Asher Rare Books

An essential language guide for Japanese-Dutch trade relations

KANO RYO. [Title in Japanese:] Rangaku hitori annai. [= Guide to Dutch studies].
[Tokyo?], Shimogakudo, [ca. 1856]. Small 8vo. Japanese introduction to the Dutch language, comprising 37 printed and 1 blank double leaves (with the fold at the fore-edge) printed from 37 woodblocks (35 double-page plus the first and last single-page), with the first double leaf (with the title-page) and the last double leaf (blank) serving as a paste-downs. With a second copy of the double-leaf with the title-page, loosely inserted. Side stitched and oversewn, with the original publishers yellow wrappers (without any label) and a contemporary wrap-around sleeve (fukuro), preserved in a brown cloth slip-case in Japanese style. [1], 15, 10, 10, [1], [1 blank] ll. Full description

€ 7,850

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Japan & Far East Literature

Very rare enlarged Dutch edition of a beautifully illustrated fable book

KRAFFT, Joannes Laurentius. Den schat der fabelen.
Brussels, widow of G. Jacobs, 1739-1740. 3 volumes. 8vo. With 3 different engraved frontispieces and 115 engraved illustrations, all designed and engraved by the author. Contemporary polished calf, gold-tooled spines. [24], 384, [8]; [40], 395, [7]; [24], 432, [8] pp. Full description

€ 3,250

Dutch Literature Fable Books Literature

The past and present of the oral traditions of Bedouin tribes in Arabia,
discussed by a renowned Dutch scholar of Arabian languages and cultures

KURPERSHOEK, Paul Marcel. Oral poetry & narratives from Central Arabia.
1. The poetry of ad-Dindân A Bedouin Bard in Southern Najd.
2. The story of a Desert Knight The legend of Sçwîh al-'Atâwi & Other 'Utaybah Heroes.
3. Bedouin poets of the Dawâsir Tribe Between Nomadism & Settlement in Southern Najd.
Leiden, New York, Köln, Brill, 1994-1999. 3 volumes. Large 8vo. With 2 portraits as frontispieces in vols. 1 and 2. 16 pages with illustrations and 2 maps at the end of vols. 2 and 3. Red cloth with title information in gold on front cover and spine of all 3 vols. All 3 vols. have a dust jacket. XVII, [5 368, [4]; XIV, [4], 512, [2]; XX, 506, [4] pp. Full description

€ 850

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Language & Linguistics Literature Saudi Arabia

Primer in a Bantu dialect for the Finnish Lutheran mission in Namibia

KURVINEN, Pietari. Ondonga kielen ABD. Ensimäinen irja Ondonga kielellä . . . =ABD Moshindonga. Omukanda uatango koshindonga ua piangoa . . .
Helsinki, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran [=Finnish Literature Society], 1876. 8vo. With 2 title-pages, the first in Finnish and the second in Ndonga, a brief preface in both languages, but with the sample texts in Ndonga. Contemporary brown textured cloth. [4], 32 pp. Full description

€ 2,500

Church History & Missions Literature Protestant Reformation

Arabic inscriptions in Granada

LAFUENTE Y ALCANTARA, Emilio. Inscripciones Arabes de Granada, precedidas de una reseña histórica y de la genealogía detallada de los reyes Alahmares.
Madrid, Imprenta Nacional, 1859 (issued 1860). 4to. With a folding family tree.
Near contemporary gold-tooled vellum with spine title, endpapers with a floral pattern. With the original publishers 1860 front wrapper bound in. XIII, [1], 15-242, [2] pp. Full description

€ 6,500

Arabic Printing & Calligraphy Art & Art History Greek & Non-Western Types Islamic Art, Culture & Science Literature Spain

A leading French Armenologist studies Armenian and Arabic manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale

[AUTOGRAPH]. LANGLÈS, Louis Mathieu. [6 autograph letters, signed, mostly to Antoine-Jean de Saint-Martin].
[Paris], 7 April [1820?]-13 January 1824. 8vo & 4to. Signed autograph letters in brown ink on laid paper, the 1824 letter on a letterpress "Bibliothèque du Roi" letterhead with the royal arms. 7 letters, each written on 1 side of a single leaf. Full description

€ 3,500

Arabic Printing & Calligraphy Autographs & Letters Greek & Non-Western Types Literature

Rare French manual to learn Russian

LANGUEN, Jacques. Petit manuel Russe à l'usage des étrangers. Ouvrage propre à faciliter l'intelligence de la langue russe; dans leguel les mots russes sont réprésentés avec leur prononciation figurée en caractèrs français et prosodiée.
St. Petersburg, Senat for N. Worobieuffl, 1819. 8vo. Bound in a later green buckram with gilt spine; with the original orange painted wrappers preserved. [4], 75, [1 blank] pp. Full description

€ 1,750

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias Eastern Europe Literature Russia (incl. Siberia)

Ca. 9000 Arabic terms and translations

[MANUSCRIPT - ARABIC - DICTIONARY]. [Vocabularium Italico-Arabicum]. Arabic-Italian dictionary.
[Probably Egypt, ca. 1770]. 4to (ca. 17 x 22 cm). Arabic and Italian manuscript on paper, 19 lines per extensum, paginated throughout from right to left. Near-contemporary brown leather with a blind-stamped oriental rosette as a center piece and similar style corner pieces on both boards, a (partial) manuscript title-label on the spine. 494 pp. Full description

€ 18,000

Islamic Art, Culture & Science Italy Language & Linguistics Literature Manuscripts & Documents North Africa & Egypt

Short manuscript descriptions of various birds, animals, plants and trees found in the forests of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

[MANUSCRIPT - CEYLON - NATURAL HISTORY]. Schets van eenige zoorten van dieren welke in de bosschen omstreeks Cijlon gevonden worden.
[Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the Netherlands?], [18th or 19th century?]. 8vo (16.5 x 10.5 cm). Written in a late 18th-century or early 19th-century cursive in French and Dutch.
With: (2) [MANUSCRIPT - FRENCH & DUTCH POEMS AND SONGS]. [Quelques Chansons]. Contemporary decorated paper wrappers. [28] pp. Full description

€ 1,750

Ceylon Dutch Literature Faunas & General Zoology French Literature India & Sri Lanka Literature Manuscripts & Documents VOC

Romantic imaginary voyage in French verses

[MANUSCRIPT - FRENCH - IMAGINARY VOYAGE]. Voyage imaginaire. Poème. Chant 1-4.
Adegeest (manor house at Voorschoten, between The Hague and Leiden), 1853. Large 4to (27 x 21.5 cm). Loose quires in cover: marbled boards joined together by a spine of red painted sheepskin, green ties. [2], V, 81, 120, VI, 132, 131 pp. Full description