Bibliotheque Orientale ou Dictionaire Universel contenant Generalement tout ce qui regarde la connoissance des Peuples de l'Orient. Leurs histoires et traditions veritables ou fabuleuses, leurs religions, sectes et politique. Leurs gouvernement, loix, coütumes, moeurs, guerres, & les révolutions de leurs empires. Leurs sciences, et leurs arts. Leurs théologie, mythologie, magie, physique, morale, médecine, mathématiques, histoire naturelle, chronologie, géographie, observations astronomiques, grammaire, & réthorique. Les vies et actions remarquables de tous leurs saints, docteurs, philosophes, historiens, poëtes, capitaines, & de tous ceux qui se sont rendus illustres parmi eux, par leur vertu, ou par leur savoir. Des jugemens critiques, et des extraits de tous leurs ouvrages, de leurs traitez, traductions, commentaires, abregez, recüeils de fables, de sentences, de maximes, de proverbes, de contes, de bons mots, & de tous leurs livres écrits en Arabe, en Persan, ou en Turc, sur toutes sortes de sci

Paris, Par la Compagnie des Libraires, 1697.. FIRST EDITION. Folio (38.5 x 26.5 cm), a distinguished binding in a sorry state: early full mottled calf (scuffed, edges much worn), gilt spine with raised bands in seven compartments (crude repairs to spine, especially at head and foot, both joints cracking), gilt-tooled arms on spine of Rohan-Soubise (see below). Title page printed in red and black; elaborate woodcut headpieces, tailpieces and initials. Scattered foxing and light browning; paper defect in margin not affecting text on Rrr iii; tear in text without loss on Hhhh ii. Internally very good; overall in good condition. Bound for Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise et d'Epinoy, duc de Rohan-Rohan (1715-1787) (see below). Scattered early marginal notes in various hands. On title page, a three-line purchase inscription dated 1921 and four-line purchase inscription from Santos (?), dated 1922, noting offer to Salazar (?). Engraved frontispiece portrait, (16 ll.), 1059 (1) pp., with frequent mispagination (see below). *** FIRST EDITION of an encyclopedic work on oriental languages and cultures: Herbelot de Molainville read Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew. An ambitious work 3 decades in the making, the Bibliothèque orientale was completed and published posthumously by Antoine Galand. It is largely a translation of the Arabic bibliography of Hadji Khalfa, but incorporates many other Arabic and Turkish compilations: about 100 are cited as sources in the preliminary leaves. It is written in the form of a dictionary, from "Ab" to "Zouzeni," with a supplement (pp. 941-1032) and a lengthy subject index (pp. 1033-59). As set out on the title page, the Bibliothèque covers topics ranging from poetry, fables, mythology, and morals to mathematics, medicine, and astronomy.Brunet noted that from 1697 to 1776 no new compendium had been written, so that although it was somewhat out of date, the Bibliothèque continued to be "toujours très-recherché." It was printed again at Maastricht, 1776, with a supplement of 1780 by Claude de Visdelou. Editions also appeared in Paris, 1781-84, and The Hague, 1777-99.Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville (Paris, 1625-Paris, 1695) was one of the leading scholars of oriental languages of the seventeenth century. After studying Asian languages at the University of Paris, he sought to gain fluency by speaking with Asians in Italian seaports. After living on a pension in Fouquet's home, he was appointed secretary and interpreter of Eastern languages for the king of France. Grand-Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany tried to lure him away, but Colbert persuaded Herbelot to return to France. In 1692 he became chair of Syriac at the Collège Royal.The volume includes numerous errors in pagination and quire signatures: pagination skips 305-306 but text follows. Page 324 misnumbered as 316. Page 461 is misnumbered as 469. Leaf Rrr iij is not signed. Leaf Yyy iij is missigned as Zzz iij. Pages 800-801 repeat, but text follows. Page 871 is misnumbered as 863. Page 1040 is misnumbered as 1400. Leaf Zii is misbound following Ziii.Provenance: gilt-tooled arms on the spine are Olivier plate 2034, Stamps 8 and 9. Charles de Rohan was a bibliophile who led an impressive military career and rose to the rank of Marshal of France. He was an intimate of King Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour.*** Brunet II, 664. Zischka 15. Graesse II, 376. Hamilton, Europe and the Arab World, 36: "one of the landmarks in Arabic studies." Not in the Atabey sale, which had the editions of Maastricht, 1776 and Paris, 1781-84 (lots 563-564).