26 IBN AL-HALABI (Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Khalil al- Halabi). Kitab jadwal mu’rif matla al-kawakib al-khamisa al-siyarra l’maghrib shafq al-shams, an abridgment of al-Shatir’s astronomical tables for Damascus. Syria, Damascus, 19 rabi I 853 ah / 12 May 1449 ce Copied during al-Halabi’s lifetime and by one of his disciples who was working with him as a muwaqqit This manuscript is an important testament to the vibrant scientific centre that was Damascus in the mid-15th century. A collection of astronomical tables, this volume is an extract and abridgment by Ibn al-Halabi of the famous corpus of tables by the scholar Ibn al-Shatir. Copied during the author’s lifetime and by one of his disciples who worked as a muwaqqit in the mosque of Damascus, this text underlines the importance and the accuracy of the study of astronomy in medieval Syria. Ibn al-Shatir (d. c .1375) was probably one of the most influential astronomers of the time. A prolific author, he wrote about scientific instruments and planetary models. He also worked on the construction of the horizontal sundial which was on the main minaret of the mosque of Damascus and designed several scientific instruments; an astrolabe signed by him has survived and it is now in the Observatoire de Paris. He compiled several astronomical handbooks with tables ( zij ) used for timekeeping, including one for an unspecified city in Syria, likely Tripoli, in today’s Lebanon, and one for the city of Damascus. This latter corpus of zijes was extremely popular and often copied and abridged throughout the ages. The current manuscript is an example of this tradition and presents itself as extracts of al-Shatir’s table for Damascus. Although very little information is known about the author, Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Khalil al-Halabi is recorded as being a muwaqqit in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, and died probably around 859 ah/1455 ce. Among his publications, Suter mentions a treatise about the use of quadrant (a copy now in Leiden, inv. no.1133, and one in Paris, inv.no.2524,10) and a treatise on the use of sexagesimal tables. Al-Halabi compiled also an abridgment of the tables by Ibn al-Shatir for the city of Damascus. In the title page of the current manuscript we read his position as chief muwaqqit of the mosque, and – as the copyist is also a muwaqqit – we can suppose that he was one of his disciples. Whilst the study of prayer times developed at the beginning of Islam and tables for prayer times have been documented since the very early Abbasid period, it is not until the Fatimid dynasty that this science was fully developed, along with the study of the movements of planets, the moon and the sun. The study of astronomy and timekeeping developed rapidly in Egypt, under the patronage of the Fatimid dynasty and the guidance of the astronomer Ibn Yunus, author of a compilation of timetables based on different geographical locations. These tables have been crucial for calculating the correct time of prayers and, thanks to Mamluk scholars, reached accuracy to the minute – becoming the main point of reference used in Cairo until the nineteenth century. Mamluk Cairo was the main center for astronomy in medieval time and deeply influenced the scientific output in the neighbouring regions of Syria and later Ottoman Turkey. The desire to accurately calculate the time of prayer led to the creation of the role of muwaqqit , an important figure in the administration of the mosque whose significance only became the subject of further studies in the past decades.
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25 HURGRONJE, Christiaan Snouck, & Richard J. H. Gottheil. The Revolt in Arabia. New York and London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1917 Scarce European commentary on the Arab Revolt First edition, first impression, uncommon. This comprises English translations of Hurgronje’s articles explaining the Arab Revolt, first published in the Dutch newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant in 1916, together with Sharif Hussein of Mecca’s official proclamation of the Revolt, and a foreword by Richard Gottheil of Columbia University providing a brief précis of subsequent events; less than 20 locations on WorldCat. Provenance: ownership inscription to front free endpaper of Les Janka, who served as a high-level US government expert on Middle East affairs, special assistant to Kissinger on the National Security Council, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Near Eastern and African affairs, and founded the Council for American-Saudi Dialogue; attractive Japanese-themed bookplate to front pastedown of John Oliver Crane (1899–1982), a political historian and sometime head of the Washington-based Institute of Current World Affairs founded by his father, industrial magnate and noted Arabist, Charles Richard Crane. Octavo. Original dark green vertical-ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt on spine and front board. Ink inscription on title page remarking “CRC financed his ‘Encyclopedia of Islam’ – 3 vols” (a reference to the Dutch Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk or Christian Reformed Church). Lightly rubbed, gilt on the spine slightly dulled, pale toning of contents with occasional spot of foxing. A very good copy. £1,850 [159514]
sharjah international book fair
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