Sharjah International Book Fair
Sharjah International Book Fair, 40th edition
3 - 13 November 2021
Daily 10am to 10pm, except Friday 4pm to 11pm
Expo Center Sharjah, Hall 6, Stand O6
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1Inscribed by a Mosul physician in 913 H (1507 CE)Dhakhirah-i Khwarazm-Shahi.Probably Anatolia, ca. 1490 / late 15th century CE.
€ 65,000.00Al-Jurjani's important medical compendium, the first major medical text to be written in Persian. Al-Jurjani (d. 1136) "went to live in Khwarizm in 504/1110 and became attached to the Khwarizmshahs Kutb al-Din Muhammad, to whom he dedicated his 'Dhakirah' [...] His 'Dhakirah Khwarizmshahi', probably the first medical encyclopaedia written in Persian …
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2Two key works of the Arab astrologer, with French humanist provenanceIntroductorium in astronomiam Albumasaris abalachi octo continens libros …Venice, 5 Sept. 1506.
€ 45,000.00A humanist sammelband comprising two attractive, finely illustrated Venetian editions of key astrological works by the great Arab astronomer Abu Ma'shar, who furnished the West with Aristotelian thinking. These 12th-century Latin versions of Abu Ma'shar's immense introduction to astrology, "Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir 'ala 'ilm ahkam al-nujum" (translated …
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3Very early document of cross-cultural theology, comparing the world's religionsDyalogus de diversarum gencium sectis et mundi religionibus.Augsburg, 1508.
€ 18,500.00First edition of Stamler's dramatic dialogue comparing the religions of the Tartars, Turks, Saracens and Jews, superbly illustrated by Hans Burgkmair. A prefatory letter contains a very early reference to Columbus and Vespucci.
Hans Burgkmair's magnificent woodcut is an ambitious attempt to reproduce the ideas of the author graphically: it …
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4Translated from Arabic, uniting the Judaic and Islamic astrological traditions: with the works of Ibn Ezra, from the Kingdom of ZaragozaLiber novem iudicum in iudiciis astrorum. Mesehella, Aomar, Alkindus, Zael …Venice, 4 Jan. 1509.
InquireI: Editio princeps of this "work composed in Arabic probably exactly in the form in which it is preserved in Latin, typical of the encyclopaedic period but limited [...] to certain early sources" (Carmody), uniting the Judaic and Islamic astrological traditions. The form, arranged in twelve parts according to each house, is based on the doctrines …
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5Four editions (1528-1531) containing six works on pharmacology, herbal medicine and magical gems (plus a mill-stone!), in blind-tooled leather (near Freiburg ca. 1570?) with owner's initials AWPharmaca simplicia, Othone Brunfelsio interprete. [including:] Idem [= …Strasbourg, September 1531.
€ 45,000.00Four editions printed and published in Freiburg and nearby Strasbourg from 1528 to 1531, containing six works of medical and pharmacological interest, all in the original Latin: the first edition of two Byzantine pharmacological works; the first edition of a Renaissance pharmacological work; an 11th-century verse description of nearly a hundred herbal …
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6Two groundbreaking works in the history of medicineLiber theoricae necnon practicae Alsaharavii [...].Augsburg, 1519.
InquireFirst Latin edition of the first two books, namely the medical and therapeutic section, of "al-Tasrif", a 30-volume Arabic encyclopaedia on medicine and surgery written ca. 1000 CE by the Arab physician Abulcasis, edited by the physician Paul Ricius, and containing "what is probably the earliest description of haemophilia" (Garrison/M.). Abu al-Qasim, …
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7The first edition to call Geber an Arab: profusely annotated throughout(De alchemia). In hoc volumine de alchemia continentur haec. Gebri Arabis, …Nuremberg, 1541.
€ 48,000.00The rare first edition of this extremely important and early collection of alchemical writings, which unites several first printings of works previously circulated only as manuscripts. This is first edition to call Geber an "Arab", the first to use "Summa perfectionis magisterii" on the title-page, and also the first printing of the famous "Smaragdine …
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8The earliest of Bacon's works ever printed: automobiles, airplanes, submarines, explosivesDe his quae mundo mirabiliter eveniunt: ubi de sensuum erroribus, & …Paris, 1542.
€ 15,000.00First edition, containing "the earliest of Bacon's authentic works to be printed" (DSB). Often referred to as one of Bacon's most important writings, it occupies leaves 37 to 52 of the volume. "A very rare book which [...] contains the editio princeps of Roger Bacon's 'De mirabili potestate artis et naturae' which is identical with his 'Epistola …
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9The first systematic study to address exclusively the education of womenVon underweysung ayner Christlichen Frauwen, Drey Bücher.Augsburg, 1 March 1544.
€ 18,000.00First German edition of "the first systematic study to address explicitly and exclusively the universal education of women", at the same time a fine and rare woodcut book. Commissioned by the wife of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, who was at the time rearing her own daughter, Mary Tudor, Vives' treatise was translated and adapted by numerous followers …
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10One of the earliest Western documents of Arabic epigraphyDe rebus Siculis decades duae.Palermo, 1558.
InquireFirst edition of this rare history of Sicily, compiled at the command of Paolo Giovio by the Sicilian-born Dominican friar Tommaso Fazello (1490-1570). Includes a double-page woodcut plate of an old inscription found on the walls of the Porta de' Patitelli, the so-called Torre Baych: it was formerly thought to be a Chaldaic inscription stating that …
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1116th century illustrated Italian manuscript about the art of war in a fine contemporary bindingLibro utillissimo et molto necessario di varii secreti importantissimi …Italy, before 1581.
€ 75,000.00An unusual and attractive Italian Renaissance manuscript on the art of war, lavishly illustrated in colour and in a sumptuous contemporary binding. The text comprises eight chapters dealing with the duties of the captain, making gunpowder, siege-breaking devices, the deployment through artillery of artificial fire, smoke and poisonous fumes, the …
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12Rare collection of correspondence by significant personalities and rulers: the definitive editionDelle lettere di principi.Venice, 1581.
€ 7,500.00Rare collection of correspondence by significant personalities and rulers, including Andrea Doria, Annibale Caro, Baldassare Castiglione, Bernardo and Pietro Bibiena, Cardinal Bessarion, Lorenzo and Cosimo de' Medici, Pietro Gonzaga, Hieronimo Fracastoro, Giovanni Bembo, Francesco Guiccardini, Emperor Charles V, Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici), …
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13One of the first works in English on the exploration of the worldThe First Booke of the Historie of the Discoverie and Conquest of the East …London, 1582.
€ 85,000.00First English edition of one of the most important historical works of the first great age of discovery, "very rare" (Hill). The author mentions several journeys to the "Moores of Arabia" (27r), such as one in 1487 "to Toro, which is a place that hath his harbour in the Straights of the red Sea in the Coast of Arabia", and other places "in the selfe …
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14Precursor to Ibn Sina's Qanun: the earliest Arabic medical work with instructions on surgical procedureKitab Kamil as-Sina'a at-Tabbaiya [The Complete Book of Medical Art].Safavid Persia, 1582-1584 CE = 990-991 H.
€ 175,000.00One of the few existing complete copies of this medical milestone. Exceptionally rare: a fundamental medical work from the Golden Age of Islamic scholarship, preceding and influencing Avicenna's Qanun. Monumentally influential not only in Islamic medicine, this work even had profound impact in the West. It was first translated into Latin by Constantinus …
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15"Masterpiece of design"Alphabetum arabicum.Rome, 1592.
InquireOnly edition of this early milestone of Arabic typography from the Roman Medici Press, including a Latin treatise on Arabic script. The Medici Oriental Press, the first printing press in Europe dedicated to printing books in an Arabic typeface, was founded in Rome under the direction of Giovanni Battista Raimondi and the patronage of Pope Gregory …
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16Fifty imaginary island cities, drawn for the Doge of Venice"Inmaginationi Millitari." Manuscript on paper, in Italian.Venice, 20 Sep 1595.
InquireUnique album with splendid manuscript designs for imaginary fortified cities, created for and dedicated to Marino Grimani in the year of his appointment as Doge of the City and Republic of Venice, which he would reign over until his death. Grimani served as Superintendent of Fortresses before becoming Doge and worked for many years on the design …
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17One of the first Europeans ever to set foot in Japan visits HormuzLes voyages advantureux de Fernand Mendez Pinto. Fidellement traduits de …Paris, 1645.
€ 3,500.00Second French edition of this important work of travel literature by one of the first Europeans ever to set foot in Japan. Particularly remarkable for its early criticism of Portuguese colonialism, the account resembles an autobiographical novel, describing the author's sensational travels in the Middle and Far East, including China, Japan (where …
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18The women of Constantinople: the first costume book to show only women in their traditional dressRecuel [!] de divers portraits des principales dames de la Porte du Grand …Paris, 1648.
€ 35,000.00First edition, very rare. Georges de la Chappelle, a native of Caen, accompanied the French envoy Le Haye to the Porte and spent several years in the Levant. His work is known to us almost exclusively through these engravings, showing what Thieme/Becker described as "the prettiest ladies in the Imperial Seraglio". In the introductory text included …
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19Oriental sayingsLes paroles remarquables, les bons mots et les maximes des Orientaux. Traduction …Paris, 1694.
€ 8,500.00Original edition of the first book published by the French orientalist Antoine Galland (1646-1715), soon to be famous for his influential translation of Alf Layla wa-Layla. "Galland, professor of Arabic at the Collège de France since 1709, had made three journeys to Turkey, the Levant and Palestine, and approached the Orient without prejudice and …
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20Manuscript commentary on Ibn Sina's Kitab ash-ShifaKitab Sharh al-Ilahiyyat ("The Book of Explanation of Theology"). Theological …Western Persia Isfahan?, ca. 1780s.
InquireLate 18th century Arabic manuscript apparently written in Western Persia, containing a commentary on several theological propositions taken from various parts of Ibn Sina's encyclopedical Kitab al-Shifa’, the author's major work on science and philosophy, intended to "cure" or "heal" ignorance of the soul. Thus, despite its title, it is not concerned …
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21Considered lost: unique specimen of the rarest and most sought-after view of MeccaKa'bat Allah Aleulya [The Supreme Kaaba of Allah].Paris, 1791.
InquireConsidered unobtainable: the large-scale engraving of the earliest view of Mecca, the press run of which was thought to have perished in a fire.
This engraving was commissioned by the orientalist and diplomat Mouradgea d'Ohsson. Of Armenian extraction but born in Pera, on the European side of Istanbul, Mouradgea was fluent in Arabic and Turkish. …
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22Napoleon's Ambitions in the EastCarte du théâtre de la Guerre en Orient.Paris, 1798-1799.
€ 28,000.00A two-sheet wall map showing Prussia, Turkey, Egypt and Abyssinia in the west, and the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, Persia, Arabia and Somalia in the east. Two inset maps show the routes from Siré to Gondar and from Gondar to the sources of the Nile. According to the inscription, the map is based on that of "the late J. B. Laborde" (Jean-Benjamin de …
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23The first periodical of the Arab world: the extremely rare, complete setLa Décade égyptienne. Journal littéraire et d'économie politique.Cairo, an VII-VIII 1798-1801.
€ 85,000.00Extremely rare, entirely complete run of this journal, praised by Guérmard as a "truly scientific review" and hailed by Glass and Roper as the first periodical published in the "Arab world". The 916 pages of these various issues appeared between 1798 and 21 March 1801: first every 10 days, then monthly for the second volume, and quarterly for the …
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24The first dictionary of Arabic published in FranceDictionnaire abrégé François-Arabe, a l'usage de ceux qui se destinent …Paris, an X 1802 v. st..
€ 4,500.00Only edition. The first dictionary of Arabic published in France: a unidirectional wordbook of more than 6,000 French terms translated into Arabic (in Arabic typeface), printed in large type and generously spaced, for the use of French merchants in the orient.
In the preface, the author anticipates the concept of linguistic relativity when …
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25Rare Turkish-Arabic dictionary: Sir Gore Ouseley's copy[Sihah al-Jawhari - Turkish: Kitab-i Lughat-i Vanqulu].Constantinople Istanbul, 1802-04 CE = 1217-18 H.
€ 8,500.00Uncommon second edition of this classic Arabic dictionary, al-Jawhari's "Tag al-luga was-sihah al-'arabiya" (The Crown of Language and the Correctness of Arabic), translated into Turkish by Muhammad al-Wani (d. 1592), deriving its title from the Turkish genitive form of the author’s name, Wangulu or Vankulu.
Jawhari himself reached only …
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26Series of research papersTransactions of the Literary Society of Bombay.London, 1819-1823.
€ 9,500.00First edition: a scarce series of research papers of one of the leading learned societies of the 19th century, focusing on India and Persia. Among the most prominent authors are James Mackintosh, George Staunton, Henry Salt and Vans Kennedy. The "Transactions" include an English translation of the fifth sermon of Saadi, a discussion of the Akhlaq-i …
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27The Royal Danish StudDet Kongelige danske Stutteri.Kopenhagen, 1822-1827.
€ 45,000.00Extremely rare and early series of lithographs. The large and appealingly coloured plates depict important stallions and mares from the famous Danish Royal Stud at Frederiksborg (Pegasus, Flink, Zephir, Palnatoke, and Velskat, among others). All horses are branded with a monogram and often also with the crown. The publication was originally planned …
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28The 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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29The fullest and most thorough account of the nomadic tribes of ArabiaNotes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, collected during his travels in the …London, 1830.
InquireFirst edition, posthumously edited by William Ousely. With this work, Burckhardt submitted what was at the time the fullest and most thorough account of the various nomadic tribes of Arabia, including a history of the Wahhabis from their first appearance until 1816 (cf. Henze). A two-volume octavo edition followed immediately, as did a German translation.
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30Arabic travel account from the early Abbasid era, concerning China and India[Silsilat al-tawarik]. Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les …Paris, 1845.
InquireFirst edition in French of two Arabic travels to China and India, translated by the French orientalist and professor Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795-1867). The Arabic text was first printed in 1811, under supervision of the linguist and oriental scholar Louis Mathieu Langlès. The first volume contains an introduction to the text, followed by the …
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31The Sudhoff CollectionThe Sudhoff Collection of the History of Arabic Medicine, deaccessioned …Various places, 1855-1941.
€ 95,000.00A highly important ensemble of books on early Islamic medicine and science, assembled by one of the most renowned medical research institutes of its age, comprising not only rare historical and bibliographical studies, but also many first printed editions of crucial scientific texts in Arabic, frequently in the form of doctoral theses that remain …
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32A European merchant between Arabia, Northern Africa and the west coast of IndiaAutograph travel and trade journal from the Middle East.Aden, Bombay, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Berbera etc., 1859-1860.
InquireExtensive journal, kept from 17 December 1859 (Aden) to 17 March 1860 (Berbera) by the trading agent Charles Westendarp, apparently a member of the Hamburg family of merchants but who settled in London in the mid-19th century and achieved success in the ivory trade. Contains a wealth of details on the commercial activities of European merchants between …
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33Yaqut al-Hamawi's 13th century Arabic GazetteerJacut's geographisches Wörterbuch aus den Handschriften zu Berlin, St. …Leipzig, 1866-1873.
€ 12,500.00First edition, rare. The 19th century classic edition of Yaqut's famous geography, prepared by the German orientalist Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (1808-99). The four volumes of Arabic text are completed by annotations and indexes in volumes V and VI, including "some 12,000 persons, many with additional bibliographical references" (cf. Fück). Composed …
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34The rare book and manuscript collection of a Franco-Russian oriental scholar, diplomat, and secret agentThe collection and research library of Jean-Jacques-Pierre Desmaisons (1807-1873), …Various places, late 15th century to 1873/74.
€ 1,050,000.00Jean-Jacques-Pierre Desmaisons (1807-73), known in Russia as Petr Ivanovich Demezon, was a wide-ranging oriental scholar as well as a diplomat in Russian services. Born in the Savoyard city of Chambéry, the son of the French physician Pierre-Jacques Desmaisons and his wife Suzanne Roux, he went to Russia in 1826, aged 19, to study oriental languages …
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35Extremely rare: 20 original photographs of Mekka by the "earliest Arabian photographer"Bilder aus Mekka.Leiden, 1889.
€ 95,000.00One of the earliest photographic documents of Mecca and the Hajj, preceded only by the photographs of Muhammed Sadiq Bey published in 1881 (Sotheby's, 4 June 1998: £1,250,000). Much rarer than the author's similarly titled "Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka", a portfolio of lithographs to accompany the "Mekka" books which Snouck had published after his return …
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36One of the most detailed printed representations of the Arabian Peninsula produced in the Islamic World prior to World War IOmoumi Mamalik Mahrousi Shahani [General map of the protected countries. …Istanbul, 1896 CE = 1312 H.
€ 45,000.00Very rare, monumental wall map of the Ottoman Empire, featuring one of the largest and most detailed printed representations of the Arabian Peninsula produced in the Islamic World prior to World War I. Perhaps more than any other map, it reveals the immense logistic challenges faced by Hajj pilgrims just in advance of the construction of the Baghdad …
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37"Secret" and "Confidential": The making of the most famous map of ArabiaCorrespondence relating to Fraser's classified map of Arabia and the Gulf.Mostly Simla and Dehra Dun, 1905-1906.
InquireThis letterbook containing correspondence on the research and preparation for F. F. Hunter's "Map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf" (1908) forms an important source that reveals the extensive and detailed work behind the production of a milestone in the mapping of the Arabian Peninsula.
When Hunter joined the Survey of India from the Indian …
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38"Fair is foul, and foul is fair": The first Arabic "Macbeth", translated from Shakespeare[Makbith].Egypt, 1911 CE / 1329 H.
InquireFirst Arabic edition thus of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", and the first to be based on the original Shakespearean text. A previous translation by 'Abd al-Malik Iskandar and Jirjis 'abd al-Malik, supposedly produced in 1900, is lost. Another Arabic translation, by Khalil Muthrani, was published also in 1911, but it was based on the French version …
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39The Indian Delegation's mission to Hejaz during the Saudi conquestMuhimmat al-Wafd al-Hindi fi al-Hijaz. Mukhabarat rasmiyah min yawm al-Jum'ah …Makkah, 1925/1926.
InquireVery rare account of an official delegation of Indian Muslims (representing Bombay's Jam'iyat al-Khilafah al-Markaziyah al-Hindiyah) to Hejaz in January 1925. It comprises the official correspondence and invitation letters by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hejaz government (Wizarat al-Kharijiyah lil-Hukumah al-Hijaziyah) as well as instructions …
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40Arabic printing in 1920s Germany: unique type specimen catalogue, signed by the editorBarthuld masani li-sabb al-huruf wa umud al-itarat min an-nuhas al-asfar. …Berlin, 1925.
InquireExtremely rare specimen catalogue of Arabic typefaces produced by the Berthold AG, a major German type foundry based in Berlin, which under the direction of Erwin Graumann and Oskar Jolles expanded the company's range into Hebrew and Arabic founts in the 1920s.
The catalogue was edited by the typefounder Joseph Tscherkassky (1879-1958), a …
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41Presentation copy inscribed to Saleh bin Ghalib Al-Qu'aiti, Sultan of Shihr and MakallaSaid bin Sultan (1791-1856). Ruler of Oman and Zanzibar. His Place in the …London, 1929.
€ 28,000.00Rare first edition: presentation copy from Said-Ruete to Sir Saleh bin Ghalib Al-Qu'aiti, Sultan of Shihr and Makalla (ruled 1936-56), inscribed in green ink: "To / His Highness The Sultan / of Shiher and Makalla / Saleh bin Galib Alcaity / a token of sincere esteem / by the Author. / London, May 7th 1937". Below this is pasted a printed bookplate …
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42"Alice in Wonderland": presentation copy of the script, for and from AliceAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Screen …Los Angeles, 1933.
€ 28,000.00De luxe copy, owned by "Alice", of the script to the 1933 Paramount Pictures adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic. The script appears to have been available in a numbered edition (number 22 was sold at Sotheby's in 1975) and an un-numbered edition for members of the production (cast-member Ronald “Baby LeRoy” Overacker’s copy sold at Bonhams, …
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43Picasso's wartime Buffon: a very fine copy, embellished with two original drawings for a friend2 full-page pen and brush drawings in Indian ink. In: Eaux-fortes originales …Paris, 1942.
€ 450,000.00Two unique and wholly original brush drawings, adorning a signed and inscribed first edition of this famous suite by Picasso, in perfect condition.
Limited edition of 226 copies: this is number 155, one of 135 on Vidalon vélin. This copy was presented by Picasso to his friend, the painter André Marchand (1907-98), with an autograph inscription …
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44Petroleum facilities in Iraq and IranPetroleum Facilities Middle East.Washington, DC, August 1945.
InquireFive maps on a single sheet, issued by the U.S. Government immediately after the end of World War II. The maps show all relevant petroleum facilities in Iraq and Western Iran, in Egypt, in Southwestern Iran, and in the Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar areas, identifying not only international boundaries, capital cities and major towns, principal …
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45Alfred Hitchcock's storyboard for "Stage Fright" in 340 pencil drawingsSketches with autograph annotations: storyboard for "Stage Fright".No place, circa 1949.
€ 150,000.00Extraordinary autograph pre-production storyboard for Hitchcock's 1950 film "Stage Fright", comprising preparatory sketches for some three quarters of the film, including the infamous "false flashback" initial sequence, the rest of the first half of the film, the garden party scene and the finale. A rare collection of sketches and comments detailing …
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46Fuad Rouhani's copyConsortium Agreement of 1954.London, 1954.
InquireOne of the founding documents of the 20th century's oil industry: the personal copy of Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004), later the first Secretary General of OPEC, with his autograph annotations and signature.
The historic agreement that provided Western oil companies with 50% ownership in Iranian oil production after its ratification in 1954. It …
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47Surveying the Gulf for the U.S. NavyPersian Gulf Cruise. Task Unit 48.4.7. 1959-1960.Hannibal, Missouri, 1960.
€ 3,000.00Extremely rare, privately produced commemorative publication about the extensive survey operation carried out in the Gulf region by the USS Tanner (AGS-15) and the USS Requisite (AGS-18) in 1959-60, to "provide hydrographic data for the construction of modern up-to-date navigational charts which enable mariners to navigate safely as the ply the sea …
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48Early Tintin adventure set in the Middle East, signed by the authorTintin au Pays de l'Or Noir.Paris, 1963.
InquireSigned, illustrated (with a portrait of Tintin and Milou/Snowy) and inscribed by the artist on the verso of the front flyleaf to Denis Jamin for his birthday, dated 3 September 1971. The recipient was the grandson of the Belgian caricaturist Paul Jamin (1911-95), an old friend of Hergé's.
An early Tintin adventure, set in the Middle East, …
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49The only known copySharjah - Salala.No place, 1960s.
€ 8,500.00Highly detailed map of the Arabian Peninsula's coast from Abu Dhabi (Abu Al Abyad island) and Ras al-Khaimah in today's United Arab Emirates to Ras al-Hadd and south to Salala in Dhofar, Oman. The legend identifies wells, towns and villages, wadis, scarps, edges of sand, quicksand, and tracks. Political boundaries are omitted. The latest surveys …
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50The Red Sea in 86 maps - 1:200,000General'nyí shtab. (Red Sea 1:200,000).Moscow, 1975-1991.
€ 35,000.00Nearly all of the Soviet Union's 1:200,000 General Staff map quadrangles showing the Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula: from the Russian series of maps produced during the Cold War, based on high-quality satellite imagery, but usually also ground reconnaissance. While there are a few lacunae in Yemen near the south-western tip of the Peninsula, …