The Islamic World from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books.
Our third catalogue comes from Bernard J Shapero Rare Books and it’s entitled The Islamic World. This is a world not well-understood by most people in the west, America in particular, but now very much on our minds. Perhaps if we read more about the region’s past, we would better understand our present situation.
Many of the places described in these books have become very familiar to us today. Item 12, James Atkinson’s Sketches in Afghaunistan, describes a land very familiar to us, even if we spell the name differently. Atkinson traveled with the military to this country in 1838, and wrote about it in this 1842 work. £2,850.
Item 19, Monument de Nineve…, hits some even more recently familiar place names. Author Paulo Emilio Botta was appointed French consul to Mosul in what is now Iraq in 1842. He used his appointment to search antiquities of the area, excavating ruins in Khorsabad. Botta believed he had found the lost city of Ninevah, but had instead uncovered an ancient palace dating back to 710 B.C. Botta published his book, along with drawings by Eugene Flandin, in 1849. £25,000.
Item 14 is an interesting title. It’s called Travels of Ali Bey in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria and Turkey. “Ali Bey” was one Domingo Badia, a Spaniard who disguised himself as an Arab and visited sites such as Mecca that are off-limits to non-Moslems. Printed in 1816. £6,500.
Most of the books in this catalogue come from Europeans describing their trips to this part of the world. Of course, they see the land through the eyes of very different cultures. Item 93 is by Dr. Saleh Soubhy, an Egyptian public health official. He undertook the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) in 1888 and 1891, and wrote this book with the intention of clearing up misconceptions he believed were generated by European writings on the subject. £3,500.
For the adventuresome, there’s Item 97, The Voiages and Travels of John Struys… by Jan Struys. Three voyages took the author through much of the Middle East, Mediterranean, and even Russia and Japan. Book titles were long and dramatic back then (1684), and part of the title of this book is very descriptive: “an account of the author’s many dangers by shipwreck, robbery, slavery, hunger, torture, and the like…” £3,500.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
