**First Time At Auction**

Near East / Northeastern Africa, Ottoman Empire, ca. 19th century CE. An intriguing leather-bound book containing hundreds of laid-paper pages of Islamic text, inscribed in black and red Arabic script. Some pages have watermarks of a crescent moon with a face in a shield - a motif first used by Egyptian papermakers in 1868, then adopted by Sudanese papermakers in 1870, and also popular amongst 19th century Italian papermakers who marketed their goods throughout the Ottoman Empire. Other pages have watermarks of Arabic scrip, which was typically used by Ottoman papermakers. Size: 10.4" L x 3" W x 14" H (26.4 cm x 7.6 cm x 35.6 cm)

Provenance: Whisnant Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA acquired prior to 2000

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#169579

Losses and tears to cover and pages, especially on peripheries. Fraying and wrinkling to binding. Staining throughout. Otherwise, excellent with impressively preserved ink and clear script. Small notes and doodles from previous owners on some pages.