The Anvár-i Suhailí; or, The Lights of Canopus: Being the Persian Version of The Fables of Pilpay; or, The Book “Kalílah and Damnah,” Rendered into Persian by Husain Vá’iz Ul-Káshifí, Literally Translated into Prose and Verse by Edward B. Eastwick.
Hertford: Printed and Published by Stephen Austin, 1854. First Edition. Large octavo, 10.5 x 6.75". In a fine binding of full crimson morocco with mauresque designs blocked in gold over green and white leather onlays, gilded and gaufered edges, all around, gold tooled spine. A collection of Persian fables based on the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah. This English translation was by Orientalist and Professor Edward Eastwick, who dedicated the work to Queen Victoria. Eastwick gifted a nearly identical finely bound copy to Queen Victoria, accompanied by a note describing the laborious binding process, done by printer Stephen Austin of Hertford, the official printer for the East India Company: he writes that the binding was "finished entirely at Hertford, in the house of Mr Stephen Austin" and that "The edging alone occupied a very superior workman seven days. The blocks for the ornaments on the outside were cut expressly from Oriental models. On the inside of each board is a painting done by hand and copied from a Persian M.S." The only difference between our binding and Queen Victoria's is that ours lacks the paintings on the insides of the boards. An exquisite piece of craftsmanship. Bookplate of Charles E. Lawrence to front pastedown. Front endpaper lacking, some wear and paper residue to endpapers, mild wear along edges and spine, rubbing to joints, a very good, bright copy. Item #13195
Price: $2,000.00