The first printing of the life of the Prophet
ABUL AL-FIDA,'Imad al-Din. De Vita, et Rebus Gestis Mohammedis, Moslemicae Religionis Auctoris, et Imperii Saracenici Fundateris. Oxford, Theatro Sheldoniano 1723
Folio, fine antique style panelled calf, spine with five raised bands richly gilt in compartments, red morocco label lettered gilt, 4ff + xxiipp + 1f + 160pp, Arabic and Latin text throughout printed in parallel columns, fine engraved copperplate vignette on the title page, woodcut initial and ornament in the dedication, faint damp stain in upper margin of final leaves, some contemporary annotations in pen in some margins in Latin and Arabic.
First edition. The first printing of the life of the Prophet in Arabic with the Latin text in parallel columns. Beautifully printed in folio at the Oxford University Press in the Sheldon Theatre, the text was taken from an Arabic manuscript in the Bodleian Library and edited by John Gagnier. These manuscripts had been found by Edward Pococke (1604-1691) who had learned his oriental languages as chaplain to the Turkish merchants in Aleppo.
Schnurrer, Bibliotheca Arabica 157. British Library, Arabic Books, I, 759. See Barker, The Oxford University Press & the Spread of Learning.
£1200
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