HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND BOOK PRINTING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

– The Research Library of Dr. Geoffrey Roper (Cambridge) –

Approx. 900 titles, some multi-volume, in various languages, principally English, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French, German and other European languages. They are mainly on book history with a focus on printing and publishing history in the languages and countries of the Middle East and Islam. The collection also covers the history of book printing in Arabic in other parts of the world. Mostly publications of the last 50 years, but a few are older (19th century).
Pdf-Flyer and list of titles (in Excel) available for download. (See below!) ]

Geoffrey Roper, who compiled this collection over decades, was the driving force behind four symposia on the history of printing and publishing in the languages and countries of the Middle East, held in Leipzig, Mainz, P...
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EVLIYA ÇELEBI – Collection of Sources & Working Library

Collection contains all indispensable sources and working tools related to Evliya Çelebi’s extensive opus.

This material served as Klaus Kreiser's working library for the publication of his latest book on the famous chronicler:
Evliya Çelebi: Das Reisetagebuch. Die Welt zwischen Wien und Mekka. München: C. H. Beck 2023 [Evliya Çelebi: The Travel Diary. The world between Vienna and Mecca].

Items as per flyer & pdf list. (Also available in Excel)

Evliya Çelebi –

Evliya Çelebi (1611 - c. 1683) is the most important travel writer, chronicler and polyhistor of the Islamic early modern era. For almost two hundred years he has occupied Ottoman, historical and philological research in...
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Observations of the Movements of Sun and Stars during the year 1287 H. [1870 AD] for Submission to the Sultan.

Manuscript in Ottoman Turkish
54 pp., c. 16.5 x c. 10.5 cm
in acid-free cardboard box, includes original leather covers.

Restored in museum quality: Cleaning of surface, some pages stabilised with coated Japanese paper, glued by using alcohol.
Window fold for individual sheets

Müneccimbaşı / Chief Astronomer of Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz (1830-1876) –

...
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Three Manuscripts (1) Kifāyat al-waqt li-maʿrifat al-dāʾir wa- faḍlihi wa-ʾl-samt. (2) Tashil al-miqat (3) Faraḥ Fazā

Three Manuscripts in Ottoman Turkish Bound in 1 Volume
Copied by Abdullah Seyyid Feyzullah b. Ahmad in 1166 H [1752 A.D.]
70 fol.,
20 x 13 cm.
Cardboard cover with leather spine

Mustafa ibn Ali al-Muwaqqit, died 978 [1571] –

ad (1): Kifāyat al-waqt li-maʿrifat al-dāʾir wa- faḍlihi wa-ʾl-samt, also known as Risāla fī al-muqanṭarāt, 936 H [1529 AD] written in Ottoman Turkish; it deals with various aspects of geometry, trigonometry and astronom...
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Photograph No. III – DIE KA'BAH

Historic photo from Snouck Hurgronje’s Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka, taken in 1885.
Size of photo: 21 x 16.8 cm (Passepartout 37.7 x 27.4 cm)

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) –

Following his PhD with de Goeje in Leiden and further studies with Nöldecke in Strasbourg Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) went on an extended research trip to Jiddah and Mecca during the years 1884 and 1885. He c...
more »

HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND BOOK PRINTING IN THE MIDDLE EAST

– The Research Library of Dr. Geoffrey Roper (Cambridge) –

Approx. 900 titles, some multi-volume, in various languages, principally English, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French, German and other European languages. They are mainly on book history with a focus on printing and publishing history in the languages and countries of the Middle East and Islam. The collection also covers the history of book printing in Arabic in other parts of the world. Mostly publications of the last 50 years, but a few are older (19th century).
Pdf-Flyer and list of titles (in Excel) available for download. (See below!) ]

Geoffrey Roper, who compiled this collection over decades, was the driving force behind four symposia on the history of printing and publishing in the languages and countries of the Middle East, held in Leipzig, Mainz, P...
more »

EVLIYA ÇELEBI – Collection of Sources & Working Library

Collection contains all indispensable sources and working tools related to Evliya Çelebi’s extensive opus.

This material served as Klaus Kreiser's working library for the publication of his latest book on the famous chronicler:
Evliya Çelebi: Das Reisetagebuch. Die Welt zwischen Wien und Mekka. München: C. H. Beck 2023 [Evliya Çelebi: The Travel Diary. The world between Vienna and Mecca].

Items as per flyer & pdf list. (Also available in Excel)

Evliya Çelebi –

Evliya Çelebi (1611 - c. 1683) is the most important travel writer, chronicler and polyhistor of the Islamic early modern era. For almost two hundred years he has occupied Ottoman, historical and philological research in...
more »

DISCOVERY OF OIL IN IRAQ (1929/30): Baba Gurgur, Sulaiman Bek, and British Petroleum

Private album with 88 photos mainly taken during an extended business trip by car in the region between Baghdad, Tuz and Kirkuk
Package of original photos and digital files
Size: 18 x 12 cm
July 1929 and August 1930

In July 1927 oil was discovered near Kirkuk making it the first commercial oil find in Iraq. British Petroleum (BP) started drilling the first oil well at Baba Gurgur north of Kirkuk. BP was shareholder in the ‘Iraqi Pet...
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Photograph No. III – DIE KA'BAH

Historic photo from Snouck Hurgronje’s Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka, taken in 1885.
Size of photo: 21 x 16.8 cm (Passepartout 37.7 x 27.4 cm)

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) –

Following his PhD with de Goeje in Leiden and further studies with Nöldecke in Strasbourg Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) went on an extended research trip to Jiddah and Mecca during the years 1884 and 1885. He c...
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’PHOTOGRAPHIES DE TERRE SAINTE’ – Holy Land by Felix Bonfils (1908)

Album Holy Land with 48 large-format photographs – Distributed by F. F. Marroum, Jerusalem
Size: 35 x 25 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1908

Félix Bonfils –

Particularly beautiful and very well preserved collection of 48 photos by Bonfils, enclosed in a wood carving binding. Besides some of Bonfils’ well known photos this album comprises many rarer views and a number of rath...
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UPPER EGYPT & CAIRO: Album with focus on Architecture & Archaeology (1908)

Large-format travel album with 262 photos including by Zangaki and Lichtenstern & Harari
Size: 42 x 32.5 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
1908

Zangaki, Lichtenstern & Harari, others –

Documenting a private trip to Egypt during presumably 1908. This rarity presents, in addition to personal motifs, mainly direct insights into life in Egypt at the turn of the century and in great detail various archaeolo...
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Panorama de Jérusalem (PANORAMA OF JERUSALEM). Albumen print, c. 1880.

Three part albumen print panorama (84.5 x 21.7 cm) backed onto linen.
Photographic title and numbers 298, 299, 300 in the negative.
Fair condition, some fading where prints are joined.

Félix Bonfils –

Panorama view of Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives, with the dome of the Al-Aksa Mosque featuring prominently at the left. Félix Bonfils (1831-1885) was a French photographer and writer who was active in the Mi...
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Album TUNISIA: Biskra, El-Kantara, Mansouria, Sidi Okba, Temacine, Touggourt

Album with 40 Silver Gelatin Prints
Size: 31.5 x 25.6 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1925

Album of 35 privately taken, well-preserved gelatin prints showing vivid and authentic street and market scenes. Our bibliographic and archival services for libraries and museums: For cataloguing and digital availabil...
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Album MOROCCO – FEZ & MARRAKECH: Souks, Buildings, Street Scenes, Ramadan Prayers

Album with 27 Silver Gelatin Prints by E. Hoffmann
Package of original photos and digital files
Size: 20 x14.5 cm
c. 1929

E. Hoffmann –

Beautiful example of a travel album that reproduces aspects of personal interest on a trip to Marrakech and Fez in 1929 to a good technical standard. Besides interesting shots of architecture, landscape and street scenes...
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Album TUNIS & CARTHOAGO: Mainly Islamic Architecture

Album with 44 Large Albumin Prints
Size: 44 x 31.2 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1890

Neurdein, Soler, Rives,, Albert –

Album with 44 large format, mostly Albumin prints with many architectural details of Carthago and Tunis, a third of which taken by Neurdein, Soler, Rives, and Albert. Our service for libraries and museums: For catalog...
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Album EGYPT: ASSUAN, LUXOR, MEDINET HABU, KARNAK, THEBES, CAIRO

Album with 81 Gelatine Prints by Anonymous Photographers
Size: 27 x 20.8 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1911

Well-preserved travel Album of 1911 focusing on Assouan, Philae, Luxor, Theben, Carnak and Cairo. Excellent amateur photographs highlighting important details in the Pharaonic sites and giving a lively impression of the ...
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Album ALGERIA: Architecture, Portraits, Street Life, Tents

Two Albums with 57 Albumen Prints, Photogravure, Heliotypie, and 54 Postcards
Size: 32.8 x 25 cm
Package of original photos and digital files
c. 1890 – 1900

Album on Algeria from 1890/1900 with 57 mostly Albumin prints covering portraits, street views and scenery. Complemented by a rare collection of 54 postcards focused on the same subjects in a second Album. Our service...
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