[RENAUDOT, EUSÉBE]: - Anciennes relations des Indes et de la Chine, de deux voyageurs mahometans, qui y allèrent dans le neuvième siècle; traduites d'Arabe: avec des remarques sur les principaux endroits de ces relations. Paris, Jean-Baptiste Coignard, 1718.
Pp. xl, 397, table (17). Contemporary calf, spine with five raised bands, gilt and with a title label, worn, hinges cracked. Bookplate. Some old marginal annotations in beautiful handwriting. First edition of an interesting account made by two Arabian travellers in the nine century. Sulaiman al-Tajir (Sulaiman the Merchant) and Abu Zayd al-Hasan al-Shirafi were travelling in India and China in 851 and 877. The original manuscript in Arabic, now kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale, was not written until the 12th century and not published until 1845. The distinguished French orientalist Eusèbe Renaudot has made the translation into French. He has also added remarks and notes which occupy a large part of the work. The accuracy of the Arabian narrative has been questioned but Renaudot defends the account and points to impressive textual evidence. An English edition was published in London 1733. Cordier BS 1923. Löwendahl, Sino-Western Relations, 336. Lust 298.
EUR 2200.00 [Appr.: US$ 3295.6 | £UK 1982.25 | JP¥ 291104] Booknumber: 99767is offered by:
| Charlotte Du Rietz Rare Books (ILAB) Sibyllegatan 50A, 114 43, Stockholm, Sweden Tel.: +46 (0)8 667 65 07 | Fax: +46 (0)8 442 66 76 Email: charlotte@durietzrarebooks.com |