Asher Rare Books

Praised edition of Pliny's "Natural history", with sections on pearl fishery in the Middle East

PLINIUS SECUNDUS, Gaius (PLINY the Elder). Historiarum naturae libri XXXVII, post omnes omnium editiones, ...
Paris, Jean Parvum (index: Jean Petit), 1532. Folio. 18th-century cat's paw calf, richly gold-tooled spine. [36], 671, [188] pp. Full description

€ 4,500

Earth Sciences Expeditions & General Natural History Geology Iran / Persia Mineralogy & Gems

Pliny's “Historia naturalis”, edited by Caesarius, friend of Erasmus

PLINIUS SECUNDUS, Gaius. Naturalis historiae opus ...
(Colophon: Cologne, Eucharius Cervicornus, 1524.) Folio. With both title-page and part-title in a decorated woodcut border in four pieces. Calf (ca. 1700?), with gold-tooled spine; rebacked with original backstrip laid down. [16], 311, [60] ll. Full description

€ 22,500

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Astronomy & Cosmography Faunas & General Zoology Geology Greek & Roman Classics Herbals & Medical Botany Mineralogy & Gems

Pococke's celebrated edition of Abu'l-Faraj's Islamic history: "It is his greatest work,
and of permanent scholarly value" (Toomer)

POCOCKE, Edward. Specimen historiae arabum; ... Accessit historia veterum Arabum ex Abu'l Feda: cura Antonii I. Sylvestre De Sacy. Edidit Josephus White, ...
Oxford, Clarendon Press [= Oxford University Press], 1806. 4to. Title-page with engraved view of the Clarendon Building, aquatint author's portrait and 1 full-page etched plate. Contemporary boards. XV, [1 blank], 573, [3 blank] pp. Full description

€ 2,500

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Arabic Printing & Calligraphy Islamic Art, Culture & Science Literature

Augmented Dutch edition of Pocockes celebrated description of the Near and Middle East,
with 205 engraved plates

POCOCKE, Richard. Beschryving van het Oosten, en van eenige andere landen, ...
Utrecht, Gijsbert Tieme and Abraham van Paddenburg; Rotterdam, Jacobus Bosch and Reinier Arrenberg; Amsterdam, Martinus de Bruyn, 1776-1786. 3 volumes (in 6 parts) bound as 6. 4to. With 205 engraved folding plates (irregularly numbered I-CIII), including maps, plans, views and other illustrations, depicting temples, antiquities, plants, animals, etc. Contemporary half calf. XXXVI, 219, [1 blank], [11], 224-491, [1 blank]; [12], 262, [2 blank], VIII, [3], 268-376, 397-519, [1 blank]; VIII, 262, [2 blank], VIII, [3], 268-403, [1 blank]; [4], 115, [1], 124 pp. Full description

€ 15,000

Balkan & Greece Charts & Maps Eastern Mediterranean & Cyprus North Africa & Egypt Travel & Voyages Africa Travel & Voyages Europe Travel & Voyages Middle East

An important source of knowledge of the Near East

POCOCKE, Richard. Beschryving van het Oosten, en van eenige andere landen. Uit het Engelsch overgezet en met aantekeningen voorzien, door Ernst Willem Cramer.
Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, G.T. en A. van Paddenburg, J. Bosch, R. Arrenberg, and M. de Bruyn, 1776-1786. 3 volumes (in 6 parts) bound as 6. 4to. With 205 folding engraved maps, plans, views and plates. Contemporary half calf. Full description

€ 12,000

Balkan & Greece Eastern Mediterranean & Cyprus Islamic Art, Culture & Science North Africa & Egypt Travel & Voyages Europe Travel & Voyages Middle East Turkey & Ottoman Empire West Asia

First Dutch editions of 8 accounts of the Middle & Far East, from Marco Polos voyages
to the capture of Formosa by the pirate Zheng Chenggong

POLO, Marco. Reisen, en beschryving der Oostersche lantschappen; ...
Including:
-HETOUM of Corycus. Historie der Oostersche lantschappen; ...
-[BRACCIOLINI, Poggio, and Girolamo di SANTO STEFANO]. Reysen naar Indien, en d'oostersche landen; gedaan by Nicolaus Venetus, en Jeronymus van St. Steven.
-[Anonymous VOC officer in Formosa]. Verhaal van de verövering van 't eylant Formosa door de Sinesen.
Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1664. With 4 engraved plates.
With:
(2) BOURGES, Jacques de. Naaukeurig verhaal van de reis des Bisschops van Beryte uit Frankryk te lant en ter zee naar China.
Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1669. With 8 half-page engraved illustrations in text.
(3) Verhaal van drie voorname reizen naar Oostindien, te weten van Johan Jacobsz Saar, Volkert Evertsz, en Albrecht Herport.
Comprising:
-SAAR, Johann Jacob. De reisbeschryving ... naar Oostindien, sedert ... 1644. tot ... 1659. ...
-OLEARIUS, Adam. De beschryving der reizen van Volkert Evertsz. [= Volquard Iversen] naar Oostindien. ... uitgevaren in ... 1655. en in ... 1668 ... gekeert.
-HERPORT, Albrecht. De beschryving der Oostindische reizen ... sedert ... 1659. tot ... 1668. ...
Amsterdam, Jan Rieuwertsz & Pieter Arentsz, 1671 (works 2 and 3 dated 1670 on their title-pages). With 8 engraved plates, the last 4 sometimes attributed to Romeyn de Hooghe or his school.
3 editions (the 1st containing 4 works and the 3rd containing 3 works) in 1 volume. 4to.Contemporary vellum. [12], 99, [8], [1 blank], 70, [2], 25, [1 blank], 12; [2], 126; [6], 198 pp. Full description

€ 28,000

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Central Asia Ceylon China Church History & Missions Formosa / Taiwan Indonesia / Dutch East Indies Iran / Persia Malta Mutiny, Piracy & Shipwrecks Southeast Asia Travel & Voyages Asia Travel & Voyages East Asia Travel & Voyages Middle East Travel & Voyages Southeast Asia VOC West Asia

Pamphlet satirising Portuguese notables associated with the Persian wars

[PORTUGAL - PAMPHLET]. Noticia breve das novidades da Azia mandadas de Ali-Xarife da cidade de Babilonia; para Soliman morador na Corte de Constantinopla, e desta para a cidade de Sevilha a hum contratador de vidros.
(Colophon: Madrid, heirs of Juan Garcia Infanzon, 1742). 4to (20 x 14.5 cm). Disbound. 7, [1 blank] pp. Full description

€ 3,500

Caricature & Satire Iran / Persia Portugal West Asia

Unusually favourable introduction to Islam and the Ottoman Empire

POSTEL, Guilliaume. De la republique des Turcs: & là ou l'occasion s'offrera, des meurs & loy de tous Muhamedistes, ...
Including:
-Histoire et consideration de l'origine, loy, et coustume des Tartares, Persiens, Arabes, Turcs, & tous autres Ismaelites ou Muhamediques, dits par nous Mahometains, ou Sarrazins.
-La tierce partie des orientales histoires, ou est exposee la condition, ... de l'empire Turquesque: ...
Poitiers, Enguilbert de Marnef, 1560. 3 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With Marnef's printer's device on title-page (repeated on the 2 part-titles). Contemporary blind- and gold-tooled calf, restored and rebacked with a large part of the original backstrip laid-down, modern endpapers. [8], 127, [1 blank]; 57, [3 blank]; [8], 90 pp. Full description

€ 22,500

Early Printing - 16th century Islam & Qurans Religion (16th Century) Turkey & Ottoman Empire

Magnificent de luxe issue, with 31 hand-coloured lithographs

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant Théodore Émile. Oriental album. Characters, costumes, and modes of life, in the valley of the Nile.
London, James Madden, 1848. Imperial folio (52.5 x 37.5 cm). With an additional decorative title-page, separately chromolithographed in black, gold and 7 colours, tinted and hand-coloured lithographed frontispiece portrait of the dedicatee, and 30 tinted and hand-coloured lithographs. Numerous wood-engraved illustrations in the text. Modern half calf, richly gold-tooled spine. [6], 60 pp. Full description

€ 65,000

Costumes & Uniforms Islamic Art, Culture & Science North Africa & Egypt

31 splendid coloured plates of life in the Nile Valley

PRISSE D'AVENNES, Achille Constant Théodore Émile. 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. [5], [1 blank], 60 pp. plus plates. Full description