Bibliothèque orientale, ou Dictionaire universel contenant généralement tout ce qui regarde la connoissance des peuples de l'Orient. Leurs histoires et traditions ... leurs religions, sectes et politique ... leurs sciences, et leurs arts ... les vies et actions remarquables de tous leurs saints ... des jugemens critiques, et des extraits de tous leurs ouvrages

Paris: par la Compagnie des Libraires, 1697. First edition, folio, pp. [32], 1059, [1]; title page printed in red and black, woodcut ornaments and initials; full contemporary calf, gilt-decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; edges a little worn, a few minor tears and dampstains in the text, but in all, a very good, sound copy. Manuscript inscription at the top of the title page reads: "Monasterii S. Germani a pratis Congregationis S. Maur: 1698." Based on the immense Arabic bibliography (the Kashf al-Zunun) of Hadji Khalfa (Katip Çelebi), of which it is largely an abridged translation, but it also contains the substance of a vast number of other Arabic and Turkish compilations and manuscripts. Four editions of this encyclopedia on the culture and history of the Near East were printed, the last being 1781-83. Atabey Sale, 563: "Herbelot spent the last thirty years of his life working on his Bibliothèque orientale, a landmark in Arabic studies which was unfinished at his death and completed and published two years later by the orientalist Antoine Galland in 1697. He knew a range of languages, including Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew, and was familiar with their literature and history, of which this work forms an encyclopaedia." A supplement compiled by Claude de Visdelou wasn't published until 1780. James Ford Bell Catalogue cites the 1781-83 edition only. (Inventory #: 42959)