The Arcadian Library : Western Appreciation of Arab and Islamic Civilization

Arcadian Library in association with Oxford University Press, London ;first edition, 2011. Cloth, 4to, 32 cm,. 408 pp, (some folded) : colour ills. From the blurb: "The Arcadian Library is unique in Europe. Its 10,000 volumes record the encounter between two cultures and show how the civilization of the Arab and Islamic worlds was appreciated in the Christian West from the earliest times to the present. This richly illustrated survey summarizes the variety of works, documents and images which the library holds in different domains.The works of travellers - including pilgrims, missionaries, merchants, diplomats, scientists, soldiers, antiquarians, tourists and women - form an important part of the collection. Their reports reflect the impressions made on Europeans by the vast region centred on Arabia and the Levant and stretching from Spain and the Maghreb to South and Central Asia, and their publication in Europe had in turn a profound effect on western sensibilities. The section on travellers also includes unique and rare manuscripts and maps, colour-plate books, and unpublished letters from figures such as Richard Burton, T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell. The library also possesses numerous items of ‘Turcica' relating to the Ottoman Empire, including a unique collection of rare pamphlets and illustrations; many important works on Arab science and medicine, and priceless early editions of distillations of Arabic texts; an important selection of Qurans, both in Arabic and in various European translations; translations of the Bible into Arabic and Syriac, and material on Eastern Christianity; documents both published and unpublished on the Arabs in Spain and the influence of their tradition on early modem Spain and the rest of Europe; and numerous early grammars, dictionaries and other examples of oriental scholarship. Finally, the library has a fine collection of oriental literature which includes, besides translations from Turkish and Persian, unpublished manuscripts and splendidly illustrated copies of The Arabian Nights. Some 300 illustrations of the finest and rarest items in the library, including four eight-page fold-outs, complement the text, while the bibliography, running to over 1,500 entries, gives an overview of many of the most important and interesting items in the library. Fine in Fine dustwrapper.