Search Results: MIDDLE EAST from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

Wooster and Ashland, Ohio: Teeple, 1880. Ephemera. Near fine. A carte de visite image of a man and a woman, possibly Egyptian, possibly a pregnant woman and her husband. The woman wears a long white veil that extends almost to the ground. Her hands are crossed over her stomach. The man, wearing a fez, stands next to her, holding a document in his left hand. Most likely, this is a copy print as there is a narrow dark band along the bottom of the image, which is typical of imperfectly produced copy photographs. Albumen silver print, 2-1/4 by 3-7/8 inches, on a stiff card mount with a decorative Teeple Photography design on the verso (back). An attractive photograph, with good tones, perhaps a touch over exposed as some detail is lost in the white areas.

London: Arthur Barker, 1934. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. A classic biography of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. The book is still in print and the current publisher describes the book in the following terms: "Lord of Arabia is the famous biography of Ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, who continues to cast a shadow over the Middle East. In this important study, the author reveals many of the family traditions and deeply-held principles that form the unwritten foundation of present-day Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.... The book ably recreates the king's life through key principle first-hand authorities. Lord of Arabia not only tracks the life of this extraordinary man, but also gives rare insights into both past and present Middle Eastern conditions and its culture." 306 pages. Halftone portrait of Ibn Saud as a frontispiece. First edition (first printing, stating "First published . . 1934" on the copyright page). A very good or better copy in a very good dust jacket that has… Read More

Istanbul: Saye-i Sahane-i Humayûn, 1844. First Edition. The first edition of the first Turkish cookbook, which was the foundation of Turkish cuisine through (at least) nine 19th century editions. Türabi Efendi's Turkish Cookery Book, which had two 19th century editions, was a translation that didn't credit Kamil's book. Kamil provides the first printed recipes for well-known Turkish dishes like kebabs, kofte, dolmas, pulao rice, and baklava. A number of the recipes call for tomatoes, which were still relatively uncommon in European cuisine. The author was on the medical school faculty in Istanbul. The book is lithographed from a manuscript written in Ottoman Turkish written with the Arabic alphabet. There is a printed gloss in the margins of many pages, in the style of Arabic manuscripts of the era. The colophon concludes (in English translation), "completed and printed in the shadow of HMS [Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I], in the year 1260 [i.e. AD 1844], in the last days of Sha'ban month." 2-132… Read More

Tel Aviv, Palestine: Hotsa'at Sefarim Tel Aviv, 1930. First Edition. Very good. In the summer of 1929 a dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated and erupted into a series of violent demonstrations and riots in late August. The violence spread throughout British-controlled Palestine (now Israel), ending in massacres in Hebron. This is a report on the trials following the Western Wall Riots. According to the Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia, "On August 23, 1929, Arabs murdered 67 Jews in a massacre in Hebron. Three days later, the British evacuated the 484 survivors, including 153 children, to Jerusalem. After six days of rioting, the British finally brought in troops to quell the disturbance. Even though Jews had been living in Gaza and Hebron for centuries, following these riots, the British forced Jews to leave their homes and prohibited Jews from living in the Gaza strip and Hebron to appease Arabs and quell violence. By the end of the rioting, the death… Read More

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 192 pages. First edition (first printing, stated). A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket (red star on spine somewhat faded). Inscribed by the author to former US Senator and Democratic presidential nominee, George McGovern: "For Hon. George McGovern, whose humanity and courage are an inspiration. Sincerely, Ira Hirschman, 3/17/71.

New York: Riverhead, 2018. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. An illustrated poem about Afghan refugees. Illustrated by Dan Williams. First edition (first printing, with a numberline ending in 1). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Issued signed, with a "signed copy" sticker on the front panel and Hosseini's signature opposite the half-title page.