Actions are said to speak louder than words, but the right words published at the right time themselves inspire action. We celebrate the legacy of trailblazing writers, thinkers, activists, scientists, and travellers through exceptional first editions, special copies and objects, and significant archival material.
SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL
BOOK FAIR 2022
Peter Harrington l o n d o n
We are delighted to be visiting Sharjah once again this year and to be exhibiting at Sharjah International Book Fair 2022. Our visits to Sharjah over the years have long been a highlight of our calendar and we take great pleasure in showcasing some of our best books in both the Western and Arabic traditions on our stand at SIBF. For SIBF 2022 we are excited to present over one hundred significant books, manuscripts and archives that chart, from 100 ah to the 21st century ce, a fascinating global history of culture, knowledge and epoch defining events. As with previous years you will find our catalogue in two parts, the first the Arabic and Islamic World, the second, Western and other cultures. We look forward to seeing our friends and collectors both old and new in Sharjah in November and we hope you will enjoy this year’s catalogue.
Ben Houston, sales director Pom Harrington, owner
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SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR 2022
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PART I : THE ARABIC & ISLAMIC WORLD items 1–82 PART II : WESTERN & OTHER CULTURES items 83–105
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PART I THE ARABIC & ISLAMIC WORLD
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1 ‘AZZAM, Abd el-Rahman (ed.) Memorial of the Government of Saudi Arabia. Arbitration for the settlement of the territorial dispute between Muscat and Abu Dhabi on the one side and Saudi Arabia on the other. Cairo: al-Maaref Press, 1955 “Only recently have the British discovered the value to them of these desert areas” First and only edition, the English version of the documentation of Saudi Arabia’s controversial claim to the Buraimi oasis, the culmination of a longstanding territorial dispute with Abu Dhabi and Oman. Relatively well-represented institutionally, the complete set has never appeared at auction and is essential to the history of a clash that defined the territory and prosperity of the modern UAE. The confrontation began in 1949 with the first official Saudi claim to the Buraimi oasis, on the eastern edge of the Empty Quarter, territory shared between Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Oman. The revival of the oil industry following the end of the Second World War hastened the urgency for the demarcation of frontiers on the Arabian Peninsula. Tangible lines in the sand would ensure claims to the ownership of the oil reserves that lay underneath. Backed by Aramco, Saudi Arabia occupied part of the oasis by force in 1952, sparking a heated international debate. Deadlocked for several years, the dispute was taken to an international tribunal at Geneva, under the auspices of the British, before an armed intervention by the British-officered Trucial Oman Scouts precipitated a Saudi surrender in late 1955. The present work is Saudi Arabia’s official submission to the Geneva tribunal, a fascinating mix of partisanship and serious academic study. Included is a detailed historical and geographic background to the region, legal arguments in favour of the Saudi claim, and a breakdown of tribal divisions in the region, lengthy appendices detailing tribal relationships and diplomatic communiques. The Memorial seeks to nullify claims to tribal loyalties towards the rulers of Abu Dhabi, asserting that “the
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This set contains extensive contemporarily pencilled listings of page references verso of the rear free endpapers of volumes 1 and II. The reader’s interests seem to have concentrated on Zakat, “religious considerations”, & inevitably the “Boundary dispute”. 3 volumes, quarto. Original green half roan, green cloth boards, raised bands to spines ruled in blind, lettered in gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers, green speckled edges, binder’s tickets of Tourian Bros. of Cairo to front pastedowns. Brown roan labels lettered “H.R.A.” in gilt to foot of spines. Extremities a little bumped and rubbed, wear to corners of vol. II, negligible splashmark to top edge of vol. I, edges very slightly foxed, inner hinges cracked, contents firm, endpapers reinforced at gutters, a very good and attractive copy. ¶ William Facey, “George Rentz and the Birth of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia”, The Birth of the Islamic Reform Movement in Saudi Arabia: Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhāb (1703/4–1792) and the Beginnings of Unitarian Empire in Arabia , 2004. £35,000 [159312]
tribe of the ‘Bani Yas’ is a fiction” (p. 68), and to undermine the British protectoral arrangements in the Gulf, pointing to the search for mineral resources being the reason for their “sudden interest in territorial matters about which they knew little and cared less” (pp. 521–2). The Memorial was largely derived from the work of therenowned American scholar, George Rentz (1912–1987). Rentz was an adept historian of the region, rising to prominence as the head of Aramco’s Research and Translation Division, subsequently becoming an adviser to the Saudi government, joining the Saudi delegation to Geneva as a technical expert in 1955. The present work is a political document seeking a partisan outcome; however, Rentz’s reputation for independence and impartiality remains. He is remembered as “a careful and diligent scholar of Arabic and Islam, and as a walking compendium of Arabian erudition” (Facey, p. 13).
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2 ABD AL-GHANI BIN ISMA’IL AL-NABULUSI. Al- Hadra al-Unsiyya fi’l-Rihlat al-Qudsiyya (“The Intimate Presence on the Jerusalem Journey”). Syria, Damascus, dated Wednesday 9 Dhu’l-Hijja 1101 ah / 13 September 1690 ce This manuscript is a highly important autograph journal of Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi’s travels in Palestine and Jerusalem in 1690. The content, style, and dates in the text show it is Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi’s original set of notes and records of the journey, from which he prepared the fair copy of his work, called Al-Hadra al- Unsiyya fi’l-Rihlat al-Qudsiyya . Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (1641–1731) was the most important scholar, poet, and Sufi visionary of Ottoman Syria and the Levant in early modern times, contributing significantly to the religious sciences and mystical knowledge. Described by Sir Hamilton Gibbs as “the outstanding figure in Arabic literature of the Ottoman period”, he was a prolific author, writing over 200 works and contributing significantly to the study of Qur’anic interpretation, Qur’anic recitation, Prophetic Tradition, jurisprudence, theology, Islamic law and divine law, history, poetry, Sufism, dream interpretation, and travel literature. He was heavily influenced by Ibn al-Arabi (1165–1240), the great Andalusian mystic and philosopher, and was initiated into the Qadiriyya and subsequently the Naqshabandi Orders of Sufism. In his thirties he became disillusioned with what he saw as the spiritual corruption of the population of Damascus and hostility
from Damascene commentators, and in an effort to gain deeper spiritual insight he withdrew from public life for several years and lived an almost hermit-like existence in his house near the Umayyad Mosque. Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi emerged from his retreat in his late forties, and between the late 1680s and 1700 embarked on a series of extensive journeys (his rihlas). In 1688 he travelled to Balbek, the Beqa’, and the interior of Lebanon; in 1690 he went to Jerusalem and Palestine (the subject of the present manuscript); in 1693 to Egypt and the Hijaz, including a pilgrimage to Mecca; and finally in 1700 to Tripoli and coastal Lebanon. The accounts of his travels were not topographically descriptive or geographic in nature, although they included some such aspects, especially the descriptions of holy sites in Jerusalem and Hebron in the present journal. Instead they were more spiritual, recording the impressions, experiences and the religious and aesthetic feelings inspired by his travels, his meetings with religious figures and his visits to holy places such as the Dome of the Rock, the Aqsa Mosque and the many shrines and tombs of revered earlier Muslim figures and pre-Muslim prophets in Palestine and the surrounding regions. This approach is reflected in the title of the account of his journey to Palestine, A l-Hadra al-Unsiyya fi’l-Rihlat al-Qudsiyya (“The Intimate Presence on the Jerusalem Journey”), which refers both to the pious experiences he shared with notable Sufi figures and to his drawing close to the divine presence through his visit to the holy city of Jerusalem and its sacred places. He wrote much of the content of his travelogues in poetry and rhyming prose, drawing not only on his lifelong proficiency in
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those forms of literature, but also on his Sufi experience and the spiritual inspiration provided by the holy places he visited and the pious characters he met. In this context he was one of the originators of a new form of travel literature, marking a shift from the traditional forms established by Ibn Jubayr in medieval times. Several later copies of al-Hadra al-Unsiyya fi’l-Rihlat al-Qudsiyya survive, including the Gotha manuscript of 1735 and the Paris manuscript of 1819 discussed below. A condensed version was printed at Cairo in 1902 and a full version was printed at Beirut in 1990. Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi began his journey with a visit to the Tomb of Ibn al-Arabi in Damascus in order to gain blessings, and departed from Damascus on either 24 March 1690 (Sirriya 1979) or 28 March (Gildermeister 1882). He travelled south-west, viewing the Jabal al-Shaykh (Mt Hermon) in the distance, the summit covered in snow. He stopped overnight in villages and towns along the way and hardly a day passed without a visit ( ziyarat ) to tombs or shrines of pious figures, sometimes visiting several in a day. He states that he felt the land was essentially sacred despite bandits and unrest in certain areas. Many of the shrines and places of pilgrimage he visited were those of well-known prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, many of whom also featured in the Gospels and Old Testament. However, he also visited many tombs of lesser-known figures from the history of Sufism. He arrived in Jerusalem on the sixteenth day of his journey and spent seventeen days in the holy city and the surrounding areas. His return journey took him along a similar route to his outward journey and he arrived back in Damascus on 10 May. According to the 19th-century German scholar Gildermeister, Abd al-Ghani spend some weeks after his return to Damascus in the summer of 1690 writing up his notes and summarizing his account, finishing this process in early September 1690. The dates mentioned in the present volume correspond exactly with this timescale, and along with many details of the content, strongly suggest that the present volume was part of his original authorial exercise, representing one of the urtexts of al-Hadra al-Unsiyya fi’l- Rihlat al-Qudsiyya . The internal evidence in the present manuscript, including the content, style, layout, dates and signatures, indicates strongly that this volume was the working copy of Abd al-Ghani’s travel journal, containing original autograph notes and accounts of his journey to Palestine. It is important not only as a primary record of the travels, experiences, meetings and spiritual thoughts that formed the formal edition of his work, but also for the numerous annotations, alterations and corrections, which provide interesting information about his creative process and editorial decisions. The great majority of the text here is the same as that found in later edited versions of al-Hadra al-Unsiyya fi’l-Rihlat al-Qudsiyya . However, there are some variations between the present text and
later versions and many passages here that have been rearranged or altered, with deletions, insertions, additions, and annotations in the same hand as the main text, indicating that they were written by the same person. Furthermore, the writer has specified which of the additional or modified passages are correct and therefore suitable to be included in the formal version by writing the word “sah” (Ar. correct, valid) next to the relevant lines of text. These are visible on many pages. The writer has also noted in the margins the number of days travelled since his departure from Damascus. For instance, on f. 12a he writes “on Monday we went to visit Shaykh Izz al-Din Abi Muhammad”. The end of the line above records that “this was the eighth day” and in the margin opposite this line he has written “the eighth”. On f. 147a he has written “Friday, the fortieth [day]”. This method of recording the days of travel and sequence of events and visits is also found in some later copies of the text. The paper on which the text is written in the present volume is watermarked with initials “AZ” (or “ZA”) with a central trefoil motif, visible with transmitted light. This watermark is of a type found on papers from northern Italian mills in the 16th and 17th centuries, much of which was exported to the Middle East and North Africa. The folios have been folded vertically three-fifths of the way across the page, a practical solution providing the writer with two spaces defined by the vertical crease: a larger main area closer to the spine and a slightly narrower marginal zone. Abd al- Ghani used the inner area for the main text and the marginal area for the annotations and additions. Folio (202 × 135 ,m); Arabic manuscript on paper, 153 folios, plus one insert, black/brown ink on Venetian paper watermarked “AZ” (or “ZA”) with a central trefoil, text written in a personal cursive handwriting, variable number of lines of text per page in one or two columns, numerous original marginal annotations and corrections, brown leather binding. ¶ Samer Akkach, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi, Islam and the Enlightenment , 2007; J. Gildermeister, “Des Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi Reise von Damascus nach Jerusalem”, ZDMG , Vol. 36, No. 3/4, 1882, pp. 385–400; W. Khalidi, “Abd al-Ghani b. Isma‘il al-Nabulusi”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam , vol. 1, 1986, p. 60; Nabil Matar, “The Cradle of Jesus and the Oratory of Mary in Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif”, Jerusalem Quarterly , vol. 70, Summer 2017, p. 111–125; Paris BNF manuscript Arabe 5960. £95,000 [159601]
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3 ABU DHABI COMPANY FOR ONSHORE OIL OPERATIONS. The Gifts of the Desert. Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Oil Company for Onshore Oil Operations, 1982 Celebrating the first oil shipments from a key port First and sole edition of this specially produced work, published to commemorate the 20th anniversary of ADCO’s first crude oil shipment from Jebel Dhanna; rare, an online institutional search showing one copy only, at Exeter University. Provenance: lid of box lettered in gilt “J. Turnbull” with a compliments slip loosely inserted with typed name of the same; this is almost certainly John Turnbull, BP’s General Manager Production (Overseas) and later chief executive of BP Indonesia. Quarto. Original presentation binding of moderate blue padded leatherette, gilt-lettered on covers within gilt and blind ornamental borders, bright blue watered silk endpapers. Housed in the original matching box. With colour illustrations throughout. Box showing just light signs of handling, light scratch to front cover of book. A very good copy, bright and sharp. £1,750 [159397] 4 ADEN; YEMEN. Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of Aden, 1938. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1940 First edition, first impression, one of 750 copies only, of this official governmental report on socio-economic concerns in the Aden Colony, scarce in commerce and an excellent resource for research into the social and economic history of a key strategic colony of the British Empire. This report provides a snapshot of some of the final peaceful years in Aden before the upheaval of the Second World War and the subsequent anti-imperial insurgency against the British, leading to Aden’s independence from the British Empire as part of South Yemen in 1967. A functional document, this work details a range of developments with respect to geography, government, population, health, housing, production, commerce, labour, education, communication and transport, public works, justice, legislation, and other miscellaneous concerns.
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The recent discovery of oil in Persia and latterly Saudi Arabia had focussed international attention on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, with Aden being the closest major port to the Iranian oilfields on the main shipping route between Britain and India. The increasing threat of war in Europe further encouraged the British to shore up their imperial superstructure, and Aden would become a key strategic outpost during the Second World War. Octavo. Original green wrappers, lettered in black. Strong vertical crease where once folded and pocketed, other general creasing, small chip and a couple of minor spots to front wrapper and title page, an ephemeral work in surprisingly good condition. £750 [159011] 5 AL-GURASHI, Salem Monis. A History of the Violence in the Grand Mosque; [together with 16 original black and white photographs of Mecca and Medina]. Sacramento, CA: 1985 The siege of the Masjid al-Haram – a defining moment in modern Saudi history Extremely rare thesis, motivated by the attack on hajj pilgrims at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca between 20 November and 4 December 1979, an event that “shook the Muslim world to its foundations and changed the course of Saudi history” (BBC). An institutional search shows two locations only: California State University, where it was presented, and King Fahd National Library. The seizure of the Grand Mosque was conducted by insurgents led by “a charismatic 40-year-old preacher called Juhayman al- Utaybi” (ibid.), a follower of Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, whom they considered to be the Mahdi, or divinely guided one. It was the bloodiest assault on the Mosque to date and saw the taking of 50,000 hostages and the deaths of over 300 soldiers, civilians, and terrorists. “The men who took over the Grand Mosque belonged to an association called al-Jamaa al-Salafiya al-Muhtasiba (JSM) which condemned what it perceived as the degeneration of social and
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religious values in Saudi Arabia. Flush with oil money, the country was gradually transforming into a consumerist society. Cars and electrical goods were becoming commonplace, the country was urbanising, and in some regions men and women began to mix in public . . . ‘Juhayman’s actions stopped all modernisation,’ Nasser al-Huzaimi [a close follower of Juhayman] says. ‘Let me give you a simple example. One of the things he demanded from the Saudi government was the removal of female presenters from TV. After the Haram incident, no female presenter appeared on TV again.’ Saudi Arabia remained on this ultra-conservative path for most of the next four decades. Only recently have there been signs of a thaw. In an interview in March 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed
Bin Salman, said that before 1979, ‘We were living a normal life like the rest of the Gulf countries, women were driving cars, there were movie theatres in Saudi Arabia.’ He was referring above all to the siege of the Grand Mosque” (ibid.). Al-Gurashi puts the siege in context, identifying ten other attacks throughout history, giving their dates, perpetrators, and the outcome of each, together with security recommendations. He focuses specifically on incidents within the Great Mosque, so excludes “several incidents of violence in the Holy City . . . and the two wars which took place in Makkah . . . for the purpose of gaining control of the city” (pp. 44–7). As his thesis was being presented at California State University, he uses the Christian calendar, giving
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6 AL-KUWARI, Ali Saeed. The State Tour of Asia. A complete record of the official visits of HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani to Pakistan, India, the Republic of Korea and Japan, 16–25 April 1984. Doha: Dana Public Relations, 1984 Expanding Qatari diplomatic horizons First and sole edition, exceptionally scarce, with just two institutional locations traced: Library of Congress and UCLA. This comprehensive work presents a record of the Qatari Emir’s first diplomatic tour, an economic and peace-keeping initiative which helped to usher in a new era in Qatari foreign policy “by developing a reputation in impartial conflict mediation” (Roberts, p. 2). Octavo. Original red suedette, gilt-lettered spine and front cover. With dust jacket. With colour illustrations throughout. An excellent copy. ¶ David B. Roberts, “The Four Eras of Qatar’s Foreign Policy”, Journal of International Relations , no. 5, 2016. £1,250 [159384] 7 AL-OTAIBA, Mana Saeed. The Economy of Abu Dhabi: Ancient & Modern. Beirut: Printed by Commercial & Industrial Press, 1971 Highly uncommon overview of Abu Dhabi’s emerging economy First edition, first printing, of this comprehensive account, published to coincide with the birth of the UAE, covers the pearl industry, fisheries, oil, and other sectors of the economy. It is remarkably scarce: an online institutional search shows just four
20 February as the start of the attack. To set the scene, he presents a history of the Kaaba and the three Saudi states. Then, as “Islamic religious fanaticism” is a key factor, he describes Muhammad’s early life, the Orthodox Islamic Schools, unorthodox sects and schisms, how they came about, their differences, and their dissemination across Muslim countries. After detailing the 1979 attack, he moves on to practical considerations, drawing on data collected in Saudi Arabia. These relate to the Mosque’s construction (its entrance, praying areas, Masaa, minarets, Mataf and open areas, basement), and its security arrangements. Al-Gurashi’s thesis was written with the aim of assisting the authorities in preventing future attacks and he dedicates his work to King Fahd, who was interior minister at the time of the attack, while also acknowledging the support of princes Naif and Ahmad, respectively minister and deputy minister at the Ministry of the Interior. His recommendations take account of the Mosque’s vast size and complexity, Sharia Law, which prohibits weapons inside the Mosque, and Muslim custom and practice. Accompanying the book are 16 striking original press photographs of Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque at Medina during hajj. These date to the mid- to late 1970s, after the Saudis completed their first expansion of the Masjid al-Haram (1955–73). These file photos were issued on 20–21 November 1979 to illustrate breaking news of the siege, and thus do not depict the incident itself. A recurring caption reads: “The Grand Mosque of Mecca – Al Masjid al Haram – central place of the Moslem has today become the object of a siege by Saudi police and soldiers trying to oust Mahdist fanatic insurgents holed up inside the mosque with scores of hostages”. This is followed by a history and description of the Masjid al-Haram. Quarto. Original deep reddish-brown morocco-grain leatherette by the Cal-Na Bindery, Sacramento, gilt-lettered spine and front cover. Copy of typescript printed on rectos only. With 7 black and white maps and illustrations from photographs. Binding just a little rubbed at extremities. A fine copy. ¶ Eli Melki, “Mecca 1979: The mosque siege that changed the course of Saudi history”, BBC Arabic , 27 December 2019, available online. £15,000 [159108]
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wholeheartedly willing to supply information that could be subject to manipulation and interpretation” (p. 10). He therefore draws on western and Arab studies from the 1950s about the wider region, oil company publications, his own correspondence with various experts, and unpublished theses. Quarto. Original blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine and front cover. Copy of typescript printed on rectos only. With statistical tables and charts. Dent across top of boards, slight stain to spine. A very good copy, square and fresh. £1,750 [159323]
locations: Exeter only in the UK, Library of Congress in the US, UAE University and NYU Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. The author, the son of a successful Abu Dhabi pearl merchant, became the UAE’s first Minister of Petroleum and Industry under the presidency of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and was six times president of OPEC. This, his first book, went to a second edition in 1973, which is similarly uncommon. Octavo. Original printed wrappers, orange front cover with vignettes of palm trees and oil tanker & derrick. Front cover variably faded, top corner of which and first ten leaves creased, some foxing and minor abrasions to spine but remaining a very good copy. £1,500 [159317] 8 AL-QAZZAZ, Ayad Sayid. Manpower in the Oil Industry in Traditional Society. Berkeley: University of California, 1966 The challenges of modernizing oil production in a turbulent Iraq In this master’s thesis Al-Qazzaz examines labour characteristics, recruitment, training, turnover, pay and conditions, management, and the trade union movement; an appendix looks at the evolution of Iraq’s oil industry. It is genuinely rare: an online institutional search shows one location only, and that associated with the author: University of California at Berkeley. Al-Qazzaz (b. Baghdad 1941) graduated from Baghdad University in 1962, and continued his studies at Berkeley, where he attained his MA in 1966 and PhD in 1970. With a specialism in the Middle East, he has been Professor in Sociology at California State University, Sacramento, since 1969. Here, he notes that most studies of Iraq’s oil industry have focused on the political, economic and global angles. While the industry is modern, the society it is operating in is not, and he makes the first serious attempt to address this. He was hampered in his researches by “the reserved, cool cooperation of both the Iraqi Government and the Oil Companies, neither one of them being
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9 ANTONIADI, E. M. Ekphrasis tes Hagias Sophias (“Description of the Hagia Sophia”). Athens:, p. D. Sakallarios, 1907–09 From the library of Robert Byron First and only edition of this scarce and important monograph, from the library of the traveller, aesthete, and writer on art Robert Byron (1905–1941), inscribed by him on a blank before the half- title in volume I, “Robert Byron, sent by A. E. Benaki” and with Byron’s signature in the same location in the other volumes. Antonis Benakis (1873–1954) was a Greek art collector and the founder of the museum in Athens that bears his name. Born in Istanbul, Eugène Michel Antoniadi (1870–1944) was a Greek-French astronomer and “one of the leading visual observers of the planets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . . . His talent for beautiful draftsmanship became evident at an early age; it appears he received at least some formal training in architecture” ( Biographical Encyclopaedia of Astronomers ). At the invitation of the eminent French astronomer Camille Flammarion, in 1893 he became assistant observer at Flammarion’s private observatory. His observations of Mars were important and he played a key role in exploding the idea of Martian canals. At the Hagia Sophia Antoniadi’s principal aims were a precise measurement of the building and an effort to determine the metric value of the Byzantine unit of measurement used in the building’s construction; although in this last he was not successful, his work nevertheless “marks a milestone in the history of dimensionally accurate illustrations of Saint Sophia” (Hoffmann, p. 10). In The Byzantine Achievement (1929) Byron memorably described the Hagia Sophia as a “leviathan of architecture” and “the very pivot of the Byzantine world . . . a dream abiding, planted entire from heaven”. 3 volumes, small folio (330 × 235 mm). Contemporary brown quarter morocco-grain sheep, spines gilt lettered direct and decorated with single gilt fillets, cloth corners, vols. I and II with German pattern marbled sides and blue Schrottel pattern endpapers, vol. III with Papier Tourniquet pattern marbled sides and Spanish on Italian pattern marbled endpapers.
100 plates (complete), including 6 in colour; text in Greek. Bindings professionally refurbished, some light abrasions, portion torn or excised from each title page; occasional unidentified library stamps (double- headed eagle with a Greek legend). ¶ Volker Hoffmann, Der Geometrische Entwurf Der Hagia Sophia in Istanbul , 2005. £4,000 [143223] 10 ARAB ASSOCIATION OF TOURIST & TRAVEL AGENTS. Tour the Arab World. Cairo & Beirut: Printed by “Habesch”, The Commercial Press, Jerusalem & Jordan for The Arab Association of Tourist & Travel Agents, 1957 Extremely scarce guide – with no locations cited by an online institutional search – put out by the recently formed Arab Association of Tourist & Travel Agents, reflecting increased interest in the region. Included here are illustrated profiles of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Syria. A list of Arab Association board members is also given, a members directory, a history of the Association (formed in 1954) up to its third general meeting in February 1957, which had been delayed by the Suez Crisis, and advertisements for, inter alia, regional airlines and tour operators. Octavo. Original printed wrappers, green front cover lettered and with star-and-crescent of Islam in white, wire-stitched as issued. Illustrated throughout. A very good copy. £1,250 [159349] 11 ARABIAN GULF. Persian Gulf Pilot; [together with] Supplement to Hydrographic Office Publication No. 158, Persian Gulf Pilot; [and] Summary of Notices to Mariners for the Year 1929 affecting Hydrographic Office Publication No. 158. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, Hydrographic Office, U.S. Navy, 1920–30
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12 ARABIAN NIGHTS – SCOTT, Jonathan (ed.) The Arabian Nights Entertainments. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, 1811 The first “literary” Arabian Nights in English A very attractive set of the first edition of this important version, “the first literary translation of the Arabian Nights , providing a critical introduction and copious annotation of the Muslim religion and customs” ( ODNB ). Two editions were put out by this publisher in 1811, Lowndes noting this more desirable larger format “post octavo, with plates by Smirke”, and another, a smaller unillustrated “demy octavo”. The editor was the English orientalist Jonathan Scott (1753– 1829), who served in the army of the East India Company and was, for two years from 1783, Warren Hastings’s private Persian secretary. Scott made a substantial revision of Antoine Galland’s translation of 1704–17, the first in a Western language, and worked directly from the manuscript in the possession of Edward Wortley Montagu for the new stories that fill up volume VI. In his useful companion to the Arabian Nights , Robert Irwin comments that Scott’s translation “was subsequently widely used as a basis for bowdlerized and popularized editions in English for children”. 6 volumes, octavo (183 × 110 mm). Contemporary calf, flat spines divided by brown bands, dark green twin labels, compartments decorated with a foliate lozenge and scrolling cornerpieces, sides with border of concentric gilt single fillet and trefoil roll tool, gilt milled roll at edge corners, red speckled edges. Engraved frontispiece to each volume by Fittler, Warren, Raimbach (2), Smith, and Golding after paintings by Robert Smirke. From the library of the Bulkeley-Owen family of Tedsmore Hall, Shropshire; each volume with engraved armorial bookplate printed on pale blue paper. Head of spine on vol. III chipped, spines just a little rubbed, a few joints cracked but firm, touch of foxing to frontispieces. A very good set, handsomely bound. ¶ Lowndes I, p. 59. Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion , 2005. £2,500 [156939]
first us guide to navigating the gulf First editions, first printings, of the American pilot guide to the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, including the 1929 supplement and a summary of further revisions for 1930. This highly detailed guide is based upon the British series continually published since 1870 and is scarce, with only a handful of copies held institutionally outside the US. Hydrographic pilots are sailing instructions to mariners describing the characteristics of waterways and harbours. They are often supplemented with updated charts, lighthouse lists, information about prevailing meteorological conditions, harbour regulations, and other information pertinent to seafaring. This guide and attendant supplements, also similarly scarce, includes detailed information for navigating the coasts of all of the seven emirates of modern-day UAE. Sharjah is described as “the most important town” on the Trucial Coast, with a population of 8,000 to 10,000, chiefly of the Al Qawasim. Details for anchorage, landing, and provisioning are given, as well as a description of the town itself, which has “a large proportion of stone houses”, the flag of the Al Qawasim prominently flown, and the sheikh’s house being “a large white two-storied building”. Further topographical descriptions are given, including of Sharjah’s creek, and there is a hint at Sharjah’s ongoing prosperity, with its port sending 350 boats to the pearl fishery and “very fine boats, bakaras and batils built [there]”. The first chapter also includes some interesting commentary on culture in the region, reflective of the biases of the time. Mariners are advised not to land ashore unarmed for fear of Bedouin, a brief section comments on “piracy” in the Gulf, and captains are recommended to offer gifts to local rulers. 3 volumes, octavo. Pilot : original brown buckram, spine and front board lettered and blocked in gilt; Supplement : original wrappers lettered in black; Summary : 3 unbound leaves stapled together. Folding map of the Gulf. Covers of bound volume with a few old stains and some silverfishing, mild uniform interior toning, the other two with oxidized toning and predation to outer edges, minor creasing, a few short closed tears, still a very good set. £3,250 [157978]
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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13 ARABIC GOSPEL. A Byzantine Arabic Gospel lectionary. Syria or Egypt, early 12th century
Arabic manuscript on paper (305 × 233 mm), 151 folios, Arabic in black naskh script, red ink used in titles, subtitles, and headings, text segmented with red dots for chanting purposes, sections marked with simple rules, various symbols used to mark end of a lection, illuminated headings on ff. 112v, 123v, 138r, waqf inscriptions on f. 65r, note recording repair in 1732 ce on f. 129r, bound between wooden boards with tooled leather covers. ¶ A fuller description and textual analysis is available on request. £135,000 [159613]
a rare witness to a discontinued textual tradition The manuscript is divided into two sections: a Synaxarion (day- by-day readings for the liturgical year beginning with Easter and concluding with Holy Week) and an Eothina (the eleven Resurrectional Sunday Matins Gospels). Besides the gospel readings, the lectionary includes Patristic exegesis texts that are read after the Sunday and feast lections. The information supplied in the marginal notes show this manuscript belonged to an Arabic-speaking Rūm Orthodox community in the Kalamoun region of Syria, around the city of Deir Attiyyah. The type of this lectionary, as well as its internal arrangement, suggest that it was copied and used in a monastery setting. It contains a translation copied during the 12th and 13th centuries that persisted in this lectionary tradition after it was no longer copied in continuous-text manuscripts. As a result, this manuscript is one of the oldest and most rare witnesses to a discontinued textual tradition. In many parts of the gospels this archetype was previously only known from just one continuous- text codex and now this lectionary can substantially help in reconstructing this important text; it is one of just five surviving manuscripts that are close copies of the archetype that has been discontinued. The gospels preserved in this manuscript were translated from Greek into Arabic during the first millennium or early 11th century. Syriac influences can also be found in the text. The binding of the manuscript is probably the original, and appears to have been resized along with the pages of the manuscript at some point. The leather covers may be original and have been restretched and nailed to fit the resized boards. The cloth doublures may well have been taken from mummy wrappings, as was often done in preparing Christian manuscripts in Egypt.
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14 ARVIEUX, Laurent d’. The Travels of the Chevalier D’Arvieux in Arabia the Desart. London: B. Barker and C. King, 1732 “I thought myself indispensibly obliged to follow him to the Levant” A gripping memoir by Laurent d’Arvieux (1635–1702), a French traveller and diplomat who journeyed extensively in the Middle East. Second edition in English; first published in French in 1717 from the author’s posthumous papers by Jean de la Roque, who had himself participated in two expeditions to the Arabian Peninsula. D’Arvieux left his native Marseilles for the Middle East in 1653, settling first in Sidon with his cousin Bertandie, who was a merchant, and subsequently travelling throughout the region. “In 1672 he was sent to Constantinople where he assisted Nointel and in 1679 he was named Consul at Aleppo” (Blackmer). He learned to speak Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, and Syriac. Because of his knowledge of Turkish manners and dress he was able to furnish Molière with the Turkish element in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme . “My first care, after letting my beard grow, was to get into an Arabian dress . . . I got me turbant, which was red cloth cap, done round with a veil or black silk scarf stripped with gold” (p. 3). A lengthy stay in a Bedouin camp on Mount Carmel enabled d’Arvieux to offer “some very remarkable observations of that nation, which differed greatly from previous reports, and were doubted until confirmed by later travellers such as Niebuhr” (Henze). D’Arvieux retired to Marseilles in 1686 and lived there until his death in 1702. It was almost certainly there that he met La Roque who was the son of a Marseillaise merchant. La Roque had been interested in d’Arvieux for some time, making enquiries of the French chaplain at Sidon during an expedition in 1688–9, and it was through d’Arvieux’s friend, the orientalist and first translator of the Thousand and One Nights , Antoine Galland, that he obtained the manuscript on which this work was based. The second part was translated by de la Roque from the Arabic of Abu’l-Fida (1273–1331), the renowned Kurdish historian and geographer, the first translation from his work.
Duodecimo (165 × 95 mm). Contemporary speckled calf, gilt double-rule border to covers, spine gilt in compartments, raised bands, dark red morocco label, sprinkled edges. Engraved frontispiece and 4 similar plates; without initial blank A1. Some rubbing of extremities, especially at joints, spine creased, morocco label chipped, inner hinges cracked but firm, H9 to I6 with small worm tracks at foot affecting text, “The Camp of the Arabs” plate shaved with loss of text, loose, evidently never bound in (worming at foot concomitant with previous text leaves). A very good copy with bright plates. ¶ Blackmer 8 (for the French edition); ESTC N21540; Henze I, 101 (for the first edition in English). £3,250 [156251] 15 BRAY, Norman Napier Evelyn. Shifting Sands. Foreword by Right Honourable Sir Austen Chamberlain. London: Unicorn Press, 1934 First edition, second impression, published in the same month as the first; this controversial account by a Bengal Lancers officer and passionate anti-jihadist who served under A. T. Wilson during the war is uncommon, particularly so in the jacket. Among other propositions Bray considers Lawrence’s contribution as against those of lieut.-col. Gerard Leachman and finds the former wanting: “Lawrence was enabled to carry out his task by calling on vast supplies of money and abundance of every kind, and was assisted by the fact that the Arab forces were in close contact with, and supported by, the British armies in the field, Leachman on the other hand, in many instances worked quite alone and almost unaided”. Bray published a full biography of Leachman two years later. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, publisher’s device in gilt to the front board. With the yellow textured dust jacket. Frontispiece and 29 other plates, 2 folding maps. Foxing to the edges, and to first and last few pages, else very good indeed in unclipped jacket, the slightest touch sunned on spine. ¶ O’Brien F0139. £450 [157195]
sharjah international book fair
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16 BRÉMOND, Édouard. Le Hedjaz dans la Guerre Mondiale. Paris: Payot, 1931 First edition, decidedly uncommon in commerce, just one copy traced at auction. Brémond was head of the French military mission to the Hejaz, sent by the French government to assert its presence in the region, working alongside Lawrence in fostering the Arab Revolt. His account is a useful corrective to anglophone Lawrentian bias. Brémond (1868–1948) was a very different character to Lawrence, a graduate of Saint-Cyr and École supérieure de guerre. From 1890 onwards he had seen extensive service in Algeria and Morocco, before a brief tour on the Western Front in command of the 64th Infantry Regiment. The present work was written in part to set straight the record, countering the picture painted by Lawrence in Revolt in the Desert with a “more precise and less romanticised documentation of the intervention in the Hejaz, returning events to their true scale” (Foreword). For his part Lawrence was openly dismissive of Brémond, particularly so in Seven Pillars . The Sykes-Picot agreement had stirred Francophobia in the Arab Bureau, and its head and patron of Lawrence, D. G. Hogarth, was “especially apprehensive of any vague joint colonial effort in the Middle East; like many of his British contemporaries, he knew and feared the French colonial record in that area and North Africa” (Tarver, p. 593). To this resistance to French influence Lawrence added his own “aversion of most regular soldiers. Hence a double antipathy strongly coloured his attitude towards Brémond . . . and his staff” (ibid.). The two clashed over the occupation of Aqaba, Brémond favouring an Allied landing from the Red Sea, Lawrence successfully countering with his famous surprise raid from landward, a typically “private venture” undertaken without orders or backing from any British source. Octavo. Original printed light card wrappers. 5 double-page maps to the text. Wrappers slightly rubbed and browned, a touch brittle at edges and spine where there is some cracking, now repaired with slight loss at head, corresponding small chip from back panel of wrappers; contents typically lightly browned, but sound. A very good copy. ¶ Not in Macro; O’Brien
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F0140. Linda J. Tarver, “In Wisdom’s House: T. E. Lawrence in the Near East”, Journal of Contemporary History , 13, 3, 1978. £2,250 [156763] 17 CARLYLE, Joseph Dacre. Specimens of Arabian Poetry, from the Earliest Time to the Extinction of the Khalifat. Cambridge: Printed by John Burges Printer to the University, 1796 First edition, second issue, with a cancel title page; copies are noted dated 1795. Writing in ODNB , the distinguished English orientalist Stanley Lane-Poole describes the present translation as “well-respected”. Carlyle was educated at Carlisle Grammar School and Cambridge, and while at Queens’ College “profited from the instructions of a native of Baghdad, who passed in Britain under the name David Zamio. As a result, Carlyle became so proficient in oriental languages that he was appointed professor of Arabic on the resignation of Dr Craven in 1795” (ibid.). In 1799 Carlyle was appointed chaplain to Lord Elgin’s mission to Constantinople and made an extensive tour through Asia Minor, Palestine, Greece, and Italy, collecting Greek and Syriac manuscripts for a proposed new version of the New Testament, though he did not live to finish it. Large octavo (226 × 182 mm) Early 19th-century half calf, neatly rebacked to style with the original red morocco label laid down, spine with gilt rolls forming compartments, marbled sides, edges sprinkled blue. Sheet of musical notation, text in Arabic types, engraved head- and tailpieces. Boards sightly rubbed, corners professionally restored, internally lightly browned and with occasional spotting, but overall a clean and carefully refurbished copy, presenting well. ¶ Arcadian Library 8444; ESTC 144981;
Gay 3436. £1,500
[95218]
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18 CHEESMAN, Robert Ernest. In Unknown Arabia. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1926 A vivid, unvarnished record of desert travel First edition, first impression, extremely scarce in the dust jacket. Cheesman was “the first European to reach the remote oasis of Jabrin, fixing its precise position, mapping large areas of surrounding desert and identifying the site of ancient Gerra” (Howgego). For this work, which is the subject of the present account, he was awarded the RGS Gill Memorial Medal. Cheesman (1878–1962) encountered Sir Percy Cox, who contributes a foreword here, when serving with the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, and the two shared an interest in ornithology: “Together they undertook to collect the avifauna of Iraq . . . While Cox was high commissioner in Iraq, Cheesman was his private secretary (1920–23). He was elected to the British Ornithologists’ Club in 1919, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1920, and a corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London in 1921” ( ODNB ). His geographical work began in 1921 when “he was placed in charge of charting the western shore of the Gulf of Salwah” (Howgego). Cox describes this handsomely produced book as, “a vivid, unvarnished record of desert travel, pursued often under the most trying circumstances, with imperturbable patience and perseverance . . . enlivened throughout by a quiet sense of humour”. Octavo. Original dark green cloth, bevelled boards, gilt-lettered spine, gilt block of camel and rider to front cover, top edge gilt. With dust jacket. With half-tone portrait frontispiece of Ibn Sa’ud and 32 other plates, 2 full-page maps to the text, large folding coloured map at rear. Fore and bottom edges foxed and scattered foxing internally, jacket foxed and spine toned, some nicks, chips, creasing and closed tears. A superior copy of the book, bright and square, with a very presentable example of the decidedly elusive jacket. ¶ Howgego III, C32. £2,500 [159458]
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19 COX, Sir Percy – GRAVES, Philip. The Life of Sir Percy Cox. Foreword by the late Sir Arnold Wilson, M.P. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1941 An architect of the “British lake” in the Gulf
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First edition, first impression, of the first, and until very recently the standard biography of Cox, the great diplomatist and architect of the post-WWI settlement in the Middle East, who worked with key figures including Gertrude Bell and T. E. Lawrence, and rulers including Ibn Saud. It is scarce, particularly so in the jacket. Cox (1864–1937) was a military officer and colonial administrator, serving as the Political Resident in the Arabian Gulf between 1904 and 1920. He was highly successful in this role as chief representative of the British system of protectorates in the Arabian Gulf, managing Britain’s relationships with the rulers of the Trucial States, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. Philip Perceval Graves (1876–1953), elder brother of Robert Graves, was himself well-acquainted with the Middle East. He worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times in Constantinople and in the Middle East during the First World War, conducting intelligence work at the Arab Bureau in Cairo alongside T. E. Lawrence. Octavo. Original dark blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, map endpapers. With dust jacket. With 8 half-tone plates from photographs. Minor bumping to head and tail of spine and extremities, slight loss to head of spine, book and jacket mottled, jacket a little soiled and discoloured, slightly more heavily at spine, some loss to head of spine and front panel, small chips and closed tears to extremities, old tape repairs to verso. £1,650 [157244] 20 DUBAI. Jebel Ali Warehouse Facility, Dubai, U.A.E. Dubai & Houston: Dubai Petroleum Company & The Austin Company, 1981 Designing a vital Dubai oil hub An attractively produced in-house publication, the preliminary design package for the development of warehousing at the newly opened oil facility at Port Jebel Ali; the moving force for which was the ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Rashid bin Said Al Maktoum. It is extremely scarce, with no locations showing from an online institutional search.
In August 1981 the Dubai Petroleum Company commissioned the Austin Company of Texas to perform the study and preliminary engineering design for the new facility. This document (the covering letter dated 14 October 1981) presents their preliminary designs to the Dubai Petroleum Company. This was a major strategic and economic undertaking, with Jebel Ali presently one of the world’s busiest ports, and a major stopping point for the US Navy in the Arabian Gulf. Provenance: ownership signature of “Sellars” at head of covering letter, presumably architectural and structural engineer Bill Sellars (1932–2013), who worked for the Austin Company. Quarto. Original comb-bound pale orange yellow printed wrappers with clear plastic overlay. With 5 mounted colour plates each protected by a clear plastic sleeve, numerous folding elevations and plans. Pale marginal stain to front cover, some highlighting and occasional small edits in the text. An excellent copy of a vulnerable publication. £1,500 [159377]
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