Item 46

Medieval Account of Egypt
1. Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, Muwaffaq al-Din. [Kitab al-ifadah wa-al-i`tibar fi al-umur al-mushahadah
wa-al-hawadith al-mu`ayanah bi-ard Misr]. Relation de l’Égypte [...]. Paris, Imprimerie Impériale,
1810. Large 4to. With title vignette. Contemp. half calf over marbled boards, giltstamped title to gilt
spine. € 7,500
First French edition of this account of Egypt, translated and annotated
by the orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, who added other significant
texts. Abd al-Latif (1162–1231), known as Ibn al-Labbad or
Ibn Nukta, was a philosopher, physician, historian, and a literary
man. He was one of the most prolific Arab writers, but of the
numerous works ascribed to him, mostly on medicine, only his
graphic and detailed account of Egypt has survived. In his edition
Silvestre de Sacy provides many valuable notes to this text, the first
translation into French. – Boards slightly worn. Top corner of title
page repaired (not affecting text) and small printed sticker with
caution against blasphemy; near-contemp. ownership “Lindgren”
on pastedown. Insignificant spotting and a few pencil annotations
in margins. A good copy.
Brunet I, 9. Gay, 1908. Zarkali 4, p. 61. Ellis, Arabic Books in the British Museum I, 48. Cf.
Garrison 1768 (cites White’s bi-lingual Arabic/Latin Oxford edition of 1806). Ibrahim-Hilmy I,
3. Sarton II, 2, p. 599.
The first scholarly publication on Kufic coins and inscriptions
2. Adler, Jakob Georg Christian. Museum cuficum Borgianum Velitris. Rome, Antonio Fulgoni,
1782. Small folio. With 12 engr. plates and 3 text engravings. Modern full vellum with red morocco
label to gilt spine. € 4,500
First edition. – The German theologian and oriental
scholar J. G. C. Adler (1756–1834), professor of Syriac at
the University of Copenhagen, was also an avid coin collector.
His greatest contributions to the study of Arabic are his
facsimile publication of Kufic Qur’an manuscripts in the
Royal Library of Copenhagen, which contained a valuable
discussion of the development of Arabic script, and the
present account of the coins and other Kufic inscriptions in
the collection assembled by Cardinal Borgia in Velletri. A
second volume would appear at Copenhagen a decade later.
Also, Adler published the Annals of Abulfida, edited and
translated by Reiske, in five volumes (1789-95). – Occasional
brownstaining, but a good copy. Rare.
Cicognara 2510. Lipsius 5. Brunet I, 52. Ebert 109. NDB I, 70. OCLC
27271009.
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