A. Asher & Co. B.V.

Breves Arabicae linguae institutiones. Rome, Propaganda Fide, Joseph David Luna, 1642. Folio. Set in roman, italic and Arabic type with incidental Hebrew. Contemporary sheepskin parchment.

GUADAGNOLI, Filippo. · 1586

€12,500.00 ($13,777.28 | £10,428.32 | ¥2,200,053)

[12], 349, [1], [2 blank] pp.First and only edition of Guadagnoli's Latin grammar of the Arabic language, in a luxurious folio format. He notes that they have taken special care with their Arabic setting and with the metre to suit them to the desires of native Arabic speakers,...

Carawane nach Mecca. Vienna, Matthias Trentsensky (printed by E. Sieger), ca. 1855. Oblong folio (25 x 40 cm). With 19 (of 24) numbered leaves containing about 135 lithographic pen-drawings, each drawing including a base so that one can cut them out, paste them on card stock, stand them up and arrange them in three-dimensional scenes. Loose leaves in a later paper folder.

[MECCA - PAPER CARAVAN CUT-OUTS]. · 1977

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

ll. 6-24 (of 24).All but the first five leaves of a very rare lithographic print series issued in parts. Most copies were probably cut up (and perhaps coloured) by children and destroyed in play. The human figures to be cut out include Turkish, Arabic, African and Near Eastern...

Historie der Sevarambes, volkeren die een gedeelte van het darde vast-land bewoonen, gemeenlyk Zuid-land genaamd, ...Amsterdam, Willem de Coup, Willem Lamsvelt, Philip Verbeek, and Joannes Lamsvelt, 1701. Small 4to (20 x 16 cm). With engraved frontispiece drawn and engraved by Joannes Lamsvelt and 16 plates engraved for this edition, at least mostly by Lamsvelt, after those of the first Dutch edition. Recased in contemporary(?) vellum, new endpapers.

VAIRASSE D'ALLAIS, Denis. · 1656

€8,250.00 ($9,093.00 | £6,882.69 | ¥1,452,035)

[16], "349" [= 345], [7] pp. incl. integral frontispiece.Rare second Dutch edition of an extensively illustrated account of an imaginary voyage based on the story of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck that wrecked on the coast of western Australia on 28 April 1656. It was anonymousl...

Neue Reise in Arabien, die europäische und asiatische Türkey. Nach dem Englischen für Deutsche bearbeitet von K.L.M. Müller.Leipzig, J.C. Hinrichs, 1814. 2 volumes bound as 1. 8vo. With an engraved folding frontispiece view and 3 engraved maps (2 large folding), the view coloured, 1 map with the Ottoman-Persian border coloured in blue and red, and all three maps with the route coloured in red. Mid 19th-century boards covered with marbled paper, with the arms of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia in gold on the front board.

GRIFFITHS, John. · 1785

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

[10], 125, [3 blank]; [1], [1 blank], 154 pp.First and only German edition of Griffith's account of his journey (leaving England in 1785) from Smyrna (Izmir) through the Dardanelles to Constantinople (Istanbul) and back by ship, then from Smyrna overland through Turkey and (af...

A grammar of the Arabic language, translated from the German of Caspari, and edited, with numerous additions and corrections, ... vol. I[-II]. London, Edinburgh, Williams and Norgate (back of title-page: printed by Friedrich Nies (Karl Berend Lorck), Leipzig), 1859. 8vo. Set in roman, italic and Arabic type. Contemporary half mottled, tanned sheepskin.

WRIGHT, William. · 1955

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

XVI, 257, [1 blank]; VI, [1], [1 blank], XVI, 327, [1 blank] pp.First edition of what immediately became the standard English-language grammar of Arabic and one of the most important in any language, still frequently reprinted and remaining in general use. Although the title-p...

Eene overlandreis uit Indië naar Nederland, in 1674-1675.[Amsterdam, Frederik Muller, 1863]. 8vo. Offprint, retaining the original pagination and collation, of an article in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6 (1863). 20th-century stiff paper wrappers, with a printed label on the front.

LEEUWENSON, Joannes (Pieter Arend LEUPE, ed. & intro.). · 1674

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

pp. [89], 90-142.First publication of the manuscript journal of Joannes Leeuwenson's 1674/75 overland journey from Colombo (Ceylon/Sri Lanka), along the west coast of India to Banda Abbas (Iran, at the Strait of Hormuz), Basra (Iraq), Aleppo (Syria), and Iskenderun (Turkey), t...

Analyse d'un mémoire de M. Eugène de Froberville sur les langues et les races de l'Afrique Orientale au sud de l'equateur.[Port Louis, Mauritius], [Société d’Histoire Naturelle de Maurice], [1846]. Offprint, with its own pagination, from Procès-verbaux de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Ile Maurice, du 6 octobre 1842 au 28 aou^t 1845, [1846].With: (2) FLOURENS, Pierre, [Louis-Isidore?] DUPERREY and Etienne SERRES. Rapport sur les races nègres de l'Afrique Orientale au sud de l'équateur, observées par M. de Froberville.(Colophon: Paris, printed by Bachelier, [1850]). Offprint, with its own pagination, from Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, XXX (1850).2 works in 1 volume. Small folio & large 8vo. 19th-century black half morocco, with the blue paper back wrapper of the second offprint bound in.

FROBERVILLE, Eugène de, and [Louis BOUTON]. · 1790

€1,950.00 ($2,149.25 | £1,626.82 | ¥343,208)

Two offprints discussing the researches of the French ethnographer Eugène de Froberville (1790-1871) in Mauritius on the languages and races of sub-equatorial East African, the first one published in Mauritius. The first is especially interesting, because it is an account of a...

Libro de agricultura. ... Tomo I[-II].Including: BROECK, Victor van den. Catecismo de agricultura.VILLE, Georges. Abonos químicos conferencias agrícolas.Seville, Biblioteca Científico Literaria; Madrid, Victoriano Suarez (colophon: printed by Salvador Acuña y Comp., Seville), 1878. 2 volumes. Imperial 16mo (18 x 11.5 cm). Later half turquoise sheepskin.

ABU ZAKARIYA ibn al-AWWAM. · 1802

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

512; 552 pp.Second Spanish edition of a classic 12th-century Arabic treatise on agriculture, known in Arabic as Kitab al-filaha. Most of the book deals with agriculture, including fruits, vegetables, grains (including rice), legumes and cotton, with discussions of soils, the b...

Memoria em que se pertende provar que os Arabes não conhecerão as Canarias antes dos Portuguezes.Lisbon, printing office of the Academia Real das Sciencias, 1844. Folio. With a woodcut Portuguese coat of arms on the title-page. Modern brown paper wrapper.

MACEDO, Joaquim José da Costa de. · 1777

€1,500.00 ($1,653.27 | £1,251.40 | ¥264,006)

[4], 232 pp.A detailed scholarly study of ancient sources for the history and geography of the Canary Islands, attempting to prove that the Portuguese discovered them before Islamic explorers, and that Islamic geographers knew them only through classical Greek and Roman source...

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in Hindustání.Calcutta (Kolkata), The Bible Translation Society, American and Foreign Bible Society, 1850. 12mo. With the title in Hindustani (Urdu) and English, and the text in Urdu only. The pages procede from right to left like a normal book in Arabic type. Set in 2 sizes of Arabic type with the English title in roman capitals. Contemporary dark brown cloth.

[BIBLE - LUKE & ACTS - URDU]. · 1500

€750.00 ($826.64 | £625.70 | ¥132,003)

[1], [1 blank], 191, [1 blank] pp.Rare Gospel of St Luke and Acts of the Apostles in the Hindustani (Urdu) language, in the Arabic script, printed by and for the Protestant Bible and missionary societies for free distribution in southern India. While India probably had more th...

Vijf jaren in Japan. (1857-1863.) Bijdragen tot de kennis van het Japansche Keizerrijk en zijne bevolking. ... Leiden, Van den Heuvel and Van Santen, 1867-1868. 2 volumes. 8vo. Each volume with a different double-tinted lithographed view as frontispiece, further with a large folding tinted lithographed map of Japan and the Chinese coast, 2 lithographed views and 10 chromolithographed costume plates by P.W.M. Trap (the chromolithographs finished by hand). Original publisher's blind- and gold-blocked maroon cloth, marbled edges, green ribbon markers.

POMPE VAN MEERDERVOORT, Johan Lidius Cathrinus. · 1850

€5,000.00 ($5,510.91 | £4,171.33 | ¥880,021)

XII, 335, [1]; VI, 357, [1] pp.First edition of a rare and famous account of the Japanese Empire during the years in which Japan slowly and cautiously opened up to the West. It pays particular attention to the relations between Japan and the European nations from the 15th cent...

Regola delli cinque ordini d'architettura ... | Regel vande vijf ordens der architecture ... | Reigle des cinq ordres d'architecture … | The rule of the V. orders of architecture … Utrecht, Crispijn van de Passe, 1629. With:(2) VIGNOLA, Giacomo Barozzi da. La ii parte dell architetura dell Vignola e'altri famossi architetti | Het tweede deel van de architectura …[Amsterdam, Johannes Jansonius and Jan van Hilten?, ca. 1642].(3) PASSE, Crispijn van de. Oficina arcularia in qua sunt ad spectantia diversa eximia exempla... | Bouticque menuserie ... | Schriner Laden ... | Schrinwerckers winckel. Amsterdam, Crispijn van de Passe, 1642. 3 complementary works in 1 volume. Folio. Ad 1: with a full-page engraved author's portrait and 42 numbered engraved plates, versos with letterpress text in Italian, Dutch, French, and German and/or English. Plates III and XXXIIII are cancels. Ad 2: with an engraved title page and 42 numbered engraved plates. Plates 1-13 with letterpress text printed on the verso describing the facing page. Ad 3: with an engraved title-page and 46 engraved plates. Contemporary vellum.

VIGNOLA, Giacomo Barozzi da. · 1507

€12,500.00 ($13,777.28 | £10,428.32 | ¥2,200,053)

Rare multilingual edition of Vignola's Regola delli cinque ordini d'architettura, a classic account of the five orders of architecture, with the continuation (La ii parte) and Crispijn de Passe's related Oficina arcularia. Vignola (1507-1573), Italian painter, architect and th...

Bibliotheca Hulthemiana ou Catalogue méthodique de la riche et précieuse collection de livres et des manuscrits.Ghent, J. Poelman, 1836-1837. 6 volumes. 8vo. With lithographed portrait of Charles van Hulthem as frontispiece. Contemporary half goatskin.

HULTHEM, Charles van (A. VOISIN, cataloguer). · 1764

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

First edition of the auction catalogue of the enormous library of the Belgian collector Charles Joseph Emmanuel van Hulthem (1764-1832), containing 31,686 books and 1016 manuscripts."it contained choice editions of the classics …, the most complete collection of books from the...

Het werk van Jan en Caspar Luyken … met 56 platen. Deel I[-II].Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Co., 1905. 2 volumes. With 56 plates. Contemporary half morocco, gold-tooled spine.

EEGHEN, P. van and J. Ph van der KELLEN.

€300.00 ($330.65 | £250.28 | ¥52,801)

Comprehensive bibliography of work of the well-known Dutch 17th-century draughtsmen and engravers Jan and Caspar Luyken. A few occasional spots, bindings slightly rubbed along the extremities. Very good copy, untrimmed.

Historie naturael ende morael van de Westersche Indien.Enkhuizen, Jacob Lenaertsz. Meyn (colophon: Haarlem, printed by Gillis Rooman), 1598. 8vo. With a woodcut decoration on the title page. Vellum (ca. 1700?).

ACOSTA, José de. · 1539

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

[7], 398, [8] ll.First Dutch edition of "the most convincing, detailed and reliable account of the riches and new things of America" (Streeter), written by the Spanish Jesuit José de Acosta (1539/40-1600) and translated by Jan Huyghen van Linschoten from the original Spanish. ...

Orekma lun met sap. Published by the Hawaiian Board.Honolulu, Henry M. Whitney, 1869. 12mo. Contemporary marbled wrappers. Rebacked with brown cloth.

[BIBLE - KOSRAEAN]. · 1852

€2,500.00 ($2,755.46 | £2,085.66 | ¥440,011)

63, [1 blank] pp.Rare edition of the Acts of the Apostles in Kosraean (Kusaiean), spoken on the islands of Kosrae, the Caroline Islands and Nauru. The translation is by Benjamin G. Snow, a pioneer of Micronesian Mission. He settled in Kosraea in 1852 and published several tran...

[Letter to an unnamed fellow freemason in Braunschweig, probably Ferdinand, Herzog von Braunschweig-Lünenburg or someone in his inner circle].Halle (Saale), 9 August 1781. 4to. Autograph letter in German, signed, written in brown ink on laid paper in a clear German hand, with foreign words and names in a Latin hand.

FORSTER, Johann Reinhold. · 1729

€12,500.00 ($13,777.28 | £10,428.32 | ¥2,200,053)

[4] pp.Signed autograph letter from Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798), professor of natural history at the University of Halle, member of the Royal Societies of London and Göttingen and very active freemason, to a fellow mason at Braunschweig, passing on information about th...

HH Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa with three other sheikhs.Gulf region, 1920s. Black and white photograph (gelatin silver print, 8 x 7 cm) mounted on brown cardboard (9 x 8.5 cm). Captioned in white ink.

[PHOTOGRAPHY - BAHRAIN]. · 1872

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

HH Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, KCIE, CSI (1872-1942) was the King (Hakim) of Bahrain from 1923 until his death. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, his palace in Al-Sakhir was a centre where both Gulf Sheikhs and British nobility and political figureheads were regularly invit...

Sexta Asiae tabula.[Rome, Petrus de Turre, 1490 (engraved Rome, ca. 1478)]. Engraved map of the Arabian peninsula (topographic image 25.5 x 46 cm) printed, as usual, on two joined folio leaves (together 39.5 x 56 cm). Mounted on paper board, in a modern gilt frame (50.5 x 67 cm).

[MAP - ARABIAN PENINSULA]. PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius. · 1478

€50,000.00 ($55,109.10 | £41,713.30 | ¥8,800,211)

Second map of the Arabian peninsula ever published, in its first state. It was originally engraved as part of the extraordinary 1478 Rome edition of Ptolemy’s Geographia, and the map was preceded by only the one published in the less detailed and crudely engraved Bologna editi...

[Autograph letter, signed, to Reinier Arrenberg].Groningen, 2 February 1773. 4to. Brown ink on laid paper, addressed on the outside and with an armorial red wax seal.With: (2) [PORTRAIT]. [PUJOS, André]. P. Camper, …[Paris, André Pujos, 1786]. 4to. Mezzotint portrait on laid paper.

[AUTOGRAPH]. CAMPER, Petrus. · 1722

€4,750.00 ($5,235.36 | £3,962.76 | ¥836,020)

[1], [1 blank, except for the address]; [1] ll.Signed autograph letter from the well-known Dutch anatomist Petrus Camper (1722-1789), professor of medicine and anatomy at the University of Groningen, to the bookseller, publisher and newspaper editor Reinier Arrenberg (1733-181...