Rare books, old manuscripts and military maps showcasing for the first time, caught the attention of visitors to the Sharjah International Book Fair, in a special corner in the middle of the exhibition, which includes a collection of precious books of one copy.
The audience of the exhibition considered it the most distinctive and brilliant corner of its rare books and manuscripts dating back thousands of years, written by historians and scientists from all over the world.
Closed glass cabinets contain dozens of antique literary and historical products that return to the ancient times, and exhibited by the Austrian house «Nebras», the house «the acquisition» UAE and «Peter Harry Ngton» English, and included a collection of rare books and ancient manuscripts dating back For hundreds of years, the highest-priced, the oldest, and the first to be displayed.
Officials of the corner of the old books and rare manuscripts confirmed that the corner received great attention by visitors of the exhibition of all nationalities, having previously been the preserve of some amateurs and wealthy and collectors of manuscripts coming from the West, especially Europeans, but the attention is now Gulf as well for its moral value, especially Concerning Arabia and Islam, and his distinguished scientists in medicine, astronomy and engineering.
For two years, the precious and rare books corner has succeeded in attracting the attention of most of the guests of the exhibition, especially officials from government departments and libraries managers of ministries and lovers of historical treasures.
«Thousand and One Nights» in French
Mohammed Asaf, director of the UAE's acquisition house, and its pavilion official, Mohammed Asaf, told Emirates Today: “During our participation this year, we were keen to present a unique collection of the most expensive books and collections in the world, most notably by Antoine Gallan. The 12 volumes, valued at $ 350,000, are attributed to the period 1706 to 1719 and are among the oldest and rarest books on display in French. Galan was the first person to translate the book (Thousand and One Nights) into a European language.
“This year we also participate in the two thousand volumes of the Arabian Nights, which are the first complete original edition in Arabic, from the Bulaq Binding in Cairo, which is worth $ 300,000, and is the most important printed edition of the book, according to the Central Digital Library. Only around the world in public libraries, which made them so rare, it is said that the reason for the scarcity that some scientists have burned all copies when they were printed in Egypt, and the importance of the copy because it was not displayed in any auction before ». Asaf explained that «the House provided a collection of rare books for Muslim scientists in medicine, astronomy and engineering, including the book (summarizing the universe and corruption) to Ibn Rushd, which dates back to 1559, which is worth $ 58 thousand, and (Jahan Namah) for the geographical author and historian Ottoman Chalabi Haji Khalifa, The value of $ 110 thousand, which dates back to 1732, which included several maps printed for the Islamic world, including an important and rare map of the Arabian Peninsula ».
Asaf said that the pavilion surprised visitors to the exhibition by displaying the book "Sindbad Cruises" by French writer Louis Matthew Langels, which dates back to 1814, which is the first edition of the Sindbad trip in Arabic, worth $ 10,000.
According to the official wing of the acquisition house, that «the House presented this course a set of medical books written by the most famous doctors of the world and those who developed the assets of medicine and surgery, including (five Shani Zadeh), which is the first printed book in medicine in the Islamic world and includes the five laws of the doctor, and included The book has three parts, the first dealing with anatomy and the second natural and third standard doctors, next to the book of surgery for Abu al-Qasim ibn Abbas al-Zahrawi, which dates back to 1532 AD, and the value of $ 58 thousand ».
Of cupboards
"Most of the books and publications we share are keen to talk about Islamic civilization, the history of Arabs, maps of Arab countries in the past centuries, in Russian, and the source of old libraries, researchers and academics who kept them in their vaults," said Yasser Tamimi, the pavilion's official at the exhibition. ». He expressed his delight at presenting a rare and distinctive collection of works by the international musician Beethoven, saying: «We presented music tracks for this musician, which is the most prominent of his works of art, and did not find a large turnout of visitors to the Arab exhibition, but attracted the attention of his fans from Western», pointing out that «the house participated This course is a collection of books that are presented to the public for the first time as the first printed gospel in Arabic in the West, which dates back to 1590 AD, in addition to the first printed Koran in the West in 1543 ». "Each time, through our participation in the exhibition, we stick to highlight some rare maps, and this year we presented a military map of the world consisting of 406 maps, and the value of the whole collection 95 thousand euros." Peter Harry Ngton English, the first illustrated encyclopedia Life in ancient Egypt, dating back to 1852, is valued at £ 300,000, and the largest atlas of Dutch maps, worth £ 750,000, is the most valuable exhibit of this year's edition.
The first full Arabic edition of “One Thousand and One Nights” for $ 300,000.