Large 4to. [4], xxii, [2 index], 160 pp., dedicated page to Thomas, comte de Macclesfield, engraved vignette on title page, Latin & Arabic text, 2 columns per page, full calf binding, red outer edges, covers rubbed and used, gilt decorated raised spine, marbled endpapers, light damp stains on last pages, internal condition good in general, translated & edited by Joannes Gagnier, Theatro Sheldoniano (Sheldonian Theatre), Oxford, first edition, 1723.

Synopsis

This is an edition of a historical work by the famous Syrian prince, historian and geographer of the family of the Ayyubids, Isma’il Ibn Muhammead Abu’l-Fida. Born in Damascus in 672/1273, Abu’l-Fida was publicly invested with the insignia of the Sultanate and the title of al-Malik al-Mu’ayyad by the ruling Mamluk Sultan Muhammad in 720/1320. He remained a close friend of the Sultan and enjoyed a great reputation as patron and man of letters until his death in 732/1331.
Abu’l-Fida’s reputation rests on two works, both largely compilations, but rearranged and supplemented by himself. One of his descriptive geography, the Taqwim al-Buldan, which was completed in 721/1321 and which largely replaced all earlier geographical works. The other is Mukhtasar Ta’rikh al-Bashar, portion of which were edited and translated for the first time by Gagnier in the present volume. This universal history covering the pre-Islamic period and the Islamic history down to 729/1329 is based, especially in its earlier part, on Ibn al-Athir. Its contemporary popularity is shown by the continuations to it written by Ibn al-Wardi, Ibn Habib al-Dimashqi and Ibn al-Shihna al-Halabi. Through this edition of Gagnier, it became a major of the 18th century orientalism.
Bibliographic references: Brunet I, 18: “Ouvrage estimé”; Schnurer 157; Encyclopaedia of Islam, I, pp. 118-9..