[KALILA WA DIMNA]. SILVESTRE DE SACY, Antoine Isaac (editor).
Calila et Dimna, ou Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe.
Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1816. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to. 19th-century purple-ish cloth, with the title lettered in gold on the spine. The cloth around the spine is faded and browned. [2], VIII, 140; [8], 315, [1] pp.
€ 3,500
The complete text of the Arabic version by Ibn al Muqaffa of this collection of animal fables with didactic overtones designed to illustrate wise conduct, printed in the beautiful types of the "Imprimerie Royale", with an introduction and critical notes in French. The typeface, based on Arab or Turkish specimens of calligraphy and cut in Rome in the early 17th century for Savary, "was the mainstay of Arabic typography in France until the late 19th century; it also provided a model for others" (Roper, p. 145).
The spine is sunned, occasional browning and foxing. Otherwise in good condition. Blois, "Kalila wa-Dimna", in: Meisami & Starkey, Enyclopedia of Arabic literature, pp. 423-425; Chauvin II, p. 11f., no. 17; Keith-Falconer, Kalilah and Dimnah, pp. xvi-xvii; cf. G. Roper, Early Arabic Printing in Europe, in: Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution. A Cross-Cultural Encounter (Westhofen 2002), pp. 129-150.
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