A dream collection of original works, manuscripts, photographs — pieces so rare your eyes will pop out — have taken Doha International Book Fair by storm, writes Umer NangianaAt its peak, the Islamic world produced gems in almost every field from art and science to literature and architecture. The monuments, pieces of architecture and the works of scientists and artists not only inspired the world around them, but generations to come.Most of this era was documented by Muslims themselves or was researched and archived by the outer world as well. Such scripts and documents in the form of books, manuscripts and photographs are rare today but they are still available. How about getting your hands on some of the original copies?Folios Limited, the London-based trader of rare books, is in Doha these days with a selection of rare books, manuscripts and photographs from the Islamic World up for sale at 25th Doha International Book Fair. “We have collection of books related to the Arab and Islamic world. We have Arabic literature, travel section, art and science sections, manuscripts, photographs and travel books. It ranges from 1505 dates of publication to 1920,” Badr el Haj, the owner of the shop tells Community. “We trade in these books. We acquire, catalogue and send them to our clients,” he adds.From its wide selection, Folios Limited has presented at the book fair some 120 rare pieces which are fully described in a catalogues specially printed for the occasion. Some of the items are as old as Albumasar de magnis conjuctionibus: annorum revolutionibus. 1515. There are original copies of the editions from the following century such as Lathams Falconry: or, The Faulcons Lure, and Cure. 1614-1618.The selection at sale contains rare and unique copies of Qur’an, books of Islamic arts and sciences, some limited and numbered copies, manuscripts and archives, books on history, travels, natural sciences, photography and Arabic language and literature.Take up this very rare book on Persian miniature paintings by Marteau, Georges & Henri Vever (1842-1942) from 19th century. Titled as Miniatures Persanes Tirees des Collections de MM. Henry D’Allemagne, this book is extremely rare, the 7th copy out of the limited 150 copies, limited edition exhibition catalogue on Persian Miniatures at the Musee des Art Decoratifs from June to October, 1912.It contains some of the best specimen of miniatures from the 12th to the 17th century as it was catalogued when these rare pieces were put on exhibition in the Museum of Decorative Arts in 1911. The best items from the Museum’s this collection were catalogued and preserved in this edition.“It is the most important highlight in this collection which nobody has in possession,” says el Haj.There is another rare gem: The Arabian Antiquities of Spain by Murphy, James C. (1760-1814). This large folio (67.0 x 52.0 cm) contains 20 pages plus 103 plates, an engraved title page and red Morocco half leather with marbled boards. It was published by Cadell & Davies London in June 1815.It is an impressive work on the art and architecture of Moorish Spain, published in instalments from 1813 to 1816. It contains a total of 102 striking plates. The plates are preceded by a short introduction, a table of contents and a brief description of every plate.The first 9 (8 numbered) plates show the Mosque at Cordoba, followed by a view of the bridge of Cordoba while the rest of the work is devoted to the extraordinary complex of the Alhambra. It contains scenic as well as architectural views, several plans and details of the ornaments, inscriptions and other decorations.The author did the drawings during a seven-year stay in Andalusia 1802-1809, then spent a further four years in preparing the work for publication. He himself died in 1813 and the book was published posthumously by T Hartwell Horne and J Shakespeare.El Haj says they also have the first ever photograph of Makkah, the holy city in Saudi Arabia. It has already been sold at the book fair. The owner of the shop points to another book of historical importance on Spain which is also a rare copy.It is by “Sarre, Friedrich (1865-1945) and Ernst Herzfeld (1879-1948)” titled as Archaologische Reise im Euphrat-und Tigris-Gebeit (Four Volumes). Volumes I and III were published in 1911 while volumes II and IV were published in 1940. All four volumes are in their original bindings as published.Only the binding of volume II is coming away from text block, small library de-accession stamps on half title and title pages, otherwise it is a fine set of an extremely rare work.Experts have called it “one of the first and still one of the best archaeological inventories of a vital Islamic region.” It is an outcome of the archaeological travels and excavations of Ernst Herzfed and Friedrich Sarre, the two key figures in the field of Islamic art and archaeology in Germany during the first half of the 20th Century.“It is one of the land marks of the Islamic monuments in Spain. It covers design, architecture, literature, everything,” say El Haj.“There are many books that are printed in Europe and were written by Arabs in 19th century. They are Arabic, Islamic texts printed in Europe because the Europeans very much wanted to study them and know about the Muslim world,” says the owner of the rare book shop. “The Europeans studied the Arabic and Persian texts in Europe, made several studies either in original languages or English or French as they wanted to acquire an understanding of the Muslim world and different regions,” he adds.From the manuscripts, the Folios collection contains “Personal Archive of Edmund Pauty (1887-?).” Edmund Pauty was an orientalist painter, architect and technical expert who served on the Comite de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe in Cairo between 1925 and 1950.The Comite was an organisation established in December 1881 by Khedive Tawfiq and was responsible for the preservation of Islamic and Coptic monuments in Egypt. It was an Egyptian institution, part of the Ministry of Charitable Endowments (Awqaf) but is often referred to by its French title.The book on falconry, Lathams Falconry: or, The Faulcons Lure, and Cure. 1614-1618, is an edition of two books. The first concerns the ordering and the training of all hawks in general, especially the Haggard Faulcon Gentle.The second is teaching approved medicines for the cure of all diseases in falcons, gathered by long practice and experience and published for the delight of noble minds and instructions of young Faulconers in things pertaining to this Princely Art.The royal sport of hunting with falcons it is believed may have begun in Mesopotamia with the earliest accounts dating to approximately, 2000 BC. Historically, falconry was a popular sport and status symbol among the nobles of medieval Europe, the Middle East and the Mongolian Empire.The Folios Limited collection among other rare books and manuscripts has copies of Qur’an such as this Qur’an, Translated & Introduced by Abraham Hinckelmann (1652-1695). Titled as Al-Coranus S. Lex Islamitica Muhammedis, filii Abdallae pseudopropjetae, ad optimorum codicum fidem edita, this copy of Qur’an contains Arabic script woodblock half title page and a preface in Latin.The Hamburg Qur’an was long believed to be the first edition printed, the preliminary text being dated 10 May 1694. However, there exists a unique surviving copy discovered in Venice in 1987, of a printing prepared by Alexander Paganini in Venice in 1537-1538.Dr Abraham Hinckelmann (1652-1695), a Hamburg Theologian, studied at Wittenberg and collected many Oriental manuscripts. He compiled a Qur’anic lexicon in manuscript and planned Latin translation of the Qur’an but this was never realised.