), with a view to renewing and consolidating the Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Free Trade between Tuscany and the Ottoman Porte that was formed by Emperor Francis I and Sultan …
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20Babbage’s Logarithms for Hungarian ScientistsLogarithmen der Natürlichen Zahlen 1 bis 108.000. Von Karl Babbage, Esq., …London, 1834.
€ 850.00Very rare bilingual German/Hungarian translation of Babbage’s work on logarithms, printed at the expense of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences apparently in order to convey Babbage's work to interested readers within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Karl Nagy himself was inspired by Babbage’s work to produce his own little-known calculating machine, …
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21"the tempter must bear the blame of the broken resolution"Autograph letter signed ("C. Babbage").Dorset Street, London, 2 Jul 1840.
€ 3,500.00To Mrs Horner, accepting an invitation: "I had resolved to be very industrious and dine out no more but the tempter must bear the blame of the broken resolution [...]".
Old folds and traces of former mounting. The year supplied in another hand.
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22Elaborate sketches of the Hindu temple complex at Madurai[Drawings of the Arulmigu Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple].India, ca. 1841.
€ 35,000.00Lavish original architectural drawings of Hindu temple statues and structures in Madurai, showing highly detailed sculptures of gods and goddesses, intricately carved pillars, shrines, and designs on ceilings. Captions are in a tidy English hand, and several refer to the "Pagoda at Madura", specifically Arulmigu Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple in the …
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23Sisi's sketchbookAutograph sketchbook.Possenhofen, Lauterbach, Geretshausen, Oberzeismering and other places, ca. 1845.
€ 28,000.00Charming sketchbook used by the young Bavarian duchess Elisabeth, containing numerous landscapes and architectural drawings, sketches of pets as well as caricatures and portraits, especially of her sisters. Also, there is an amusing piece of doggerel ("In Lautenbach habe ich mein Strumpf verloren / Und ohne Strumpf geh ich nicht heim ..."; "In Lautenbach …
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24Painted Ottoman pilgrimage scroll[Painted Hajj certificate].Ottoman Empire, 1854/55 CE = 1271 H.
€ 4,500.00A beautiful and brightly painted scroll depicting the stages of the Hajj in four panels, created for a pilgrim as part of an ancient tradition of Hajj and 'Umra certificates, also called pilgrimage rolls, which confirmed that its owner or the owner's legal substitute had undertaken the Hajj or 'Umra pilgrimage, and which also provided an important …
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25Extremely rare, controversial account of the Indian Revolt of 1857, signed by the authorThe Crisis in the Punjab, From the 10th of May Until the Fall of Delhi, …Lahore, 1858.
€ 8,500.00Very first edition, printed in Lahore in the Punjab region in 1858, of a controversial account by "a Punjab employé". This employee was Frederick Henry Cooper (1827-69), a British civil servant working with the British East India Company in the Punjab region. A very early publication on the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the present work was possibly published …
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26Commemorative album for the architect of Austria's National BankDem Erbauer des Bank- und Börsegebäudes Architekten Heinrich Ferstel …Vienna, October-November 1860.
€ 9,500.00Unique, splendidly produced commemorative album, dedicated to the Austrian architect Heinrich Ferstel by the artists and personnel involved in the building of the bank and stock exchange on Vienna's Freyung square, today known simply as "Palais Ferstel". The book presents the signatures of the 36 principal men, women and representatives of businesses …
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27Astronomy at the Samarkand observatoryAl-Mulakhkhas fi 'Ilm al-Hay’a [A commentary on the Summary of Astronomy].Gaza, Ottoman Palestine, 1862/63 CE = 1279 H.
€ 8,500.00A commentary by Qadizade al-Rumi on Al-Jaghmini's famous astronomical treatise "Mulakhas" ("Summary on the Science of the Authority"), completed in AH 808. Al-Rumi (1364-1436), known under the name of Salah al-Din Musa Pasha, was one of the principal astronomers at the famous Samarkand observatory. The present treatise is dedicated to his ruler and …
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28First edition, inscribed to César de PaepeDas Kapital. Kritik der politischen Oekonomie [...] Erster Band. [Author's …Hamburg, 1867.
€ 950,000.00First edition. Inscribed not quite a year after the volume's publication to César de Paepe, the leader of the International Workingmen's Association (the First International) in Belgium: "Au citoyen Cézar de Paepe / salut fraternel / Karl Marx / Londres 3 Septembre 1868". Curiously, Marx had first written "avec les compliments de Karl Marx" before …
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29"the final, the best picture, showing Mohr in all his serene, confident, Olympian calmness" - owned by Marx's great-grandsonPortrait photograph.London, 1875 / ca. 1900-1910.
€ 3,000.00Exceptionally large print of one of the four photos of Marx that the London photographer John Mayall jr. (1842-91) made in rapid sequence, showing Marx, seated, at knee-length.
Mayall was the son of the photographic pioneer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901), who in 1860 took the first carte-de-visite photographs of Queen Victoria. The renowned …
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30Tom and Becky, lost in the cave, encounter Injun Joe: Clemens's manuscript notes for a projected stage version of "Tom Sawyer"[Tom Sawyer: A Play]. Autograph working notes.No place, probably late 1883 or early 1884.
€ 45,000.00Three leaves from Clemens’s manuscript notes for a never-performed stage version of "Tom Sawyer" completed in early 1884, featuring sketches for the dramatic scene in which Tom, Huck and Becky encounter Injun Joe in the cave. The notes read, in part: "Enter Tom & Huck. Find bag. 'No use now - got to starve.' Tom says 'No.' Examine - money all …
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31Presentation copy of the first editionStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.London, 1886.
€ 48,000.00A literary touchstone of Faustian horror for the industrial age: presentation copy of the first English edition, inscribed on both the cover and the title-page, to "William Slafford, with the Author's Compliments".
"The date upon the front cover was originally 1885, but the last figure was altered by the pen into 6. It had been intended to …
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32Alfred Nobel's copy of A Dictionary of Explosives, with notes in his handA Dictionary of Explosives.Chatham, 1889.
€ 15,000.00Alfred Nobel's (1833-96) personal copy of this very uncommon early work on the chemistry of explosives, with the bookplate reading "Ex Libris A. Nobel" on the front pastedown and notes in Nobel's own hand in three different instances. Nobel, best known today for bequeathing his wealth on the eponymous Nobel Prize fund, was the Swedish inventor of …
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33Maps of the western part of Asia Minor: the personal copy of Paul Gaudin, the engineer in charge of the completion of the Hejaz railwaySpecialkarte vom westlichen Kleinasien.Berlin, 1890.
€ 12,500.00Kiepert's map of the western part of Asia Minor: the personal copy of Paul Gaudin, the archaeologist and engineer in charge of the completion of the Hejaz railway.
In the margins, the numbers of the adjacent maps are written in blue pencil. On maps VIII and IX the route of the railway line as well as the names and numbers of the stations between …
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34Original manuscript on "The Oscillation of the Balance"O kolebanii vesov. Rech' dlja obshhego sobranija X-ogo S'ezda Russkih Estestvoispytatelej …No place, 1898.
€ 85,000.00The original manuscript of Mendeleev's speech on "The Oscillation of the Balance", delivered at the General Meeting of the 10th Congress of Russian Naturalists in Kiev (August 1898). In his annotated bibliography of his own works, self-compiled in 1899, Mendeleev writes: "Predmet schitaju ochen' vazhnym i interesnym" ("A subject I find very important …
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35Erotic manuscript of the Gujarat School"Manuscript Kamasutra Gujarat School".India, Gujarat or Rajasthan, 19th century.
€ 15,000.00An Indian manuscript, possibly the Kama Sutra, including six illustrations showing couples engaged in love play and four more showing women only.
Some edge flaws; one leaf loose. Apparently not quite complete according to the contemporary leaf numbering, but still an uncommon, fairly early survival.
Provenance: Unidentified British …
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36"We also took along our magnetic needles and made a rough survey of the mine"Autograph letter signed ("TaE").No place, "Sunday" August 1901.
€ 25,000.00To his second wife Mina Miller, here called "Billy", about a strenuous field trip to Ontario to explore nickel reserves, involving an honorary reception by the city of Sudbury: "John writes you today & I assume tells you all about the trip in the woods - as I do not know what he told you I will recite all the events after you left. After the …
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37"fabrication de radium"Autograph letter signed.Paris, 27 Dec 1903.
€ 15,000.00To a colleague about financing his chair and a laboratory at the Sorbonne and the option of moving into a laboratory at the Pasteur Institute instead - an offer that he only wants to accept for an indefinite period: "Je désire vous tenir au courant de ce qui s'est fait relativement à la nouvelle chaire que l'on veut créer pour moi. Le Conseil …
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38Rare photographs of MuscatNine original photographs of Muscat.Muscat, ca. 1905.
€ 6,500.00Rare photographs of Muscat depicting variously, "The Rock of Muscat", the Al-Jalali Fort, and the Al-Mirani Fort. A number of the images are of a military nature, from which it is possible to surmise that the photographer was an officer: a torpedo being fired, a significant cache of weapons and troops (bluejackets) disembarking on the shore to be …
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39A trove of photographs depicting the construction of the Hejaz Railway, more than half undocumentedHejaz Railway photographs.Ottoman Empire, 1905/1906 CE.
€ 85,000.00A trove of over two dozen photographs documenting the monumental effort of infrastructure engineering which resulted in the Hejaz Railway. The photographs were most likely taken by Armenian photographer J. H. Halladjian, based in Haifa and active from the 1890s to the 1910s. They show the challenges of construction in Ottoman Syria, including bridge …
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40The Hejaz Railway just before reaching Mada'in SalihLe Pèlerinage de La Mecque.Tunis, 1906.
€ 7,500.00First edition thus: a French translation of the author's essay on the Hajj first published in Arabic in the "Roznémé Tounsié" (Annuaire Tunisien). The folding map at the back of the volume shows the route of the Hejaz railway, its course completed only as far as Tabouk at the time of publication, while the remainder of the line is shown in its …
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41"All of my inventions are turning out to be a splendid success"Typed letter signed ("N. Tesla").New York City, 27 Feb 1909.
€ 65,000.00A rare glimpse into the mind of Nikola Tesla in early 1909, hard at work on his inventions and his investors alike. Communicating with Anita Drysdale Hawkins (1874-1957), a friend and employee at his Wardenclyffe plant, he discusses the recent departure of a troublesome guest, chastising himself: "I am glad that he is gone [...] Time and time again …
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42Unique manuscript map of the Yemen Vilayet, drawn during the Yemeni rebellion of 1911Hitta-i Yemaniyye ve civari haritasidir [Map of the country of Yemen and …Ottoman Empire, 2 April 1911 CE = 20 March 1327 Rumi.
€ 28,000.00Unique hand-drawn map of western Yemen, southern Arabia and the southern Red Sea, reaching from Aden, Djibouti's Gulf of Tadjoura, and the Bab-el-Mandeb in the south and as far north as Mecca, Jeddah, and Rabigh. The legend identifies the various symbols used in the map to show features of the land: fortresses, railroads ("simendüfer", chemin-de-fer), …
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43Gold medal for helping build the Hejaz RailwayBerat certificate for Mustafa Cemil Bey.Kostantiniyye Istanbul, 26 Nov. 1911 CE = 4 Zilhijja 1329.
€ 8,000.00Official document certifying the award of the Ottoman Empire's gold medal for services rendered in support of the building of the Hejaz Railway, presented to the Egyptian civil servant Mustafa Cemil Bey. The document reads, in translation: "I ordered the construction of the railway from Damascus to Mecca and Medina in order to facilitate the journey …
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44Stamps designed by T. E. Lawrence for the Arab Revolt: "These stamps are the new issue since the Sherif of Mecca has been on our side"[Four stamps designed by T. E. Lawrence for the Arab Revolt, with a signed …No place, 1916 CE = 1334 H.
€ 15,000.00An extraordinary document presenting examples of four stamps designed by T. E. Lawrence for the Arab Revolt, sent directly to His Majesty King George V, who has noted in his own hand: "These stamps are the new issue since the Sherif of Mecca has been on our side", signed simply "Geo". Reportedly, George V (an avid stamp collector) received around …
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45One of Doyle's best ghost stories: the autograph manuscript"The Bully of Brocas Court". Autograph manuscript signed twice ("A. Conan …Windlesham, Crowborough, ca. 1920/1921.
€ 75,000.00The complete autograph manuscript of a work widely considered one of Doyle's best ghost stories. The macabre tale unites two of the author's great passions, boxing and Spiritualism, to create the tale of a sinister prize fighter whose physical brutality does not die. The present manuscript contains mostly minor edits, though a handful of pages include …
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46"Ich wärme mich daran in diesem traurigen Winter"Autograph letter signed ("K").Prague, mid-November 1921.
€ 35,000.00To his friend Robert Klopstock, an Hungarian-born medical student with literary ambitions whom Kafka had met three years earlier at a different sanitarium, a fellow sufferer from tuberculosis: "Lieber Robert, was sind Sie doch für ein Mensch! Fräulein Irene ist aufgenommen. Ein Mädchen, das in 26 Jahren (offenbar entsprechend ihren Anlagen) keine …
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47"It is comprehensible that the relief work in combat regions is hazardous"Typed letter signed (in Chinese characters).Nanking, China, Communist Delegation Office, 8 Aug 1946.
€ 85,000.00To the U.S. diplomat J. Franklin Ray, director of the Far East Office of the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), acknowledging the dangers encountered by convoys delivering aid, and suggesting the establishment of liaison offices in both Communist and Nationalist areas: "I am very appreciative of your thoughtfulness in sending me …
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48A 1947 visit to HejazKitab rihlat alsayf: Rihlat al-Hijâz [The Book of Summer Trips: Journey …Tunis, 1947 CE = 1316 H.
€ 3,500.00Omar Rakbani (1904-62), a professor at Ez-Zitouna University, was a Tunisian historian and tutor of Muslim girls. Fond of travelling, he published several accounts of his journeys through Europe, North Africa and the East in a series entitled "Summer Trips". This sixth booklet in the series is devoted to his visit to the Hejaz in 1947, when he performed …
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49Collaboration between cows and sculptorAutograph postcard signed and with a small sketch.Roxbury Litchfield County, CT, 9 May 1958.
€ 25,000.00To the Franco-Hungarian sculptor István Beöthy (Etienne Beothy) in Montrouge/Seine, announcing his arrival in Paris for the end of June. The sketch on the card's picture side, partly hand-coloured by Calder, shows a "collaboration entre vaches et sculpteur" ("collaboration between cows and sculptor").
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50Editio princeps of an important 1882 Hajj diary[Ar-rihla al-hijaziyya]. Ar-rihla al-higaziyya. Relation de voyage au Higaz. …Tunis, 1976-1981 CE = 1396-1402 H.
€ 6,000.00First edition of this valuable account of a 19th century Hajj.
Muhammad as-Sanusi was an important law teacher at the University of Ez-Zitouna in Tunis, remembered as a scholar who was part of the late-19th century "Nahdha" Muslim reformist movement. Dismissed from civil service in 1881 for opposing the French Protectorate in Tunisia, he decided …