A. Asher & Co. B.V.

Nafhat al-Yaman fi-ma yazulu bi-dhikrihi al-shajan. [= Breezes from Yemen].Calcutta, printed by Mawlawi Kabir Ud Din Ahmad at the Urdoo Guide Press, 1881. 8vo. Original publisher's pebble-grain lilac cloth.

SHIRWANI, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-. · 1785

€1,800.00 ($1,983.93 | £1,501.68 | ¥316,808)

[2], 276, [2] pp.Later Arabic edition of Ahmad Shirwani's "Nafhat al-Yaman", a book of short stories and maxims popular in 19th century India. - Shirwani (1785-1840) was born in Yemen and travelled to Western India, where he eventually won the role of instructor of Arabic at F...

Durrat al-taj wa-khulasat al-nitaj fi ‘ilm al-musiqa. Shiraz, 1151 AH [= 1738/39 CE]. 4to (ca. 16.5 x 21 cm). Persian manuscript on gold-flecked paper. In tidy black naskh script in 22 lines, rubricated throughout, with numerous tables and diagrams. Contemporary half calf, decorated paper sides.

QUTB AL-DIN AL-SHIRAZI.

€35,000.00 ($38,576.37 | £29,199.31 | ¥6,160,148)

57 ll.A section of "The Pearly Crown", easily the most influential work of the Persian poet-polymath Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236-1311). This, the fourth section of the fourth chapter, is devoted to musical theory. Musical theory was already an advanced mathematical field in P...

[Manuscript travel guide].[Qajar Iran, ca. 1850s]. 8vo (12.5 x 22 cm). Persian manuscript on polished paper. Black nasta'liq script in 15 lines per page, ruled in green and blue, with rubricated chapter headings and marginal medallions. Contemporary limp leather and woven floral-patterned cloth.

[PERSIA - TRAVEL GUIDE]. · 1855

€8,500.00 ($9,368.55 | £7,091.26 | ¥1,496,036)

26 ll.A beautifully presented Persian manuscript, comprising a unique guide to the barren crossing from Kerman to Kandahar in mid-19th century Qajar Persia. The guide, perhaps actually used by two Russian owners whose inscriptions are extant on the front free endpaper, in fact...

Kitab Hayat al-Hayawan [= Book of the life of animals].Meknes, Morocco, 1267 AH [= 1851 CE]. 4to (19 x 23 cm). Arabic manuscript on paper, brown maghribi script in two hands with important words and phrases in red and blue. With an illuminated headpiece at the start of the text in red, blue, green, and gold. Contemporary gold-tooled red leather with a fore-edge flap.

DAMIRI, Muhammad ibn Musa al-. · 1405

€7,500.00 ($8,266.36 | £6,257.00 | ¥1,320,032)

62 ll.A selection from the first systematic Arabic zoological lexicon, the most famous work of the Egyptian scholar al-Damiri (1341-1405 CE), little known in the West. In the "Hayat al-Hayawan", al-Damiri alphabetically lists over 900 animals mentioned in the Qur'an or known i...

Le pilote du Brésil, ou description des côtes de l'Amerique Meridionale, située entre l'ile Santa Catarina et celle su Maranhao; cartes et plans de ces cotres et instructions pour naviguer dans les mers du Brésil.Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1826. 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio (67.5 x 51 cm). With 2 leaves in fine manuscript and 16 charts on 15 copper-engraved plates (14 of which are double page). Contemporary elaborately god-tooled red morocco, featuring nautical motifs and the monogram "FO", being that of Ferdinand-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, gilt edges and marbled endpapers.

ROUSSIN, Albin Reine. · 1810

€45,000.00 ($49,598.19 | £37,541.97 | ¥7,920,190)

[4], 40 pp.An extraordinary example of the first scientific large format sea atlas of Brazil, the result of a mapping-espionage mission led by the future French Navy Minister Captain Roussin, conducted on the eve of Brazilian independence, and in anticipation of French commerc...

Naukeurige beschryving van Asie: behelsende de gewesten van Mesopotamie, Babylonie, Assyrie, Anatolie, of Klein Asie. Beneffens eene volkome beschrijving van gansch gelukkigh, woest, en petreesch of steenigh Arabie.Amsterdam, Jacob Meurs, 1680. 2 parts in 1 volume. Folio. With engraved frontispiece, title-page printed in red and black, 16 engraved views and maps (2 folding, 14 double-page; 4 drawn by Charles Vasteau), and 22 engraved illustrations in the text (3 signed by Johannes Kip), further with 5 woodcut decorated initials (3 series) plus repeats and a woodcut headpiece and tailpiece. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum, gold-tooled title in red morocco to spine.

DAPPER, Olfert. · 1679

€4,500.00 ($4,959.82 | £3,754.20 | ¥792,019)

[8], 357, [3], 324, [4] pp.First edition of Olfert Dapper's important description of the Middle East. The first part is devoted to Mesopotamia or Algizira, Babylonia, Assyria and Anatolia, while the second is entirely devoted to Arabia. The work is especially important for the...

Ueber den Ursprung des Lingakultus in Indien.Mangalore, [printed by Stolz & Hirner, Basel Mission Press, Mangalore, for:] Basel mission book & tract depository, 1876. 8vo. With the title on the front wrapper in a printed decorative frame. Orange printed paper wrappers.

KITTEL, Ferdinand. · 1832

€650.00 ($716.42 | £542.27 | ¥114,403)

[2], 48 pp.The German missionary to India Ferdinand Kittel (1832-1903), presented in 1876 with his Ueber den Ursprung des Lingakultus in Indien a study on the origins of the cult around the lingam in India. The lingam is a sacred object in Hinduism that represents the god Shiv...

Ueber den Ursprung des Lingakultus in Indien.Mangalore, [printed by Stolz & Hirner, Basel Mission Press, Mangalore, for:] Basel mission book & tract depository, 1876. 8vo. With the title on the front wrapper in a printed decorative frame. Orange printed paper wrappers.

KITTEL, Ferdinand. · 1832

€650.00 ($716.42 | £542.27 | ¥114,403)

[2], 48 pp.The German missionary to India Ferdinand Kittel (1832-1903), presented in 1876 with his Ueber den Ursprung des Lingakultus in Indien a study on the origins of the cult around the lingam in India. The lingam is a sacred object in Hinduism that represents the god Shiv...

Indian gods, sages, and cities.Calcutta, printed at the Catholic orphan press, 1881. 8vo. With ornamental tailpieces at the end of every chapter. Contemporary burgundy blind-stamped cloth with the title in gold on the front board.

CESARY, Reverend C. · 1828

€400.00 ($440.87 | £333.71 | ¥70,402)

X, 189, [1 blank], [1], [1 blank] pp.First and only edition of a rare work on Calcutta and Hinduism written by a Christian missionary. The author was particularly interested in the teachings of the Brahmo Samaj, an important monotheïstic reformist movement that started in Calc...

Memorias contendo a biographia do vice almirante Luiz da Motta Feo e Torres. A historia dos governadores e capitaens generaes de Angola, desde 1575 até 1825, e a descripção geographica e politica dos reinos de Angola e de Benguella.Paris, Fantin, 1825. 3 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With one large folding map at the start of the first volume, showing the coast of Angola, and a small vignette on the title page. Contemporary gold-tooled tree-marbled calf.

FEO CARDOZO DE CASTELLOBRANCO E TORRES, João Carlos. · 1655

€2,950.00 ($3,251.44 | £2,461.08 | ¥519,212)

[14], 375, [6] pp.First edition of one of the few works about Angola from its era, containing a very rare map of the country. This work is extremely scarce, as we have only been able to find it in three sales records from the past hundred years.Angola was a part of the Portugu...

Beginselen van de algebra, uytgewerkt door M. Jansen.[The Netherlands?], 1765 (29 November 1763-5 July 1765). Folio (ca. 32 x 21 cm). With a calligraphed title page, the text in the rest of the manuscript is neatly written within a reddish brown ruled border, with calligraphed headings. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum.

[VENEMA, Pieter] and M. JANSEN. · 1756

€2,250.00 ($2,479.91 | £1,877.10 | ¥396,009)

[2], 311, [50 blank] pp.Beautifully calligraphed manuscript version of a well-known 18th-century Dutch algebra textbook. It is likely based on the third edition of Een kort en klare onderwysinge in de beginselen van de Algebra ofte Stelkonst (1756) by Pieter Venema (d. 1748), ...

Konst der stierlieden[!] voor deezen beschreeven van den navigateur Klaas de Vries. Uijtgewerkt door Sietse Dauwes. Van de Lemmer. Begonnen, in den jaare 1814. Maand Januarij.Lemmer, Friesland, The Netherlands, 1814. Folio (32 x 21 cm). With more than 350 instructive diagrams and drawings and several tables. The Dutch text is written in a clearly legible, 19th-century cursive hand in brown ink. Contemporary quarter red sheepskin and blue marbled paper sides.

VRIES, Klaas de and Sietse DAUWES. · 1702

€8,500.00 ($9,368.55 | £7,091.26 | ¥1,496,036)

[1], [100], [115 blank] ll.Early 19th-century Dutch manuscript on the art of navigation, based on Klaas de Vries, Schat-kamer ofte konst der stuurlieden ... (1702). De Vries taught mathematics in Amsterdam, his work proved very popular and appeared in numerous editions between...

De vasculis libellus, adulescentulorum causa ex Bayfio decerptus, addita vulgari Latinarum vocum interpretatione. Paris, Roberti Stephani [Robert Estienne], (colophon: 13 October) 1543. 8vo. With a woodcut printer's device on the title-page. Later blueish-grey paper over boards with the title printed in black on the spine.

BAÏF, Lazare de and [Charles ESTIENNE (editor)]. · 1947

€1,750.00 ($1,928.82 | £1,459.97 | ¥308,007)

52, [3], [1 blank] pp.Second instalment of the first children's books series ever printed. The work contains a description of ancient Roman vessels, and was specifically printed for the entertainment and edification of children. This second edition by Estienne is very rare. It...

Aphthonii sophistae progymnasmata. Partim à Rodolpho Agricola, partim à Ioanne Maria Catanaeo latinitate donata. Cum luculentis & vtilibus in eadem Scholiis Reinhardi Lorichii Hadamarii. Nunc verò omnia multò quàm antea & emendatiora & meliori artificio disposita.Paris, Gilles Gourbin, 1580. 16mo in 8s. With a woodcut printer's device on the title-page, 3 woodcut headpieces in the beginning of the work, and 9 decorated woodcut initials throughout. 17th-century limp vellum.

APHTHONIUS of Antioch; Rodolphus AGRICOLA and Giovanni Maria CATANEO (translators). · 1443

€3,500.00 ($3,857.64 | £2,919.93 | ¥616,015)

[12], 259, [3 blank] ll.An extremely rare Paris edition of one of only four rhetoric handbooks that has survived since antiquity. The progymnasmata, or rhetorical exercises, of Aphthonius of Antioch (2nd half of the 4th century CE) became by far the most popular of these four ...

In somnium scipionis, lib. II. Saturnaliorum, lib. VII.Lyon, Sebastien Gryphe, 1542. Large 8vo. With a woodcut printer’s device on the title page, woodcut initials, 6 small woodcut figures, and the well-known half-page woodcut world map in a circle with the winds blowing in the corners (79 x 80 mm). Contemporary vellum.

MACROBIUS, Ambrosius Theodosius. · 1472

€950.00 ($1,047.07 | £792.55 | ¥167,204)

567, [73] pp.The Somnium Scipionis (Dream of Scipio) really is the sixth and final book of Cicero’s De re publica. Because parts of Cicero’s work are missing, the Somnium Scipionis represents nearly all that remains of the sixth book. The Somnium survived because in the fifth ...

Il disprezzo del mondo opera bellissima & utile e necessaria a cadauno Christiano. Novamente di Latino in volgar tradotta per Pietro Lauro Modonese. Con la tavola de tuute le materie e capitoli che sono ne lopera[!].Venice, Comin de Trino di Monferrato, 1543. 8vo. With a woodcut illustration on the title page, which is repeated at the end, and 12 decorated woodcut initials. Modern gold tooled half red morocco.

INNOCENT III, Pope, and Pietro LAURO. · 1472

€4,500.00 ($4,959.82 | £3,754.20 | ¥792,019)

29, [1], [2 blank] ll.Extremely rare first and only edition of Lauro's Italian translation of De miseria condicionis humanae (on the wretchedness of the human condition), also known as Liber de contemptu mundi, a very popular and influential 12th-century religious text on asce...

Response de Rene de la Fon pour les religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus. Au playdoyé de Simon Marion en l'arrest donné contre iceux le 16. Octobre 1597.Villefranche, Guillaume Grenier, 1599. 8vo. With a small vignette on the title page built up from typographical ornaments and 2 headpieces built up from typographical ornaments. Later vellum with leather ties.

FON, René de la (pseudonym of Louis RICHEOME). · 1594

€3,500.00 ($3,857.64 | £2,919.93 | ¥616,015)

238 [= 239], [1 blank] pp.First edition of a work written in defence of the Jesuits, after they were temporarily banished from France in 1594, a few years before. Addressed to the members of the court of the parliament in Paris, it attempts to refute slander against the Jesuit...

Sermo[n]es quattuor novissimorum perutiles et nec[ess]arij. unu[m]que[m]q[ue] in devot[i]o[n]is ardore[m] dei q[uam] timore[m] [in]ducentes.[Colophon: Cologne, Cornelius von Zierickzee, ca. 1502]. Small 8vo (ca. 12.5 x 10 cm). With a small woodcut illustration surrounded by woodcut border decorations on the title-page and two full-page woodcut illustrations in the text. The text is set in Gothic type. Later half vellum with marbled paper sides, blue edges.

BONAVENTURA (pseudo); [attributed to Durand of CHAMPAGNE]. · 1402

€6,500.00 ($7,164.18 | £5,422.73 | ¥1,144,027)

[2 blank], VII, [120] ll.First German edition of an early post-incunable with beautiful woodcut illustrations. The work contains 37 sermons, which are divided in five series arranged by subject matter. The first part considers human actions, while the remaining ones centre aro...

Lettervruchten en bloempjes.[The Netherlands, ca. 1820]. 2 volumes. 8vo. Contemporary gold-tooled half green calf with a red morocco title-label on the spine, marbled sides, gold-tooled board edges, red decorated edges.

SMEER Junior, Frans. · 1819

€1,250.00 ($1,377.73 | £1,042.83 | ¥220,005)

[98]; [112] ll.Unpublished manuscript with early examples of so-called "Domineespoëzie", or moralistic, nationalistic, and pious poetry written by Dutch ministers ("minister poetry"). The work has been beautifully written and bound, and is still in very good condition, so a lo...

Belegering en verdediging der vestingen bij de ouden en in den tegenwoordigen tijd.[The Netherlands?, ca. 1805]. 4to (ca. 20 x 16 cm). With 8 full-page ink drawings with grey washes, showing defence and siege engines. Contemporary gold-tooled half goat skin with an orange title label on the spine lettered in gold, brown sprinkled paper sides.

[MANUSCRIPT - DUTCH]. MUELEN, L. van der. · 1800

€1,750.00 ($1,928.82 | £1,459.97 | ¥308,007)

[2], 134, [4] pp.Remarkable and beautifully illustrated manuscript in Dutch on the history of siege and defence of fortresses from antiquity until ca. 1800. The work discusses the defence engines of antiquity, battering rams, moveable towers, antique catapults, the defence of ...