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First edition of al-Zamakhshari’s collection of Arabic proverbs, in Arabic and Latin

ZAMAKHSHARI, Abu al-Quasim Mahmud ibn Umar (Hendrik Albert SCHULTENS, editor).
[Al-Kalim al-nawabigh]. Anthologia sententiarum Arabicarum. Cum scholiis Zamachsjarii.
Leiden, Jean Le Mair (colophon: printed by Daniel van Damme), 1772. 4to. With the large engraved arms of Willem V, Prince of Orange, above the dedication.Vellum, manuscript spine title. [20], 171, [1] pp.
€ 6,500
First edition, in the original Arabic with a Latin translation on the facing pages, of a famous collection of Arabic proverbs by the Persian-born scholar Zamakhshari (1075-1144), edited and translated by Hendrik Albert Schultens (1749-1793), professor of oriental languages at the University of Leiden. The book reads from right to left like an Arabic book, but the preliminaries are in Latin with quotations in Arabic. The extensive notes (often longer than the main text) are given in Arabic only below the main text (also below the Latin text) with the Latin notes (with quotations in Arabic) at the end of the book.
Little is known of Zamakhsharis youth. He was apparently well-travelled and resided at least twice (once for an extended period of time) in the holy city of Mecca, where he earned his nickname, Jar Allah. As a philologist, he considered Arabic the queen of languages, in spite of the fact that his own native tongue was Persian (and though he wrote several minor works in that language).
Blind stamps of the library of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, on title-page and dedication. Occasional light browning due to the paper, but still in good condition. Schnurrer 215. GAL I, 292, no. XIV (p. 348). Brills first encyclopaedia of Islam VIII, 1207. OCLC 4522262.
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Islamic culture  >  Islamic Art & Culture | Literature & Linguistics