Persian, Turkish, Arab and Mizrahi Art, History, Culture, and Linguistics

Books from the Library of an Iranian-American Professor with Additions from Numerous Other Sources


The Iranian portion contains a Sammelband of mid-nineteenth century Lucknow imprints, early travel books, modern editions of Persian classics, reference works, Pahlavi-era ephemera and propaganda, several books by the caricaturist Ardeshir Mohasses, a group of outstanding children's books by modern Iranian artists, books on Zoroastrianism and Bahai, a 1946 Persian-language cookbook, and materials on Iranian history and politics. Notably, Iranian authors and artists are represented who went into exile both before and after the Islamic Revolution. The material as a whole is representative of Iranian cultural life before the Islamic Revolution. Because of variation in spelling of personal names and book titles, we have found it helpful to reference Wikipedia articles on various individuals. When English titles have been provided within the publication for works in Persian, we have used those as part or all of the title citation. When we have provided a transliterated and/or English title not present in the original work, we have separated them by a slash mark from the Persian title. Related titles from other parts of the Islamic world and its sphere of influence have also been included.

Some items on this list are in remote storage. Orders will be accepted and finally confirmed when the requested items are in hand. A number of particularly bulky and intractable books in Farsi, e.g., divan editions, have not been included herein; we welcome inquiries toward a bulk purchase of those titles.

This list was first issued in February, 2020. It was brought up to date in March, 2023. For terms of sale, see previous lists on our website.

Martin Janal and Eve Hochwald : www.alexanderplatzbooks.com

email: alexanderplatzbooks "at" gmail dot com | telephone: 212-473-6723

 

EARLY TITLES

E1. Eton, William. A Survey of the Turkish Empire. London, T. Cadell, jun. & W. Davies, 1799. Second (revised) edition. $1500

8vo. Contemporary leather binding, spine and tips recently restored, new spine label. Binding by C. Kalthober, London, with his small pink ticket on the verso of the front free endpaper. Six-panel spine with original sunburst-like decorations (very dull), boards with double gilt fillets around, marbled endpapers and all edges with matching marbling. The author is described on the title page as "Many Years Resident in Turkey and in Russia."

E2. Eyre, Vincent, Lieut. The Military Operations at Cabul which Ended in the Retreat and Destruction of the British Army, January 1842, with a Journal of Imprisonment in Affghanistan. London, John Murray, 1843. First edition. Modern cloth binding. Bookplate and handwritten notation "London, 1964" on front pastedown. Good condition, folding map present. Four pages of John Murray ads for "Books Relating to the East" at rear. $200

Not only troops of the British Army in India but also those provided by the East India Company, along with thousands of servants and camp followers, were annihilated and massacred in the disastrous retreat from Afghanistan.

E3. Forster, George. A Journey from Bengal to England, through the Northern Part of India, Kashmire, Afghanistan, and Persia, and into Russia by the Caspian Sea. In two volumes. London, Printed for R. Faulder and Son, 1808. Second edition (first octavo edition). 8vo, two volumes. Very good set. $1000 SOLD

Half-leather, bindings restored with some elements of contemporary binding retained; vol. 1 has been rebound to match the retained boards of vol. 2, corners in vol. 2 repaired, both volumes have new spines. Leather title labels on both volumes. Folding map opposite title page of vol. 1. Text very good, name on title page of vol. 2. The author is described on the title pages as "in the Civil Service of the Honourable The East-India Company." The dedication which appears in the first volume is dated August 1, 1790, in Calcutta.

E4. Herbert, Thomas, Sir, Bart. Some years travels into divers parts of Africa, and Asia the Great. Describing more particularly the Empires of Persia and Industan. . . . In this fourth impression are added (by the author now living) as well many additions throughout the whole work, as also several sculptures, never before printed. London, R. Everingham for R. Scott, 1677. $3,500

Large-paper copy of the fourth and best edition (cf. Lowndes) of Herbert's Travels. Three leaves in smaller format. Nineteenth-century full leather tooled binding by Robert Seton, Edinburgh, with his ticket on the rear pastedown endpaper. Interesting early manuscript notes on original front blanks. Splendid double-page engraving of Persepolis by Wenceslas Hollar. Very good copy in an excellent binding, front hinge beginning to crack externally toward bottom.

E5. Irwin, Eyles. A Series of Adventures in the Course of a Voyage up the Red-Sea, on the Coasts of Arabia and Egypt; and of a Route through the Desarts of Thebais, Hitherto Unknown to the European Traveller, in the Year M.DCC.LXXVII. In letters to a lady. Illustrated with maps and cuts. London, Printed for J. Dodsley, 1780. First edition. 4to. Good copy, scuffed and worn. With contemporary annotations throughout. $2,500

Contemporary full-leather binding, marbled endpapers. Stamp on dedication page of an American seminary library, lightly foxed, tear in margin of one page. Irwin was, as the title page states,“in  the service of The Honble. The East-India Company.” A unique copy, with two thousand or more words of commentary in a neat contemporary hand, generally written on the outer or sometimes the inner margins, but occasionally also making small points within the text. The unidentified commentator was evidently not only very familiar with Egypt and the Arabian and Indian trade but also with the gossip of the East, providing particulars of names and events that are not given by the author, and disagreeing with him frequently.

E6. (Lucknow Imprints) Sammelband of four Lucknow printings, ca. 1862. Bound in textured boards. First work is the Mufid-Nāmah (cf. British Museum, Catalog of Persian Printed Books, p. 534, Muhammad Zahidi, Hansavi. Mufid-Nāmah. Model letters and documents. With marginal notes. pp. 64, lith. Delhi, 1869. Ditto, Lucknow, 1886). The reading of the other titles is beyond my ability. except that they are likewise Lucknow imprints of the same time. Seven terminal leaves of the first work and the first twenty pages of the second were bound in upside down and backwards; the first work ends without a colophon leaf, which is probably lacking. $750

The article "Lithography. ii. India" in the Encyclopaedia Iranica ascribes a predominant role to Lucknow in producing Persian editions by lithography.

E7. Olearius, Adam. Persianischer Rosenthal: In welchem viel lustige Historien / scharffsinnige Reden und nützliche Regeln. Vor 400. Jahren von einem sinnreichen Poeten Schich Saadi in Persischer Sprach beschrieben / Jetzo aber von Adamo Oleario Mit zuziehung eines alten Persianers Namens Hakwirdi übersetzet/ in Hochdeutscher Sprache heraus gegeben / und mit vielen Kupfferstücken gezieret. [Bound with] Olearius, Adam (Herausgeber). Des HochEdelgebornen Johan Albrecht von Mandelslo Morgenländische Reyse-Beschreibung. Worinnen zugleich die Gelegenheit vnd heutiger Zustand etlicher fürnehmen Indianischen Länder, Provincien, Städte und Insulen, sampt derer Einwohner Leben, Sitten, Glauben und Handthierung: wie auch die Beschaffenheit der Seefahrt über das Oceanische Meer. Schlesswig, Johan Holwein, 1654 and 1658. Contemporary binding, wallpaper endpapers. Some pages remargined, hole in last leaf of second work, not affecting text, some worming. Small 19th century ownership inscription at end of text.        $5,000

E8. Wietz, J. K., Sitten, Gebräuche und Trachten der Bewohner des osmanischen oder türkischen Reiches. Prag, Bei Bohmanns Erben, 1828. With 20 handcolored plates. First (only) edition. Small 8vo, 184 pp. Contemporary (publisher's?) binding of cloth-covered boards. Spine little chipped along front gutter, very good externally, clean and very good internally. Twenty hand-colored plates, mainly depicting the costumes of the population of the Ottoman Empire, usually with a few figures on each plate, but also showing activities of daily life, buildings, musical instruments, etc. $1250

Rare, much more so than the more elaborate costume books of the time. Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog locates only one copy, in the Austrian National Library.

 

ORIENTALISTS AND REPORTERS

OR1. Anderson, Rufus. Memorial Volume of the first fifty years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Fourth edition. Boston, Published by the Board, 1861. Original cloth. Very good indeed copy in original cloth, gilt titling bright, beveled seal on both boards. Ownership signature of Dea[con] Jasper Morgan on blank before the half-title. Below that is a gift inscription dated 1936 from Morgan's grandniece to Alford Carleton, onetime President of Aleppo College. With Carleton's bookplate on the front pastedown. Covers inter alia missions to the Assyrians and Nestorians, to Syria and Armenia, to many places in Africa, India, China, Singapore, the Sandwich Islands, to the Cherokee and Ojibwa, and so on. Natives of Urmia, where the Persian mission was established, went on to write about the country of Persia for American audiences. $150

OR2. Arberry, A. J. (translator). The Spiritual Physick of Rhazes. London, John Murray, (1950). Small 8vo. Fine in fine, price-clipped dust wrapper.  $25 SOLD

OR3. Arberry, Arthur J. Shiraz. Persian city of saints and poets. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1960). First edition. Second volume in the "Centers of Civilization Series." Fine in very good, price-clipped dust wrapper. $20

OR4. Frye, Richard Nelson. Bukhara, The medieval achievement. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, (1963). First edition. Eighteenth volume in the "Centers of Civilization Series." Fine in very good, price-clipped dust wrapper. $20

The author was the Aga Khan Professor of Iranian at Harvard University.

OR5. Haas, William S. Iran. New York, Columbia University Press, 1946. First edition. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket.  $40

Haas left Germany in 1933 and was an adviser to the Persian Ministry of Education for five years before coming to the US in 1940. In New York he was associated with the Iranian Institute and the School for Asiatic Studies (from the dust jacket). He was later instrumental in establishing the Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University. [An entry in the Encyclopaedia Iranica exists for Haas.] 

OR6. Jackh, Ernest. The Rising Crescent. Turkey, yesterday, today and tomorrow. New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1944. First edition. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. $35

Jackh was a proponent of pan-Turkism and promoted a German-Turkish alliance before World War I. As a liberal and anti-Nazi he left Germany in 1933 for England and then the US. He ended his career at Columbia University. He was accused by contemporaries of being "more Turkish than the Turks" for his promotion of Turkish ethnic nationalism. [See Wikipedia (Deutsch).]

OR7. Jackson, A. V. William. Persia Past and Present. A book of travel and research. With more than two hundred illustrations and a map. New York,  Macmillan, 1909. First edition. Thick 8vo, xxxi + 471 pp. Good copy in original blue cloth, gilt vignette on front board. Spine ends worn, front hinge tightened. $50 SOLD

OR8. Jackson, A. V. William. Early Persian Poetry from the Beginnings down to the Time of Firdausi. With ten illustrations. New York,  Macmillan, 1920. First edition. 8vo, 125 pp. Very good copy in original blue-green cloth. $30

AUTHOR'S OWN COPY

OR9. Jackson, A. V. William. Researches in Manichaeism. With special reference to the Turfan documents. New York, Columbia University Press, 1932. First edition. Original cloth. Externally fair-good condition, spine reattached along margins. Attached to the front pastedown endpaper is a précis of the contents of the book from History of Religions, May, 1932; several pages of notes, a first draft of the announcement of the Indo-Iranian Series, a photograph of Jackson and a grandchild, annotated on verso and dated at 1918 or 1919, and an envelope with clippings of reviews of the book are laid in. On the copyright page Jackson entered some additional information concerning the publication history, and in addition, there are copious marginal notes in ink and pencil throughout the book. Unique and an important copy for Indo-Iranian studies.  $350  SOLD

The author was Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages at Columbia University.

OR10. Knanishu, Joseph. About Persia and its People. A description of their manners, customs, and home life, including engagements, marriages, modes of traveling, forms of punishment, superstitions, etc. Rock Island, Lutheran Augustana Book Concern, 1899. First edition. Very good, bright copy. $45

By a Nestorian Christian.

OR11. Mirza, Youel B(enjamin). Children of the Housetops. Garden City, Doubleday Doran, (1931). First edition (stated). Orig. orange cloth, very good. Dated inscription by the author on the front free endpaper. $35 SOLD

Mirza was a Nestorian from the Urmia region of Persia. At age 16 he emigrated to the United States, where he took the honorific Mirza as his surname. He became a US citizen, served in the Navy in World War I, and eventually earned a PhD from Johns Hopkins. He wrote a number of books and articles about Iran in the first decades of the twentieth century.

OR12. Shahbaz, Yonan H. The Rage of Islam. An account of the massacre of Christians by the Turks in Persia. Philadelphia, Judson Press, (1929). Fourth edition, enlarged and reissued. 8vo. Original cloth. A very good copy with some finger marking to cloth. Frontispiece photographic portrait of the author. $75

The author was born in Urmia, Persia. He emigrated to the United States, undertook religious studies and became an American citizen, and returned as a Protestant missionary to his native region, where he witnessed the events described in the book.

OR13. Sykes, Ella C. Through Persia on a Side-Saddle. London, John Macqueen, 1901. Second (revised) edition. 8vo. Pictorial cloth, including spine. Near very good copy, front free endpaper lacking. Introduction by Maj.-Gen. Sir Frederic Goldsmit. Frontispiece folding map and eight full-page illustrations.  $150

The author was the sister of the soldier and diplomat Percy Sykes; through the entrée provided by her brother she was able to travel in Persia as no Western woman ever had before.

OR14. Yohannan, John D. The Persian Poetry Fad in England, 1770-1825. New York, The author, 1952. "An abridgement of a dissertation in the Department of English submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Science [of New York University] in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Degree conferred in June 1947." Reprinted from Comparative Literature, vol. IV, no. 2, Spring, 1952, pp. 137-160, with title page and printed cover. Stapled into wrappers.  $50    

OR15. Yohannan, John D. Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in World Literature. An anthology of the story of the chaste youth and the lustful stepmother. Edited with a commentary by John D. Yohannon. New York, New Directions, (1968). Wrappers. 8vo. No clothbound edition. Good condition. Presentation copy, inscribed to Fereidoun Esfandiary on the title page.  $25

John Yohannan was born in Iran to Assyrian parents. He was a popular professor at the City College of New York in my undergraduate years.

 

PAHLAVI ERA

P1. (Almanac) Iran Almanac and Book of Facts. 1973. Tehran, The Echo, 1973. Thick 8vo, 680 p. Wrappers. Good copy. Some ad pages printed on thicker paper. $35  SOLD

P2. Esfandiary, Soraya. Three editions of her autobiography. 1) The Autobiography of H.I.H. Soraya Esfandiary. London, Arthur Barker, 1963. Translated from the German by Constantine Fitzgibbon. First edition. Fine in fine dust jacket. $50 SOLD 2) [Esfandiary,] Soraya. Soraya. The autobiography of Her Imperial Highness. Garden City, Doubleday, 1964. First US edition. Fine in fine dust jacket. SOLD 3) [Esfandiary,] Soraya. خاطرات ثريا. Khāṭirāt-i S̲urayyā. Los Angeles (?), n.d.. Persian-language edition. $35

P3. (Persepolis) Third Festival of Arts Shiraz-Persepolis. 1969. Tehran, Public Relations Bureau of the Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis, 1969. Silvered card covers, wire-bound. Unpaginated, ca. 150 pp. English or French and Persian parallel texts. Review of the first two festivals, and programs of the third. Among those appearing in 1969 were the Czech Philharmonic, Max Roach, Abbie Lincoln, Balinese dancers, and traditional Persian musicians. SOLD

P4. (2500th Anniversary) راﻬـنﻤای رژه  / Rāhnamā-yi rizhah / Parade à Persépolis / Parade at Persepolis. Tehran, Vizarat-i Farhang va Hunar (?), 1971. Wrappers, 4to, 164 pp. Introduction and explanatory text in Farsi, French, and English, color plates of Persian/Iranian military costumes from the time of Cyrus the Great to the present; the most recent are shown as worn in posed photographs. SOLD

P5. Lowe, Jacques, Jay Maisel, Burt Glinn and Gregory Lima. Celebration at Persepolis. Geneva, Creative Communications, n.d. [ca. 1971].4to. Very good copy in good dust jacket. Lowe edited the volume and contributed photographs, Maisel and Glinn were principally responsible for the photographs, Lima wrote the text. Surprisingly scarce for a probably subsidized portrait of the Persepolis celebration. $45 SOLD

P6. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Ahmad Mostofi, and Abbas Zaryab (editorial board). Historical Atlas of Iran. Teheran, Teheran University Press, 1350 / 1971. Very large and narrow folio, 48 cm in height. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket with some edge tears. Bilingual, Persian and English, with indices in both languages. Twenty-eight plates (two folding). Published "on the occasion of the twenty-five hundredth anniversary of the Persian Empire" in "the year of Cyrus the Great." Very heavy book, will require special shipping arrangements. $150 SOLD

 

ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND ARCHAEOLOGY

A1. (Architectural Ornamentation] Bunyād-e farhang-e Īrān.  Gereh-sāzī dar honar-e meʿmārī-ye īrān. / Gereh-sazi in Persian architecture. Tehran, Entešārāt-e bunyād-e farhang-e īrān, n. d. Folder with 26 stiff cards, one with introductory matter, one with table of contents, and twenty-four colored plates of "gereh-sazi" mounted on cards. Persian inscription on inside flap of folder. "The term gereh-sāzī refers to a form of geometric interlaced strapwork ornament that is commonly found in architecture and the minor arts throughout the Islamic world. In Persian Islamic architecture gereh-sāzī designs exist in a variety of media, particularly cut brickwork (bannāʾī), stucco, and cut tilework (mosaic faïence)." (Encyclopaedia Iranica) Note: This listing follows WorldCat (no copies found). SOLD

A2. Ardalan, Nader and Laleh Bakhtiar, The Sense of Unity. The Sufi tradition in Persian architecture. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, (1975). Second impression. Large oblong folio. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in good dust jacket, jacket has a snag in the spine panel and is rubbed overall, but not chipped. $40

A3. Arnold, Thomas W.  Survivals of Sasanian & Manichaean Art in Persian Painting. Oxford, 1924. Slim 8vo, cloth and boards. Plates. Very good, traces of a stock label that seems to have come with the book at the lower left corner of the title page. $50

A4. Atil, Esin. Freer Gallery of Art, Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition. Ceramics from the World of Islam. Washington, DC, Smithsonian Institution, 1973. Large 4to. Fine copy. Many plates, some in color. $15

A5. Chelkowski, Peter J. (Ed.) Studies in Art and Literature of the Near East in Honor of Richard Ettinghausen. [Salt Lake City], Middle East Center of the University of Utah and [New York], the New York University Press, 1974. Cloth with dust jacket. Fine in very good dust jacket. $30

A6. Ettinghausen, Richard. Arab Painting. n. pl. [Lausanne], Skira, (1962). Large 4to. Very good in worn dust jacket. Inscribed in Persian by Richard Ettinghausen on the front free endpaper, dated 1350 [1971]. $40 SOLD

A7. Ettinghausen, Richard. Persian Miniatures in the Bernard Berenson Collection. Milano, Arte Grafiche Ricordi, n.d. [1962]. First edition. 4to. Fine copy in clear plastic dust jacket with the title of the book printed on it.  Jacket lifts off to expose full pictorial cover of a miniature. With wraparound band stating the book was a medal winner at The Scotsman Book Jacket Exhibition (Fine Arts Section), Edinburgh, 1962. Twelve plates. Introductory text and commentary for each plate. Inscribed in Persian by Richard Ettinghausen, dated 1350 [1971]. $100 SOLD

A8. Ettinghausen, Richard. From Persia's Ancient Looms. An exhibition in honor of the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. Washington, DC, The Textile Museum, 1972. Self-wrappers, 20 pp. Text by Ettinghausen, 11 pp. of black-and-white illustrations. Very good. $10 

A9. Ettinghausen, Richard. Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. 4to. Green cloth.  Fine copy.  No dust jacket as issued. Edition of 1000 copies.   $100

A10. Guest, Grace Dunham. Shiraz Painting in the Sixteenth Century. Washington, DC, Freer Gallery, 1949. Original cloth. Very near fine copy, with a couple of short stray moisture streaks on covers, lacks plain brown paper dust wrapper, front hinge has a couple of small breaks in the covering paper. Folio. Fifty plates. $40

A11. Harper, Prudence Oliver. The Royal Hunter. Art of the Sasanian Empire. New York, Asia History in association with John Weatherhill, (1968). 4to. Wrappers. Very good copy with rubbed spine. Exhibition catalogue. $25 

A12. Hill, Derek. Islamic Architecture and its Decoration A.D. 800-1500. A photographic survey. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1964. First edition. Large 4to. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in somewhat used, very good dust jacket. $30  

A13. (Numismatics) Miles, George C. The Coinage of the Arab Emirs of Crete. New York, The American Numismatic Society, 1970. Numismatic Notes and Monographs, no. 162. Wrappers, x + 86 pp., 9 pls. Good copy. $17.50

A14. Organizing Committee of the Sixth International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology. Excavations in Iran. The British contribution. Oxford, The Committee, 1972.  Introduction by Max Mallowan. Oblong wrappers, 48 pp. Very good. $20

A15. (Persian Exhibition) University of London (University Extension Lectures). Lectures on Persian Art. London, 1931. Single sheet printed on one side. An announcement in conjunction with the Persian Exhibition at Burlington House, London, in 1931. Offering of an introductory lecture, The History and Culture of Persia, by Professor Sir Denison Ross, and a series of lectures on Persian Art by Herbert Furst. Ephemeral memento of the first great exhibition of Persian art. Undoubtedly very rare. $50

A16. Shah, Ali. Pasargadae. The oldest Imperial capital of Iran. Translated by the Reverend R. N. Sharp, M. A., Cantab. Shiraz, Musavi Printing Co., 1971. Second edition. Wrappers. Illustrated. Very good copy. $35

A17. Yusupov, E. Yu. Miniatures. Illuminations of Amir Hosrov Dehlevi's Works. Tashkent, Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, H. S. Suleimanov Institute of Manuscripts, 1983. Small folio. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket, jacket has wrinkled from shrinkage of the lamination and has one short tear at the bottom edge of the rear panel. Trilingual title and contents: Uzbek, Russian and English. Amir Hosrov Dehlevi was a thirteenth-century Sufi poet who wrote in Persian. His family were Uzbeks who fled to India to escape the ravages of Genghis Khan's Mongols. See Wikipedia, where his name is given as Amir Khusrow Dehlevi. $50

A18. Welch, Anthony. Artists for the Shah. Late Sixteenth-Century Paintings at the Imperial Court of Iran. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1976. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. $35

A19. Wulff, Hans E. The Traditional Crafts of Persia. Their development, technology, and influence in Eastern and Western civilizations. Cambridge, The M.I.T. Press, (1966). First edition. Near fine (tiny abrasion at foot of spine) in about very good dust jacket with some wear to the ends of the spine panel.  $35

 

HISTORY, POLITICS, CULTURE

 

ARAB WORLD

AW1. Antonius, George. The Arab Awakening. The story of the Arab national movement. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott, 1939. First US edition. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. An important and influential book. Scarce. $275 SOLD

AW2. Mousa, Suleiman. T. E. Lawrence. An Arab view. Translated by Albert Boutros. New York, Oxford University Press, 1966. First edition, yellow cloth binding with blind-stamped rosette on front board. US issue with dollar price on dust jacket, binding and jacket design differ from that of the English edition. Very good in somewhat worn dust jacket with a couple of tears on the front panel.  $40

AW3. Stark, Freya. The Arab Island. The Middle East 1939-1943. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1943. First US edition. Very good copy in very good dust jacket.  $35

 

AFGHANISTAN

AF1. Ali, Mohammed. The Afghans. Kabul, The author, 1969. Third edition (stated).  Small 8vo. Wrappers. Very good. Appendix of one hundred Kabul Persian proverbs. Printed at the Punjab Educational Press, Lahore. $45 

The author was Professor of History at Kabul University.

AF2. Hanley, Barbara; [US] Peace Corps, Kabul. English-Pushtu Dictionary. 8vo, wrappers, tape-bound, [6] + 222 pp. n. pl., Communications Media Division, USAID/A, n. d. [1960s?]. Fine copy. WorldCat shows five copies of an apparently later edition of 259 pp. printed in Kabul.  $35

IRAN

IR1. Arfa, Hassan, General. Under Five Shahs. New York, Morrow, 1965. Thick 8vo, x + 462 pp.. plates. First US edition (UK edition published in 1964). Very good copy in very good dust wrapper, slightly frayed at top of spine. The five shahs of the title were the last three Qajar shahs (Mozaffar ad-Din, Mohammed Ali, and Ahmad) and the two Pahlavi shahs, Reza and Mohammed Reza.  $40

IR2. Arfa, Hassan. The Kurds. An historical and political study. London, Oxford University Press, (1966).  Second printing (1968). 8vo. Brown cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. $45

Cosmopolitan Iranian military, diplomatic and political figure from the most privileged stratum of Persian society, early and steady supporter of  the Pahlavis.

 

CAMBRIDGE HISTORIES

IR3. Bury, J. B., Cook, S. A. and Adcock, F. E. (Eds.) The Cambridge Ancient History. Volume IV. The Persian Empire and the West. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (hereafter omitted), 1969. First published 1926; six further editions listed, "reprinted with slight corrections." Fine in very good dust jacket. $45

IR4. Fisher, W. B. (Ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 1. The Land of Iran. 1968. Very good in very good dust jacket. Errata sheet laid in. Slight crease, probably a manufacturing defect, across lower part of beginning pages. Deals with physical geography, fauna and flora, and so on. $50

IR5. Frye, R. N. (Ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 4. The Period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. 1975. Fine in very good dust jacket. $50

IR6. Boyle, J. A. (Ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 5. The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. 1968. Fine in very good dust jacket. $50 SOLD

IR7. Holt, P. M., Lambton, Ann K. S., and Bernard Lewis. The Cambridge History of Islam. Volume 1. The Central Islamic Lands. 1970. First edition. Fine in dust jacket slightly worn at ends of spine panel. Two copies available. $35

IR8. Holt, P. M., Lambton, Ann K. S., and Bernard Lewis. The Cambridge History of Islam. Volume 2. The Further Islamic Lands, Islamic Society and Civilization. 1970. First edition. Fine in dust jacket slightly worn at ends of spine panel. $40

IR9. Frye, Richard Nelson (Ed.). Bulletin of the Asia Institute of Pahlavi University. Number 1. Shiraz, 1969. "Founded by Arthur Upham Pope. Edited by Richard Nelson Frye." Tehran, Offset Press, 1969. 4to,72 pp. Articles on art history and archeology by Richard N. Frye, Ali Bakhtiar, Geza Fehervari, David Talbot Rice, Lisa Golombek, Klaus Schippmann, and Donald Whitcomb. Very good copy, little bent at top. $35

IR10. Hamzavi, A[bdoul] H[oussain] K. Henceforth Iran. London, The author, n.d. [1936]. Wrappers. 8vo, 56 pp., photographic plates, color plate of a silk rug shown at an international exposition in 1935 and double-page color reproduction of a manuscript of the Shah Nameh in  the collection of Leipzig University. Facsimile of reception letter praising the work from Albert C. Bossom on House of Commons stationery tipped in. Scarce. $50

The title refers to the adoption of Iran as the official name of the state in 1935. The author was an official at the Iranian Embassy in London. Despite the premise, he later was the author of "Persia and the Powers" (London, 1946).

IR11. (Islamic Republic of Iran - Dissidents) Women in Iran. How they live under Khomeini's terror regime. London, Democratic Organization of Iranian Women, 1985 (reprinted by Democratic Organization of Iranian Women U.S.A., with stamped dollar price). Wrappers, [1] + 37 pp. Pamphlet. $20

IR12. Keddie, Nikki R[agozin]. Religion and Rebellion in Iran. The Iranian tobacco protest of 1891-1892. London, Frank Cass, 1966. Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good, price-clipped dust jacket. $25

IR13. Keddie, Nikki R[agozin]. An Islamic Response to Imperialism. Political and religious writings of Sayyid Jāmal ad-Din "al-Afghāni." Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1968. Very good copy in rubbed dust jacket. Presentation copy, inscribed to F. M. (Fereidoun) Esfandiary, and then reinscribed by Esfandiary to Amir Jahanbani.  $45   

IR14. Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1969. Progress report I. Asia Institute of Pahlavi University, Shiraz, Iran, Monograph No. 1, and American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Bulletin No. 27 (joint publication). [10] + 134 pp., 44 pls., 56 figs. Very good condition, slight turning at upper right corner. $30

IR15. (Philately) N. Farahbaksh & Sons. Iranian Stamp Catalogue. 1968. Tehran, 1968. Wrappers. 12mo, 16 + 272 pp. Illustrated.  $50

IR16. Pope, Arthur Upham (Ed.). Bulletin of the Iranian Institute. Vol. VI, Nos. 1-4, Vol. VII, No. 1 (combined issue). December, 1946. Wrappers. Very good. 212 + [2] pp. Articles on a variety of subjects. Lead editorial article on "The Institute in wartime." $25

IR17. Tabari, Ehsan. .برخی بررسی‌ها در باره جهان‌بینی‌ها و بینش‌های اجتماعی در ایران / Einige Studien über philosophisch-ideologische Strömungen und soziale Bewegungen Irans im Wandel der Zeit. n.pl., The author, 1970. Wrappers. Entirely Persian text except for German title on page at rear. Persian inscription, presumably from the author, on title page. [A Wikipedia article exists for this author.] $60

 

UZBEKISTAN

UZ1. Three Soviet-era Russian-language guidebooks, as follows. 1) Ashurov, Ya. S., and others. Bukhara. Kratkiy putovoditel'. Tashkent, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel'svto Uzbekskoy SSR, 1963. Third corrected and amplified edition. 12mo, cloth, dust jacket. Very good in fair dust jacket. 2) Abdurakhimov, M., and others. Khorezm. Kratkiy spravochnik-putovoditel'. Tashkent, Izdatel'stvo "Uzbekistan," 1967. Second corrected and expanded edition. 12mo, cloth, dust jacket. Very good copy in good dust jacket. 3) Umnyakov, I., and Aleskerov, Yu. Samarkand. Spravochnik-putovoditel'. Tashkent, Izdatel'stvo "Uzbekistan," 1967. Fourth corrected and expanded edition. Very good copy in good dust jacket. $75

UZ2. Ustimyenko, I. L. (Ed.). Tashkent Spravochnik. Tashkent, Gosudarstvennoye Isdatel'stvo Uzbekskoy SSR, 1958. Second, expanded edition (stated). 12mo, 192 pp. Grey cloth with white and gold stamping. Folding city map laid in at front. Illustrated. Very good condition. $30

The Tashkent guides precede the 1966 earthquake that destroyed much of the city.

 

CLASSICAL LITERATURE OTHER THAN KHAYYAM

CL1. Ahmed ibn 'Umar ibn 'Ali An-Nizami Al-'Arudi As-Samarqandi. Chahar Maqala ("The Four Discourses"). Edited with introduction, notes and indices by Mirza Muhammad ibn 'Abdul 'l-Wahhab of Qazmin. Leyden, E. J. Brill, Imprimerie Orientale, London, Luzac & Co., 1910. Leatherette cloth with gilt wording on  front, back and spine. Back cover with three quotations from other authors in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. English preface with original Persian text. E. W. Gibb Memorial Series, 11. Near fine copy, upper tips of a few pages of the Prefaces creased. An elaborately produced volume, which appears to have been printed by offset photolithography. $75

CL2. (Biruni) Yarshater, Ehsan (Ed.), Biruni Symposium. Iran Center. Columbia University. 1976. Persian Studies Series No. 2. Contributions by Franz Rosenthal, G. H. Youssefi, Bruce B. Lawrence, and Ehsan Yarshater. Wrappers. Small 8vo, 6 + 65 pp. Very good. $25

CL3. (Biruni) Faramarzi, Borzou. Abou Reyhan Mohammed Ibn Ahmed Al-Birouni. Sa vie et son oeuvre. n.pl. [Tehran], Departement des Publications, Ministère de l'Information, 1352/1973. Wrappers, 22 pp. Text in French. $20 

CL4. (Biruni) Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Abu Rayhan Biruni. Scientist and scholar extraordinary. n.pl. [Tehran], Ministry of Culture and Arts Press, n.d., [1973]. Wrappers. 8vo, 12 pp. Very good. $20

CL5. Hatif, Sayyid Ahmad. The Tarji'-band of Hatif. Translated by Sir Edward G. Browne. Oakland, Iranzamin, n.d. 8vo, 28 pp. Wrappers. Fine copy. Persian and English. Persian appears to be a facsimile of an earlier printed edition which we have not been able to identify. $20

CL6. (Bābā called 'Uryān LūrĪ Tāhir) Heron-Allen, Edward. The Lament of Bābā Tāhir: being the Rubā'iyat of Bābāāhir, HamadānĪ ('Uryān). The Persian text, annotated and translated by E. Heron-Allen, and rendered into English verse by Elizabeth Curtis Brent. London, Bernard Quaritch, 1902. First edition. Original plain interim boards. Spine worn, else very good. Heron-Allen was a dilettante scholar and author in many fields: violins, microscopy, Persian literature (as here), and even weird fiction under the pseudonym Christopher Blayre.  $50

CL7. Hastie, William. The Festival of Spring from the Díván of Jeláleddín. Rendered in English gazels after Rückert's versions. With an introduction and a criticism of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Glasgow, James McLehose and Sons, 1903. Cloth with dust jacket. Covers spottily discolored as if the dye had run (no sign of moisture on book or side panels of jacket), spine panel of dust jacket spotted and with a small chip at the top right. $50

CL8. Nasimi, Imadaddin. Sayyid Imad Al'Deen Nasimi, Divan. Baku, Azerbaijan State Publishing House, 1969. Oblong 8vo. Original two-part cloth. In Persian. Very good condition. $75

CL9. Lederer, Florence. The Secret Rose Garden of Sa'd-ud-Din Mahmud Shabistari. Rendered from the Persian with an introduction by Florence Lederer. Lahore, Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, (1969). Reprint. Originally published in 1920 in the Wisdom of the East series (London, John Murray). Black leather spine and printed boards with dust jacket. Very good copy in good dust jacket. Back board of book and back panel of jacket have identical list of other titles. $30

CL10. Rumi. Mevlana Djelal-eddin-i-Roumi. Roubâ'yât. Traduits du persan par Assaf Halet Tchelebi. Paris, Librairie d'Amerique et d'Orient Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1950. Wrappers, square 8vo, Introduction (pp. 9-19) by the translator. Asaf Halet Çelebi (Turkish spelling) was a poet. Signed in type at end Istanbul, June, 1946. Good copy, spine worn along top right side, some pencil marks in text.  [A Wikipedia entry exists for this translator.]  $50

CL11. (Shah Nameh) Bertels, F. E. (Ed.) et al. Firdousi. Shakh-Name. Kriticheskiy Tekst. (Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Institut Narodov Azii, Pamyatniki Literatury Narodov Vostoka, Teksty, Bol'shaya Seriya, II.) Moskva, Izdatel'stvo "Nauka," Glavnaya Redaktsiya Vostochnoy Literatury, 1966-1970 [to 1971].We have vols. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII. Lacks vol. IX. Original publisher's cloth. Very good copies. "The first modern critical edition of the Shahnameh was prepared by a Russian team led by E. E. Bertels, using the oldest known manuscripts at the time, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, with heavy reliance on the 1276 manuscript from the British Museum, and the 1333 Leningrad manuscript, the latter of which has now been considered a secondary manuscript. In addition, two other manuscripts used in this edition have been so demoted. It was published in Moscow by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in nine volumes between 1960 and 1971." Vol. 9, the final volume, is currently procurable at a reasonable price from a dealer in Denmark. Very heavy set. $325

CL12. (Shah Nameh) Firdausi / Ferdowsi. Šāh-nāma. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1971. Very large and thick, extremely heavy folio. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. Of this edition, the Encyclopaedia Iranica said: "In 1971, a luxury edition of Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma, based on the famous 19th-century century edition of Jules Mohl and under the supervision of Moammad Jaʿfar Majub, was produced [by Amir Kabir]. Jawād Šarifi, Moammad Bahrāmi, and ʿAli-Aqar Maʿumi were respectively the artists for the calligraphy, miniatures, and ink drawings of this fine edition. The bookbinding and the artwork of the cover were done by osayn Eslāmiān. The miniatures were printed in 16 colors, and the text itself in six colors." Special shipping arrangements will be necessary.  $750

CL13. (Shah Nameh) Ferdawsi. The Epic of the Kings. Shah-Nama. The National Epic of Persia. Translated by Reuben Levy. Revised by Amin Banani. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, (1973). Second printing (first was in 1967). Cloth with dust jacket. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. Persian Heritage Series, Number 2. $25

CL14. (Shah Nameh) Wilmot-Buxton, E. M. Stories of Persian Heroes. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., (1908). 8vo, pictorial binding and decorated spine. Illustrations from drawings by Gertrude A. Steel, comprising a color frontispiece and eight black-and-white plates, including one after an old engraving of the tomb of Rustam. Very good copy, binding slightly soiled, streaks on spine, lower right tip of front board bumped. The stories were adapted from the Shah Nameh.  $35

CL15. Tikku, G. I. Persian Poetry in Kashmir 1339-1846. An introduction. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1971. University of California Occasional Papers, No. 4: Literature. Wrappers (as issued). Thick 8vo. Very good copy. $25

CL17. Tusi, Nasir ad-Din. The Nasirean Ethics. Translated from the Persian by G. M. Wickens. London, George Allen and Unwin, (1964). Plaque-like sticker on copyright page noting book is in the Persian Heritage Series published under the auspices of UNESCO and the Royal Institute of Iran for Translation and Publication. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. Scarce.  $50 SOLD

CL18. Zakani, Obeid [Nezam-eddin Obeidullah Zakani]. The Story of the Cat and Mice by Obeid Zakani. Rendered into English verse by Abbas Aryanpour Kashani. Tehran, Taban Press, 1971. Publication No. 8 of the College of Translation, Tehran, Iran. Wrappers. Persian presentation inscription on title page. Preface in English by the translator concerning the author and his works. Persian and English bilingual text. Three color plates illustrating the poem. $25

 

KHAYYAM

K1. Arberry, A. J. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Other Persian Poems. London, Dent, New York, Dutton, 1972. First printed in 1954. Everyman's Library, no. 996. Green cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in like dust jacket.  $20

K2. Bachchan (pen name). Omar Kayyam ki Rubaaiyan. 1981. Hindi translation. Wrappers. Good condition. Later edition, first published 1959. $20

K3. Bertels,  F. E. (Ed.) et al. 'Omar Khayyam. Ruba'iiyat. Chast' 2. Moskva, Izdatel'stvo Vostochnoy Literatury, 1959. Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Pamyatniki Literatury Narodov Vostoka, Teksty, Malaya Seriya II. Small 8vo, original cloth. Good copy. Russian, including a translation of the Rubaiyat, and Persian. Part I (not offered) consisted of a facsimile. Preparation of text, translation and preface by Rustam M. Aliev and M. N. O. Osmanov. $45

K4. Chavooshi, Ja'afar Aghayani [Jafar Aghayani Chavoshi in other publications]. A Study on the Scientific and Philosophical Views of Hakim Umar Khayyam Nayshaburi. Tehran, 1979. Wrappers. 8vo, 102 pp. Annoying lamination added to covers has been removed, leaving some shiny areas. Back cover with a couple of wrinkles top to bottom. Contents very good. In Persian with two-page comment in English at rear. English title and transliteration of author's name as given in English on back cover. Iranian Academy of Philosophy, Publication 48.  $40

K5. Dashti, Ali. دمى با خيام / Dami ba-Khayyam. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1348/1969. Cloth. Fine copy. In Farsi. $40

K6. -- In Search of Omar Khayyam. London, George Allen and Unwin, 1971. Cloth with dust jacket. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. English edition of the previous title. $25

Ali Dashti (1897-1982) was a rationalist and critic of the claims of Islam as Divine revelation.

K7. Ghosh, Kanti Chandra (d. 1948). Rubaiyat e-Omar Khayyam. Calcutta, Khata Prokhasani, n.d.. Bengali translation. Boards with poor dust jacket. Attractive color plates and numerous in-text line illustrations. This translation was first published in 1919; this edition is probably from the 1960s or 1970s. 1980 gift inscription in Bengali on verso of half-title. $35

K8. Ha'Nish, Otoman Zar-Adusht. Omar Khayyam in his Rubaiyat. With a true history, life and biography of the Persian poet, astronomer and statesman. Los Angeles, Mazdaznan Press, (1924). 8vo, cloth, gilt title in fancy lettering on cover. Frontispiece portrait of the author, described as "Manthra-Magi of El Kharman." Very fine. Apparently a facsimile reprint but of some age. Small bookseller's label of Samuel Weiser, Inc. on the front pastedown. Includes Fitzgerald's version of the Rubaiyat. Ha'Nish (assumed name of Otto Hanisch) founded the Mazdaznan movement, which had a vogue, especially in Germany, in the early twentieth century. It is doubtful that he knew Persian, based on his life story. $25

K9. Smith, David Eugene (metrical adaptation). The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Set forth in meter by David Eugene Smith. Based upon a verbatim translation by Hashim Hussein. Illustrations by Rassám-i Arjangí. New York, B. Westermann, 1933. Exceptionally fine copy in original glassine dust wrapper.  $350

Edition of 1000 copies, this being no. 729, signed by Smith. Black leatherette binding with color inset on front board. In original box, which is somewhat worn. David Eugene Smith was a mathematician and historian of mathematics. His unsurpassed mathematical book collection, given to Columbia University, included a manuscript of Khayyam's algebra and another of the Rubaiyat

K10. Talbot, Arthur B. Quatrains of Omar Khayyám. From a literal prose translation, by Edward Heron-Allen, of the earliest known manuscript (Bodleian Library: Ousely MSS., No. 140). Done into verse by Arthur B. Talbot. London, Elkin Matthews, 1909. Second thousand, corrected and revised. Wrappers. Spine secured with cellotape, good copy. Issue in the "Vigo Cabinet," which cost one shilling. List of titles in the series on inside of front wrappers. $35

K11. Tirtha, Swami Govinda. The Nectar of Grace. 'Omar Khayyām's life and works by SwāmĪ Govinda TĪrtha. With a foreword by Sir Akbar Hydari Nawab Hydar Nawaz Jung Bahadur. Allahabad, Kitabistan, 1941. Quarter-cloth and printed boards, paper spine label which is rather worn. Boards little worn, about very good. Frontispiece photographic portrait of the Nizam of Behar and Berar. $60 SOLD

K12. Tute, R. C. and Tute, C. S. Translations from Omar Khayyam. For Private Circulation. Egham, The authors, n.d. [1947 or before]. Wrappers, 8 pp. Wrappers separating at top, chip at top right corner of front wrapper, overall good. Presentation inscription from R. C. Tute dated 23.4.47 on first page. Very rare. $250

No copies in WorldCat, which records other works by Richard Clifford Tute and Clifford Sherlock Tute. Both were connected to the British administration in India at some time. 

 

MODERN PERSIAN LITERATURE & DRAMA

L1. Ale-Ahmad [Al-e-Ahmad], Jalal. Owrazan. Topography. Customs. Folklore. Dialect. Tehran, Ketabe Zaman, 1971. Second edition. Wrappers. Very good copy. Illustrated. Introduction in English at end of Persian text.  Owrazan is a small village in Alborz Province, Iran, that was the native village of the author's father. Includes a dictionary of the dialect of Owrazan in standard Persian, the same word in dialect, and the dialect word in Latin letters, similarly the conjugation of several verbs is given. The original edition was published in 1954, the observations thus prior to that date. [A Wikipedia entry exists for this author.] $40

L2. Chubak, Sadeq. Cheragh-e Akher. The Last Alms. Short Stories. Tehran, M. H. Elmi and Sons, 1966. Colorful stiff boards. English title page at rear.  [A Wikipedia entry exists for this author.] $40

L3. Hedayat, Sadegh. بوف کور‎‎ / Boof-e koor / The Blind Owl. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1338 / 1959. Wrappers. 8vo. Wrappers browned, a near very good copy. "Eighth edition."Tipped-in portrait of Hedayat as frontispiece. $65

L4. Kamshad, H. K. Modern Persian Prose Literature. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1966. Very good copy in very good, price-clipped dust jacket. $25    

L5. Kamshad, H. K. A Modern Persian Prose Reader. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1968. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. Selections in Persian. $25  

L6. Mofid, Bijan. Shahr-e-Ghesseh.City Tales. Wrappers. Illustrated with photographs. [A Wikipedia entry exists for this author. Of this work, it states: "a profound satire that weaves social comment through adaptations of traditional music and folk tales. It toured for 3 years, was made into an award-winning film and is recognized as a classic of Iranian literature."] The author fled Iran in 1982 and died in exile in 1984. $125

L7. Naderpour, Nader. Bargozideh Ash'ar-e 1327-1349. / Selected Poems 1948-1970. Tehran, Jibi, 1351 [1972]. Third edition. Wrappers with attractive constructivist design on cover. Inscribed by the author on the half-title. $50

L8. Nalbandian, Abbas. Pazhouheshi zharf va setorg va no dar sangvareha-ye dowre-ye bist-o-panjom-e zamin shenasi. / A Modern, Profound and Important Research into the Fossils of the 25th Geological Era. Tehran, Jahne Honar, 1968 (?). Wrappers. Illustrated with photographs. This play, staged by Arby Ovanessian, was performed at the Shiraz Festival. [A Wikipedia entry exists for this author.] $125

L9. (Ossetia) Gudsow, Agube. The Princess Biaslantt. A Caucasian story. With an introduction by R. B. Cunninghame Graham. London, William Heinemann, (1926). First edition. Orig. quarter-cloth and paper boards. Tips very slightly worn, spine little darkened, otherwise very good. Frontispiece photograph of the author mounted on a horse and in Caucasian dress. The introduction stresses the importance of the horse and horsemanship to the Caucasian nobleman. Gudsow was a trick circus rider. Scarce. $25

L10. Sā'edi, Gholām Hossein.  اهل هوا  / Ahl-i Hava. / From the Air. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1351 [1976]. Wrappers. An ethnographic study of Qeshm Island and the Persian Gulf. Includes at rear a sheaf of pages of black-and-white photographs, including women in the characteristic face masks of this region and Afro-Iranians. [A very extensive and informative Wikipedia article exists for this author, who died in exile in 1985.] $40 SOLD

L11. Sā'edi, Gholām Hossein. توپ  / Tup / The Cannon. Tehran, NIL, n.d. Reprint. Wrappers. Very good. The only book by this author to be translated in English thus far (as The Cannon, Ibex Publishers, Bethesda, MD, 2012). $35

L12. Yektai, Manoucher. Falgoosh. Tehran, Rowzan, 1348/1969-1970. First edition. Poetry by a painter who is a first-generation member of the New York School and has lived for many years outside Iran. Persian inscription on the title page from the author/artist to Amir Jahanbani. Laminated boards with detail of red brushstrokes from his painting Pomegranates on cover.  Falgoosh is a form of divination based on eavesdropping on passersby's conversations. $125 SOLD

 

EGYPT UNDER THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN PROTECTORATE

E1. (Anglo-Egyptian Diary) Lett's Rough Diary or Scribbling Journal, with an Almanac for 1883. London, Lett's, Sons and Co., n.d. [1882]. Folio series, two days to a page. A diary, for the year 1883 kept by Horatio A. Rickards, an Anglo-Egyptian resident of Alexandria. Good condition externally with smoke marks around perimeter of cover, very good internally. Offered together with: Mabel Hannah Valentina Rickards. Untitled. Her French notebook, school work done for the École Suisse, "dirigée par A. Jacot," Alexandria, Egypt, dated in French Octobre, 1896. $350 NOT  AVAILABLE

The founding member of the Egyptian line of the Rickards family, Henry Selby Rickards, came to Egypt in 1840 in connection with the modernization schemes for the Egyptian state being carried out by the Muhammad Ali dynasty.  One of his children was the present diarist, Horatio A. (Hafez) Rickards. The diary begins ominously with the first three pages containing notes on “Treatment of Cholera.” The entries proceed with notations of a mainly domestic nature, including the birth of a child, problems with household staff, work matters, and so on,  but with an occasional reference to current events; on April 29 Rickards wrote that “Row between Greeks and Arabs took place at Port Said this afternoon. . . . . British marine soldiers landed and restored order . . ..”  An interesting relic of a period when there was a considerable foreign community in Egypt, and especially in Alexandria; in fact, anti-European riots in Alexandria the previous year, 1882, precipitated a foreign intervention by Britain and France which led to Egypt becoming a British protectorate. The family history of the Rickards also reveals that, for foreigners at least, religious identity could be fluid. Henry Selby Rickards became a Muslim, took the name Abdallah Pasha,  and first married an Egyptian woman from a prominent family and then, after her death, his own niece, by whom he had further children who were raised as Christians. The descendant from whose library this diary came had, in fact, a large collection of dogmatic Christian literature. Mabel was the child whose birth was noted in the above diary. She wrote her name twice on the inside cover as given, with all her middle names. Completed in a very neat hand. Mabel was very decent at French, with many efforts marked "B" (presumably "bien") or with one or two "fautes." Sadly, she died in 1897 at age 14.

E2. Baird, Alexander. The Egyptian Muddle. A speech delivered at a meeting held in Glasgow under the auspices of the Glasgow Conservative Association. Edinburgh, W. Blackwood and Sons, 1884.  Second edition. Original wrappers. Good copy. Baird "spent a large portion of his life in Egypt, and later served as president of the Permanent Arbitration Board in Egypt. He had a house in Mattarieh just outside Cairo, where he died. He spoke fluent Arabic and was heavily involved in philanthropic projects in the country." $150

E3. Cornish, J. E., C.M.G., M. Inst. C. E. Some Incidents of the Events in Egypt in 1882. Alexandria, L. Schuler, 1909. First edition. Original wrappers. Good copy, wrappers separating at top of fold. "The re-print of a lecture delivered before the members of the British Club Alexandria on the 9th January 1909, at a meeting presided by F.C. Haselden Esq." Small map of eastern Egypt and Sinai with French title laid in. Cornish was Chairman of the Alexandria Water Works. WorldCat shows three copies, two in UK and the third at American University, Cairo. $100

E4. Randone, Giuseppe. Monnaies poids et mesures metriques anglais et egyptiens. Avec tableaux de conversion des principes poids et mesures des trois systemes des monnaies sur la base egyptien . . . Alexandria, Imprimerie Generale, 1902. Second edition ("reimpression de la 1er edition"). Slim 8vo, [2] + 58 pp. Prints on pp. 1-2 three letters praising the usefulness of the book, the most prominent being from Arthur Chitty Bey, Director of the Egyptian Customs, in French, dated 1902, and on pp. 3-6 four pages of press appreciations from various organs in French, Italian, Arabic, and English. These were added for this edition. Green cloth, gilt, with dust wrapper. Book moisture-rippled, dust wrapper, now free, had clung to boards, stain in lower part of boards. Rare. $150

 

RELIGION

R1. Ahmad, Barakat. Muhammad and the Jews. A re-examination. New Delhi etc., Vikas, (1979). Cloth with dust jacket. Very good copy in very good dust jacket. Scarce. SOLD

R2. Chelkowski, Peter (Ed.). Ta'ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. n. pl. [New York], New York University Press and Soroush Press, (1979). Fine in just about fine dust jacket with a slight bit of yellowing along the upper and lower edges. Proceedings of a symposium held at the Shiraz Festival in 1976. $25 SOLD

R3. Lewis, Bernard. The Assassins. A radical sect in Islam. New York, Basic Books, (1968). First US edition from imported sheets (printed in Great Britain). Very near fine copy in very good dust jacket. $35 SOLD

R4. Nicholson, R.A. Studies in Islamic Mysticism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, (1967). Cloth with dust jacket. very good copy in very good, considerably sunned dust jacket. First published 1911; reprint of 1967. A Cambridge University Press Library Edition. $25 SOLD

R5. Sohrab, Mirza Ahmad. Abdul Baha in Egypt. New York, J. H. Sears & Company for New History Foundation, (1929). First US edition. A UK edition was published by Rider. Original cloth. Small 8vo. Fair-good copy, shelf number on spine and title page, paper aged. Remains of bookplate of Bahai Library (New York City) on front pastedown. Frontispiece portrait of Abdul Baha. Scarce. $75 SOLD

R6. Walther, Wiebke. Woman in Islam. Montclair, Abner Schram, London, George Prior, (1981). 4to. Pictorial printed cloth with dust jacket. Fine copy in fine dust jacket. Many illustrations. $50 SOLD 

 

ZOROASTER

Z1. Bharucha, A. N., Zoroastrianism in the Light of Ilm-e-Kschnoom. Bombay, The author, n.d. Presentation inscription by the author on the front (title) page. Wrappers, 5 + 66 + 4 + 24 pp. Second title page with new pagination after p. 66, "Zarath-ustra, The Prophet of Ancient Iran." $50

Z2. Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrianism, Its Antiquity and Constant Vigour. Costa Mesa, Mazda Publications, (1992). First edition. Blue-green cloth, gilt stamping on cover. Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies, no. 7. Fine copy of the scarce clothbound edition. $30 SOLD

Z3. Jehanian, Ardeshir. The Religion of the Achaemenians. Bombay, The author, (1971). Plain wrappers with fitted fabricoid sleeve. 8vo, xxviii + 202 pp. Illustrated. Introduction by Sapur Faredun Desai, note by the translator, Jehanbaksh D. Daruwala, and preface by the author. Original title: Din-i-Hakhameshian. $40

Z4. Mills, Lawrence [Heyworth]. Our Own Religion in Ancient Persia. Being lectures delivered in Oxford presenting the Zend Avesta as collated with the pre-Christian exilic Pharisaism, advancing the Persian question to the foremost position in our Biblical research. Chicago, Open Court, 1913. First US edition. Original cloth. 4to. Very good copy. $50

Z5. Mills, Lawrence Heyworth. Zaraθuštra, Philo, the Achaemenids and Israel. Being a treatise upon the antiquity and influence of the Avesta. For the most part delivered as University lectures. Part I. Zarathushtra and the Greeks. A discussion of the relationship between the Ameshaspentas and the Lógos of the ancient Greek philosophical writers. For the most part delivered as University lectures. Part II. Zarathushtra, the Achaemenids, and Israel. A discussion of the relation between the Avesta, the Achaemenian inscriptions, and the exilic Semitic scriptures. For the most part delivered as University lectures. Chicago, Open Court, 1906. Original cloth. Two parts in one volume. Very good condition. $50 SOLD

Z6. Ráná, F. A. Parsi Law. Containing the Law Applicable to Parsis as Regards Succession and Inheritance, Marriage and Divorce, &c. Bombay, Printed at the "Examiner Press," 1902. Small 8vo. Original cloth, limp covers with endpapers. "Bequest" bookplate to a university library on front pastedown endpaper partially removed, 1982 note by previous owner when and where purchased on front pastedown and her blindstamp on title page. Acidic free endpapers browned, contents otherwise good. $100

 

LINGUISTICS AND REFERENCE WORKS

LR1. Ahsan, A[bdul] Shakoor. Modern Trends in the Persian Language. Islamabad, Iran Pakistan Institute of Persian Studies, 1976. Wrappers. 4to. Text entirely in English except for Persian examples. Includes a chapter on "Modern Loanwords." Very good. $35

LR2. Jackson, A. V. Williams and Abraham Yohannan. A Catalogue of the Collection of Persian Manuscripts, including also some Turkish and Arabic, presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York by Alexander Smith Cochran. New York, Columbia University Press, 1914. First edition. Very good copy in original maroon cloth. Illustrated with black-and-white plates. Columbia University Indo-Iranian Series, Volume 1. $60

LR3. Mo'ān, Mohammed. Borhān-e Qāte'. (Dictionnaire de la langue persane.) Four volumes. Illustrated. One volume loose in binding. French title on binding, otherwise entirely in Persian. Publication date 1342 (1963). [Wikipedia entry for this author, as Mohammed Moin.] $100

LR4. Mo'ān, Mohammed. Intermediate Persian Dictionary. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1982. Six volumes (complete). Persian-Persian dictionary with supplements of proper names. All volumes good in dust jackets.  Bulky. $150

LR5. Nyberg, Henrik Samuel. A Manual of Pahlavi. Part I: Texts. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1964. Fabric wrappers. Large 8vo, xxiv + 205 pp. Very good.  $25

LR6. Shafa, Shoja Al'Din. Jahān-e Iran ShenāsĪ. n.pl. [Tehran], n.d. Orig. fabricoid. Massive volume. Vol. 1 (all published). Review of Iranian studies and bibliographical resources, including manuscript collections and early travel accounts, by country.  $75

LR7. Shaki, Mansour. Principles of Persian Bound Phraseology. Prague, Oriental Institute in  Academia, 1967. Wrappers. Good copy, wrappers somewhat sunned along borders and little handled. $20

LR8. Yar-Shater, Ehsan. The Jewish communities of Persia and their dialects. Offprint (extrait) from the Memorial Jean de Menasce, edited by Ph. Gignoux and A. Taffazzoli. Louvain, Imprimerie Orientaliste, 1974, pp. 453-466. Good condition. $30

 

MODERN-ERA IRANIAN ARTISTS

ME1. Grigorian, Marcos. Earthworks. New York, Gorky Gallery, (1989).  First (only) edition. Wrappers. Large square 4to. About fine copy. Inscription from the artist on the front blank in Farsi. From the library of Amir Jahanbani, presumably inscribed to him. Grigorian (1925-2007), of Armenian descent, was a central figure in modern Iranian art. SOLD

ME2. (Hoveyda, Fereydoun) We are proud to present the first exhibition of papiers collés by Fereydoun Hoveyda. New York, Jacques Kaplan Galleries, 1976. Wrappers, 8 pp. [2 blank], two with illustrations. P. 7 is a blurb about Hoveyda's collages from Andy Warhol's Interview. Slight staining and edge fading to wrappers. Ephemeral. Hoveyda was an Iranian diplomat and man of letters. [A Wikipedia entry exists for him under the spelling Fereydoon Hoveyda.]   $35

ME3. (Katchadourian, Sarkis) Ararat. Spring 1973. A quarterly issue no. 54. "Special issue on Sarkis Katchadourian." A native of Ottoman Turkey, Katchadourian lived and worked in many countries: Turkey, Georgia, Britain, France, Iran, India, and the United States. In the 1930s he worked on the restoration of frescoes in Isfahan. [See the following item.] His painterly illustrations of the Rubaiyat were published in 1946. This issue has a special 24-page supplement on Katchadourian. [A French Wikipedia article exists for this artist.]  $40 SOLD

ME4. (Katchadourian, Sarkis) Persian fresco paintings reconstructed by Sarkis Katchadourian from the seventeenth century originals in Isfahan. First American exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Oct. 12th to Nov. 20th, 1932. Wrappers. Fine copy. $35 SOLD

ME5. Mohasses, Ardeshir. وقایع اتفاقیه / Current Events. Tehran, Amir Kabir, 1973. Wrappers. Fair-good copy, front wrapper frayed and chipped along leading edge and curling. Bilingual introduction (Farsi and English) by Ahmad Shamlou. A selection of drawings from 1971. $75

ME6. Mohassess, Ardeshir. دیباچه   / Dibache (Daybacheh). / Introduction. Tehran, Morvarid Publications, 1976. Wrappers. Thick squat 8vo. English title and appreciations from the press in English and French at rear.  $125

ME7. Mohassess, Ardeshir.  تبریکات / Tabrikat. / Congratulations. Tehran, Morvareed [Morvarid] Publications, 1976. Small folio. Cloth with dust wrapper. All plates in color. Very good copy in very good dust wrapper. $150  

ME8. Mohassess, Ardeshir.  طرحها-ی آزاد  / Tarhha-i Azad. / Sketchbook. Tehran, Nemooneh, 1974. Wrappers. Introduction by Ali Reza Poudat. Very good copy. Inscribed with a sketch by Mohassess. $250 SOLD

ME9. Mohasses, Ardeshir. با اردشیر وصورتک هایش  / With Ardeshir and his Puppets. Tehran, Tus, 1971. Wrappers, extremely tall (40 cm) and narrow folio. Introduction by Ali Asghar Haj-Seyd-Javadi. Fair-good condition, spine incomplete, wrappers consequently mostly disconnected, lower free corner bumped, contents good. One plate partly in color. The English title is as given in a paragraph at the end of the book. $100

ME10. (Mohasses, Ardeshir) Mohasses, Irandokht and Mohasses, Ardeshir. Asar-e Bargozideye Karikaturisthaye Faransavi / Selected Works of French Caricaturists. Tehran, 1352. Squarish 8vo. Yellow laminated boards. Introduction by Ardeshir Mohasses. Irandokht Mohasses did the selections. Inscribed by Ardeshir Mohasses with a sketch extending over a double-page opening. $125 SOLD

ME11. Tanavoli, Parviz. Parviz Tanavoli. Fifteen Years of Bronze Sculpture. December 8, 1976-January 12, 1977. Gray Art Gallery and Study Center. New York University. Wrappers. Oblong 4to. Very good, slight corner creasing to front wrapper. Texts by Abby Weed Grey, David Galloway, Richard Ettinghausen, and Ellen Johnson, the latter a conversation with the artist. Catalogue, followed by a chronology by Sarah Sherrill. SOLD

 

MUSIC  

MU1. Idelsohn, A. Z. Hebräisch-orientalischer Melodienschatz. 1914-1932. Ten vols. Complete. Good condition, owner's name stamp on endpapers. $1250

German-language versions of all volumes  Imprint varies.  Pencil notes in several volumes. B. M. Israel  firm label pasted over imprint in some volumes. Of the ten volumes, the first five deal directly with the music of Jewry in Muslim lands, viz., Yemenite; Babylonian [Iraqi]; Persian, Bukharan, and Daghestani; oriental Sephardim [i.e., formerly Iberian]; and Moroccan. Presumably one also could find influences in the subjects of the remaining five volumes (German, Eastern European, and Chassidic). Bukharan Jewish musicians, in particular, had an important role in the courts of Central Asia. Unsurpassed standard work.

MU2. Levy, Isaac. Chants Judeo-Espagnols. Recueillis et notés de Isaac Levy. London, World Sephardi Federation, 1959. Four volume set. Each volume bound in a different color cloth, as issued. Fine copies. Scarce as a complete set.    $350

Music with lyrics in Ladino and French translation. Introduction by O. Camhy. The author/collector was born in Smyrna in 1919. At the age of three his family emigrated to Mandate Palestine/Eretz Israel.

MU3. (Sheet Music) Eyken, G.  J. van. Grand March. Nasr Eddin, Shah of Persia. Arranged for the Pianoforte. London, James F. Pettit, n.d. Small folio. Naser Al-Din [usage per Wikipedia] was the first Persian ruler to visit Europe (excluding Xerxes, whose visit did not go so well!).  He visited three times in all; this piece probably dates from the time of his first visit in 1873. $100

 

PRIMERS AND BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG

PCB1. (Armenian ABC) Chuguryan, Av. and A. Airapetyan, Aybbenaran / Primer. Yerevan, Aipetrat, 1952. Boards. Very good. Alphabet sheet laid in. Color illustrations. Organized alphabetically with much text and vocabulary. Portraits of Lenin, Stalin (those are easy), and Armenian figures. $75

PCB2. (Egyptian reader) Al-Badr ul Mounir / The Shining Full Moon. Egyptian Arabic primer. 1917. Printed boards. Illustrated. Contents good, staples at front rusted through. $60

PCB3. (Farsi primer) فارسی اول دبستان / Farsi Awal Dabestan. n. pl. [Tehran], 1350 [1971]. Wrappers. First reader in Farsi for primary-school children. Illustrated in color. Middle-class life before the Islamic Revolution; children and parents are dressed in normal European fashion. Royal portraits at opening pages, as usual. Presumably rare and unobtainable in Iran. $100

PCB4. (Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon), Tehran) This institute harnessed the efforts of leading Iranian writers and artists towards children's literature. Most have English promotional materials (EPM) laid in. For the most part we have relied on the promotional materials for bibliographic data. The following are offered as a group. All in squarish boards except as noted.: $750 

1) Daddy Snowman. Written by Jabbar Baghtcheban. Illustrated by Alain Gaibiche. 1970. Wrappers. EPM. 2) Howard, C. [Coralie]. What Do You Want to Know? Translated by A. Nourian. Illustrated by Nafiseh Riahi. 1973. The original text was published by Simon and Schuster in 1968. EPM. 3) Azad, A. Zal and Rudabeh. Illustrated by Noureddin Zarrinkelk. 1354/ 1975.  4) Nedayetpour, F. The City of Snakes. Illustrated by Farshid Mesghali. Boards. EPM and translation. 5) (Shah Nameh) Gord Afarid. Illustrated by Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Lamination over boards wrinkling.  6) (Shah Nameh) Abdolrezagh-e Pahlavan. Illustrated by Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Biography of artist laid in. 7) Spring in the Poetry of Iranian Poets. Illustrated by Bahman Dadkhah. 1973-1974. Tall narrow boards. EPM. 8) Anthology of Persian Poetry. Illustrated by Bahman Dadkhah. 1973. Tall narrow boards. EPM. 9) Ushij, Nima. An Ortolan in a Cage. Illustrated by Bahman Dadkhah. 1971. Wrappers. EPM. 10) Majaabi, Jaavad. The Blue-Eyed Boy. Illustrated by Farshid Mesghali. 1973. EPM. 11) Ghalamkar. Written and illustrated by Kaveh Golostan. 1974. Gorgeously depicts the production of ghalamkar, woodblock-printed cloth. 12) Jamshid Shah. Written by Mehrdad Bahar. Illustrated by Farshid Mesghali. Wrappers.

PCB5. (Ottoman Turkish) Emin, Mehmed. Musavver Tarih-i Ümem (Tarif-i Ümem) and Musavver Tarif-i Hayvanât. Dersaadet [Istanbul], Matbaa-i Osmaniye, 1308 [1891] and 1310 [1893], respectively. Two chromolithographically illustrated picture encyclopedias in Ottoman Turkish, the first dealing with communities (peoples) of the world, the second with animals. Title of first differs from cover to title page. Original pictorial bindings, covers worn, spines shaky, hinges of second work with old repairs, good overall. Complete copies with all plates. $375

PCB6. (Turkish primer) Oguzkan, Turhan, et al. İlkokuma [Alfabe]. Istanbul, Inkilap ve Ara, 1973. Wrappers. Illustrated in color by Muammer Bakir and Nevzat Akoral. Very good copy. As much an artifact of a vanished world, secular Kemalist Turkey (indeed, an equestrian statue of Ataturk appears on the front cover) as the Pahlavi-era primer offered above. Family and school life with patriotic touches. $50

 

LIFE STYLE

LS1. Tabakhi Iraniye - Frankiye - Turkiye. / The Iranian, French, and Turkish Kitchen. Date of printing 1325 [1946]. Cloth spine and printed paper over boards. Has seen much use, some pages at front and back rehinged and the like. Illustrated. $75 

LS2. Emtiaz Daily (?). آسایش زندگانی. / Asayesh-e Zindagaani / A Relaxed Life. Tehran, Tab'-e Ketab, 1331 [1952]. Boards. Probably fourth edition or printing. An unillustrated cookbook for food and drink. $75

LS3. Hekmat, Forough-es-Saltana, The Art of Persian Cooking. Garden City, Doubleday, 1961. First edition (stated). Very good in very good dust wrapper. Uncommon in the first edition. $30

LS4. Mazda, Maideh. In a Persian Kitchen. Favorite recipes from the Near East. Rutland and Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, (1972). Tenth printing (!). Illustrations by M. Kuwata. Fine in fine dust wrapper. $15

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