Ancient accounts of India and China, by Two Mohammedan trave...

Ancient accounts of India and China, by Two Mohammedan travellers. Who went to those parts in the 9th century; Translated from the Arabic, by the late learned Eusebius Renaudot. With notes, illustrations, and inquiries by the same hand, pub.Sam Harding at the Bible and Anchor on the Pavement in St. Martins-Lane, 1733. Octavo. 260 pp plus index (wanting the final two leaves of the index ending at 'R'.) Rebound in marbled paper-covered boards, the marbled paper having a 'vintage' appearance and perhaps using a stock of old paper(?). Quarter leather, polished calf. Black leather label to the spine, now beginning to peel, and an easy repair, though since the lable misspels the translator's name as 'Rendupot' perhaps best to consider replaing it!. The endpapers have been renewed. Corners of the boards are sharp. A very pleasing copy of a hugely significant work translated from the French without attribution to an English translator. Renaudot's original French work drew on manuscripts Renaudot had discovered the original Arabic manuscript in the private collection of the Comte de Seignelay. The first part of the book dates to ~851 CE) and is the account of an Arab merchant named Sulayman al-Tajir (Sulayman the Merchant). It follows his journey from the Persian Gulf, around India, through the Andaman Islands, and into the trading ports of Canton (Guangzhou), China. The second part dates to ~877 CE): It was compiled by Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, from the Gulf port city of Siraf. This part expands on the previous narrative adding the testimonies of traders, and includes an account of a major 9th-century Chinese rebellion that severely disrupted foreign trade. A rare and important title.

Estimate:£300

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