Very rare first Dutch translation of Saadi's famous Gulistan (the Rose Garden), which is considered a landmark of Persian literature. This translation marks the strong increase in Dutch interest in Persian culture, language, and literature in the 17th century, which was the result of the new political and commercial relationship between the Netherlands and Persia that started in this time. Gulistan soon became the most popular Persian text among Dutch readers, with seven editions of it appearing in the Netherlands in the 17th century, most of them in Latin. The present edition was not only the first Dutch translation of the complete text, but also the only one until 1997.
The present Dutch edition was translated by Jan van Duisberg (d. ca. 1702), who was a bookseller and publisher in Amsterdam. It starts with a preface and several laudatory poems on Saadi by Duisberg. This is followed by the Gulistan itself, which is a collection of poems and stories on a wide variety of different topics, such as love, ageing, and morals. The work ends with the fables of Luqman and Arabic proverbs, both translated by Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624). The work is very rare, as we have not been able to find any other copies in sales records. The present copy comes from the library of the well-known Dutch book collectors Piet Buijnsters and Leontine Buijnsters-Smets.
With the bookplate of Buijnsters-Smets mounted on the front pastedown, and an ownership annotation from 1929 on the first free flyleaf. The corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the spine show traces of use. The frontispiece is frayed and has been laid down, the edges of the first and last few leaves are slightly frayed, the last leaf has been strenghthened in the margins, a small water stain in the lower margin of a few leaves in the middle, occasionally thumbed and slightly soiled. Otherwise in good condition. Muller 393; STCN 851631983 (9 copies); USTC 1826126 (10 copies); Waller 1474; WorldCat 761199425, 883662273 (10 copies); not in Schwab, Bibliographie de la Perse; cf. Seyed-Gohrab, A. "Teaching Persian Literature in Europe: A Case from the Netherlands." In: The Art of Teaching Persian Literature : From Theory to Practice, 2024, pp. 74-101.