4to. Volume I: 1380 pp., / Volume II: 1385-2783 pp., Arabic text within border, double column per page, modern hard back binding, some ink inscription on margins, title page of volume one soiled & stained, first & last pages of volume two soiled & slightly damaged without loss, occasional spotting, otherwise set in good condition, American Press, Beirut 1927-1930.

Synopsis

Abdallah al-Bustani (1854-1930), a Lebanese linguist. He was educated in Beirut by two leading grammarians of the period, Nassif Yazigi and Yusuf al-Asir. He was a lecturer at al-Hikma School in Beirut from 1900.
Al-Bustani translated into Arabic many European novels, wrote poems and edited classical Arabic poetry. His major work is the dictionary of al-Bustan in two volumes (1927). It is a comprehensive Arabic-Arabic dictionary and one of the three most comprehensive dictionaries that were compiled towards the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Al-Bustani later published an abridged edition of al-Bustan entitled Fakihat al-Bustan. His reason for making this lexicon was that there was a very strong need for making a lexicon for students. He stated in the introduction: “ As the American press saw a need for a language lexicon containing words needed by school students, of different grades and levels, of cheap price, within the reach for everybody, I drew the attention of Shaikh Abdullah al-Bustani, whom I delegated to compose the lengthy lexicon titled Al-Bustan (Orchard) to summarize it to the extent that will meet students’ needs. He honoured my request of making this book, and gave it the title Fakihat al-Bustan.”