Anon.
8° (21 x 15.5 cm): [4 pp.], disbound, housed in modern marbled paper wallet (Very Good, overall clean, outer upper blank corners slightly clipped, some wear and splitting along gutter, minor horizontal printers creases to leaves, mss. page numbers, from having formerly been bound in a nonce volume, to upper outer corners). CHRISTIAN-OTTOMAN WARS: Extremely rare 1 of only 2 known surviving examples an ephemeral 'Relación pamphlet likely containing the earliest published firsthand account of a dramatic naval battle between Tuscan vessels commanded by the Spanish Admiral Don Pedro de Leyva and a pair of Algerian-Ottoman vessels, which occurred in the Greek Aegean on July 1, 1622, upon which after ferocious combat the Tuscans were victorious, capturing 243 enemy prisoners, liberating 140 Christian slaves and, most importantly, seizing a treasure of over 500,000 gold ducats, plus jewels, an astounding sum equivalent to tens of millions of todays U.S. dollars! Published in Barcelona less than four weeks after the event, as part of a sophisticated international PR campaign to promote Tuscanys outsized role in the new maritime 'crusade against the Ottomans and their allies. - The present Relación, while brief, is packed with exciting action. It dramatically describes the occasion when a small Tuscan naval squadron, commanded by the Spanish Admiral Don Pedro de Leyva (it was then common for Tuscan fleets to be commanded by experienced foreign allied commanders), based in Sicily, hunted down a pair of Algerian-Ottoman vessels in the Greek islands. On July 1, 1622, after a ferocious battle, the Tuscans captured the enemy ships, taking many prisoners, liberating many Christian slaves and gaining an astounding treasure. The present work was published in Barcelona on July 26, 1622, less than four seeks after the battle, and is predicated upon a firsthand account given by Admiral Levya, or one of his men, who pulled into that port, making it likely the earliest published account of the battle. While the content comes directly from the fight, the language was likely "jazzed up" by the publisher Esteban Liberós, who was an experienced pamphleteer, who knew what appealed to the public in Spain, Christianitys most important country. The narrative commences by recalling that a fleet of the "The Most Excellent Duke of Tuscany" was docked in Messina, Sicily, awaiting orders from "His Highness Prince Filberto, General of the Seas" (Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, the Viceroy of Spanish-controlled Sicily). The Tuscans had gained word that "the Bey of Algiers wanted to send to the Grand Turk [the Ottoman Sultan] some assistance in the form of men and money for the Navy that he was then arranging to defend the African coast, and the Archipelago [the Greek Aegean islands]". Given the go-ahead from Prince Filberto, Levya led his fleet out of Messina on June 4, 1622, and after nine days arrived in the Ionian Islands. At "Zante" (Zakynthos) they captured a small Algerian boat, manned by only four crew, and from them gained useful intelligence as to the location of the Algerian-Turkish treasure fleet. Arriving off the "Island of Negroponte" (Euboea), the Tuscans sighted a large Galley from Ottoman Rhodes (a ships rowed by oars manned by captive Christian slaves) accompanied by a tall sailing ship. The Muslim vessels tried to run, but as the narrator says, "the more they fled, the closer they got to where they will suffer". As the Tuscans closed in, they eventually realized that escape was futile, so stood to fight. Off the island of Andros, on July 1, 1622, the contest commenced. The crew of the Muslim ships seemed shocked "as the tired deer usually fades when surrounded by hungry dogs". They proceeded to mount a fierce cannonade, breaking the rigging and part of the foremast of the main Tuscan galley. However, the Christians suffered only 2 casualties, which was seen as being due to divine providence. The Tuscans then rounded upon the Algerian-Ottomans, "as would boars usually throw themselves at whatever thew at them", enjoining a ferocious battle. The Muslim sailing ship caught fire, in a scene likened to "Mongibello [Mount Etna] and Vulcan throwing fire everywhere". The Tuscans then "approached with dexterity" and "threw themselves at the Turks with naked and bloody swords, dismembering some who madly defended themselves". The Algerian-Ottomans "finally surrendered" when their galley had lost its top mast, and with many of the janissaries sent from Algiers having been slain. Upon boarding what was left of the enemy vessels, the Tuscans "found more than 140 Christians tied to the chain", which they duly liberated. They took 243 prisoners (Moors, Turks and janissaries, "all fighting men"), while many more were dead. Most importantly, the Tuscans found 500,000 ducats in gold and many jewels, housed in gold coffers. This represented an astounding sum, equivalent to many tens of millions of todays U.S. dollars! This would have dealt a crushing blow to the Ottomans overall war effort against the Christian powers.mLevya led the Tuscan fleet back to Messina "where he was received with the joy and applause that such a person and victory deserved". A Note on Rarity - All such "relations" tend to be very to extremely rare, as ephemeral works intended 'for the street, they have a very low survival rate. We can trace only a single example of the present work, held by the Biblioteca Nacional de España, while we cannot trace any sales records. References: Biblioteca Nacional de España: VE/1378-18; Giovanni CIAPPELLI, 'Linformazione e la propaganda. La guerra di corsa delle galee toscane contro Turchi e Barbareschi nel Seicento, attraverso relazioni e relaciones a stampa, in Giovanni CIAPPELLI and Valentina NIDER (eds.), La invencio?n de las noticias: las relaciones de sucesos entre la literatura y la informacio?n (siglos xvi-xviii) (Trento: University of Trento, 2017), pp. 133-161 (esp. no. 74, p. 156); Antonio GÓ
8°. 116 pp. with an illustration, original wrappers with lettering (small chips in upper corners of the last pages and rear wrapper, but without loss of text, later spine, tiny chips in wrappers). The book describes the history of the Safavid dynasty, the ruling dynasty of Iran, reigning from 1501 to 1736. It was printed in Berlin by a publishing house, specialized in oriental literature. References: OCLC 123005401 (wrongly dated 1964), 72554067, 923933817, 45071469, 334539055, 828124028, 978153122, 417410374, 473337037, 782057407, 123005401.
Lala LAJPAT RAI (1865 1928), Lala HANS RAJ (1860 1938) and Pandit GURU DATTA VIDYARTHI (1864 1890), Editors.
Large 8° (25 x 17 cm): 53 complete consecutive weekly issues bound together, being a complete annual run for the year 1883, all issues 8 pp. each, except for nos. 1, 9 and 45 (10 pp. each), no. 12 (12 pp.), no. 16 (8 pp. + 3 pp. Hindi supplement), nos. 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 41 (8 pp. + 2 pp. Hindi supplement), no. 49 (13 pp. + 3 pp. Hindi Supplement), bound in contemporary half black morocco over green cloth with gilt title and tooling to spine (Very Good overall, front blank nearly detached and initial text leaf adhered to it at gutter, some leaves a little toned, an couple leaves with conspicuous stains, some marginal tears and chipping to a few leaves not affecting text, some issues with small stab-holes sometimes touching text, occasional early ink marginalia or markings/notes, some issues with old mss. ownership signatures above title, some issue titles with discreet old handstamp of 'Forman Christian College / Lahore to blank margins, binding with edge-wear and with old repair to head of spine). Exceedingly rare and highly important a complete, contemporarily bound annual run of 53 issues of the maiden and only full year of operation of the 'The Regenerator of Aryavarta, the short-lived but highly influential weekly journal published in Lahore, edited by a triumvirate of young luminaries led by the precocious 18-year-old Lala Lajpat Rai, who later gained fame as one of the preeminent figures of the Indian National Congress and the Indian Independence movement; the 'Regenerator was founded to promote the beliefs of Arya Samaj, a highly popular Hindu revivalist movement, but also espoused shockingly progressive views on womens rights, education and social economy, as well as opposing the Caste System and supporting Indian 'home rule, it played an outsized role in building the intellectual foundations of modern India no examples traced outside of Indian Subcontinent. - BRITISH INDIA (PAKISTAN) POLITICS & RELIGION / WOMENS RIGHTS / / PAN-INDIAN NATIONALISM / ARYA SAMAJ MOVEMENT: During the fourth quarter of the 19th century there developed in Indias major cities a series of powerful intellectual-political-religious movements that were largely responsible for shaping the modern identity of India and paving the way for its eventual independence from Great Britain. Driven by classes of young, highly educated and often affluent Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, these movements sought to revive traditional religions and cultural identities while reconciling then to the modern, industrial world. While these organizations often fueled sectarianism, they were aslo responsible for forging a Pan-Indian identity, that underpinned the movement for Indian self-determination ('home rule), which, in time, became the independence movement. Arya Samaj (Hindi: 'Noble Society) was one of the most consequential and controversial of all the new religious-social movements in India. Founded in northwestern India, in 1877, by the Guajarati ascetic Daynaand Saraswati (1824-83), it supported a monotheistic revivalist interpretation of Hinduism that believed in the supremacy of the ancient Vedic texts. Unlike most strands of Hinduism, it supported proselytization, targeting the Sikh community. This eventually caused a backlash that fueled Sikh revivalism and, in good part, led to the downfall of Hinduism in the Punjab between 1901 to 1941. In the early 1880s, the epicentre of Arya Samaj was in Lahore, one of the subcontinents greatest cities and a forum of intellectual debate and cross-cultural exchange. The soul of the movement was composed of a small coterie of young students who advanced a shockingly progressive agenda. Key figures included Lala Lajpat Rai (1865 1928), Lala Hans Raj (1860 1938) and Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi (1864 1890). Lala Lajpat Rai deserves special mention, as he would later become famous as the 'Punjab da Sher ('Lion of Punjab), one of the preeminent leaders of the Indian Independence movement. The son of a language teacher, as a young law student in Lahore, his extraordinary intellect and maturity that lay well beyond his years was recognized by important people. An ardent adherent of the Arya Samaj movement, at the age of only 17, he became one of its leading intellectual architects, as well as a forceful voice for progressive issues in a variety of fields. He gained national fame as the leader of the radical wing of Congress and as one of the 'Lal Bal Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal) Triumvirate that forcefully opposed the Raj in the wake of the Partition of Bengal (1905). His tours of Britain and the United States during the WWI period made him an international celebrity. A brave and charismatic man, he inspired millions of Indians to join the independence movement and stick with it through thick and thin. Tragically, he died on November 17, 1928, from injuries sustained after leading a peaceful protest in Lahore against the Simon Commission, a British body that was to make recommendations on the future of India, but which did not include even a single Indian member. At the protest, he was the victim of a coordinated attack personally orchestrated by the Lahore Police Commissioner, and even while gravely injured stood up to address his supporters, exclaiming "I declare that the blows struck at me today will be the last nails in the coffin of British rule in India". Returning to the vision held by the young Arya Samaj leaders in Lahore in the 1880s, it was arrestingly bold, but also complex, and in some respects contradictory. While they used (at times Chauvinistic) vitriol to promote its revivalist version of Hinduism, they were also in favour of respectful inter-religious dialogue and the notion of single pan-Indian identity. They were ardently in favour of Indian self-determination, at times using politically dangerous, bordering on seditious, language critical of the British Raj, calling out what they saw as the overreach o
National Geographic Organization.
4 sheets, not joined, colour lithographs. Each sheet circa 95 x 111 cm (37.4 x 43.7 inches), if assembled: circa 180 x 203 cm (70.8 x 80 inches). Small tears and holes in folds and margins, tiny creases on surfaces, old repairs, partly with postal slips from 1984 in English language, and traces of tape, later annotations in the map with colour crayons and pencils, three later images pasted in the areas of cartouches. Accompanied with an additional example of the upper right sheet with original title: 1 sheet, colour lithograph, 98 x 112 cm (38.5 x 44 inches) (minor staining, folds with old repairs and tiny loss of image). A gigantic wall map of Iran in four sheets was printed in 1969 by National Geographical Organization of the Armed Forces of Iran (or National Geographic Organization) and was based on a map from 1923 (1301). The organization was founded in 1951 to produce maps for military purposes. Our example had been annotated in manuscript lines, representing the borders and names of regions, cities, rivers etc., probably made by the military. In the post-revolutionary period the symbol of the Kingdom of Persia, Lion and Sun, has been covered with cut-outs representing symbols of the contemporary regime, being the national emblem of Islamic Republic of Iran, a religious calligraphic sign and most notably a sticker mounted over the cartouche with the title. The image represents a large cube, marked with signs "Islamic Republic", "Independence" and "Freedom" crushing a man, wearing a hat with Stars and Stripes, and decorated with the Star of David and the Hammer and Sickle. The scene is crowned with a white pigeon, carrying the sign "Yes". A script below the image reads: "We say that Islam and the Islamic Republic is a trust given to us by God the Blessed and Supreme which we should preserve Iman Khomeini". The map is accompanied with another example of the upper right sheet showing the original cartouche without later additions.
Anon.
Oblong 8°. [5 pp.] blank, [16 pp.] manuscript in black ink with illustrations in gouache, pencil and pencil, accompanied with yellow highlights and toning, illustrated titles and initials, yellow endpapers, [15 pp.] blank, dark green washed silk binding with gold tooling and lettering, gilt edges (bonding scuffed in the margins and on the spine, first and last blank sheets with light foxing, otherwise in a good condition). A manuscript travelogue of Europe with stunning illustrations, made by a female author - This stunningly illustrated diary of two travels to Europe was written by a young woman in fine calligraphy in a form of a diary, shortly describing every day of the trip. Pages are adorned with fine floral decoration, representing flowers of month described, coloured initials, executed in modern in historic styles, and pencil drawings, often with yellow toning, representing the visited cities. The book is bound in elegant green washed silk with gold lettering. The journey started on May 11, and finished on Wednesday, July 5, 1868. The route took the travelers from probably London, to Amiens, Paris, Dijon, Geneve, Chamonix, Lausanne, Bern, Interlaken, Lucerne, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dresden, Mainz, Cologne, Antwerp, Brussels, Waterloo, Ghent and through Calais back to England. The same company gathered, after writing letters to each-other, again on September 18th in Canterbury and visited Abbeville, Dover and Paris, from where they were making outings to places, such as Fontainebleau and Compiègne. The party returned to England on Saturday, October 16, 1868, when they parted at Folkstone. The entries end with the date October 21 and the rest of the book is left blank. The author, who had to be a young woman, belonging to the upper social class, remains anonymous, but mentions her travelling companion or companions as "we". They were accompanied by Mrs. French and seen off at the station by one Mr. E. Mayne. In Paris they were both times hosted by Mrs. C. Love and her husband Dr. Love.
SAMUEL SMITH & CO. (PUBLISHERS, CALCUTTA).
Lithograph with original wash hand colour, printed on 2 joined sheets (Good, loss of upper right corner taking out part of neatline, abrasion to neatline upper left corner, otherwise some small stains and some areas of toning, some partial splits along old folds with a few minor old repairs from verso), 45.5 x 56.5 cm (18 x 22 inches). INDIA / EARLY CALCUTTA IMPRINT: Extremely rare an 'incunable of lithographic map publishing in India, being a beautifully rendered (relatively) large format general map of India published by Samuel Smith & Co., a leading Calcutta stationer and printer, made barely two years after lithography was introduced to India. - This fine, large format (relative for its context) map was published by the major Calcutta stationer and newspaper publisher Samuel Smith & Co. It is one of the earliest lithographed general maps of the Indian Subcontinent created in India, coming within a first few years of that printing medium being introduced to India, and some time before map publishing on the Subcontinent became relatively widespread in the 1830s and 40s. The map embraces the great majority of India, and adjacent areas, and extends from the Indus, in the northwest, down to the Gulf of Siam, in the southeast, and from the Himalayas in the north, down to Ceylon, in the south. Regions and countries (ex. The 'Birman Empire) are labelled, while the coasts are carefully delineated, major rivers are depicted and mountains are shown by lines of hachures, while swamps areas are represented by wavy lies. The map showcases India at a critical juncture, shortly after the East India Company (EIC), the corporate entity that managed Britains interests in South and Southeast Asia, gained domination over most of the Subcontinent following its victory during the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-8). The areas under British control are shown divided into labelled military districts, plus some princely states (sovereign states under British protection, ex. the 'Nizams Dominions), each coloured in their own attractive hue of watercolour. It shows that only the northwest of India was yet to be conquered by Britain, which would occur during the 1840s. The map also depicts the scene immediately before the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-6), whereupon Britain conquered the southern part of Burma. All major cities are labelled, while all key roads are delineated. Additionally, as described in the 'Remarks, it is noted that 'Those names written in common print are all Military Stations containing more than five Companies & those places that contain less are distinguished thus '[symbol of a four-petalled flower] / '[Black Dots] show the Civil Stations in Bengal. The present map is an 'incunable of Indian lithography, having been made barely two years after the introduction of the medium to the Subcontinent, in 1822. Copper engraving, which had previously often been used to publish maps in India was extremely ill-suited to the climate and environment of the region and, as such, only a small number of maps, generally of a small format, were published in India during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. James Nathaniel Rind introduced lithography to India, in August 1822, whereupon he opened the Asiatic Lithographic Company Press in Calcutta. Lithography was very well-suited to India, as printing stones could be sourced domestically, it worked well in humid, tropical climates, and local artists were adept at working in the medium, in part due to their experience printing textiles (many of the greatest early lithographers in India were Bengalis). Critically, it was much easier and cheaper to print maps by lithography than by copperplate, allowing larger and more detailed works to be issued in India. The privately owned Asiatic Lithographic Press, which had a bizarre and complicated relationship with the newly established Government Lithographic Press (both presses were initially run by the Rind and his partner, Thomas Black, who were accused of illegally funneling crown resources to their private enterprise), was the pioneer of publishing maps on stone in India. However, the medium spread to other workshops, although the nature of this process had not been well researched. That being said, the print runs of all maps produced in India in the 1820s were very small, and their survival rate very low. Map publishing in India remained "boutiquey" until the 1830s, when lithographers such as Jean-Baptiste Tassin (who operated in Calcutta between 1830 and 1844), produced larger print runs of multiple titles. The Survey of India, which would become the largest map publisher on the Subcontinent, would not begin to produce works in any significant quantity until the period of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42). The present map is the earliest general map of India lithographed on the Subcontinent of which we are aware. Its crude technical production, which attempts to mimic copperplate engraving in its style, is indicative of the pioneering nature of the technique. The map was created by Samuel Smith & Co., a leading Calcutta stationer and publisher. Its proprietor, Samuel Smith, became a heavyweight in the Indian print world in 1821, when he bought the Bengal Harkuru Press, a leading Calcutta daily English language newspaper that operated between 1795 and 1866 (from 1827 it was known as The Bengal Hurkaru and Chronicle, after it took over one of its main rivals). In addition to newsprint, Smith specialized in making almanacs, guides and directories, which while popular in their time, today survive in only a handful of examples. SEE OUR WEB PAGE FOR A LONGER DESCRIPTION
José Joaquim da Cunha de AZEREDO COUTINHO (1742 1821).
8° (20.5 x 12.5 cm): [2], xvii, 68 pp., preserving contemporary plain grey-green paper wrappers, bound in modern chestnut-coloured full calf with gilt title and tooling (Excellent condition, a lovely, clean and crisp example with full margins, just some very light even toning). Extremely rare in commerce the first edition of a work that featured the most powerful defense of slavery of the late Enlightenment era, and one of the most influential and controversial books in Brazilian and Portuguese history, written by José de Azeredo Coutinho, the Brazilian plantation owner-turned celebrated intellectual and cleric who was the (unintentional) forefather of Brazilian independence; the 'Analyse provided strong economic and 'relativist moral arguments that justified, and were in part responsible for, Brazil continuing to practice slavery for another 90 years after the work appeared; published in London in the French language in order to reach a larger audience, having been censored in Lisbon for being too incendiary a stellar example with contemporary wrappers bound in. - BRAZIL / SLAVERY & TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE / POLITICAL ECONOMY - At the end of the 18th century, Brazil encountered something of crisis. The economy of the vast and overwhelmingly rural Portuguese colony was totally dependent on agriculture and mining, industries fueled by enslaved African labour. For almost three centuries, Brazil had been locked into the Portuguese mercantilist economic system by which it was forbidden from having any meaningful commercial contact with foreign powers, while it occupied one of the vertices of the 'triangle trade, whereby slaves were sent to Brazil from Portuguese Africa, Brazil produced raw materials for export to Portugal, while Portugal provided both Brazil and its African domains with European manufactured goods. This system was dominated by inefficient monopolies and nepotistic cartels, and Brazil was legally prevented from diversifying its economy beyond the natural resources demanded by Portugal (i.e., it was barred from engaging in any meaningful manufacturing). Thus, Brazils economy, while large, was developmentally arrested, and highly vulnerable due to its excessive dependance upon a few key sectors and markets, which in turn were built upon the backs of slaves. Brazils elites were starting to grumble about the lackluster and ossified condition of the colonial economy, while the abolitionist movement, which sought to ban both the Transatlantic slave trade, if not slavery itself, was gaining momentum in liberal circles in Europe, including in some quarters in Lisbon (indeed, in 1807 Britain would seek to enforce global ban on the maritime slave trade). Wedded to a fragile economic system that was totally dependent upon slavery, Brazil was in a perilous position. Indeed, any serious limitations on slavery would seemingly pose a mortal danger to the Brazilian society and economy. Enter José de Azeredo Coutinho and The Brazilian Enlightenment Defense of Slavery - José Joaquim da Cunha de Azeredo Coutinho (1742 1821) was one of the brightest stars in the intellectual-political firmament of Portugal and late colonial Brazil. One of the leaders of the Brazilian Enlightenment, he was a groundbreaking economist, historian and philosopher. A native of Brazil, he was one of the first figures to call for the colony to be given more autonomy so that it could reach is economic and social potential, albeit with in the Portuguese imperial system (he was always a loyal subject of the Portuguese crown). His writings were critical in laying the groundwork for Brazilian sovereignty and, as such, he was (intentionally) the forefather of Brazilian independence, which was achieved only the year after his death. Azeredo Coutinho was born in Campos dos Goitacazes, Rio de Janeiro province, the first son of one of the wealthiest sugar planters in the region. Inheriting the family estate in 1768, a cerebral man, he soon grew bored with rural, agrarian life, and upon transferring the estate to his brother, he left for Portugal to pursue an ecclesiastical-academic career. In 1775, he enrolled at the prestigious canon law programme at the University of Coimbra, which had recently switched to a modern Enlightenment curriculum. Upon his graduation and taking orders, Azeredo Coutinhos uncommon brilliance was recognized by his superiors, and he enjoyed exceptionally rapid advancement in the church, eventually becoming one of the most powerful and influential figures in the Portuguese Empire. He was appointed Deputy of the Inquisition of Lisbon (1785), Bishop of Pernambuco, Brazil (1794), the interim Governor of Pernambuco (1798), the Bishop of Elvas (1806-1818), and in 1818, as the Inquisitor General of the Holy Office of Portugal. However, despite his place at the top of the Portuguese-Brazilian establishment, Azeredo Coutinho was unapologetically outspoken, holding many controversial views that led him to have many enemies in government, the colonial commercial oligarchy and the liberal pan-European intellectual establishment (ex. he was despised by the French philosophes, and the feeling was mutual). However, he also had powerful, ardent supporters, including the Prince Regent of Portugal, Dom Joao. Elected to join the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon (1792), he became one of its most important contributors. Azeredo Coutinhos first influential published work was the Ensaio economico sobre o commercio de Portugal e suas colonias (Lisbon: Academia das Sciencias,1794), whereupon he boldly suggested that Brazil should be given more autonomy to develop its economy and trade, while still remaining a loyal part of the Portuguese empire. He also mounted a defense of slavery, although not as forcefully as in the present work. SEE OUR WEB PAGE FOR A LONGER DESCRIPTION
TAHMASP I (1514 1576).
8°. 79 pp., original wrappers with lettering (minor chips and a small stain throughout the outer margins,wrappers with light age-toning, later spine). The book is an autobiography of Tahmasp I, the second shah of Safavid Iran (1514 1576), which also touches the Ottoman-Persian relations and religion. The publishing house Kaviani in Berlin was specialized in Persian books and was at the time described as the "press, financed and managed by Persians desirous of producing good and cheap Persian books, both classics and modern educational works, offering correct and well-printed texts" (Browne, E. (1924). Some Recent Persian Books Publications of the "Kaviani" Press, Berlin. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 56(2), 279-280). During World War I the publishing house was known for publication of a propaganda magazine Kaveh, founded in 1916 by the Intelligence Agency for the Orient (Nachrichtenstelle für den Orient NfdO) of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Worldcat lists three institutional examples, housed by University of Pennsylvania Libraries (wrongly dated in 1965), University of Utah and University of California Los Angeles (both wrongly dated in 1964). References: OCLC 43511897, 13313324, 63583271.
Lithography, 41 x 32 cm (16.1 x 12.6 inches), (soft folds, little age-toning and foxing, but overall in a good condition). INCUNABLE OF ISTANBUL LITHOGRAPHY: Au Boulet Bleu. Coueille Dégraisseur de Paris, a lhonneur de prévenir la haute Noblesse et lestimable Public de Constantinople quil a ouvert un magasin a Dégraissage en face du Palais de Galata-Sérail. Il enlève toutes sortes de taches de nimporte quelle étoffe que ce soit, sans altérer les couleurs; il rêmet les effets a neuf et leur donne leur lustre primitif. On parle chez lui les langues ci-écrites afin de pouvoir sentendre avec les personnes qui voudront bien voudront bien lhonorer de leur confiance. - A rare broadside, advertising services of a French fabric cleaner for upper classes in Istanbul and printed in in French, Ottoman, Italian, Greek, German and Armeno-Turkish, was architected by the first lithographer in Istanbul, Henri Cayol. - This stunningly rare and engaging broadside was published in Istanbul, by the first lithographer of the Ottoman capital, Henry Cayol. The advertisement for a Parisian fabric cleaner, situated in a upper class Istanbul neighbourhood, was printed in six languages and could be translated as: Au Boulet Bleu. Coueille, the Fabric Cleaner from Paris, has the honor of informing the high nobility and the estimable public of Constantinople that he has opened a fabric cleaning store opposite the Galatasaray Palace.He removes all kinds of stains from any fabric, without altering the colors; he restores the effects to new and gives them their original luster. We speak the languages here written in order to be able to communicate with the people who will be willing to honor him with their confidence. The languages engaged are French, Ottoman, Italian, Greek, German and Armeno-Turkish, which was Old Turkish (i. e. Ottoman) language, written with Armenian letters. The broadside captures the celebrated international and multilingual atmosphere of the 19th century Istanbul. Lithography in Istanbul - Lithography was introduced to the Islamic World in the second and third decade of the 19th century. Although much more appropriate for reproducing a hand-written text and calligraphy of the Arabic script than movable type, lithography was often frowned upon as a cheap technique, and was only slowly replacing the letterpress. Possibly the first press to introduce lithography to the Islamic world was the Bulaq press in Egypt, under the influence from France and Italy. The first mentioning of a lithographic workshop at the Bulaq press in Egypt is that by an American traveller G. B. English, who saw a lithographed newspaper in Italian and Arabic, made by the School of Engineering in 1822 (A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar, London 1822, p. viii. In: Hsu Cheng Hsiang, The first Thirty Years of Arabic Printing in Egypt 1238-1267, 1822-1851, p. 57). Books, made in the early years of the Bulaq press, would often use the technology of lithograph for illustrations in printed books on the subjects of the military science and mathematics. The first known lithographed book, issued other than the Bulaq press, was made in 1832 at the School of Medicine in Cairo (established in 1827). The first lithographic press in Persia was brought from Tiflis in 1821, but the first recorded book, The Quran, was only published in 1832/1833. The first Muslim books, produced in the technique of lithography in Asia, were published in India under the influence of East India Company, who brought lithographic presses there in 1823, yet the first book was not issued until 1827. Henri Cayol First Lithographer in Istanbul. In Istanbul, Hüsrev Pashas lithographic press at the Ministry of War from 1831, with its first book produced in the same year, was one of the first functional lithographic presses in the Islamic World, after the Bulaq (1822) and Indian presses (1827). The new Pashas printer and lithographer was Henri Cayol, a lawyer from Marseille, who opened the lithographic press together with his cousin Jacques Cayol. The modern printing equipment was imported from Paris. The lithographic press was running in the building of the Ministry of War from 1831, when they published this first book, titled Nukhbat al-talim (The Elite Education) with 79 charts representing for training the battalions, to 1836, when Hürsev Pasha was removed from the office. During these 5 years, 50 soldiers were trained by Cayol at the press to learn the technique of lithography. In 1836, Henri Cayol, still under Hürsev Pashas wing, opened a lithographic press near the French Embassy, where he worked until his death from cholera in 1865. This period of Cayols work, when also our broadside had to be made, is still very insufficiently documented. Cayols lithograph shop was after his death taken over by his apprentice Antonije Zeli?, a Croatian, born in Brela, Dalmatia in 1820, who moved to Istanbul 1840 for economic reasons. After learning the craft of lithography from his teacher, Zeli? opened his own shop in 1855. The lithography in Istanbul was scarce and expensive to make, as the stones had to be imported until 1892, when they discovered appropriate stone south of Istanbul. More common, especially for the religious prints was much cheaper photolithography. All the books from the Cayols press are exceedingly rare. This is the first Cayols broadside we have ever encountered.
Lithograph with original outline hand colour, printed on 4 sheets, but here dissected into 16 sections and mounted upon original linen, with extensive contemporary manuscript additions, including added shading and symbols as explained by a mss. legend, verso with contemporary pastedown mapsellers label of 'Auguste Logerot / Paris, featuring the manuscript description line "Cochinchine / Projet de traite? Aubaret" and the hand-stamped monogram of Comte Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat, the French Colonial & Navy Minister (Very Good, clean and bright, just some minor transference of added watercolour shading), 94 x 119 cm (37 x 47 inches). VIETNAM THE ORIGINAL 'AUBARET TREATY MAP (1864) / IMPORTANT MANUSCRIPT ADDITIONS / HIGH-LEVEL DIPLOMACY: A highly important and unique artefact of Vietnamese and French colonial history, being an example of an extremely rare large format printed map of Basse-Cochinchine (Lower Cochinchina, far southern Vietnam), published in 1863, the year after France conquered 3 of the Cochinchinas 6 provinces; however, to save money and avoid further conflict with the Vietnamese, France decided to return the 3 province to Vietnam, only retaining control of Saigon and other key outposts and infrastructure, which led the signing of the 'Aubaret Treaty (July 15, 1864); the present map features extensive manuscript additions by the hand of a diplomatic insider, depicting the locations and limits of the retained French bases as proscribed by the treaty; however, the treaty was soon rejected by France at the instigation of the French Colonial & Navy Minister, Comte Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat, who owned the present map and would have certainly extensively used it during his political machinations; the map is the only known cartographic record of this fascinating event and reveals 'what could have been, as France would use the 3 provinces of Basse-Cochinchine as a base to take over all of Indochina, with profound consequence to geopolitics for generations to come. - France had a long history of involvement in Vietnam, in the form of trade, Roman Catholic missionary activity, and of offering military assistance to domestic stakeholders. France was instrumental in supporting the Hue-based Nguyen Dynasty in uniting Vietnam under their rule in 1802, as evidenced by the numerous Vauban-style citadels that dotted the country. Their reward from the Nguyen Regime were preferential trading privileges and the right to expand their missionary activities in the country as they saw fit. However, beginning in the 1830s, the Nguyen court gradually started to turn again the French presence in their country, imposing restrictions on trade and harassing missionaries. While France protested, the Nguyen seemed undeterred. Matters came to a head when France launched the Cochinchina Campaign (1858-62), an invasion of Vietnam. While originally intended to be a punitive strike with the objective of getting the Nguyen to back down and return Franco-Vietnamese relations to the pre-1830s status, 'mission creep ensured that it ended up becoming a full-scale war. The French encountered surprisingly strong resistance and had to pour vast resources into the conflict. While France was eventually triumphant, the conflict costed far more men and hundreds of millions more Francs that anyone expected. The heavy toll of the war motivated France to demand that Vietnam pay a very high price upon the peace settlement. At the Treaty of Saigon (June 5, 1862), Vietnam was compelled to cede three (of the six) provinces of Cochinchine (Cochinchina, far southern Vietnam). These provinces were Bien Ho, Gai Dinh and Dinh Tuong, located near the mouth of the Mekong River, and which included Saigon. Plus, Vietnam agrees to pay France large financial indemnities over the coming years. Unexpectedly, France now found itself in sovereign control of a sizeable piece of Vietnam, founding the colony of Basse-Cochinchine (Lower Cochinchina), that was to be provisionally governed by the French Navy. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Vietnamese Emperor Tu Duc almost immediately after signing the Treaty of Saigon disavowed its contents, claiming that it was agreed to under duress. The people of Vietnam, particularly in the south, were outraged by the 'betrayal of ceding the three provinces to France, and Tu Duc feared that his own people might turn against him. The creation of the colony of Basse-Cochinchine became a lightning rod for political controversy in France. In the wake of Frances annexation and ongoing conquest of Algeria, which commenced in 1830, a fierce contest had underway between those who favoured French colonial expansion, and those who wanted France to have only a light overseas footprint, confined to missionary activities and trade. While the takeover of Algeria was generally viewed to have been successful, it was very costly in blood and treasure. The Cochinchina Campaign had cost a fortune, and the French regime was already facing rebellions mounted by locals whose aim to eject France from Vietnam wholesale. This led many French politicians to believe that the Basse-Cochinchine colony was a poison chalice.From 1862 to 1864, there developed two main camps in the French elite regarding the Vietnam question. The 'Retrocessionists, led by the Foreign Minister, Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys, advocated that France return the three provinces to Vietnam, in exchange for a sizable financial payment, the right to maintain some French commercial and military bases in the area, along with iron-clad assurances for the safely and freedom of French missionaries and traders. As such, it was hoped that French should reap the economic and social benefits of engaging with Vietnam without incurring immense costs and stoking the enmity of the Vietnamese people. Opposing them were the 'Colonialists, led by the Colonial & Navy Minister, the Comte Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat. They dreamed of France regaining a vast overseas empire, with
Lithograph with full original hand colour, dissected into 32 sections and mounted upon original linen, official Survey of India handstamp to verso accompanied by inscriptions and signatures of British military officers dated 1865, folding into original quarto brown cloth covers with gold debossed arms of the Survey of India bearing the title Cis-Sutluj Division to front cover, marbled endpapers, with old plain paper dust jacket (Very Good, save for an old ink stain in lower left centre, otherwise overall clean and bright with gorgeous original colour with just some light staining in upper left quadrant, covers worn), 114 x 161 cm (49 x 63.5 inches). A grand format, resplendently coloured military-topographical masterplan of the Cis-Sutluj Division, the strategic keystone of Northern India, embracing the parts of modern Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, it lay along the Grand Trunk Road between Delhi and Lahore; the map was issued by the Survey of India in May 1858, predicated upon the ultra-accurate mapping of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, in the immediate wake of the Uprising of 1857, a wildfire insurgency that nearly toppled British rule in India, during the which the people of Cis-Sutluj Division generally remained loyal to the colonial regime, such that region acted as a firewall stopping the rebellion from spreading out of control; the map is extremely rare as it was made in only a handful of examples restricted for high-level military use, with the present example featuring an official stamp and the dated signatures of army captains; the map captures the topography, infrastructure, urban centres and military stations in unprecedented detail, making it by far and away the finest map of region available upon the advent of the The Raj, the new British colonial regime of direct crown rule over India. - From the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries, the East India Company (EIC), the private joint-stock company that traditionally handled British interests in India progressively endeavoured to conquer the entire Subcontinent. Where necessary and desirable, it invaded, annexed and directly ruled regions (ex. Bengal), while in other cases it was content to allow areas to remain Native States, British protectorates governed by supposedly loyal indigenous rulers. The EIC armies had to vanquish a succession of very powerful, and often well-led, Indian empires and potentates, during a series of epic contests. Although there were many twists and turns, the EIC eventually accomplished its goal of conquered virtually all of India (something that had never been achieved by anyone before) upon vanquishing the once-mighty Sikh Empire during the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848-9). However, the EICs unprecedented triumph masked fatal weaknesses in its regime, popularly referred to as the Company Raj. While the EIC was originally set up at the beginning of the 17th century to manage trading bases in India, since the mid-18th century, it came to directly and comprehensively rule vast regions, overseeing military security, infrastructure, civil administration and social services for millions of people. Upon gaining control over the entire Subcontinent, the EIC found itself saddled with one of the most awesome bureaucratic burdens in world history, a weight which proved far too great for its abilities and resources. During the 1850s, the EICs finances were deeply in the red, with their military and civil service stretched to the breaking point. This led the Company to became sloppy, not adequately handling events, while unnecessarily alienating key stakeholders and communities. Matters came to a head during the Indian Uprising of 1857 (which technically lasted from May 19, 1857 to November 1, 1858, although most hostilities concluded by the end of 1857), when large numbers company of sepoys (Native Indian troops in British service), with the support of some native rulers (notably the ailing Mughal Empire), rebelled against the Company Raj, due to a complex variety of grievances. Historians are generally agreed that the insurgency could have been avoided had the EIC regime not been so atrophied and disorganized. The Uprising was centred in Oudh (essentially modern Uttar Pradesh) and spread like wildfire. The EIC forces initially suffered surprising setbacks, and almost lost total control of the situation, only narrowly being saved by a mass influx of British forces from abroad. While the rebellion was eventually put down, it was a near-death experience for British rule in India, and fatal one for the Company Raj. On November 1, 1858, the 258-year-old East India Company was removed from power, and all its possessions and mandates in India were henceforth assumed by the British Crown, creating what was known as The Crown Raj, more frequently known simply as The Raj. SEE OUR WEB PAGE FOR A LONGER DESCRIPTION
12 °. Engraved frontispiece, 104 pp., 14 interleaved aquatint illustrations, contemporary dark brown goat with linear blind tooling in margins, small old round paper stamp in the upper corner of the front board, patterned endpapers, red edges (binding slightly worn on the edges, tiny cracks in hinges of endpapers, deaccessioned small library stamps, light water-staining in the first part of the book). A religious work in Slovenian language, printed in Ljubljana. The text is written in the Bohori? alphabet, an orthography used in Slovenian printing until the early 19th century. The alphabet was first used by the pioneer of Slovenian book printing Primo Trubar in the 16th century and was named after Adam Bohori?, who used the symbols in his work Articae Horulae Succisivae, printed in 1583 and published in 1584. This is a handsome example with a contemporary binding and decorative endpapers. The book was published in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and was based on the first translation, issued in 1843 in Graz, Austria. References: OCLC 445132371.
8°.52 pp. with a black and white map and illustrations, later dark red cloth binding with gold lettering (age-toned with small soiling to t he title page, sporadic leaves loose, binding with minor wear and tiny annotations on the inner side of the boards, but otherwise in a good condition). GEORGIAN INDEPENDENCY: [Turkish Georgia. Lazistan, Trebizond and Chorokh Region] - The text, accompanied with charts and illustrations, describes the Georgian inhabitants in the south-eastern coastal regions of the Black Sea. It was printed in Berne in 1919, at the end of World War I, when many countries were fighting to gain their independency. The book was published in 1919, a year after Georgia declared independence on May 26, 1918, and when the future of the Georgian inhabitants of the discussed coastal area, at the time still a part of the Ottoman Empire, was unclear. In the same year Georgian general Giorgi Mazniashvili was leading the attack against the White Army in the East coast of the Black Sea. The author Grigor Veshapeli (1892-1926) was a Georgian politician, publicist, journalist and member of the founding assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. He studied in Moscow, where he also first published this text in 1916, probably as an article in a newspaper. Upon his return to his homeland, he became an active pioneer of the politics of independent Georgia, but soon had a fall-out with his party. After the Soviet annexation of the country in 1921, Veshapeli fled to Paris, but surprisingly soon turned into a keen Soviet sympathizer, spreading the Soviet propaganda and trying to convince often appalled Georgian immigrants to return to their country and embrace the new regime. When in 1925, Veshapeli attempted to establish "Georgian Soviet Colony" in Paris, in Café La Voltaire, he faced a violent reaction from his fellow countrymen, who escaped the Soviets. A year later, Grigor Veshapeli was shot to death by another Georgian in Paris. He was first buried at the Montparnasse cemetery, but his body was two years later transferred to Tiblisi. References: OCLC 504869107, 962928056, 1143030286, 26671255. Nagendra Kr Singh Abdul Mabud Khan, Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims Tribes, Castes and Communities, 2001, Volume 2, p. 840.
Broadside (38 x 39 cm), letterpress on fine laid watermarked paper, red dyed fore-edges (Very Good, overall clean and bright just some light toning along old folds and very sight staining on far left margin, lower left corner contemporarily clipped to enable binding, some creasing to lower right quadrant). Extremely rare 1 of only 3 known examples an 'Edital (Notice) broadside issued by the exiled Portuguese royal court in Brazil that encourages the cultivation of plants that have pharmacological and industrial uses, part of Brazils revolutionary economic liberalization programme overseen by the 'Real Junta do Commercio, published in Rio de Janeiro by the Impressao Regia, Brazils first enduring and officially sanctioned printing house, made to be affixed to notice boards, it is one of only very few early Brazilian broadsides to survive, making it a valuable original artifact of public communication in late colonial Brazil, and one concerning an intriguing and consequential subject. - BRAZIL PHARMACOLOGY (MEDICINAL PLANTS) AND COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE / EARLY RIO DE JANEIRO BROADSIDE: Brazil is a land of astounding natural and human resources. By the 18th century, Brazil had become the crown jewel of Portugals global empire and, as tended to be the case with other global empires, Brazil and Metropolitan Portugal were locked in a mercantilist relationship. Brazil was one of the vertices of Portugals Transatlantic 'triangle trade, in that Portuguese Africa supplied Brazil with slaves (the lifeblood of its agrarian economy), while Brazil supplied Portugal with precious commodities (sugar, cotton, diamonds, precious metals and valuable hardwoods), in exchange for European manufactured good. This relationship was paternalistic and heavily skewed to Portugals favour, with Brazil forbidden from trading directly with foreign powers or developing its own manufacturing base. Moreover, Portuguese-Brazilian trade was run by inefficient cartels and nepotistic alliances, ensuring that production was incredibly wasteful, while many potentially lucrative resources were left entirely unexploited. Napoleon Bonapartes invasion of Portugal in late 1807, caused the entire Portuguese royal court to relocate to Brazil. On November 29, 1807, a massive flotilla under the protection of the British Royal Navy, carrying Dom Joao (later King Joao VI), the Prince Regent of Portugal, and 15,000 of his nobles, officials and their families, set sail across the Atlantic. Upon the flotillas arrival in Brazil, in January 1808, Rio de Janeiro became the capital of the Portuguese Empire, so turning the structure of colonialism on its head. This momentous change opened the door to revolutionary economic reforms in Brazil. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, the Count of Linhares (1755 1812), the de facto prime minster of Brazil, was a long-time radical liberal reformer, a follower of Adam Smith, who believed that Portugal and Brazils economic growth had been stifled by mercantilism. He advanced that open, global trade would jumpstart the empires commerce into hyperdrive. Brazils loss of connection to the motherland necessitated the colonys internal development and its opening to foreign trade, such that for the first time Linhares was able to implement his vision unimpeded, overruling his many opponents at the royal court. Under Linharess influence, Dom Joao proclaimed the Carta Régia (Royal Charter) of January 28, 1808, which ordered that "all and every kind of commodities, wares and merchandise transported either in foreign vessels belonging to the powers that remain at peace with my royal crown or in ships belonging to my vassals are to be admitted by the customs of Brazil". While the proclamation was aimed squarely at Britain, then the only major trading power that remained truly at peace with Portugal, it opened the door to trading with other players in the future. In order to make Brazil more self-reliant and to create more exportable commodities, Linhares saw the country develop its own manufacturing base and 'national institutions. Of special relevance to the present work, he created, in March 1808, the Impressao Regia, the first enduring and officially sanctioned printing house in Brazil, and the Tribunal da Real Junta do Commercio, Agricultura, Fabricas, e Navegacao deste Estado do Brasil, e Domínios Ultramarinos (established August 23, 1808), a modern economic development agency that would reenergize existing sectors, while interim and promoting new and promising industries. Brazil has the greatest biodiversity on the planet, and its thousands of endemic species of plants produced an immense variety of medicines, spices, dyes and industrial materials. However, it was well known that only a tiny fraction of the potential uses of Brazils flora was being exploited. Moreover, the country could also grow many useful plants from India and Africa, although this was not yet being done as extensively or efficiently as desired. The economic and public health benefits of exploiting this sector promised to be enormous. The Tribunal da Real Junta do Comercio aimed it sights on this issue, with the case entrusted to Manoel Moreira de Figueiredo, a supreme court justice, who was one of the directors of and sometime secretary of the agency. In the name of Dom Joao, Moreira de Figueiredo issued the present Edital (Notice), as a broadside that was intended to be sent to all of Brazils Captaincies (provinces) to be affixed to public message boards. Importantly, while by far and away the most widely read of all the works of the Impressao Regia, very few early Brazilian broadsides survive, making this a valuable original artifact of public communication in colonial Brazil. SEE OUR WEP PAGE FOR A LONGER DESCRIPTION
Chromolithographed map, originally dissected in 15 segments and mounted on paper, 63 x 73 cm (24.8 x 28.7 inches), folded in original illustrated cromolithographed wrappers 8° (Slightly age-toned, minor chips to the edges of segments, sporadic annotations in pencil, wrappers and spine slightly rubbed, but overall in a good condition). ISTANBUL: A rare and highly decorative folding map of Istanbul marks not only the most known monuments of the city, but also foreign embassies, a telegraph office, French, British and Austrian post office, horse driven tramcars, hospitals and barracks. Three colours of buildings mark various neighborhoods: Muslim (dark red), Christian (brown) and Jewish (yellow). The information showcased on the map suggests, that the map was printed for Western expats in the Ottoman capital. The wrappers are decorated with a charming orientalist title, a view of Istanbul and on the rear cover a view of the publishers shop on the prominent location on the Grand Rue de Pera. The map is not dated but was probably printed around 1880. It already represents the Tünel subway, which was opened in 1875. The publisher Weiss probably closed his shop in the late 1870s or around 1880. S. H. Weiss A German Publisher in Istanbul - S. H. Weiss was a fine representative of an industrious international book and map dealer, who successfully connected German publishing industry with distribution at the developing Ottoman market. His store in Istanbul were specialized in selling Germany books, maps and stationeries, often printed in Germany or Switzerland exclusively for the Eastern market. The clients were numberless expats, upper class Ottomans and also Sultan himself. Weiss was closely connected with the Leipzig book trade, concentrated around the book fair, and was first employed as the official commission-agent for Koehler Brothers in Istanbul and later, in the 1860 and 1870, shared his first premises with them on 323 Grand Rue de Pera, selling maps, stationaries and foreign literature. In 1870s he was occupying a shop at 477 Grand Rue de Pera, across the street of the Russian Embassy. Later Weisss store, depicted on our map, was located on a prominent location in the third shop on the left-hand side of the entrance of the Swedish embassy, at 481 Grand Rue de Pera (for details please see sheet 36 of the insurance plan of Istanbul by Charles E. Goad from 1905), today approximately on the location of 237 Istiklal, occupied by Turkish-German Bookstore & Café. It is unclear, when S. H. Weiss closed his business, but probably in the late 1870s, as he did not survive the global depression (Gabriele 2018). A Note on Rarity - The map is extremely rare, especially in the West, as it was only sold in Istanbul for a short period of time. We could only trace three institutional examples in Western libraries (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities). References: OCLC 732277562, 1040270987, 80033612. Cf.: Alberto Gabriele, The Grand Tour and the North-South Axis of the Nineteenth Century Book TradeThe Pan-European Trade of Foreign-Language Editions and the Forces of Incorporation that Reshaped the Industry, Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture, Volume 10, no. 1, 2018.
2 Volumes (not bound together). 8°, [2 pp.], 34 pp., original wrappers with lettering, bound together with original string (uncut example, margins with minor staining and tiny tears in margins, old annotations in pencil on the cover, but overall in a good condition). 8°, 23 pp., original wrappers with lettering, bound together with original string (uncut example, light staining in margins, stronger on the first page, title page with staining and loss of paper in the upper part, but overall in a good condition). A rare pair of pamphlets in Sinhala language was printed in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The author was Sadoris Fernando, who describes himself the introduction as a "native doctor". The first pamphlet lists various healing recipes for food and drinks, deriving from Sri Lankan traditional medicine, and describes the diseases of male and female reproductive organs and urinary tract infections, which were common at the island at the time. The text also describes the plants and their parts, used in medicine. The second volume followed a year after the first one, according to the epilogue as a result of huge success of the first book, which caused the readers to write numberless letters to the author. The text describes further healing recipes, with ingredients such as coconut, curcuma and various spices, how to ferment drinks, make soaps and washing water from various ingredients etc. We could not trace any institutional examples in western libraries.
Manuscript letter (25 x 20 cm), 3 pp., plus addressed and docketed verso, black pen on a single folium of laid watermarked paper, signed "James Lyall & Co.", remains of old wax seal (Very Good, overall clean, slight wear along old folds, small chip to blank margin due to opening of wax seal). A fascinating original manuscript letter shedding unique and valuable insights into the related wine and indigo trades in mid-19th century India, written by the leading Calcutta wine and indigo merchant James Lyall & Co., and addressed to the great 'maison du vin of Clossman & Co. of Bordeaux, which details the risks involved in the generally lucrative importation of French Claret (which the rave of the colonial elite in Calcutta) into India, and the tumultuous nature of the Bengali indigo industry (indigo was then highly prized as a dye by Parisian fashion houses) one of only a very small number of surviving original primary sources on what were two key aspects of socio-economic life in contemporary Calcutta - During the mid-19th century, the British colonial elite in Calcutta drank French claret at dinner, in line with their old habits at home, even if this was perhaps not well suited to Bengals florid, tropical climate. In fact, purchases of wine often represented the largest single line item in the household costs of Europeans in the capital of British India and, as such, the wine business was a 'big deal. However, safely importing and storing claret in Bengal was a challenge, owing to the climate, and a significant portion of the wines shipped from France were often found to be spoiled. As such, importing wine to India was a risky business, although generally still lucrative, as the good and great of Calcutta were willing to pay exceptionally high prices for any viable bottles (most customers were either personally very wealthy or had access to large expense accounts), while spoiled bottles could still fetch surprisingly good money at auction. These factors made up for the risk from wastage, and overall, the wine business in India was highly profitable. One of the leading wine importers in India during the mid-19th century was the firm of James Lyall & Co. of Calcutta, a mercantile enterprise that was also heavily involved in the silk and indigo trades. It had its origins in the East India Companys 1833 decision to end its own monopoly over the silk trade, whereupon in 1835, the firm of Lyall, Rennie and Co., headed by James Lyall, a Scots immigrant, was made one of the three main licensees to carry on the trade. The company soon entered the indigo market and began to import large quantities of French wine into India. Rennie was, in due course, dropped as a partner, and the firm henceforth bore the name James Lyall & Co. The enterprise eventually opened offices in London (appropriately at 6, East India Avenue, Leadenhall Street) and Glasgow. It seems that James Lyall also had stake in the complementary Calcutta firm of Mackenzie, Lyall & Co., who were real estate agents, wine merchants and auctioneers, as well as being the proprietor of The Calcutta Exchange Gazette. James Lyall & Co. would remain a big player in its fields until it spectacularly went bankrupt in 1881, owing its creditors £250,000, then an enormous sum. It was then normal for merchants in India to have their hands in several different industries, as market conditions there were notoriously unpredictable. While vast profits could be made one year in a certain sector, a tragic event (ex. cyclone, droughts, war, etc.) could ensure that revenue from the same for the next year was nil. As such, one had to hedge their bets. Bengal was then home to the worlds largest indigo industry and, as mentioned, Calcutta wine merchants were often key players in this sector. While indigo, then in hot demand in Europe as a dye material for textiles, was overall a very lucative field, the annual harvests varied in quality and yield due to the weather, while the massive Bengali textile industry competed with European exporters for the best stock. Fortunately for the Calcutta wine importers, many of the main French wine exporters were highly interested in dealing in indigo, as Parisian fashion houses were willing to pay exaggerated sums for the stuff. As such, it was common for Calcutta wine merchants to trade, with Bordeaux wine houses, Bengali indigo for French claret, so offsetting the great capital costs of their wine orders. Despite the considerable importance of the wine trade in 19th century Calcutta, and its close relationship to the indigo and silk trades, the field today remains poorly researched, in good part due the lack of surviving manuscript primary sources. As such, the preset letter provides very rare and valuable insights into what were key elements of the commercial and social life of the ruling elite of British India. The present original manuscript letter was written by James Lyall & Co. on December 13, 1853, as part of an ongoing chain of correspondence with the preeminent French wine house of Clossman & Co. (founded 1770) of Bordeaux. Clossman not only owned many of its own vineyards in the Gironde region of France, but also acted as the agent of export for many other winemakers across France and Spain. Here Lyall discusses its ongoing, long-term relationship with Clossman, in which the prior has purchased large quantities of wine from the latter, while Clossman received indigo shipments from Lyall in return. This letter generally bears bad news, as Lyall feels compelled to complain about the fact that a significant part of the last wine shipment from Bordeaux was spoiled (sadly not an uncommon occurrence), while the indigo market was currently in a state of flux, such the Lyall would need to wait things out in order to procure a good shipment for Clossmann. The full text of the letter reads: By Steamer "Royal" Calcutta 3rd December 1853. Mess. Clossman & Co., Bordeaux. Gentlemen, We had the pleasure by Mail of 19th Ulti
8°. [2 pp.], 278 pp. letterpress, contemporary dark brown Morocco binding with a flap and gold and blind tooling (old book-sellers stamp on the first unnumbered blank page, old annotations on blank pages and inner sides of the boards, binding slightly rubbed with loss of material on the corners, sporadic margins with light water-staining and folds, but otherwise clean). A religious work. We could not trace any institutional examples on Worldcat.References: Kemal Beydilli, Books Published In The First Turkish Press In Istanbul, No. 43 (on-line source: BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE FIRST TURKISH PRESS IN ISTANBUL | History of Istanbul). More on the early Turkish Presses in Istanbul:Kemal Beydilli, THE PRINTING PRESSES OF ISTANBUL (1453-1839) THE PRINTING PRESSES OF ISTANBUL (1453-1839) | History of Istanbul.The Üsküdar Press, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, was one of the earliest Turkish Istanbul-based presses, preceded only by Müteferrika Press (est. 1727), Ra?id Efendi Press and Mühendishane Press. Also known as Matbaa-i Amire, the State Press, it was the successor of the Mühendishane Press (Engineering Press or also Military Press), founded on the premises of the newly opened Military Engineering School in 1797. Until 1802, this publishing house issued 19 titles, which were all sponsored by the state and made for the military and engineering purposes. In 1803, the Press moved in a new location, in a new, neatly constructed complex close to the Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar, which also gave the institution a new name. Under the new leadership the press received a permission to accept private commissions and to expand their repertoire. Until its closure in 1824, the Üsküdar Press printed 73 titles on various subjects.
8°, iii, 65 pp., original front cover, bound together with original string (uncut example, margins slightly age-toned with tin tears, cover slightly dusty, but overall in a good condition). CANABIS / SRI LANKAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINES: A pamphlet in Sinhala language, printed in Peliyagoda in Sri Lanka contains recipes for healing food, drinks and washing water, mostly for childrens diseases. Based on Sri Lankan traditional medicines the recipes include various spices, local fruits and plants and also mention Cannabis as an important herbal ingredient. This is the third edition. The first one was published in 1894. We could not find any examples of any early editions in Western libraries. References: Cf. Wasantha S. Weliange, Cannabis and Medicinal Research History of Medical Cannabis in Sri Lanka, January 2019, Conference: Cannabis and Medicinal Research (on-line source: (PDF) Cannabis and Medicinal Research History of Medical Cannabis in Sri Lanka).
8°. [4 pp.], 472 pp., contemporary three quarter grey linen binding with marbled boards, hand-written title on the spine, marbled edges (book plate of a Franciscan Library in Krakow with deaccessioned stamps on the inner side of the front board, stamps of the same library on the title page and inside the book, deaccessioned stamp on the title page, old paper label on the upper part of the front board with a deaccessioned stamp, light foxing in the first part of the book, but overall internally in a good and clean condition, binding with light wear to the corners). An early Polish book, supporting the womens rights - A rare early work in Polish language list arguments for legally increasing womens right in Poland. The chapters of the book embrace the following titles: Response to allegations against womens equality, Historical overview [of womens rights], How and why is set the question of womens equality, Economic liberation of women, Woman in social and public life, A womans family position, Family status of the man, Laws What a woman has the right to demand from lawmakers, and what of morals? This is a second, enlarged edition with an additional appendix of eight chapters with over 160 pages of various commentaries, mostly concerning womens right in the United States, and translations. The first edition was published in 1873 (Scan: O prawach kobiéty Google Books). Polish women were only granted the right to vote on November 1918, just two weeks after Poland regained independence. Worldcat lists two institutional examples: Warsaw University Library (Uniwersytet Warszawski Biblioteka) and The British Library. References: OCLC 504745157, 759051533.
Two volumes bound-in-one. 8°. 96 pp., 128 pp., contemporary marbled paper binding with a flap, Dark brown goat spines (age-toned and stained, small tears in marginsold annotations in black ink in margins, sporadic words underlined in red and black ink, old booksellers stamps, hand-written title in lower edge, binding scuffed, rubbed and with small loss of material, corners rubbed with tiny folds, a tiny hole in the text of the first page). The Üsküdar Press, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, was one of the earliest Turkish Istanbul-based presses, preceded only by Müteferrika Press (est. 1727), Ra?id Efendi Press and Mühendishane Press. Also known as Matbaa-i Amire, the State Press, it was the successor of the Mühendishane Press (Engineering Press or also Military Press), founded on the premises of the newly opened Military Engineering School in 1797. Until 1802, this publishing house issued 19 titles, which were all sponsored by the state and made for the military and engineering purposes. In 1803, the Press moved in a new location, in a new, neatly constructed complex close to the Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar, which also gave the institution a new name. Under the new leadership the press received a permission to accept private commissions and to expand their repertoire. Until its closure in 1824, the Üsküdar Press printed 73 titles on various subjects. S Two grammars in Arabic language, were first published by the Üsküdar Press in 1805 and were traditionally published and bound together. The printer was Hafiz Mehmed Emin Efendi, the imam of the Üsküdar Do?ancilar Mosque, who worked at the Üsküdar Press from circa 1808 on. References: Kemal Beydilli, Books Published In The First Turkish Press In Istanbul, Nos. 32-33 (on-line source: BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE FIRST TURKISH PRESS IN ISTANBUL | History of Istanbul).
Manuscript letter, 1 p., brown ink with some corrections in pencil on a single octavo (23 x 19.5 cm) sheet of laid paper, signed "A Prevost", addressed on reverse, "The Rev. Mr. Shaw Wolverhampton" (Very Good, some light stains, wear along old folds with some partial splitting along fold lower left). A fascinating letter regarding the Siege of Savannah (1779), an exciting and consequential event of the American Revolutionary War, during which the Georgian capitals British garrison withstood an assault by a much larger combined Franco-American force; here, writing in 1785, Brigadier General Augustine Prévost, who served as the British commander at Savannah, provides Reverend Thomas Shaw, a major 'fixer in the English Midlands, with information concerning the important, but little known, role of a small contingent of Jamaican militiamen, led by the Kingston ironmonger Aaron Manby, who were present at the siege, but who valiantly held the "Jamaica Battery" against a strong Continental offensive. - The Siege of Savannah (September 16 to October 18, 1779) was a significant event of the American Revolutionary War, during which an outnumbered British garrison held the capital of Georgia against a Franco-American force. Savannah had been captured by the British the year previous, and unlike in most other places in the Thirteen Colonies the majority-Loyalist population of the city generally welcomed the 'occupation. During the siege, the city was surrounded by a sizeable army led by American General Benjamin Lincoln, supported by a very large naval contingent under the famed French Admiral, the Comte dEstaing, with their forces having a combined strength of 5,050 men and 42 ships. The Franco-American expedition notably included Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish nobleman who joined the Patriot cause, and was known as the "Father of American Cavalry". The British forces, numbering 3,200 men, were backed by only 8 vessels. The seminal event of the siege occurred on October 9, when the Franco-American forces tried to storm the British defenses of Savannah but were repelled with great loss. Memorably, Count Pulaski was one of the casualties, robbing the Patriot cause of one of their most inspiring figures. While Lincolns men lingered around for another week or so, they were a spent force, and the Franco-Americans soon withdrew from the area, leaving Savannah in British hands until July 1782. The British commander at Savannah, Brigadier General Augustine Prévost (1723 1786), a native of Geneva, Switzerland, already had a generation of distinguished service to Britain in the American colonies. In 1756, Prévost enlisted in the 60th Regiment of Foot, or the Royal Americans, a storied battle group formed by soldiers recruited from the European continent. He was a highly driven and disciplined officer, variously serving as the interim military governor of West Florida (1763), and the deputy inspector general of the British Army in Jamaica (1772-4), as well as a regional commander in St. Augustine, East Florida. Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution, Prévost was one of the leading figures in the British Army in the Southern Colonies. A consequential, but little known, factor in the British victory in Savannah was the presence of a small contingent of British subjects from Jamaica, who had experience in the islands militia. Notably, the Jamaican militia was highly experienced and effective in counterinsurgency and frontier warfare, useful skills in Savannah. The leader of the Jamaican contingent was Aaron Manby (c. 1743-1779), a native of Yorkshire, who as a youth was sent to Kington, Jamacia to live with relatives. There, he eventually became a successful master iron smith, and a very active member of the islands militia, such that he was nicknamed "The General". However, in the late 1770s, his health started to fail, causing him to decide to return to England. However, before that could occur, he had to settle some business affairs in the Bahamas. While in Nassau, Manby and his men (many being veterans of the Jamaican militia), using their own vessel, were recruited on a relief mission to deliver supplies to the British garrison in Savannah. Once there, the Jamaicans found themselves trapped in the siege, and Manby, who was an acquaintance of Prévost from the latters time in Jamaica, volunteered to fight on the front lines, being entrusted to hold the "Jamaica Battery", which weathered a heavy assault on the day of October 9. Sadly, however, in the wake of the siege, Manbys health continued to deteriorate, and he died at Savannah on November 13, 1779. Despite Manbys prior financial success in Jamaica, his death left his business affairs in great disorder, such that his widow and two children (who resided in Shropshire, England) were left virtually destitute. As it turned out, however, in the future his family would not fair so badly. Manbys second son and namesake, Aaron Manby (1776 1850), became a world-famous engineer and a very wealthy man, having notably created the first iron-hulled steamship. The Present Manuscript in Focus - Here is an original manuscript letter, dated December 22, 1785, from Augustine Prévost (then living in retirement in London) to the Reverend Thomas Shaw, in Staffordshire. Shaw (d. 1812), the minister of the St. Johns Church, Wolverhampton, was a very important figure in the Midlands, being something of a "fixer". In 1786, only a matter of months after the present letter was written, Shaw would inherit a vast estate, including the manor home of Wodehouse, from Sir Samuel Hellier (causing Shaw to change his name to Thomas Shaw-Hellier). SEE OUR WEB PAGE FOR A LONGER DESCRIPTION
Large 8°, 48 pp., [8 pp.], printed in black grey and red on thick paper, with mounted portrait of Franz Kafka under grey flap and 4 original linocuts in grey and black, original printed wrappers over blank paper boards, 215 numbered example of 296 (unbound as originally published, minor foxing, binding little rubbed with light staining and age-toning). FRANZ KAFKA: Parábolas e fragmentos [Parables and Paradoxes] - A rare Portuguese translation of Kafkas Parables and Paradoxes, was issued in Rio de Janeiro in 296 examples and accompanied with original artwork. The translator was Geir Campos (1924-1999), a prolific Brazilian editor, university professor and author. Worldcat lists two institutional examples (AECID. Biblioteca, Goethe-Institut Lisbon). References: OCLC 1025768067.
![Tazkira-i shah Tahmasp [The Gift of Shah Tahmasp]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/31544911839-600x966.jpg)
