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The primary source of information on the Islamic world untill well into the nineteenth century

HERBELOT DE MOLAINVILLE, Bartholomé d'.
Bibliotheque orientale ou dictionnaire universel contenant généralement tout ce qui regarde la connoissance des peuples de l'Orient. Leurs histoires et traditions véritables ou fabuleuses; leurs religions, sectes et politique, leurs gouvernement, loix, coutumes, moeurs, guerres, & les revolutions de leurs empires; leurs sciences et leurs arts, leurs théologie, mythologie, magie, physique, morale, médicine, mathématiques, histoire naturelle, chronologie, géographie, observations astronomiques, grammaire & rhétorique; les vies et actions remarquables de tous leurs saints, docteurs, philosophes, historiens, poetes, capitaines, & de tous ceux qui se sont rendus illustres parmi eux, par leur vertu, ou par leur savoir; des jugements critiques, et des extraits de tous leurs ouvrages. De leurs Traités, traductions, commentaires, abrégés, recueils 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 sciences, d'arts, & de professions.

Title printed in red and black, with 3 folding printed tables and woodcut head- and tail pieces.



Maastricht, Jean Edme Dufour & Philippe Roux, 1776. Folio. Later half mottled calf, ribbed spine with red morocco title label lettered in gold, red painted edges. Title printed in red and black, with 3 folding printed tables and woodcut head- and tail pieces. (4), XXI, 22-26, 954 pp.

This pioneer work of Western orientalism and one of the most important landmarks in Arabic studies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was to remain the standard reference text in Europe until well into the nineteenth century. Utilizing a variety of Arabic, Persian and Turkish sources, D'Herbelot studied the Muslim world within the broader context of Islam. Writing at a time when Europeans regarded 'the Orient' as an exotic bur undifferentiated area, D'Herbelot was one of the first orientalists to produce a systematic survey and alphabetized account of Arabic, Persian and Turkish literature with dictionaries for each language, and he introduced f.e. the words "minaret" and "Muezzin", and explained the differences between "calenders", "faquirs" and "derviches". It is a dictionary of Arabic, Persian and Turkish culture with entries on every aspect of literature, religion, science and politics arranged alphabetically and presented objectively and sympathetically.
The Cambridge History of Islam regards the Bibliothèque as "highly important" because it dissiminated information about Islam to a wider readership.
Although the Bibliothèque is in the first place an encyclopaedic work, it is also a romance. D'Herbelots entries on Persian poetry and mythology for example, gained wide currency, largely through William Beckford's highly influential novel Vathek (1786). Also Flaubert has used the Bibliothèque while he was working on his La tentation de saint Antoine. It was also a source of information for Disraeli's Alroy (1833) and Hawthorne's Scarlet (1850).

Bartholomé d'Herbelot studies classics and philosophy in Paris. He also learnt Semitic languages , to which he soon added Arabic, Persian and Turkish. The idea of the Bibliothèque orientale came to him when he was staying in Florence in the late 1660s, where he also found a generous patron in the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand II. He studied the historical works of Ibn Shihna, al-Makin, Bar Hebraeus, Ibn Khallikan and Abu 'l-Fida, the geographical writings of al-Idrisi, Persian commentaries on the Quran, Persian chronicles and numerous other sources. He modeled his book on the work of Hadji-Khalfa. Recalled to Paris by Colbert, he was appointed professor of Syriac at the university.

The Supplément was largely composed by Claude Visdelou (1656-1737) and Antoine Galand (1646-1715). It contains important additions to the entries of D'Herbelot as well as extensive enlargements: a very interesting text on China (p. 1-17, and 165-200: "Monument and descrption du Christianisme en Chine"), on the history of Tartary (p. 18-133) and a completely new index to the entire encyclopaedia (p. 255-284).

Together with the supplement by:

VISDELOU, Claude & Antoine GALAND.
Bibliotheque orientale, ou dictionnaire universel, contentant tous ce qui fait les peuples de l'Orient. Leurs histoires & traditions, tant fabuleuse que véritables. Leurs religions & leurs sectes. Leurs gouvernements, politique, loix, moeurs, coutumes, & les révolutions de leurs Empires. Les arts & les sciences, la théologie, médecine, mythologie, magie, physique, morale, mathématiques, histoire naturelle, chronologie, géographie, observations astronomiques, grammaire & réthorique. Les vies de leurs saints, philosophes, docteurs, poëtes, historiens, capitaines, & de tous ceux qui se sont rendus illustres par leur livres, écrits en Arabe, Persan ou Turc, sur toutes fortes de matieres & de professions. Pour servir de supplément a celle de monsieur d'Herbelot.
(Maastricht, J.E. Dufour & Ph. Roux), 1780. Folio. Title printed in red and black with woodcut vignette, head- and tail pieces. IV, 284 pp.

Second cccedition (also the Supplement in second edition) of this extensive & detailed encyclopaedic work covering all aspects of the Islamic world by Bartholomé d'Herbelot (1625-1695). The first edition of this first important advance in the study of the Islam appeared posthumously in Paris in 1697, dedicated to King Louis XIV, and edited by Antoine Galand (1646-1715), himself a noted orientalist and the first European translator of The Thousand and one nights. A third edition was published in The Hague in 4 vols., 1777-1779; the fourth in 6 vols. in Paris in 1781-1783.

Very good copy.
Graesse II, 376; Lust 89 (only the 1776 ed.); Heynen, Maastrichtse drukken 592; Hamilton, Europe and the Arad world 36 (the The Hague ed.); The legacy of Persia (ed. A.J. Arberry (1963)), p. 359-387: chapter by J.E. Hesseltine; H. Laurens, Aux sources de l'orientalisme: la Bibliothèque de Barthélemi d'Herbelot (Paris 1978; Publ. du dépt. d'Islamologie de l'Univ. de Paris-Sorbonne, 6); Atabey 572 (second ed.) and 573 (supplement); not in Blackmer.

Related Subjects: 18th Century  Egypt  Encyclopædic Works  Islamitica  Middle East  Turkey 

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