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Arab & Islamic material
QALAJI, Mahmoud. Al-Tharwah al-bitrūliya fī al-khalīj al-'arabī.Beirut : 1964
First edition, inscribed by the author in Arabic to the management of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia in Beirut, of this well-illustrated work entirely devoted to oil wealth and the oil industry in GCC countries, where oil reserves at the time were "sufficient unto the whole world for 36 years".
An initial historical overview...Learn More
ODIÉ, Jean. La Ligue Arabe.[Rabat : 1950]
Rare pamphlet of this illustrated confidential report produced for officers attending the "Course of Indigenous Affairs" at the Résidénce Générale de France au Maroc. We have traced no institutional copies, though there may be one or two preserved in French state archives.
Colonel Odié (1904-2003) served in the Foreign Legion in...Learn More
PALESTINE. Falastīn. Taqrīr 'an al-hijrah wa-mashārī'a al-iskān wa-l-'eimrān.Jerusalem : 1930
First Arabic edition of Sir John Hope Simpson's ground-breaking report, with only two other copies traced, at the American University of Beirut and the NLI. It was published in the same year as the English edition.
After a successful career as a diplomat and politician, Simpson (1868-1961) was sent to the British Mandate of Palestine...Learn More
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. al-'Athār fī dawlat al-imārāt al-'arabīa al-mutahida.al-Ain : 1978
First edition, with numerous illustrations, of this study about archaeological excavations in al-Ain, UAE, carried out by a French research expedition in 1976-77.
The fieldwork focused on the area of Jabal Hafeet - a UNESCO world site since 1993, and still a major archaeological site today - where tombs were first discovered in the 1950s....Learn More
GULF WAR. Tadmīr abār al-naft fī al-wathāi'q al-'irāqīah al-'adrār al-bi'īah wa-l-iqtisādīah wa-l-juhūd al-kūwaītīah fī al-muhāfazhah 'ala al-tharūah al-naftīah.Kuwait : 1995
First edition of this well-illustrated study on the environmental impact of the destruction of oil wells in Kuwait, based on government documents issued by the Iraqi government during the Gulf War.
The work presents this damage, substantiated by copious data, as a main goal of the Iraqi war strategy of delayed sabotage. An appendix lists...Learn More
ADLER, Dorothy. Scrapbook from her wartime journey in the Middle East.[Egypt and Palestine : 1943-44]
A stunning travelogue, with over 100 ephemeral items from Egypt and Palestine, kept by an English amateur performer during her travels in 1943-44. A member of a troupe run by Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), she performed in and organized musical shows for British soldiers aboard ships and in Egyptian venues.
Dorothy Ivy...Learn More
BUREAU OF IMAMAT OMAN. Five pamphlets on the Omani question.[Cairo : c.1952-56]
A group of five pamphlets issued by the Bureau of Imamat Oman in the 1950s. We have only traced one other copy of each at the Qatar National Library.
With seats in Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad, the Bureau was established in the 1950s to support the liberation of Oman and a government under Imam Ghalib. The Omani Nationalist Forces of the...Learn More
HASSAN, Zaky M. Hunting as Practised in Arab Countries of the Middle Ages.Cairo : 1937
First edition of this illustrated study by the curator of the Museum of Arab Art, Cairo. Hassan's was the first attempt to "relate representations of hunting scenes to their practical and social functions" (Hillenbrand, p. 229).
The work brings together oral, written, and artistic heritage and folklore on hunting, seen first of all as a...Learn More
KUWAIT. Dustur dawlat al-Kuwayt.Kuwait : [1962]
First edition of the Arabic and English text of the constitution of the State of Kuwait, issued by the Government's Press.
Signed on 11 November 1962, it had been finalised by the Constitutional Assembly the previous year, under the auspices of Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Sabah. After Kuwait's declaration of independence as a constitutional...Learn More
SAUDI ARABIA. Photo map of the city of Jeddah.Philadelphia : 1956
Impressive aerial view of Jeddah and its environs, produced for the surveying work of Glen F. Brown, a US specialist in surface geology and natural resources. Hired by Ibn Saud in 1945, Brown carried out geological investigations in Saudi Arabia until well into the 1950s, to identify sites with water, oil, and minerals. The ground-breaking...Learn More
AL-BOURINI, Ahmed Qasim. Al-Imārāt al-saba' 'ala al-sāhel al-'akhdhar.Beirut : 1957
First edition of this illustrated travel account through Oman and the Seven Emirates, undertaken by a Kuwaiti teacher in the 1950s.
The journey covered Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah, Oman, and "colonised Oman", observing the environment, the local inhabitants, their main activities, and their relations with the British....Learn More
FORSYTH, Sir Thomas Douglas. Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873... with Historical and Geographical Information regarding the Possessions of the Ameer of Yarkund.Calcutta : 1875
First edition, complete with the map. This detailed and comprehensive account of remote Yarkand, in Xinjiang, is illustrated with 45 original albumen prints: Forsyth's was one of the earliest missions of its kind to be equipped with cameras. Yarkand was ruled by the "remarkable Muslim adventurer" Yakub Beg, "veteran of a number of engagements...Learn More
ALI, Saif bin. Muhādarat dhurūb jabhat al-tahrīr al-watanī al-bahrānīa.[Beirut : 1982]
An otherwise unrecorded pamphlet of a lecture delivered by Saif bin Ali (1937-2006), founder of National Liberation Front of Bahrain, at the Centre for Arabic Culture in Beirut on 22 March 1982.
The lecture provides a critique of the post-independence government, insufficient citizens' rights and basic freedoms, and current "superficial...Learn More
ARABIAN PENINSULA. Al-Shāti' al-mutasālih: Hikāiat al-qarāsina wa-l-lu'lu' wa-l-naftBeirut : 1968
First edition of this pamphlet on the cultural and economic history of the Trucial states, with a collection of photographic illustrations of infrastructure and everyday life.
The first chapter begins with the widespread piracy along the Trucial coast, targeting Portuguese and Dutch ships, from the 16th to the 19th century, together with...Learn More
OMAN. 'Aqlamat al-harb fī 'Umān wa-masīr al-firaq al-qabalīa fi ZhofārBeirut : 1978
Second edition, with the first unrecorded in WorldCat, of this political pamphlet. We have only traced three institutional copies.
It was originally issued by the Marxist and Arab nationalist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman, active in the years 1974-6 in the fight against the Sultanate of Oman. It was especially...Learn More
IDRISI, Muhammad, al-. L'Italia descritta nel "Libro del Re Ruggero" compilato da Edrisi: Testo arabo pubblicato con versione e note.Rome : 1883
First edition of the first Italian translation of al-Idrisi's Kitab Nuzhat al-mushtaq, specifically the sections concerning continental Italy. It includes a colour reproduction of al-Idrisi's accompanying map.
This edition was produced by Celestino Schiapparelli (d. 1919) and Michele Amari, both professors of Arabic at several Italian...Learn More
CASTEJON Y MARTINEZ DE ARIZALA, Rafael. Madīnat Al-Zahrā', maqr al-khilāfah al-qurtubīah.Tetouan, Morocco : 1946
First edition of this pamphlet, with only one other recorded copy (BNE), on the archaeological site of Medinat al-Zahra, formerly the seat of the first caliph of al-Andalus, in Cordoba.
This booklet was intended as a summary for the attendees to the lecture of the historian and Arabist Rafael Castejón y Martínez de Arizala (1893-1986),...Learn More
MAJED, Ebrahim Issa. The Traditional Construction of Early Twentieth Century Houses in Bahrain.Doha : 1987
First edition of this well-illustrated work on traditional houses in Bahrain, based on the author's fieldwork. It was borne out of increasing efforts towards the study and preservation of Gulf historical architecture during the intensive urban development of the 1980s, and the adaptation of traditional structures to modern urban development....Learn More
ARAB-ISRAELI RELATIONS. La cause Arabe de Palestine.Cairo : [1947?]
First edition of this scarce pamphlet published by the Arab Higher Committee, representing Palestinian Arabs at an international level. We have traced four institutional copies.
The work examines the historical roots of Palestinian resistance and the fight for independence, beginning with the First World War, when it was considered part of...Learn More
ARAB-ISRAELI RELATIONS. Israel's Aggression prior to the Israeli attack of October 29, 1956, on Egypt.Cairo : 1957
First edition of this report, issued by the League of Arab States, illustrating the atrocities committed by the Israeli army across Palestine.
The Israelis' aim, the report states, was "the displacement of the greatest number of Palestinian Arabs" during the establishment of the Green Line in 1949, and "the spreading of disturbances in the...Learn More
