A. Asher & Co. B.V.

[Kingsmill primer]. [Ponape Island (Micronesia), Mission Press, 1858]. 4to (24 x 20 cm). Set in roman type with rules dividing the page into 5 compartments.

[BINGHAM, Minerva Clarissa (née Brewster)]. · 1858

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

[1] leaf.A rudimentary one-page primer for the language of the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific, printed in "a few copies" for the missionary Hiram Bingham junior (stationed on Apaiang Island), whose wife had prepared it, and produced by the printing office of the American...

Recueil de questions, proposées à une société de savants, qui par ordre de Sa Majesté Danoise font le voyage de l'Arabie.Amsterdam, S.J. Baalde; Utrecht, J. van Schoonhoven & comp., 1774. 4to. Set in roman type with incidental Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac and 1 word in Coptic. Near-contemporary tanned sheepskin, gold-tooled spine.

MICHAELIS, Johann David. · 1762

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

[4], XLIV, 256, [16], 38, [2 blank] pp.Hans Bernhard Merian's French translation of Michaelis's Fragen an eine Gesellschaft gelehrter Männer (1762), prepared during the early stages of Carsten Niebuhr's Danish expedition to the Middle East. It is the first edition in any langu...

Posliednee puteshestvie okolo svieta Kapitana Kuka s obstoiatel'stvami o ego zhizni i smerti …St Petersburg, P.B. [= Peter Bogdanovich], 1788. 8vo. Contemporary sprinkled calf.

ZIMMERMANN, Heinrich. · 1781

€18,500.00 ($20,390.37 | £15,433.92 | ¥3,256,078)

[4], 211, [1 blank] pp.Extremely rare second Russian edition, revised and augmented, of Heinrich Zimmermann's valuable account of Cook's third and final voyage, with a description of Cook's death at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii. Zimmermann's account is followed by articles on Tahiti...

Biblia, dat is de gantsche Heylige Schrifture, vervattende alle de canonycke boecken des ouden ende des nieuwen testaments. ...Amsterdam, J. Brandt and son, Haarlem, Johannes Enschedé and sons, 1884.With: (2) [BIBLE - NEW TESTAMENT - DUTCH]. Het Nieuwe Testament, ofte alle boecken des nieuwen verbonts onses heeren Jesu Christi. ...Amsterdam, J. Brandt and son, Haarlem, Johannes Enschedé and sons, 1870.(3) [PSALMBOOK - DUTCH]. Het boek der psalmen, nevens de gezangen bij de Hervormde Kerk van Nederland in gebruik. ... Amsterdam, J. Brandt and son, Haarlem, Johannes Enschedé and sons), 1870. With the sheet music for the psalms. With letterpress-printed music notes for the psalms. 3 works in 1 volume. 8vo. 20th-century so-called sharkskin with several elaborate silver-plated fittings, (large cornerpieces on both sides, two cord rings on the head intended to secure a carrying cord or chain, two large clasps: one inscribed "J.R.M." and the other dated "1932", catch-plates), gilt and gauffered edges.

[BIBLE - OLD TESTAMENT - DUTCH]. · 1870

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

[1], 416; 126; 132 ff.Beautifully bound convolute with the Old and New Testament and a psalmbook for use in the Dutch Reformed Church, including the sheet music for playing and singing the different psalms. Although the three different biblical and religious works were not pub...

Delle caccie ... libri quattro ...(Colophon: Naples, Lazaro Scoriggio, 1626). 4to. With an engraved title-page and 13 full-page engraved illustrations (plus 8 repeats) on integral leaves. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.

RAIMONDI, Eugenio.

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

[56], 635, [1 blank] pp.Second edition (with new and more extensive illustrations and some additions) of one of the most noted Italian books on hunting, also including falconry, fishing and husbandry. On pp. 41-78 ''the different kinds of falcons and hawks are described, as we...

Espingarda perfeyta, & regras para a sua operaçam . . .Lisbon, António Pedroso Galrão, 1718. 4to. With full-page frontispiece showing the crowned Portuguese coat of arms, title-page with engraved decorative cartouche, 12 engraved plates (including 4 folding) by Manuel Freire and 1 engraved illustration in the text. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.

[RODRIGUES, José Francisco and João RODRIGUES] ("Cesar Fiosconi, e Jordam GUSERIO"). · 1700

€22,000.00 ($24,248.00 | £18,353.85 | ¥3,872,093)

[31], [1 blank], 183, [1 blank] pp.First (and only early) edition of a rare Portuguese manual devoted primarily to gun smithing, but also discussing the use of guns in hunting. It gives detailed instructions and excellent illustrations concerning the techniques of gunsmithing ...

Tooneel van China. Amsterdam, Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and the widow of Elizaeus Weyerstraten, 1668. Folio. With engraved frontispiece, engraved author's portrait, 24 engraved plates (including 2 double-page maps and 1 folding plate) and 60 engraved illustrations in text (plus another copy on a separate leaf, without letterpress text, of the engraving on 2F3v). Including maps of China and Asia, traditional Chinese costumes, illustrations of the Chinese and the Mughal rulers in abundantly decorated rooms, linguistic illustrations, zoological illustrations, etc. Contemporary gold-tooled sprinkled calf, with a red morocco title label on the spine lettered in gold, gold-tooled board edges, later endpapers (re-cased).

KIRCHER, Athanasius. · 1601

€8,000.00 ($8,817.46 | £6,674.13 | ¥1,408,034)

[12], 286, [10] pp.First and only edition of Glazemaker's Dutch translation of China illustrata, "one of the most influential books in shaping the European conception of China in its Day" (Löwendahl), by the great Jesuit scientist Athanasius Kircher (1601/02-1680). The work is...

Seer gedenckwaerdige vojagien, van Johan Sanderson, Hendrick Timberly, en Capt. Johan Smith, door Europa, Asia en America. …Amsterdam, Joachim van Dyck, 1678. 4to. With engraved title-page, letterpress title-page with a woodcut floral ornament, 4 folding engraved illustration plates (including 1 with 4 small views). 18th-century half vellum.

[PURCHAS, Samuel], John SANDERSON, Henry TIMBERLAKE and others. · 1671

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

[12], 158 pp. including integral frontispiece.First and only Dutch edition of an account of the voyages of three English merchant adventurers: John Sanderson in the Levant, Egypt and Constantinople (Istanbul), presented here as 1671-1676 but in fact describing travels in the y...

Itinerarium Aegypti, Arabiae, Palaestinae, Syriae, aliarumque regionum orientalium.Nuremberg, Abraham Wagenmann, 1621 (colophon: Nuremberg, printed by Abraham Wagenmann, 1620). Small 4to. With finely engraved full-page portrait of the author by Peter Isselberg, full-page engraved Fürer von Haimendorf coat of arms, 6 folding engraved plates. Contemporary limp sheepskin parchment.

FÜRER VON HAIMENDORF, Christoph. · 1565

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

[16], 118, [114] pp.Posthumously published first edition, second issue, of an account of a 1565/66 pilgrimage to the Middle East, primarily Egypt and Palestine, by the Nuremberg Ratsherr Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf (1541-1610). Fürer visited Alexandria, Cairo, the Sinai, Ro...

Oriental album. Characters, costumes, and modes of life, in the valley of the Nile. London, James Madden (back of title-page: printed by John Wertheimer & Co.), 1851. Super Royal folio (33 x 45.5 cm). With 31 tinted and hand-coloured lithographed plates, including the frontispiece, and a black-and-white illustration on the title-page. Contemporary gold-tooled red half morocco.

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant Théodore Émile. · 1807

€15,000.00 ($16,532.73 | £12,513.99 | ¥2,640,063)

[5], [1 blank], 60 pp. plus plates.Second edition of a splendid set of 31 large tinted and hand-coloured lithographed views of life in the Nile valley, showing Bedouins, Nubians, dancers, warriors, horses, buildings, local life and costumes, one of the earliest and most sought...

[Rotating celestial globe, bordered by four pivotable concentric rings, the uppermost with ornamental mount].Arabic, 1125 AH (1713 CE). 53 cm. Engraved and etched gilt brass with lettering in Arabic. Total height from ring to base: 53 cm.

[ARMILLARY SPHERE].

€135,000.00 ($148,794.57 | £112,625.91 | ¥23,760,570)

Exceptionally large armillary sphere with rich calligraphical and ornamental decoration as an image of the universe. The celestial sphere is surrounded in the centre by rings with the signs of the zodiac (outside) and various planet symbols. The names of the zodiac signs and m...

La historia dell'impresa di Tripoli di Barbaria, fatta per ordine del Sereniss. Re Catolico, l'anno M.D.LX. Con le cose avenute a Christiani nell'Isola delle Zerbe. Nuovamente mandata in luce. Venice, Francesco Rampazetto, 1566. 4to. 18th-century(?) sheepskin parchment.

[ULLOA, Alfonso de]. · 1551

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

[7], [1 blank], 88, [4] ll.Second edition (first dated), of Alfonso de Ulloa's account of the Siege of Tripoli (1551), the Battle of Djerba (1560) and the Great Siege of Malta (1565): a series of conflicts between a large Christian Mediterranean Alliance and the Islamic Ottoma...

Arabia.London, Cadell & Davies, 1813. Engraved map (56 x 77 cm), hand-coloured in outline. Scale 1: 4,300,000.

PINKERTON, John. · 1811

€2,800.00 ($3,086.11 | £2,335.94 | ¥492,812)

A rather large English map of the Arabian peninsula, with detail starting to appear in the interior, especially around Oman.l Al-Qasimi 222; cf. Alai, General maps E.260 (1811 ed.).

A large draught of the coast of Arabia from Maculla to Dofar. By Sam.l Thornton at the signe of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in the Minories London.London, Samuel Thornton, [1711]. Engraved map (43 x 53 cm), hand-coloured in outline.

[THORNTON, John]. · 1675

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

Rare nautical chart of the southern coasts of Yemen and Oman, published in The English pilot ... the third book, and signed at lower right by the engraver: “Sutton Nicholls sculp”. The coast is shown in two slightly overlapping parts, the western part above and the eastern par...

L'Arabie Petree, Deserte, et Heureuse.Utrecht, 1683. Engraved map (19 x 25 cm), contemporary hand-coloured.

WINTER, Anthony.

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

Seventeenth century map of Arabia, engraved by de Winter after Sanson.

Premier Partie de la Carte d' Asie, contenant La Turquie, L'Arabie, La Perse, L'Inde en deça du Gange et de la Tartarie ce qui est limitrophe de la Pers et du Gange.Paris, 1751 Engraved map on two sheets (75 x 79 cm), with hand-coloured cartouche and coloured in outline.

ANVILLE, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'.

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

“The first really modern map of Arabia” (Tibbetts). An extremely detailed two-sheet map showing the Middle East, Arabia and India. The map extends from Turkey and Arabia to India, Tibet and the Gobi Desert in the east.l Alai, General maps E.126; Al-Qasimi 169; Tibbetts 281.

Estats de L'Empire du Grand Seigneur des Turqs ou Sultan des Ottomans en Asie, en Afrique, et en Europe.Paris, 1654. Engraved map (42 x 56 cm), coloured in outline.

SANSON, Nicolas.

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

Map of the Turkish Empire, showing Ottoman possessions in the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, and Arabia - marking topography and settlements.l Al Ankary 59; Al-Qasimi 60; Tibbetts 99.

Persia sive Sophorum Regnum.Amsterdam, 1642. Engraved map (38 x 49,5 cm), in contemporary hand-colouring. Scale 1:9,000,000.

BLAEU, Willem Janszoon.

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

17th-century map of Persia stretching from the Caucasus to Afghanistan and from the Arabian Desert to the Indus River, published in the monumental Blaeu Atlas.l Koeman Bl 18a.

Persici sive Sophorum Regni Typus.Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1574. Engraved map (35 x 50 cm), in contemporary hand-colouring and highlighted in gold. Scale 1:9,000,000.

ORTELIUS, Abraham.

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

16th-century Dutch map of Persia based on the Gastaldi map, with additional new cartographic information.l Alai, General maps E.70; Al-Qasimi 30; Van den Broecke 167 (first state).

The adventures of (Mr T. S.) an English merchant, taken prisoner by the Turks of Argiers, and carried into the inland countries of Africa: with a description of the kingdom of Argiers, of all the towns and places of note thereabouts. Whereunto is added a relation of the chief commodities of the countrey, and of the actions and manners of the people. Written first by the author, and fitted for the publick view by A. Roberts.London, Moses Pitt [printed by William Wilson?], 1670. Small 8vo. With 2 decorated woodcut initials and decorative bands of cast fleurons. Blind- and gold-tooled calf (ca. 1800).

ROBERTS, A. · 1648

€9,500.00 ($10,470.73 | £7,925.53 | ¥1,672,040)

[8], "252" [= 254], [2] pp.First edition of an extraordinary account of an English merchant mariner's capture by Barbary pirates in or soon after 1648 and his subsequent adventures as a slave in Algeria. It is presented as an authentic journal of T[homas?] S[mith?], posthumous...