Categories
Shopping cart (0 items € 0)
Advanced search

Literature & Linguistics / Language & Linguistics

First edition of a rare work on Syrian grammar, with excerpts from important Syrian authors

ADLER, Jacob Georg Christian. Brevis linguae Syriacae insitutio in usum tironum edita.
Altona, Johann David Adam Eckhardt, 1784. 8vo. With a woodcut vignette on the title-page and typographical ornaments at the head of every page. The text is set in Roman and Syriac type. Early 19th-century blue marbled paper wrappers. 64, [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 2,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first Spanish textbook for the Chinese language

AGUILAR, José de. El intérprete chino. Colección de frases sencillas y analizadas para aprender el idioma oficial de China.
Madrid, Manuel Anoz, 1861. 8vo. The text is printed in two columns. Contemporary gold-tooled quarter purple sheepskin. [2], IV, 242, [1 blank], [2] pp. Full description
€ 2,850
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of Islamic Golden Age scholar Al-Zamakhshari's proverbs in Arabic and German

AL-ZAMAKHSHARI, Abu al Qasim Mahmoud ibn Omar (Joseph von HAMMER-PURGSTALL, ed.). Samachschari's Goldene Halsbänder. Als Neujahrsgeschenk arabisch und deutsch.
Vienna, widow of A. Strauss, 1835. 8vo. With two identical plates showing the golden necklace around a calligraphic Arabic inscription, the necklace hand-coloured in gold and the inscription in blue, as a frontispiece for both the Arabic and the German text (on the first and the last page). The Arabic title is incorporated into a printed circular medallion with decorative points at the head and foot on the first page, and the main Arabic text opens on the back of the same leaf with an elaborate headpiece. Text set in German and Arabic. Contemporary green calf (spine faded to brown), with a gold- and blind-stamped frame on each board. [1], [1 blank], 54 pp. (German text); 27, [1] ll. (Arabic text). Full description
€ 2,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Rare edition of a popular classical rhetoric handbook

APHTHONIUS of Antioch; Rodolphus AGRICOLA and Giovanni Maria CATANEO (translators). Aphthonii sophistae progymnasmata. Partim à Rodolpho Agricola, partim à Ioanne Maria Catanaeo latinitate donata. Cum luculentis & vtilibus in eadem Scholiis Reinhardi Lorichii Hadamarii. Nunc verò omnia multò quàm antea & emendatiora & meliori artificio disposita.
Paris, Gilles Gourbin, 1580. 16mo in 8s. With a woodcut printer's device on the title-page, 3 woodcut headpieces in the beginning of the work, and 9 decorated woodcut initials throughout. 17th-century limp vellum. [12], 259, [3 blank] ll. Full description
€ 3,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Manuscript Arabic phrasebook

[ARABIC & ENGLISH VOCABULARY AND PHRASE BOOK]. The interpreter in the Arabic and English Languages, consisting of nouns, epithets (or adjectives), verbs & afterwards some compendious examples.
Ca. 1830s. 4to (21.5 x 27 cm). With 2 folding tables, 17 lines to the page, written in red and black ink. Contemporary navy blue morocco, with the title lettered in gold on spine, marbled endpapers. [6], 237, 238-266, [10] pp. Full description
€ 9,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The establishment of archaeology and philology as fields of study, bound for a Bourbon(?) count, including a work on the famous Rosetta Stone

[ARCHAEOLOGY - PHILOLOGY] BARTHÉLEMY, Jean-Jacques and others. [Collection of texts on early archaeology and philology].
[Various places], [various publishers], 1760-1827.
Containing:
(1) [CHRISTIE'S - LONDON]. A list of the very rare and valuable Aethiopic and other oriental manuscripts, collected by the celebrated traveller, James Bruce, esq. of Kinnaird, taken from the catalogue of them made by the late Alexander Murray, editor of the travels by Mr. Bruce in Abyssinia.
[London, 1827].
(2) WEBER, Georg Friedrich. Observationes sacrae circa funera populorum orientis. ...
Strasbourg, Johann Heinrich Heitz, [1767].
With a woodcut headpiece, tailpieces (2) and open-sided factotum.
(3) SEYFFARTH, Gustav [and Friedrich August Wilhelm SPOHN]. Brevis defensio hieroglyphices.
Leipzig, Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1827.
(4) SCHLICHTEGROLL, Friedrich von. Ueber die bey Rosette in Aegypten gefundene dreyfache Inschrift...
München, printed by Ignaz Joseph Lentner, [1818?].
(5) BARTHÉLEMY, Jean-Jacques. Explication de la mosaïque de Palestrine. Paris, H.L. Guerin & L.F. Delatour, 1760.
With 1 large folding engraved plate of the mosaic, 1 plate showing the names of animals written in the mosaic. Bound with it is an unrelated engraved plate on a 4to leaf, showing Samaritan medals (drawn and engraved by Poisson in 1790) that accompanied another one of Barthélemys publications.
(6) BARTHÉLEMY, Jean-Jacques. Lettre de m. l'abbé Barthelemy ...
[Paris, 1760].
With 2 plates of the Phoenician medals and Phoenician inscriptions found on Malta, with an elaborate woodcut headpiece and a woodcut tailpiece.
(7) BARTHÉLEMY, Jean-Jacques. Seconde lettre de m. l'abbé Barthelemy, ... sur quelques médailles Phéniciennes. [Paris, 1763].
With one plate of the Phoenician medals and the same elaborate woodcut headpiece as ad 6.
(8) [PARQUOY (assistant to labbé François BEJOT at the Bibliothèque du Roi). Lettre à messieurs les auteurs du Journal des Savans, sur un projet d'edition du Syncelle.
[Paris, 1778].
(9) BARTHÉLEMY, Jean-Jacques. Lettre a monsieur le Marquis Olivieri, au sujet de quelques monuments Phéniciens ... Paris, L.F. Delatour (printer), 1766.
With 4 plates (numbered I-IV, nos. I & III folding), the first 3 signed by P.L Charpentier, of Phoenician inscriptions, alphabet and medals. With a woodcut (oak branches with a ribbon) on the title-page and a woodcut headpiece.
(10) [D'ANSSE DE VILLOISON, Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard (draughtsman) and DROÜET (engraver)]. Alphabetum codicis bibliothecae coislininae, nunc sangermanensis, ineunte decimo saeculo manu exarati, ex quo Apollonii lexicon descriptum est. Paris, 1771.
10 works in 1 volume. 4to. A wholly engraved monograph, in Greek and Latin with a few words of Syriac.
Mid-19th-century half red goatskin morocco, sewn on 4 supports, gold-tooled spine (blind-tooled fillets) with the cypher monogram of a French count in compartments 1, 3 & 5 and "labbé|Barthelemy" and "Dissertations|1760-1792" in mid-19th-century roman capitals across compartments 2 & 4, "agathe" chemical-marbled sides, Spanish-marbled endpapers, red sprinkled edges, green ribbon marker. 16; 43, [1 blank]; 24; 28, XIV; [2], 44; 12; 8; 12; [1], [1 blank], 45, [1 blank]; 9, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of a French-Annamese (Vietnamese) dictionary, printed in Bangkok by the Catholic missionaries

AUBARET, Louis Gabriel Galdéric. Vocabulaire Français-Annamite et Annamite-Français, précédé d'un traité des particules annamites, rédigé par les sions de M. Aubaret lieutenant de Vaisseau, chevalier de la Legion d'honneur.
Bangkok, Thailand, Imprimerie de la mission catholique, 1861. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary half-sheepskin, smooth back. [4], XCVI, 157 pp. Full description
€ 3,750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Charming guide on the Hindustani language, printed in Calcutta

BANESS, Joshua Frederick. Manual of Hindustání or the stranger's Indian interpreter; A practical and easy guide to Hindustání conversation.
Calcutta, W. Newman & Co., 1890. 14 x 8,5 cm. With a woodcut tailpiece at the end of the work. Contemporary red pebble-grain cloth, with the title lettered in gold on the front board. 145, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 375
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Abridged Tibetan Alphabetum from the Propaganda Fide

[BELIGATTI, Giovanni (Cassiono Da MACERATA)]. Alphabetum Tangutanum sive Tibetanum.
Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1773. 8vo. With a folding table, printer's device on title-page and an elaborate woodcut tailpiece after the preliminaries. Modern vellum, green title label. XVI, 138, [2] pp. Full description
€ 1,750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First Puducherry edition of the first Tamil dictionary, by a Jesuit missionary

BESCHI, Constanzo Guiseppe. A.M.D.G. Grammatica Latino-Tamulica, in qua de vulgari Tamulicae linguae idiomate [in Tamil type: kotun tamil] dicto, fusius tractatur ... Novo edition cum notis, et compendio grammaticae de elegatiori dialecto [1 word in Tamil type] dicta, ab uno missionario apostolico congregationis missionum ad externos.
Puducherry, Apostolic Missionary Printing Office, 1843. 4to. Text set partly in 2 sizes of Tamil type. Contemporary tree calf, gold-tooled spine. [4], VIII, 215, [1 blank], 28, [2] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

One of the "greatest Maori publications of the 19th century" (Lineham)

[BIBLE - NEW TESTAMENT - MAORI]. Ko te Kawenata Hou a to tatou Ariki a te Kai Whakaora a Ihu Karaiti. He mea whakamaori mai no te Reo Kariki.
London, printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1894. 8vo. Publisher's brown cloth. 250, [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 350
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Urdu Gospel of St Luke and Acts of the Apostles, printed at Calcutta in Arabic type

[BIBLE - LUKE & ACTS - URDU]. 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. [1], [1 blank], 191, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A catechism in French and Carib

BRETON, Raymond. Petit catechisme ou sommaire des trois premieres parties de la doctrine chrestienne. Traduit du françois, en la langue des Caraibes Insulaires.
Auxerre, Gilles Bouquet, 1664. 8vo. With a small woodcut on the title page showing the Virgin and a woodcut of the Crucifixion on p. 16. Modern half maroon morocco, gold-tooled spine. 70 pp. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A unique look at the history and language of the Marquesas islands by two eminent German philologists

BUSCHMANN, Johann Carl Eduard and Guillaume de HUMBOLDT. Aperçu de la langue des iles Marquises et de la langue Taïtienne, précedé d'une introduction sur l'histoire et la géographie de l'archipel des Marquises.
Berlin, C. G. Luderitz, 1843. 8vo. Original publisher's printed paper wrappers. 197, [2] pp. Full description
€ 2,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Cailliaud's narrative of his second journey through Egypt, Ethiopia and Nubia

CAILLIAUD, Frédéric. Voyage a Méroé, au fleuve blanc, au-delà de fâzoql dans le midi du royaume de Sennâr, a Syouah et dans cinq autres oasis; fait dans les années 1819, 1820, 1821 et 1822, ... Dédié au roi.
Paris, Debure, Tillard and Treuttel & Wurtz, 1826-1827. 4 text volumes (8vo) and 1 atlas volume in 2 parts (folio). With a woodcut vignette on the title pages, 12 full-page hand-coloured costume plates, and 150 full-page lithographs in the atlas volume. Contemporary half calf, gold- and blind-tooled spine, marbled edges. [4], XV, [1], 429 pp; [4], 442 pp; [4], 431, [1] pp; [4], 416 pp; [32], [150], [20], [150] pp. Full description
€ 9,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Arabic grammar for Spanish missionaries in the Middle East

CAÑES, Francisco. Gramatica Arabigo-Española, vulgar, y literal. Con un diccionario Arabigo-Español, en que se ponen las voces mas usuales para una conversacion familiar, con el texto de la doctrina Cristiana en el idioma Arabigo.
Madrid, Don Antonio Perez de Soto, 1775. 4to. With Perez de Soto's device on the title-page. Set in roman, italic and Arabic type. Contemporary mottled sheepskin. [1], [1 blank], [14], 272, [5], [2 blank], XVII pp. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Beautiful Plantin edition of the letters of Cleynaerts, seeking to bring together Islam and Christian faith

CLENARDUS, Nicolaus. Nic. Clenardi Epistolarum libri duo. Quorum posterior iam primum in lucem prodit.
Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1566. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8to. Both title-pages with Plantin's woodcut printer's mark, Arabic type interspersed. Contemporary vellum with 4 raised bands and a manuscript title on the spine. 112, 258 [= 241], [4] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of the first Tibetan-English grammar, printed by Calcutta's prominent Baptist Mission Press

CSOMA DE KORÖS, Alexander (Sándor KORÖSI CSOMA). A grammar of Tibetan language in English. Prepared, under the patronage of the government and the auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Calcutta, the Baptist Mission Press, 1834. Small folio (27 x 20 cm). Printed in Tibetan and English, complete with a 40-page syllabic schema of the Tibetan language and the Tibetan alphabet in Bámyik, Bruts'ha and Lánts'ha characters. 20th-century red cloth, title in gold on spine. XII, 204, [1 blank], 40, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The languages of Oceania

CUST, Robert Needham. Les races et les langues de l'Océanie ... traduit de l'anglais par A.L. Pinart.
Paris, Ernest Leroux (back of half-title: Le Puy, printing office of Marchessou fils), 1888. 12mo (17 x 11.5 cm). With a folding chromolithographed language map of Oceania, 1 headpiece in 17th-century style. Original publisher's printed paper wrappers. [4], 71, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

An extremely early and rare Tahitian imprint

DAVIES, John (translator). Te mau Episetole a te Aposetolo ra a Paulo. I to Galatia, Ephesia, Philipi, Colosa, Tesalonia, ia Timoteo hoi, Tito, e Philemona. Te taio ra, e haapao oia iaite. Iesu Christi.
Tahiti, i neia i te nenei raa a te mau misionari ra [colophon: printed at the Windward Mission Press], 1824. 12mo (17.5 x 11 cm). The text is printed in Tahitian, in two columns. Contemporary diced brown Russia, kept in a green slipcase. 71, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 9,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Hongkong edition of a rare work by a famous French missionary in Tibet

DESGODINS, Auguste. Essai de grammaire Thibétaine pour le langage parlé, avec alphabet et prononciation.
Hongkong, Imprimerie de Nazareth, 1899. 12mo. With the printing offices device (an Asian style temple with "Nazareth", "venite seorsum" and an "ME" monogram with cross) on the title page and several tailpieces. Original publishers half tan morocco, with "GRAMMAIRE|THIBÉTAINE" in gold in the 2nd compartment and the printer-publishers "ME" monogram with cross at the foot of the fifth, "Gustav"-marbled sides (tan on yellow), decorated endpapers, sprinkled edges. [9], 91, [1] pp. Full description
€ 2,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Censored copy of works on the language of the Holy Scripture by the orientalist Johannes Drusius

DRUSIUS, Johannes. Opuscula quae ad Grammaticam spectant, omnia, in unum volumen compacta.
Franeker, Gilles van den Rade, 1609.
With:
(2) DRUSIUS, Johannes. De litteris mosche vechaleb libri duo.
Franeker, Gillis van den Rade, 1608.
(3) DRUSIUS, Johannes (junior). Lachrymae, Iohannis Drusii Iunioris, tribus carminum generibus expressae, in obitum illustriss. et incomparabilis Heroïs Josephi Scaligeri.
Franeker, Gillis van den Rade, 1609.
3 works in 1 volume. 4to. Each title-page with a woodcut vignette (ad 1 and 2 the same, ad 3 different) and with some woodcut decorated initials (3 series). The text is set in roman and Hebrew type. Contemporary limp vellum, with the author and title in manuscript on the spine, remnants of ties. [8], "152" [= 160]; 55, [1 blank]; [8] pp. Full description
€ 6,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Erasmus on the Latin language: two foundational works in a very attractive contemporary binding

ERASMUS, Desiderius. De duplici copia verborum ac rerum commentarii duo.
(Colophon): Mainz, Johannes Schoeffer, August 1521.
With: (2) ERASMUS, Desiderius. Parabolae sive similia.
(Colophon:) Basel, Johannes Froben, July 1521. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. Ad 1: with the title in woodcut architectural border with 3 coats of arms, the Isenburg(?) bars and Mainz wagon wheel above left and right, and Schoeffer's device at the foot under his IS-monogram; 6 large, beautiful woodcut initials. Both works set throughout in italic types. With 1 initial coloured by hand. Ad 2: with the title in an elaborate woodcut border, dated "MDXX" at the head, first page of the dedicatory letter by Erasmus to Petrus Aegidius on back of the title page with a border made of woodcut strips, Froben's large woodcut device on the last page, and 2 decorative woodcut initials. German contemporary blind-tooled calf sewn on 3 double cords, in a panel design. Titles in ink written on the spine (partly upside down) and the fore-edge; later paper spine label; 2 holes near the fore-edge of each board from fastenings now lost. [16], 247, [1 blank]; 191, [1] pp. Full description
€ 12,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Important work on the classical pronunciation of Latin and Greek,
in order to establish an international scholarly dialect

ERASMUS, Desiderius. De recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronu[n]tiatione ... Dialogus. Eiusdem dialogus cui titulus, Ciceronianus, siue, de optimo genere dicendi. Cum alijs nonnullis, quorum nihil non est novum.
(Colophon:) Basel, Froben office, March 1528. 8vo. With 7 decorated woodcut initials, and a woodcut printer's device on the title page and last page. Contemporary elaborately blind-tooled pigskin, sewn on 3 double supports with the corresponding raised bands on the spine, a central panel on both boards with a repeating vegetal stamp, surrounded by a blank border and a vegetal border, the manuscript initials IWE on the front. 462, [2] pp. Full description
€ 5,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Fourteen of Erasmus' works published by Joannes Maire in Leiden between 1641 and 1652

ERASMUS, Desiderius. Vita; partim ab ipsomet Erasmo, partim ab amicis aequalibus fideliter descripta. Accedunt epistolae illustres ...
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1642.
With:
(2) IDEM. Lingua, sive, de linguae usu atque abusu liber utilissimus.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1649.
(3) IDEM. Moriae encomium, cum Gerradi Listriis commentariis. Epistolae aliqut in fine additae. Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1648.
(4) IDEM. Dialogus Ciceronianus: sive de optimo genere dicendi.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1643.
(5) IDEM. Dialogus de recta Latini Graecique sermonis pronuntiatione.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1643.
(6) IDEM. De contemptu mundi liber.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.
(7) IDEM. Querela pacis, undique gentium ejectae, profligataeque.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.
(8) IDEM. De immensa Dei misericordia.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.
(9) IDEM. Modus orandi Deum.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1641.
(10) IDEM. Precationes quibus homines assuescant cum Deo loqui.
Leiden, Joannes. Maire, 1641.
(11) IDEM. Enarratio in Psalmum I.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1644.
(12) IDEM. Enarratio triplex in Psalmum XXII.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1645.
(13) IDEM. Enarratio pia juxta ac docta in Psalmum XXXIV.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1652.
(14) IDEM. Concionalis interpretatio, plena pietatis, in Psalmum LXXXVI.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1652. 14 works in 2 volumes. 12mo. Ad 1 with an engraved title page by C. van Dalen showing Erasmus standing in a church with a book in his left hand pointing to three other men. All title pages contain Maire's woodcut device (see Breugelmans, nr. 13), and a woodcut portrait of Erasmus in a roundel on leaf *8r in ad 1 and his device in a roundel in the text on leaf 2*5v in ad 1. Further with several woodcut decorated initials throughout.
Contemporary half vellum, paper sides, with "Erasmiana tom. I [or II]" in manuscript on the spine, blue edges. Full description
€ 3,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of the Pentateuch in Arabic

ERPENIUS, Thomas (editor). Turat Musa al-Nabi alayhi al-salam id est Pentateuchus Mosis Arabicè.
Leiden, Thomas Erpenius for Johannes Maire, 1622. 4to. With the title in a woodcut architectural frame, head- and tailpieces built up from cast arabesque fleurons, woodcut factotums. Contemporary vellum. [16], 458, [2] pp. Full description
€ 14,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Best edition of a classic Arabic grammar, with fables, proverbs and quotations

ERPENIUS, Thomas. Grammatica Arabica; cum varia praxios materia, cujus elenchum versa dabit pagella.
Leiden, Johannes Maire, 1656. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. Mid 19th-century half tan calf, gold- and blind-tooled spine. [12], 172, “282” [= 284] pp. Full description
€ 3,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Heavily annotated copy of the best edition of a classic Arabic grammar,
with fabled, proverbs, and quotations

ERPENIUS, Thomas. Grammatica Arabica; cum varia praxios materia, cujus elenchum versa dabit pagella.
Leiden, Joannes Maire, 1656. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. The title-page is printed in red and black, lacking the printer's device, with a few woodcut decorated initials and some head- and tailpieces built up from typographical ornaments. The text is set in both roman and Arabic type. Quarter vellum and blue decorated paper sides, with the manuscript author and title on the spine, blue sprinkled edges. [1], [1 blank], [4], [1 blank], [5], 172, "282" [= 284] pp. Full description
€ 4,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Greatly enlarged edition of Erpenius's groundbreaking introduction to the Arabic language

ERPENIUS (VAN ERPE), Thomas. Rudimenta linguae arabicae. Florilegium sententiarum arabicarum ut et clavim dialectorum ac praesertim arabicae adjecit Alb. Schultens. Editio altera, aucta indicibus.
Leiden, S. & J. Luchtmans & Jean le Mair, 1770. 4to. With engraved publisher's device on title-page. Contemporary half calf. [6], 374, [174] pp. Full description
€ 850
Order Inquire Terms of sale

One of the first Sanskrit works published in Germany

FRANK, Othmar Chrestomathia Sanskrita, quam ex codicibus manuscriptis, adhuc ineditis, Londini exscripsit, atque in usum Tironum versione, expositione, tabulis grammaticis etc. illustratam edidit ...
Munich, typographice ac lithographice opera et sumtibus propriis, 1820-1821. 2 parts in 1 volume. Large 4to (22 x 25,5 cm). With 6 lithographed plates (4 folding). Original temporary grey boards as issued. XII, 194, [2]; [4], 147, [3] pp. Full description
€ 2,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

2 offprints discussing De Frobervilles researches on languages and races in sub-equatorial East Africa,with an autograph letter from De Froberville

FROBERVILLE, Eugène de, and [Louis BOUTON]. 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 dHistoire 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 août 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. Full description
€ 1,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Golius' epoch-making Arabic dictionary, with contemporary annotations in Arabic, Greek, and Latin

GOLIUS, Jacobus. Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, contextum ex probatioribus orientis lexicographis. Accedit index Latinus copiosissimus, qui lexici Latino-Arabici vicem explere possit.
Leiden and Amsterdam, Bonaventura & Abraham Elsevier [= Johannes & Daniël Elsevier] and Johannes Janssonius, 1653. Folio (36 x 23.5 cm). With a large publisher's device on the title-page, the title-page is printed in red and black. The text is set in roman and Arabic type in two columns per page. Further with woodcut decorated initials and woodcut decorated head- and tailpieces. Contemporary mottled calf with the title lettered in gold on the gold-tooled spine. [1], [1 blank], [10], 16 pp.; 17-"2922" cols. [= 17-2920 cols. = 1452 pp.]; 40 pp. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Aesop in Greek and Latin as part of a famous German schoolbook: the Greek Grammar
by Theophilus Golius, first printed in Strasbourg in 1552

GOLIUS, Theophilus. Educationis puerilis linguae Graecae.Including: AESOP. Fabellae quaedam Aesopi Graecae, ad puerilem educationem selectae.
Frankfurt, [printed by Erasmus Kempfer?] for Nikolaus Stein, 1618-1619.
With: (2) [GOLIUS, Theophilus]. [Grammaticae, sive educationis puerilis linguae Graecae. ... Pars altera].
3 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With 2 title-pages, the first with woodcut printers device. Contemporary vellum (made from one leaf from a 14th or 15th century moral manuscript, rubricated in red and blue), red edges. [50], [38]; 512, [32] pp. Full description
€ 1,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first Chinese grammar book in Portuguese, printed by and for missionaries in Macao

GONÇALVES, Joaquim Affonso. Arte China constante de alphabeto e grammatica comprehendo modelos das differentes composiçoens.
Macao, Real collegio de S. José, 1829. 4to. The text is set in roman type and Chinese characters. Half blue cloth, marbled paper sides and pink paste paper endpapers. [1], [3 blank], VIII, "502" [= 503], [1 blank], 46, [2] pp. Full description
€ 7,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Early work on navigation and a primary source for seamen’s “barbaric” language

GUEVARA, Antonio de. Libro de los inventores del arte de marear, y de muchos trabajos que se passan enlas galeras. ... Tocanse enel muy excellentes antiguedades, y avisos muy notables para los que navegan en galeras.
Antwerp, Martin Nutius, [ca. 1545/46]. Small 8vo (13.5 x 10 cm). With Nutius's woodcut device on the title-page. Set in rotunda gothic type with a few words in a large roman. Blind-tooled brown goatskin (1920s?) in 16th-century style by Victor Arias (1856-1935) in Madrid, gold-tooled turn-ins. XXIX, [1], [2 blank] ll. Full description
€ 12,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Unusual grammar book for the Hindustani language, meant for Portuguese missionaries

[HINDUSTANI - GRAMMAR]. Gramatica indostana a mais vulgar que se practica no imperio do gram Mogol, para uso dos muitos reverendos padres missionarios do dito imperio.
Lisbon, Impressão Regia, 1805. Small 8vo (17.5 x 11.5 cm). With a woodcut vignette on the title page. Mid-19th-century half gold-tooled tanned sheepskin, marbled paper sides. With the title in gold on the spine, marbled endpapers. [2], 150 [2] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first book printed with roman type in Turkey

[HOLDERMANN, Jean-Baptiste Daniel]. Grammaire Turque ou méthode courte et facile pour apprendre la langue Turque ...
Istanbul, [Ibrahim Müteferrika & Zaïd Aga Effendi], 1730. 4to. With a double-page engraved table of Arabic letters in 7 different styles. Set in roman type with frequent Turkish words and phrases in naskh Arabic type. Contemporary blind-tooled calf. [16], 194, [6] pp. Full description
€ 25,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The origins of the American Indians, together with the life and teaching of David Joris

HORNIUS (HORN), Georgius. De originibus Americanis. Libri quatuor.
The Hague, Adriaan Vlacq (colophon: printed by Phillipe de Croy, Leiden), 1652.
With: (2) BLESDIJK, Nicolaas van. Historia, vitae, doctrinae, ac rerum gestarum Davidis Georgii haeresiarchae. Conscripta ab ipsius genero Nicolao Blesdikio. Nunc primum prodit in lucem ex musaeo Iacobi Revii.
Deventer, Nathanael Cost, 1642. 2 works in 1 volume. 8vo. Contemporary vellum. [9], [11], 282; [8], 189 pp. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Second edition of a celebrated work on religion in Persia

HYDE, Thomas. Veterum Persarum et Parthorum et Medorum religionis historia.
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1760. 4to. With 21 engraved plates (including 5 folding) by Michael Burghers. Contemporary blind-tooled vellum, with the manuscript title on the spine. [40], 580 pp. Full description
€ 1,800
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First and only edition of one of the earliest works on Persian grammar

IGNATIUS a Jesus (Carlo LEONELLI). Grammatica linguae Persicae. Auctore Patre Fratre Ignatio à Jesu Carmelita Discalceato missionario, & vicario residentiae Tripolis, & Montis Libani.
Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1661. 4to. With a device on the title-page, 1 woodcut decorated initial, decorations built up from arabesque typographic ornaments and a 4-page letterpress table showing the Persian alphabet with the initial, medial, final and stand-alone forms of the letters. Modern ivory vellum in the style of the time, manuscript title on spine. [2], 60 pp. Full description
€ 8,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Foundational work on the study of the Chinese customs and language

INTORCETTA, Prospero. R.P. Prosperi Intorcetta societatis Jesu missionarii sinensis testimonium de cultu sinensi, datum anno 1668.
Paris, Nicolas Pepié, 1700. 8vo. With a small woodcut ornamental vignette on the title page and some head- and tail-pieces built up from typographical ornaments. Contemporary vellum with the manuscript title on the spine, blue sprinkled edges. [2], 318, [10] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Collection of autograph letters by the leading French sinologist Stanislas Aignan Julien

JULIEN, Stanislas Aignan. [Collection of 28 autograph letters by Stanislas Julien to several correspondents].
Paris, 17 January 1839 - 13 April 1869. Varying sizes, most on similar paper 21 x 13.5 cm. Autograph letters written in French, in a neat cursive in brown ink, signed and dated, many of the letters have been written on paper with a "Collége[!] Imperial de France" letterhead. One with Paris postal stamps on the back (addressed to Monsieur Desnoyers, 17 January 1839). 5 letters are mounted on additional leaves (4 letters in 2 pairs, each pair on a separate leaf and 1 dated 13 April 1869 on a separate leaf). The whole collection is kept together in a clear plastic cover. 28 letters on 28 (folded) leaves. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

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
Order Inquire Terms of sale

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
Order Inquire Terms of sale

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
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The best Malayan grammar, with 89 pages of Malay texts with translations

MARSDEN, William. A grammar of the Malayan language, with an introduction and praxis.
London, printed for the author by Cox and Baylis, sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, and by Black, Parry and Co., booksellers to the British East India Company, 1812. 4to. Set in roman and Arabic types with incidental italic. Modern dark green cloth. [1], [1 blank], L, [2], 225, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The best Malay dictionary, with detailed definitions and noting related Hindi words

MARSDEN, William. A dictionary of the Malayan language, in two parts, Malayan and English and English and Malayan.
London, printed for the author by Cox and Baylis, 1812. 4to. Set in roman and Arabic types with incidental Devanagari and italic. Modern blue cloth with a morocco spine label, retaining the nonpareil-marbled edges from the previous contemporary binding. [1], [1 blank], XV, [1], 589, [1], [2 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Bridging worlds: a landmark Dutch-Malay and French-Malay dictionary

MARSDEN, William and Cornelis Pieter Jacob ELOUT. Nederduitsch en Maleisch woordenboek, gevolgd van een Fransch en Maleisch woordenboek ... naar het Engelsch en Maleisch woordenboek van den Hr. W. Marsden. | Dictionnaire Hollandais et Malai, suivi dun dictionnaire Français et Malai ... daprès le dictionnaire Anglais et Malai de Mr. W. Marsden.
Haarlem, Johannes Enschedé and sons, 1826. 4to. With several wood engraving ornaments throughout. Later half black sheepskin. [8], 432 pp. Full description
€ 500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

One of the most important dictionaries on the Tamil language published today
from the French mission press in Pondicherry

[MOUSSET, Louis-Marie and Louis-Savinien DUPUIS]. Vocabulaire Français-Tamoul.
Pondicherry, Imprimerie des Missionnaires Apostoliques de la Dite Congrégation, 1850. 8vo. With the text printed in two columns in roman and Tamil type. Contemporary speckled sheepskin, gold-tooled title label on spine, gold-tooled spine, blue sprinkled edges. [10], 420 pp. Full description
€ 3,800
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Rare imprint from Chili

NOÉ, Juan Nicolas. Epitome de gramatica Castellana. ... Para escuelas primarias.
Valparaiso, Imprenta de la Bandera, 1837. 12mo. With the title in woodcut borders, a woodcut printer's vignette and some woodcut head- and tailpieces. Contemporary blue paper wrappers, with protective paper cover. [2], 155 pp. Full description
€ 1,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Early Western printing in Aden: Arab dictionary

NORBURY, Paul Fitzgerald. An abridged Arabic grammar with one hundred and fifty simple conversational scentences and a vocabulary of two thousand five hundred words.
Aden, printed at the Aden Special Prison Press, [1917]. Square 8vo. Printed in English and Arabic type. With a tipped-in paper slip on the title-page: "Since the issue of the first edition it has been possible to test this grammar in regard to its utility in Mesopotamia. The result has been to confirm the correctness of the claim made in para four of the preface". Original publisher's printed hard board covers with red cloth spine. IV, 68 pp. Full description
€ 850
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Pioneering Arabic, Syriac and Latin glossary

OBICINI, Tommaso and Elija bar SHINAJA (Elias BARSINAEUS) of Nisibis. Thesaurus Arabico-Syro-Latinus.
With: Index alphabeticus. ...
Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1636. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. Set in Arabic, Syriac, roman and italic types. Contemp. reversed sheep, blank spine in five compartments. [2 blank], [5], [1 blank], 447, [1 blank], [43], [5 blank]; "70" [= 66] pp. Full description
€ 4,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

One of the earliest grammars of the Thai language

PALLEGOIX, Denis-Jean-Baptiste. Grammatica liguae Thai, auctore D.J. Bapt. Pallegoix, episcopo mallensi vicario apostolico Siamensi.
Bangkok, ex typographia collegii assumptionis B.M.V., 1850. 4to. Title in a frame built up from of typographic ornaments, the texts is set in Thai and Latin script and with one page (p. 36) of music notation. Contemporary half gold-tooled mottled sheepskin, decorated paper over boards, marbled endpapers. [2], 241, [3] pp. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

1899 French-Japanese dictionary, printed in Hongkong

PAPINOT, Edmond. Dictionnaire Japonais-Français des noms principaux de l'histoire et de la géographie du Japon. Suivi de 17 appendices sur les empereurs, shogun, nengo, sectes bouddhistes, provinces, départements, mesures, etc.
Hongkong, Imprimerie de Nazareth, 1899. 8vo. With an engraved printer's device on the title page, engraved tailpieces and Japanese characters. Contemporary blind-tooled glazed purple calico over boards, title in gold on spine. VII, 297 pp. Full description
€ 1,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first Chinese drama and other intriguing Chinese customs in 18th-century Europe

PERCY, Thomas (editor). Miscellaneous pieces relating to the Chinese.
London, printed for R. and J. Dodsley, 1762. 2 volumes. Small 8vo. With an engraved frontispiece with Chinese characters in volume 1 and a quote from Confucius in Chinese characters and a Latin transliteration and translation serving as a vignette on both title-pages. Contemporary sprinkled calf. [1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], [15], [1 blank], [2], 232; [1], [1 blank], [1], [1 blank], 248 pp. Full description
€ 3,750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

On the Latin language: the most important Renaissance dictionary/encyclopaedia,
together with the three main classical texts on the subject

PEROTTI, Niccolò. In hoc volumine habentur haec. # Cornucopiae, sive linguae Latinae commentarij diligentissime recogniti: atque ex archetypo emendati. # Index copiosissimus dictionum omnium ... # Eiusdem Sypontini libellus, quo Plynij epistola ad Titum Vespasianum corrigitur. # Cornelij Vitellij in eum ipsum libellum Sypontini annotationes. # M. Terentij Varronis de lingua Latina libri tres: Quartus. Quintus. Sextus. # Eiusdem de analogia libri tres. # Sexti Pompeij Festi undeviginti librorum fragmenta. # Nonij Marcelli Compendia, in quibus tertia ferè pars addita est: non ante impressa ...
(Colophon on K8r:) Venice, in aedibus Aldo I Manuzio & Andrea I Torresano, May 1517; (colophon on Y7v:) November 1513. Folio. With a woodcut printer's device on the title page, repeated on the verso of the last leaf. Including:
(2) VARRO, Marcellus Terentius. De lingua Latina.
(3) FESTUS, Sextus Pompeius. De verborum significatione.
(4) MARCELLUS, Nonius. De compendiosa doctrina. Modern brown morocco. 79, [1 blank] ll., "1436" [= 1426] cols. Full description
€ 5,000
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Plutarch's famous schoolbook in four languages

PLUTARCH. Aureus libellus, Peri paidoon a'googès, id est, de educatione liberorum, tum interpretatione Latinam, ad verbum ferè applicatam, & paraphrasi Gallico-Germanicam... Petit livret de Plutarche,... Das güldene Büchlein Plutarchi, von der Kinderzucht.
Frankfurt, Erasmus Kempffer, 1612. 8vo. Set in 2 columns. Contemporary green vellum. 175, [1] pp. Full description
€ 1,850
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A nearly complete collection of the earliest Propaganda Fide exotic alphabets (1629-1776), including Arabic, Burmese, Ethiopic, Greek and Syriac

[PROPAGANDA FIDE]. (1) Alphabetum Armenum iussu S.D.N. Gregorii XV. ...
(2) Alphabetum Aethiopicum, sive Abyssinum.
(3) Alphabetum Arabicum ...
(4) Alphabetum Barmanum seu Bomanum ...
(5) Alphabetum Brammhanicum ...
(6) Alphabetum Chaldaicum, ...
(7) Alphabetum Chaldaicum ...
(8) Alphabetum Cophtum sive Aegyptiacum ...
(9) Alphabetum Graecum ...
(10) Alphabetum veterum Etruscorum ...
(11) Alphabetum Ibericum, ...
(12) [Alfabeta].
(13) Alphabetum Hebraicum ...
Rome, Propaganda Fide, 1629-1776. 13 works in 1 volume. 8vo and small 4to. Sheepskin parchment (ca. 1776). 15, [1]; 16; 15, [1 blank]; XLIV, 51, [1 blank]; XX, 152; [11], [1 blank]; [15], [1 blank]; [8]; 15, [1 blank]; [40]; [31], [1 blank]; [24]; 16 pp. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Early New Zealand imprint, in the Maori language

[PUCKEY, William Gilbert and William COLENSO (translator)]. Ko nga upoko ewitu o te Pukapuka a te Poropiti a Raniera: me te Pukapuka ano hoki a te Poropiti a Hona: ...
Paihia (New Zealand), "Perehi o nga Mihanere" (= Missionary Press [operated by William Colenso]), 1840. Large 12mo (20 x 12 cm). contemporary grey paper wrapper. 32 pp. Full description
€ 2,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Surprising respect for Australian Aboriginal languages, with 4 botanical wood engravings and colour-printed decorations

RIDLEY, William. Kamilaroi, Dippel, and Turrubul: languages spoken by Australian Aborigines.
Sydney, Thomas Richards (New South Wales government printer), 1866. 4to. With an armorial vignette printed in several colours and gold (the unofficial "Advance Australia" Australian coat of arms), 4 fine full-page wood engravings of plants and flowers. Original publisher's maroon textured cloth. VI, 88, [2] pp. Full description
€ 1,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Important 17th-century illustrated description of the Antilles

[ROCHEFORT, Charles de]. Histoire naturelle et morale des Iles Antilles de l'Amérique ...
Rotterdam, Arnout Leers, 1658. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With an engraved title-page, a woodcut printer's device on the typographical title-page, a full-page portrait of Amproux, 43 engraved plates in the text of all kinds of plants, trees, animals and costumes from the Antilles. Further with a divisional title-page for the second part, and woodcut decorated initials, head- and tailpieces throughout. Contemporary gold-tooled marbled calf, with a red morocco title-label lettered in gold, gold-tooled board edges, marbled edges, marbled endpapers, and a bright pink reading ribbon. [1], [1 blank], [12], 527, [12], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 8,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

How to write a letter

SERRE, Jean Puget de la and Jan DULLAART (translator). Fatsoenlycke send-brief-schryver...
Amsterdam, Jacob Benjamijn, 1663. 12mo. With an engraved title-page (dated 1652), showing a writer at his desk, a small ornamental vignette on the title-page, an ornamental tail-piece, and some woodcut decorated initials. Contemporary overlapping vellum. 446 pp. Full description
€ 650
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Hebrew for beginners, including alphabets of meruba, rabbinical, Yiddish and script Hebrew types

SOMMERHAUSSEN, Hartog. Hebreeuwsch spel- en lees-boekje voor eerstbeginnenden.
Amsterdam, Belinfante & Comp., J. van Embden & son, S.A. Proops, 5570 [=] 1810. 2 parts in 1 volume. Small 8vo (15.5 x 9.5 cm). With the authenticating oval stamp at the foot of the last page of the main text in part 2. Set in roman and italic type with 3 sizes of (sephardic) meruba Hebrew plus alphabets of rabbinical (semi-cursive), Yiddisch and script Hebrew types, and printed on Dutch wove paper. Publisher's original yellow, printed paper wrappers over thin boards. 24, [1], [1 blank]; 28, [1], [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 3,950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of Spinoza's most important works

[SPINOZA, Benedictus de]. Opera posthuma.
[Amsterdam, Israël de Paull], 1677.
Comprising:
(1) Ethica ordine geometrico demonstrata.
(2) Tractatus politicus.
(3) Tractatus de intellectus emendatione.
(4) Epistolae doctorum quorundam virorum.
(5) Compendium grammatices linguae Hebraeae. 5 parts in 1 volume. 4to. With a woodcut vignette on the title page, several woodcut figures in the text, 9 decorated woodcut initials, and a woodcut tailpiece. Modern gold-tooled brown calf, with a dark red morocco title and author label on the spine, lettered in gold, the year of publication lettered in gold at the foot of the spine, red edges. [40], 614, [32]; [2], 112, [8] pp. Full description
€ 11,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Rare textbook for government officials, containing two historically important Persian texts

[TEXTBOOK - PERSIAN]. Ganjína-i-muhárawát. The Wazír-i-Lankurán and a selection from the diary of Násiru-d-dín Sháh containig [!] an account of the journey of the Sháh of Persia from Tehrán to Russia. Being a text book for the lower standard examination in Persian.
Calcutta, "published by authority", 1909. 8vo. With a floral ornament on page 3. The text is set in Persian script. Original quarter purple cloth and blue printed paper over boards, with the title in Persian on the front board and in English on the back board. [1], [1 blank], 80, [1 blank], [1] pp. Full description
€ 1,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A language guide for British soldiers stationed in Iraq during the First World War

THOMPSON, Captain R. Campbell, Elias GEORGES, and others (editors). A list of words and phrases in the Basrah dialect of Arabic.
Simla, Government Central Branch Press, 1916. 8vo. Original beige waxed cloth wrappers, with the title printed on the front wrapper. V, [1 blank], 21, [3 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first manual of cryptography

TRITHEMIUS, Johannes and Gabriel de COLLANGE (translator). Polygraphie et universelle escriture cabalistique.
Including:
(2) TRITHEMIUS, Johannes and Gabriel de COLLANGE (translator). Clavicule, et interpretation sur le contenués cinq livres de Polygraphie, & universelle escriture Cabalistique.
(3) COLLANGE, Gabriel de. Tables et figures planispheriques, extensives & dilatatives des recte & averse, servants à l'universelle intelligence de toutes escritures tant methathesiques, transpositives, mythologiques, numerales, anomales, que orchemales.
Paris, Benoît Prévost for Jacques Kerver, 1561. 3 parts in 1 volume. 4to. Printed in red and black, the main title and the titles of parts 2 and 3 set within a woodcut decorated border, 3 woodcut portraits of the translator, 13 large volvelles in part 3, numerous woodcut headpieces, and numerous woodcut decorated initials. 18th-century gold-tooled reddish-brown morocco, with the title and author lettered in gold on the spine, marbled endpapers, gold-tooled board edges, red edges. [18], 300 ll. Full description
€ 12,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Rare Hebrew, Samaritan and Syriac alphabets printed and published by the Propaganda Fide

[PROPAGANDA FIDE - ALPHABETA]. [Alphabets of non-Latin scripts, including Hebrew, Samaritan and Syriac].
Rome, Propaganda Fide, [ca. 1700/60?]. Oblong 8vo (11 x 17 cm). A complete set of 12 leaves published without a title-page, printed on rectos only, each page with a frame of double rules and an additional single rule (built up from short rules) delineating a panel at the head that contains the title of the leaf, 10 of the 12 beginning "Alfabeto ..." and showing woodcut (3) or typographic (7) alphabets, the latter showing Hebrew (meruba & rabbinical), Samaritan (majuscule) and Syriac (estrangela & serto) types. The other 2 leaves show a woodcut illustration of an inscription in stone and an interpretation of it (including a smaller woodcut). Contemporary vellum, with the spine at the head of the leaves. [12] ll. Full description
€ 7,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Pioneering work on Indian languages and society by an "unjustly forgotten" Indologist

VESDIN (VEZDIN), Filip (PAULINUS A SANCTO BARTHOLOMAEO). Viaggio alle Indie Orientali umiliato alla Santita di N. S. Papa Pio Sesto pontefice massimo ...
Rome, Antonio Fulgoni, 1796. 4to. With 12 engraved illustration plates (6 with 2 illustrations each to make 18 in total), engraved roundel portraits of Pope Pius VI (on the title-page) and the author (above the opening of the main text) and some small woodcut illustrations of "Indian hieroglyphs". Set in roman and italic types with occasional words in Greek, Arabic, East Syriac, Devanagari and more extensive texts in Malayalam, plus a Malabar song with a double staff made with built-up round-head music notes. 19th-century maroon half sheepskin. XX, 404 pp. Full description
€ 4,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A major contribution to reforming education at the Latin Schools by a famous humanist

VOSSIUS, Gerardus Joannes. Latina grammatica ... in usum scholarum ...
Amsterdam, Johannes van Ravesteyn, 1666. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With a woodcut printer's device on the 2 title-pages, first title-page printed in red and black, with some woodcut decorated initials. Contemporary overlapping vellum with the manuscript title on the spine, red edges. [10], 176; 177, [3] pp. Full description
€ 950
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first standard grammar of the Malay language

WERNDLY, George Henrik. Maleische spraakkunst, uit de eigen schriften der Maleiers opgemaakt; met eene voorreden, behelzende eene inleiding tot dit werk, en een dubbeld aanhangsel van twee Boekzalen van boeken, in deze tale zo van Europeërs, als van Maleiers geschreven.
Amsterdam, printed for the VOC (Dutch East Indian Company) by R. & G. Wetstein, 1736. 8vo. With the VOC's ship device on title page, several woodcut initials and tailpieces. Contemporary vellum. [2], LXVIII, 357, [23] pp. Full description
€ 7,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

One of the earliest school dictionaries of Latin synonyms

WILDENBERG, Hieronymus (Hieronymus CINGULARIUS). Tersissima latini eloquij Synonymorum collectanea, non modo epistolas, verum etiam carmina cudere volentibus oppido idonea, ex multiiugis & quidem luculentissimis Oratorum tum Poetarum scriptis studiosa recognitione, veluti quaedam progymnasmata eruta, vernaculoque suo ut inventu sint faciliora accommodata, ac denuo secundum Alphabeti seriem deprompta atque concinnata. Annexus est Tractatulus utilissimus de vocum proprietatibus, seu terminorum differentijs.
Magdeburg, Michael Lotter, (ca. 1535). Sm.8vo. Old boards. [75] ll. Full description
€ 1,750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first Chinese-English dictionary written by an American missionary

WILLIAMS, Samuel Wells. A tonic dictionary of the Chinese language in the Canton dialect.
Canton, Printed at the Office of the Chinese Repository, 1856. 8vo. With a lithographic Chinese title page, and a letterpress English title page. The text is printed in two columns. Contemporary half brown calf. XXXVI, 832 pp. Full description
€ 2,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

A milestone of American sinology

WILLIAMS, Samuel Wells. A syllabic dictionary of the Chinese language, arranged according to the Wu-fang yuen yin, with the pronunciation of the characters as heard in Peking, Canton, Amoy and Shanghai.
Shanghai, American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1874. 4to. With a lithographic title page in Chinese, and a letterpress title page in English. The introduction is printed in 2 columns, and the dictionary in 3. Contemporary gold-tooled red morocco. LXXXIV-1252 pp. Full description
€ 1,250
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Second edition of the first etymological Sanskrit-English dictionary

WILSON, Horace Hayman. A dictionary in Sanscrit and English; translated, amended, and enlarged, from an original compilation, prepared by learned natives for the college of Fort William.
Calcutta, printed at the Education Press, 1832. Large 4to. Contemporary half green morocco with marbled sides, gilt edges. X, 982 pp. Full description
€ 2,750
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of a great Arabic grammar, with both the original and the revised preface

WRIGHT, William. 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. XVI, 257, [1 blank]; VI, [1], [1 blank], XVI, 327, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 2,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

The first Sanskrit translation of the Proverbs

[YATES, William and John WENGER (translators)]. The Book of Proverbs, in Sanskrit verse. Translated from the Hebrew by the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries.
Calcutta, Printed for the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society, at the Baptist Mission Press, 1862. 8vo (ca. 21 x 14 cm). The work is printed in Sanskrit, using Bengali characters. Original pale green wrappers. [1], [1 blank], 76 pp. Full description
€ 1,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale

First edition of al-Zamakhshari’s collection of Arabic proverbs, in Arabic and Latin

ZAMAKHSHARI, Abu al-Quasim Mahmud ibn Umar (Hendrik Albert SCHULTENS, editor). [Al-Kalim al-nawabigh]. Anthologia sententiarum Arabicarum. Cum scholiis Zamachsjarii.
Leiden, Jean Le Mair (colophon: printed by Daniel van Damme), 1772. 4to. With the large engraved arms of Willem V, Prince of Orange, above the dedication.Vellum, manuscript spine title. [20], 171, [1] pp. Full description
€ 6,500
Order Inquire Terms of sale
94 books books found / Show pages