Firsts. London's Rare Book Fair 2026
14-17 May 2026
The Saatchi Gallery, London SW3
Stand A6
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1Made of inscribed papyriA woman's mummy mask made of inscribed papyri with a winged scarab.Egypt, Ptolemaic period late 2nd to early 1st century BCE.
InquireExpressive mummy mask made of inscribed papyri, worked to a cartonnage and covered with a layer of plaster and painted polychrome. Mummy masks were commonly made of stucco, plaster or cloth, silver or gold for rulers, or even wood or clay. Those based on cartonnage from discarded papyrus, as here, sometimes preserve legible text, and such fragments …
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2An Indian curse in two ancient scripts from Central AsiaIllustrated curse tablet in Bactrian and Brahmi script.Afghanistan, ca. 400-600 CE.
InquireA unique object with a Buddhist magical formula written in alternating Bactrian and Brahmi script around a figure, apparently the object of a curse. The depiction of a person with hair in a bun at the top pierced through with stakes leaves little doubt as to the attitude towards them, as does the nail that has been bored through their head, still …
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![Daihannya-kyo [Mahaprajnaparamita sutra]. Vol. 19.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68877-324x324.jpg)
3Canonical sutra scroll printed in the early 13th centuryDaihannya-kyo [Mahaprajnaparamita sutra]. Vol. 19.Japan, Nara, early Kamakura period 1222-1227.
InquireA complete volume of the Karoku edition: a beautiful survival of early thirteenth-century monastic block-printing from Nara, with Choben's colophon at the end of the volume.
Published in no fewer than 600 volumes in total, Xuanzang’s Chinese translation from Sanskrit of the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra is among the foundational scriptures of …
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![Da Tang Xiyu Ji [Taedang Soyok-ki - Great Tang Record (of Travels) to the Western Regions].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68843-324x324.jpg)
4Exceptional print from the original Koryo blocks, one of a mere handful of copiesDa Tang Xiyu Ji [Taedang Soyok-ki - Great Tang Record (of Travels) to the …Korea, probably Haeinsa, ca. 1914-1915.
InquireA defining survival from the greatest woodblock enterprise in Korean history. Xuanzang’s "Da Tang Xiyu Ji", here preserved as a four-volume offprint in its original wrappers and chitsu, was printed circa 1914-15 from the original Tripitaka Koreana blocks carved between 1247 and 1251, the monumental second Koryo canon that replaced the first canon, …
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![Orit [Octateuch in Ge'ez].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68901-324x324.jpg)
5One of the earliest and most monumental Ethiopian manuscripts extantOrit [Octateuch in Ge'ez].Ethiopia, ca. 1400.
InquireOne of the earliest and most monumental Ethiopian manuscripts extant: an imposing Ge'ez Orit containing the Pentateuch together with Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, preserved in a remarkably early and imposing state, bound of original style wooden boards.
The Ethiopian Octateuch stands at the heart of the biblical and liturgical culture of the Ethiopian …
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![Kanz al Daqa’iq [Treasures of Exactitudes].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68369-324x324.jpg)
6Royal Mamluk Hanafi fiqh manuscript, illuminatedKanz al Daqa’iq [Treasures of Exactitudes].Mamluk Egypt, 1446/47 CE = 850 H.
InquireThis illuminated mid-15th century Mamluk manuscript preserves al Nasafi’s Kanz al Daqaiq, one of the most authoritative compendia of Hanafi law and a core text of advanced legal instruction for judges and senior scholars across the Islamic world. The work's careful execution and refined illumination place it firmly within the elite scholarly culture …
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![Bibliya sirech knigy vetkhogo i novogo zaveta [The Bible, or the books of the Old and New Testament].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68762-324x324.jpg)
7The unique Listratov copy of the Ostrog Bible, the first complete printing of the Holy Scriptures in SlavonicBibliya sirech knigy vetkhogo i novogo zaveta [The Bible, or the books …Ostrog, 12 Aug 1581.
InquireThe first-ever Bible to be printed in Cyrillic, here in a unique copy supplemented by expertly copied manuscript leaves. A triumph of comparative scholarship as well as the printer's art, the Ostroh (Ostrog) Bible established the definitive form of Holy Scripture in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia for centuries to come. This highly individual volume …
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![O Postnichestve [On Fasting].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68899-324x324.jpg)
8Rare Ostrog edition with Saint Basil woodcutO Postnichestve [On Fasting].Ostrog, 1594.
Inquire"Rare" (Sopikov): the first Slavonic edition of Basil’s treatise, printed at Ostrog by Mstislavets, and a striking Ostrog production with the fine full-page woodcut portrait showing Saint Basil writing. This copy remains especially attractive for its contemporary Russian binding and generous margins.
A partner of Ivan Fedorov in Moscow in …
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![Sumou teai shobu mokuroku-zu maki [An Illustrated Handscroll of Sumo Matches and Victories].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68856-324x324.jpg)
9Early sumo handscroll copied in 1596Sumou teai shobu mokuroku-zu maki [An Illustrated Handscroll of Sumo Matches …Japan, Keicho 1 1596.
InquireA rare and early sumo handscroll of nine metres length, preserving a pictorial and textual record of early Keicho bouts and wrestling techniques. The illustrations show fifty sumo wrestlers or, more commonly, pairs of wrestlers in various positions, often locked in combat and demonstrating a wealth of traditional sumo techniques. The annotations …
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![Hasht Behesht [The Eight Heavens].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68621-324x324.jpg)
10Monumental Mughal illumination with eight narrative paintingsHasht Behesht [The Eight Heavens].Mughal India, late 16th century.
InquireA complete Mughal court manuscript of Amir Khosrow Dehlavi's "Hasht Behesht", produced to a high workshop standard and preserved in its original binding. The manuscript is fully illustrated and reflects the controlled production of an organised court atelier.
The poem, composed in 1301 CE, represents Amir Khosrow's conscious engagement with …
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![Scathan shacramuinte na haithridhe, ar na chuma don bhrátair bhocht dord San Froinsias [...].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68509-324x324.jpg)
12The first original printed work by a living author in IrishScathan shacramuinte na haithridhe, ar na chuma don bhrátair bhocht dord …Louvain, 1618.
InquireAn exceptionally rare Irish devotional: the first edition of the first original work by a living author in Irish. The few works printed in Irish appearing prior to this were the Bible, liturgy, or translations of the works of others. This is one of a small group of books from the first press to print and promote Irish writing in the vernacular. The …
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13A milestone in the development of modern Croatian: the first Croatian Rituale Romanum in Latin charactersRituale Romanum Urbani VIII pont. max. iussu editum Illyrica lingua. Ritual …Rome, 1640.
InquireExtremely rare first edition of the most influential translation of the Roman Ritual into Croatian. Intended to strengthen the Catholic faith in the Balkans, where it competed with Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam, this version is notable for abandoning the archaisms of the Old Church Slavonic language and the Glagolitic script for a modern, widely understandable …
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14"having writ a base booke to proove the kings murther lawfull, the Duke putt him into close prison"Autograph letter signed ("Elizabeth").The Hague, 8 April 1651.
InquireA remarkable letter to Charles II, crowned King only a few months earlier at Scone, in a ceremony recognised only by Scotland. Soon after, the kingdom would be conquered by Cromwell and the royalist cause defeated at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Elizabeth had by this time been living in exile in the Hague for decades. She here provides …
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![Yuzhi Gengzhi Tu [Imperially Commissioned Illustrations of Tilling and Weaving].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/img-bn68735-324x324.jpg)
15Commissioned by the Emperor, printed in the Forbidden CityYuzhi Gengzhi Tu [Imperially Commissioned Illustrations of Tilling and …Beijing, Wuying Dian, 1696.
InquireFirst edition of one of the most famous Chinese illustrated books. Jiao Bingzhen’s "Yuzhi Gengzhi Tu", cut by Zhu Gui after the court painter’s designs and printed with imperial poems in facsimile calligraphy, survives here in the scarcer red-seal issue and in its original brocade boards.
Commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor and printed at …
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![Evangelie ili Blagovestvovanie Gospoda Boga i Spasa Nashego Iisusa Khrista [The Gospels or the Good News of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68776-324x324.jpg)
16A unique Kyiv-printed Slavonic gospel, dedicated to a Ukrainian leaderEvangelie ili Blagovestvovanie Gospoda Boga i Spasa Nashego Iisusa Khrista …Kyiv, 1697.
InquireA unique gospel book published by the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves (Pecherska Lavra) in 1697. It contains an introduction dedicating the volume to the reigning Hetman, Ivan Mazepa (r. 1687-1709), whose name was later erased due to his opposition to Russian dominance. Housed in glorious polished brass, both binding and text are a monument to the splendour …
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17An Arabic New Testament used in a Cross-Cultural Middle Eastern world"Quator Evangelia". Arabic manuscript of the gospels."Bilad al-Sham" Syria, probably early 18th century.
InquireAn early 18th century Levantine codex containing the four gospels in Arabic. The manuscript follows the Alexandrian (or Egyptian) Vulgate, a gospel translation widely used during the second millennium by Arabic-speaking Christians in the East. Marginal annotations give evidence of intensive personal and community use for spiritual and liturgical …
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18Imperial Ethiopian codex with ninety-two paintingsThe Life Of Mäba’a S’eyon. (With:) The Acts Of Gäbrä Krestos (St. …Ethiopia, second quarter of the 18th century.
InquireAn especially fine Second Gondarine manuscript of two major Ethiopian hagiographical texts, preserved with an exceptional cycle of ninety-two paintings and distinguished by provenance from the library of Emperor Tewodros II. This copy matters not only for the scale of its illumination, but also for the unusually close documentation of its later history, …
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![Mémoire contenant les faits et les motifs qui semblent pouvoir être allegués, pour et contre la validité de la prise du V[aisse]au Le Merry.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68732-324x324.jpg)
19Pirate raids and a seized ship in the ports of Muscat and Surat during the Seven Years' WarMémoire contenant les faits et les motifs qui semblent pouvoir être allegués, …No place, 1760.
InquireA hitherto unpublished account of major importance for the naval history of Oman and India: In a daring raid, the French Admiral Charles Henri d'Estaing, then operating as a licenced corsair, seized a British vessel, the Merry, in the port of Muscat during the Seven Years' War. These original manuscript leaves provide the background to this controversial …
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20A unique Welsh collection from the library of Sir Thomas Phillipps of Middle HillCollection of Welsh-printed books and pamphlets in 100 volumes (96 works).Wales and England, 1776-1863.
InquireThe Welsh library of nineteenth-century Britain's most prolific bibliophile, nearly half of them from the library of the poet Thomas Price, a leading figure in the revival of the Eisteddfod. Over half the collection are first editions, and many are rarities found in few other collections. Embracing language, poetry, history and other topics, together …
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![Jieziyuan Huazhuan Erji [The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Second Collection].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68694-324x324.jpg)
21A landmark in Chinese colour printing, a classic of the painter's artJieziyuan Huazhuan Erji [The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. Second …Suzhou, 1782.
InquireA fine Qianlong-dated reissue of the most popular section of the Mustard Seed Garden Manual, an instruction manual of Chinese painting technique: the particularly popular second collection devoted to orchids, bamboo, flowering prunus (plums), and chrysanthemums, here preserved in a clear and well-registered impression with subtle colouring.
Issued …
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22"C'est toujours une entreprise fort incertaine"Letter signed ("Votre trés humble et tres obeisant serviteur, Chevalier …Vienna, 1 May 1785.
InquireTo the librettist Valadier, declining to set his opera "Cora" to music. Gluck expresses his mortification at being unable to comply ("I am absolutely incapable of undertaking any work at all which requires application") and is unwilling to oversee any other composer in the work because of the difficulties of such an enterprise, and because the person …
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23The first Hindustani-English dictionaryA dictionary, English and Hindoostanee, in which the words are marked with …Calcutta, 1786-1798.
InquireA beautiful first edition of the earliest English-Hindustani dictionary by John Gilchrist, a pioneering British scholar of Indology. Gilchrist's groundbreaking systematic study of Hindustani, as well as his teaching, opened up access to the language to British administrators and officers and helped establish it as a lingua franca in the north of …
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![[The Life of Milarepa and The Collections of Songs of Milarepa].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img-bn66451-324x324.jpg)
24The woodblock printing tradition of Tibet[The Life of Milarepa and The Collections of Songs of Milarepa].Tibet or China, 18th-19th century CE.
InquireThe two works by the 15th century madman-sage of Tibet, both books famous for their role in the early tradition of woodblock printing in Tibetan literature. The Life and Songs of Milarepa were written by Tsangnyön Heruka (1452-1507 CE) in the late 15th century; their popularity as woodblock-printed books led to a blooming of printing culture in …
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25Lavishly illustrated Kashmiri ShahnamehKitab-i Shahnameh.Kashmir, Northern India, late 18th or early 19th century CE.
InquireAn outstanding copy of Firdawsi’s Shahnameh, remarkable for its massive size, its completeness and unusually extensive pictorial cycle. Illustrated with eighty-four miniatures, the manuscript was conceived as an ambitious, unified project. Distributed throughout the text, the illustrations cover a wide range of episodes, reflecting sustained artistic …
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26Illuminated Persian Fables of BidpaiAnwar i Suhaili (Bidpai / The Lights of Canopus).Northern India/Pakistan, late 18th or early 19th century CE.
InquireA fine illuminated manuscript of the famous fable collection often referred to as the "Fables of Bidpai", translated into Persian as "Anwar-i Suhaili" (Lights of Canopus). In the late 15th century, the Timurid Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara (ruled 1469-1506) tasked the poet Husayn Waiz al-Kashifi (1436-1504 CE) with creating a simplified Persian version …
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27An extensive set of 153 one-of-a-kind Chinese watercoloursDessins originaux chinois: Moeurs et coutumes / Code penal (spine titles).Canton Guangzhou, c. 1800.
InquireUnusually large-format albums of Chinese export watercolours of excellent quality, assembled at Canton for the Western market and preserving a broad visual survey of Qing social life. In four uniformly bound volumes the drawings range from costumes and occupational types to ceremonies, shipping, and botanical or natural-history subjects. A separate …
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28Cosway binding with twin ivory portraits, housing ten Napoleonic documentsAlbum of ten documents and letters signed.Various places, ca. 1800-1811.
InquireA distinguished Napoleonic album in a classic Cosway binding by Riviere & Son with two magnificent ivory miniatures by Caroline Billin Currie, assembled to frame ten original documents signed by Napoleon and by Jean Baptiste Bernadotte across pivotal moments of their careers.
The Bernadotte group spans his rise from Marshal of France to …
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![Korin Gafu [An Album of Pictures by Korin].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68837-324x324.jpg)
29The unattainable first issue, signed by the artistKorin Gafu [An Album of Pictures by Korin].Edo, 1802.
InquireFirst edition, first issue of arguably the most famous and iconic illustrated Japanese book of the Edo period, of the utmost rarity: Nakamura Hochu's "Korin Gafu", the defining printed monument of the Korin revival, here in the extremely rare Omiya Yohei issue with yellow covers, preface, postscript, and the first colophon.
Copied after paintings …
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![Kinsei-meika Yoriai Shoga-cho [Album of Famous Painters and Calligraphers of the Time].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68835-324x324.jpg)
30A striking compilation of Edo paintings and calligraphy, one of Colin Franklin’s most prized possessionsKinsei-meika Yoriai Shoga-cho [Album of Famous Painters and Calligraphers …Japan, ca. 1810 or little later.
InquireAn outstanding album of late Edo painting and calligraphy, bringing together in a single surviving object an unusually wide spectrum of artistic and literary culture by a large variety of creators. The present album matters not merely for the number of contributors, but especially for the quality, social range, and documentary legibility of the assembled …
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31The Italian Lakes in original hand colourViaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e Como.Milan, 1818.
InquireA splendid album of hand-coloured views of Lago di Como, Lago Maggiore, and Lago di Lugano, all in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. This collection is an example of the Picturesque Journey, a genre in vogue at the beginning of the 19th century, equal parts tourist guidebook and fine art portfolio. The volumes typically comprised plates and …
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32Portable Company School album of Mughal monumentsAn album of Company School paintings of Mughal monuments.North India, early 19th century, bound circa 1830.
InquireA compact and attractive survival of the classic 'Company style' monument album, gathering twenty-one views of the Mughal architectural canon, presented as portable souvenirs for the Anglo-Indian market. Produced in North India in the early 19th century and bound shortly thereafter, the album preserves a coherent group centred on Agra, Sikandra and …
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33The world's cultures illustrated: one of the greatest publishing ventures ever, the rarest work to be found completeIl costume antico e moderno o storia del governo, della milizia, della …Milan, 1829-1834.
InquireWithout question the largest pictorial encyclopedia of the world published during the 19th century, and one of the rarest works to be found complete. Printed in a press run of no more than 300 copies, this set is numbered "12" and was inscribed to a friend of the author ("del socio Signor G. Ferrario"); as such, it was printed on superior paper and …
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34Illustrated Persian yoga treatise with 40 miniaturesMuhit-i Ma'rifat ("Ocean of Knowledge" or Yoga).Mumbai, January/February 1832 CE = Jumada I 1237 H.
InquireA rare treatise on yoga and esoteric knowledge, here in an illustrated copy produced in western India and richly augmented with approximately forty Indian School miniatures showing asanas and Hindu deities.
The colophon names the author as Ray Satidas, son of Ram Bhai, of the Khatri community, poetically known as “ Arif”, and records copying …
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![Fugaku Hyakkei [One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68480-324x324.jpg)
35The Goncourt copy of the most famous and influential illustrated book of JapanFugaku Hyakkei [One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji].Edo & Nagoya, 1834-1835 and 1847.
InquireThe copy owned by Edmond de Goncourt: the rare first issue of this renowned Japanese illustrated book, the "Falcon Feather" edition of the One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji in fine impressions.
Hokusai's "Falcon Feather" Fugaku Hyakkei is perhaps the only Japanese woodblock book that transcends its nationality and ranks among the highest tier of …
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![[Punjabi manuscript].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/img-bn67961-324x324.jpg)
36Religions, scripts and cultures in the nineteenth-century Punjab[Punjabi manuscript].Punjab, 1839.
InquireThe Sikh mantra "Ik Onkar Sati Gura Prasadi" (roughly, "there is one true God by the grace of the Guru") begins this finely illuminated manuscript containing Hindu texts. This remarkable confluence of religious and cultural influences is further enhanced by the use of Gurmukhi script (normally used for Punjabi, especially Sikh texts) to render Sanskrit …
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![Sri Sri Kamadeva namah. Sambhog Ratnakar, athat Kama Shastra anabada rasika ganera Ranjanathe Rati Bandhera [...].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68448-324x324.jpg)
37A unique survival: early erotic science manual in the Bangla vernacular, with highly original illustrationsSri Sri Kamadeva namah. Sambhog Ratnakar, athat Kama Shastra anabada rasika …Calcutta, 12 October 1849 = 27 Ashwin 1256.
InquireThe only traceable copy: an early, highly rare Bengali printing of a Kama Shastra, pre-dating by more than forty years the first printing of the Kamasutra in the original Sanskrit. Published during the last decade of Company rule in Bengal, it is illustrated with eight full-page woodcut plates which appear to be entirely original designs for this …
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![[Pustaha (bark book). Divinatory text].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68895-324x324.jpg)
38An exceptionally large Batak pustaha with Meerwaldt provenance[Pustaha (bark book). Divinatory text].North Sumatra, Lake Toba region, no later than ca. 1850.
InquireAn exceptionally large and fine bark book as used by the Batak people of Indonesia. This mid-19th century divinatory manuscript is written in Hata Poda, the esoteric language of shamans (known as 'datu') of the Toba Batak, an ethnic group populating the interior of the province of North Sumatra. It is distinguished by its unusual scale, profuse illustration, …
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![Sinahasavatisi [The thirty-two stories of the Lion Throne].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img-bn67396-324x324.jpg)
39Illuminated with 29 miniaturesSinahasavatisi [The thirty-two stories of the Lion Throne].Nepal, ca. 1850.
InquireA beloved folk tale, illustrated with twenty-nine exquisite miniatures, depicting the beautiful women whose statues surrounded the throne of one King Vidramitya. In the story, the throne, which bestows invincibility on its owner, is given to the king Vidramitya by the god Indra. However, Vidramitya loses the throne, which is only to be recovered …
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40Legends of the Hindu Gods in miniatureMiniature manuscript scroll.North India, ca. 1850.
InquireElegant miniatures of Hindu deities, including five of the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, adorn this remarkably small scroll on thin, highly burnished paper, undoubtedly executed for a wealthy patron. Probably representing a Hindu response to the Islamic tradition of miniature Qur'ans, this practice originated in eighteenth-century Kashmir, in a …
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![[Collection of Indian zoomorphic erotic drawings].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68729-324x324.jpg)
41Exceptional within Rajput visual culture[Collection of Indian zoomorphic erotic drawings].Probably Kota, Rajasthan, India, ca. 1880.
InquireA remarkable and apparently unrecorded suite of eight Rajput erotic drawings, presenting a goddess in erotic congress with anthropomorphised animals, and preserved together in a small nineteenth-century album.
Executed with a fine, rapid black line and sparing washes of colour heightened with white gouache, the images belong to the graphic …
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42Rare Japanese illustrated sake-manufacture handscrollSake manufacture handscroll.Probably Kansai, Japan, late Edo, ca. 1850.
InquireUnique manuscript handscroll on the manufacture of sake, and an unusually complete visual account of an entire brewery workflow from delivery to distribution. In sixteen highly finished panels, the nearly seven-metre-long scroll turns a complex artisanal operation into a continuous, lucid sequence of actions, tools, vessels, and interiors.
The …
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43Unpublished, intimate correspondence between the Tsar and his mistressAutograph correspondence comprising 440 letters by Alexander II and 138 …St. Petersburg and elsewhere, 19 Aug. 1866 - 27 Dec. 1879.
InquireThe most substantial collection of unpublished letters by Tsar Alexander II ever offered: the extensive correspondence between Alexander II and Catherine Dolgorukova, preserving the intimate written record of one of the most consequential private relationships of the late Romanov court in a sequence of extraordinary scale and continuity.
Spanning …
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![Strasti Khristovi [Passion of the Christ], with additional texts.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68674-324x324.jpg)
44Outstanding oversized Old Believer Passion manuscript, 1869Strasti Khristovi [Passion of the Christ], with additional texts.Nizhny Novgorod, 1869.
InquireAn outstanding example of the Old Believers manuscript tradition: this finely illustrated luxury "Strasti Khristovi" presents the Passion narrative together with a carefully chosen appendix of edifying tales. An exceptional commission in an unusually large folio format, with forty vivid miniatures, probably executed specially for a prosperous Old …
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45On the design of Pendlebury Children's HospitalAutograph letter signed ("Florence Nightingale").London, 1 Jul 1879.
InquireTo Messrs. Pennington and Bridgen, architects, regarding their design of Pendlebury Children's Hospital: "I am much obliged to you for your promises to make a tracing of one of the Wards [...] Might I ask you to be so very kind as to indicate to me (not in detail, of course) - what are the 'very radical & important improvements in the Wards & …
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![Yuzhi Gengzhi Tu [Pictures of Tilling and Weaving].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68842-324x324.jpg)
46First lithographic Gengzhi Tu in silk coversYuzhi Gengzhi Tu [Pictures of Tilling and Weaving].Shanghai, 1879.
InquireThe first lithographic version of one of the most famous Chinese illustrated books, the Gengzhi Tu, here preserved in its complete two-volume form and in original coloured silk covers.
First commissioned by the Kangxi emperor and issued in its canonical Qing form in 1696 after designs by Jiao Bingzhen, the work translates the older Song model …
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![[Zanzibar and the Slave Trade: correspondence and reports, 1885-1893].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn66408-324x324.jpg)
47Of immense importance to the history of slavery and its suppression in Zanzibar, East Africa, Oman, and the Gulf[Zanzibar and the Slave Trade: correspondence and reports, 1885-1893].London, 1885-1893.
InquireA collection of rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents and officers on the slave trade, of immense importance to the history of slavery and its suppression in Zanzibar, East Africa, Oman, and the Gulf.
Comprises detailed information from men on the spot; one document titled "Reports on Slave Trade on the East …
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![[Ritual manual of magical diagrams for warding off death]. "Four Rites: An Illustrated Manual of Circular Amulet Charts and Effigies of Peaceful and Wrathful Magic Circles of Bhagavan Manjushri-Yamantaka".](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68766-324x324.jpg)
48Previously unattested Yamantaka apotropaic manual, stunningly illustrated[Ritual manual of magical diagrams for warding off death]. "Four Rites: …Central Tibet, 19th century.
InquireA visually striking, previously unattested manuscript, preserving an apparently unique text penned by a disciple of the biographically unrecorded sage Ngawang Gyatso Pal. The brief treatise consists of a variety of extraordinary diagrams and instructions for performing rites related to the deity Manjushri Yamantaka, the "destroyer of death" in Vajrayana …
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![[Manuscript on the geopolitics of Iran].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68527-324x324.jpg)
49A welcome address to the Qajar Shah[Manuscript on the geopolitics of Iran].London, 1900 CE = 1318 H.
InquireAn early unrecorded witness to Muhammad Barkatallah's pan-Islamic political imagination, composed in England as a Persian poem and accompanying prose address in praise of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, apparently prepared for a projected royal visit to London that ultimately took place in the summer of 1902.
The illuminated headpiece advances …
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50An illustrated Jain HarivamsapuranaHarivamsapurana.North India, c. 1900.
InquireA beautifully decorated manuscript of the Jain Harivamsapurana, which narrates the life of the twenty-second Tirthankara, Neminatha, alongside the deeds of Krishna. The accomplished hand-painted illustrations depict seated holy figures attended by men and women as well as scenes from court life. Dating from the late nineteenth or early twentieth …
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![Cookery Recipes [Lady Meux’s Cookbook].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68911-324x324.jpg)
51Lady Meux’s remarkable three-volume country-house cookbookCookery Recipes [Lady Meux’s Cookbook].Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, c. 1900.
InquireAn extraordinary country-house cookery typescript compiled by Lady Meux at Theobald’s Park, preserving 599 recipes in three substantial volumes and surviving as a highly distinctive aristocratic domestic archive. This particular copy matters for its scale, its evidently publication-minded presentation, and its unusually vivid record of elite hospitality …
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52The first photographs from Al-'Ula: previously unseenPhoto album of Persian dignitaries' 1904 pilgrimage to Mecca, including …Arabia and Syria, first months of 1904 CE = 1321 H.
InquireAn exceptional photo album documenting a pilgrimage to Mekka, prepared by the Persian civil servant Haj Sayyid Ali, who had a deep passion for art and photography. Notably, the album includes two of the earliest known photographs of the famous Nabataean rock tombs at Mada'in Salih (Hegra) in the area of Al-'Ula, a Unesco World Heritage site since …
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53A signed 15-metre Cheriyal scroll of Daksha-YajnaScroll of the Madel Puranamu illustrating the story of the Daksha-Yajna …Cheriyal near Siddipet, Telangana, Deccan, Soumya 1909.
InquireA monumental narrative scroll painted as a backdrop for oral performance, from Chariyal (Cheriyal) near Hyderabad in the north-eastern state of Telangana, a centre of itinerant story-scroll production where professional bards (so-called Mandhets) unrolled painted cloths as a moving stage-set while reciting caste-puranas and mythic cycles.
Signed …
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54The Room of FruitsThe room of fruits prepared for Abu-l-Hasan.London, 1914.
InquireAn original illustration for "The Sleeper Awakened" in Hodder and Stoughton's 1914 edition of "Sinbad the Sailor and Other Stories from the Arabian Nights". The magnificent drawing shows a splendid palacial room in which seven beautiful girls in rich dress sit or recline among cushions, presenting bowls and basketfuls of fruit.
Writing of Dulac …
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55An extremely rare set of official pro-treaty journals from the Irish Civil WarSgeala Chatha Luimnighe (Limerick War News), later Sgeala Chatha (South-Western …Limerick, 14 July to 7 October 1922.
InquireExtremely rare journal from the Irish Civil War, probably the only complete set in existence, covering the conflict from shortly after its outbreak in the summer of 1922 through the beginning of October, by which time the pro-treaty forces had established territorial dominance over most of Ireland. Representing the official standpoints of the Provisional …
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56Signed Einstein offprint on gravitation and motionThe Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion.Princeton, NJ, January 1938.
InquireA signed offprint of Einstein's influential paper on the formulation of gravitational field equations and the motion of bodies. Einstein, with Leopold Infeld and Banesh Hoffmann, here addresses one of the defining technical problems of general relativity and seeks to show how the field equations themselves suffice to determine motion without recourse …
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![Josso chinseon [Korean-Soviet friendship].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68844-324x324.jpg)
57Signed North Korean friendship album with photographsJosso chinseon [Korean-Soviet friendship].Wonsan, Kangwon Province, 1 Aug 1958.
InquireA vivid survival of early North Korean-Soviet friendship propaganda in manuscript form: a presentation album produced by the workers of the Wonsan shipyard for their counterparts at the Leningrad shipyard, signed on behalf of the workforce by the manager and four other functionaries.
The album was prepared for the 13th anniversary of Korea’s …
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![V Pereryve. Stikhotvore nija 1945-1957 godov [In the Interlude: Poems 1945-1957].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/img-bn68996-324x324.jpg)
58Inscribed association copy: one of only one or two dozen printedV Pereryve. Stikhotvore nija 1945-1957 godov [In the Interlude: Poems 1945-1957].Moscow, ca. 1958.
InquireA signed and inscribed samizdat collection by Pasternak, one of only one or two dozen copies printed. Containing the first appearance of poems from "Doctor Zhivago", this volume is preserved in a distinguished association copy for the sculptor Zoya Afanasyevna Maslenikova.
While Pasternak at this time was not able to publish in Russia, he issued …
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59A surrealist still lifeAutograph drawing signed and inscribed.No place, 28 Jan 1965.
InquireCrayon drawing, inscribed with graphite pencil: "pour Nana et Eddy Novarro / amicalement - / René Magritte / 28 janvier 1965".
From the collection of the Romanian photographer and collector Eddy Novarro (ca. 1926-2003), who travelled the world from the 1950s to 1970s portraying many renowned artists who frequently gifted him specimens of their …
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60Illegal Soviet samizdat translation of Dr NoDoktor No. Perevod s angliiskogo.Soviet Union, ca. 1965.
InquireUnauthorised Russian translation of Ian Fleming’s "Dr No", produced and circulated clandestinely as samizdat. Issued long before any sanctioned Soviet edition, it reflects the appetite for western popular fiction during and after the Thaw and the parallel economy of underground texts.
The translator remains anonymous for obvious legal reasons; …