DU RYER, André. L'Alcoran de Mahomet.A Paris et on les vend a Anvers, chez Jean François Lucas, 1723

8vo, 155x100 mm; contemporary full vellum binding, handwritten title on spine. Pp. [8], 485, [3]. Titlepage printed in black and red ink. Woodcut vignette on titlepage. Woodcut initials and headpieces. Nice copy.

Fine copy of this French edition of the Koran translated directly from Arabic. Translated by André du Ryer, a renowned orientalist and linguist, who had lived in Egypt and Turkey, where he had studied classical Arabic. He served at the consulate of Alexandria in the twenties of the sixteenth century and later as an interpreter of the French ambassador in Istanbul. He made this famous translation of the Koran, published for the first time in 1647."L'aristocratico André du Ryer nacque a Marcigny, dove ricoprì il ruolo di console francese ad Alessandria, Il Cairo e Bisanzio. attraverso l'intero Medio Oriente, imparò abbastanza bene l'arabo e il turco, verso il 1630 tornò a Parigi e divenne l'interprete del re per le lingue orientali, scrisse una grammatica della lingua turca e tradusse il "Gulistan" di Saadi". Du Ryer indicates its objectives as follows:"Sir, I have talked in French about Mohammed, I have translated his Alcoran in our language, in the honour of God, to help trade prosper and to satisfy the needs of those who preach Christianity to the Oriental people".