Forum Rare Books

Exploration of Iran's major river

LYNCH, Henry Blosse. Notes on the present state of the Karun river, between Shushter and the Shat-el-Arab.
[London, Wiley, October 1891]. 4to. With a lithograph illustration in the text. Modern blue wrappers. 592-595 pp. Full description

€ 395

Geography Water Management

French translation of Maffei's renowned description of the East and West Indies

MAFFEI, Giovanni Pietro. l'Histoire des Indes Orientales et Occidentales ...
Paris, Robert de Ninville, 1665. 2 volumes bound as 1. 4to. Contemporary vellum. [32], “353” [= 351], [1 blank]; [2], "292" [= 296], [24] pp. Full description

€ 2,750

Brazil China Church History & Missions Iran / Persia Japan & Far East Jesuits Latin America South America West Asia

Extremely rare example of the largest globe engraved by Malby (45.5 cm diameter), with lines of magnetic variation, London 1848, showing “Debai” (Dubai)

[GLOBE - TERRESTRIAL]. MALBY & CO. Malby's terrestrial globe.
[London], Malby & Co. (engraved by Chas. Malby), 1 January 1848. Diameter: 45.5 cm (18 inch), height in stand: 64.5 cm. An engraved terrestrial globe with 12 gores and 2 polar caps over a plaster-covered core, and the engraved horizon ring on the wooden stand, all coloured by a contemporary hand. In a contemporary wooden stand with 3 turned legs supporting the horizon ring, and 3 turned stretchers with a cylindrical centrepiece with a knob on the underside. Further with a contemporary brass hour circle and a slightly later iron meridian ring (and probably the axis pivots). Full description

€ 35,000

Atlases & Globes Navigation

USAF pilot's map of the Arabian Gulf

[MAP - ARABIAN GULF]. Aeronautical chart and information center. Persian Gulf | ONC-H-6/7. Operational navigation chart.
St Louis, Aeronautical chart and information center, United States Air Force, 1969. Two copies of two folding maps colour printed on both sides of a sheet of silk (103 x 78.5 cm) on a scale of ca. 1:1,000,000. The two maps (ONC-H-6 & ONC-H-7) show one continuous area. Full description

€ 2,800

Charts & Maps Iran / Persia Qatar Saudi Arabia UAE - United Arab Emirates

Cross-cultural mapping of the Red Sea: Bruce's chart in an early Egyptian manuscript copy

[MAP - ARABIAN PENINSULA]. BRUCE, James. Carte de la mer Rouge, relevée sur celle de James Bruce.
[Egypt, probably Cairo], 1827. Folio leaf (46 x 31.5 cm). Manuscript map in pen and ink with watercolour, with a French text on Middle Eastern hand-made paper. Full description

€ 15,000

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Charts & Maps East Africa North Africa & Egypt Saudi Arabia

Ottoman map of Iraq, Kuwait and southwestern Iran, used by its army in World War I

[MAP - OTTOMAN ARMY]. [Iraq, Kuwait and Iran].
Istanbul, [Erkan-i Harbiye-i Umumiye], 1331 Rumi [= 1915 CE]. Colour-lithographed map of Iraq, Kuwait and southwestern Iran (65.5 x 66 cm) in black, brown, blue and green at a scale of 1:1,000,000, dissected into 12 sections and mounted on contemporary cloth. Full description

€ 3,500

Arabian Peninsula & Gulf States Charts & Maps Iran / Persia Kuwait Turkey & Ottoman Empire West Asia

Pilgrimage from Aleppo to Jerusalem, with 10 engraved plates

MAUNDRELL, Henry and G. MUNTENDAM (translator) Reize van Aleppo naar Jeruzalem, op Paasschen, in 't jaar 1698.
Utrecht, Willem van Poolsum, 1705. 4to. With engraved frontispiece and 9 engraved plates (including 5 folding). Later half vellum, marbled sides. [6], 188 pp. Full description

€ 950

Mediterranean Regions Travel & Voyages Middle East

Bedouins in Egypt and Syria, with 25 steel-engraved plates
beautifully coloured by a contemporary hand

MAYEUX, F. J. Les Bédouins, ou Arabes du désert. Ouvrage publié d'après les notes inédites de Dom Raphaël, sur les mœurs, usages, lois, coutumes civiles et religieuses de ces peuples.
Paris, Ferra jeune, 1816. 3 volumes. 12mo. With 24 steel engraved plates, coloured by a contemporary hand. Contemporary long-grained gold-tooled red morocco, each board with fillets and decorative frames, decorations on the raised bands, gilt edges. X, 238; [4], 166; [4], 279 pp. Full description

€ 9,500

Islamic Art, Culture & Science North Africa & Egypt

The first Roman geography of the world, including the Arabian peninsula and the Gulf,
in the rare 1502 edition of its first accurate printed text

MELA, Pomponius. De situ orbis Hermolai Barbari fideliter emendatus.
[Venice], (colophon: printed by Albertino da Vercelli, 14 May 1502). Small 4to (20.5 x 15.5 cm). With printed guide letters left for manuscript initials (not filled in). Gold-tooled red half sheepskin (ca. 1820?). XXIIII ll. Full description

€ 6,500

Classical Antiquity Early Printing - 16th century Geography

"For offical use only": mapping the Mesopotamian battlefields of WWI

[MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN]. Critical study of the campaign in Mesopotamia up to April 1917. Part II - Maps.
Calcutta, Government of India Press, 1925. 25 (of 26) folding maps, sketches etc., as always lacking the "Explanation of the Method of giving Map Co-ordinates adopted in Chapters XIII and XX". Original tan cloth map-case with original printed label to cover. 25 (of 26) folding ll. Full description