"Peter Harrington" It reviews the cultural interaction between East and West in "Abu Dhabi Book"
Abu Dhabi, May 2/ WAM/ The British Peter Harrington Library, specialized in rare books and manuscripts, attracted the attention of the 34th session of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, through a unique group of cognitive treasures that highlight the cultural and historical interaction between East and West, and prominent stations documenting the development of printing, literature and science.
Within the most prominent exhibits for this year, a rare manuscript dating back to the fourteenth century of the book “Law in Medicine” by the philosopher and Muslim doctor Ibn Sina, on the occasion of a thousand years since the composition of this immortal medical work, and the exhibits also included books published in the Napoleon Bonaparte press that was established in Egypt in 1798, along with the first Arab printing models in the United States of America, and a rare copy of the book “Birds Great Britain “by the author John Gold, known for his accuracy of his drawings and scientific classifications of birds.
“Peter Harrington” reviewed a rare version of an American novel dating back to the year 1834 entitled “The Kentuckian in New-York”, and contains the first known appearance of Arabic calligraphy in American literature, where a Muslim personal hand line was used from the Volandi tribes in West Africa, which is a rare documentation for the presence of Islamic culture in Western literature in that era.
She added that the library also presented a rare book of the nineteenth century, which is one of the first known attempts to teach the English language to Arabic speakers, authored by an Egyptian writer, and was distinguished by the use of Arabic letters to write English words, which reflects an early attempt to facilitate learning language by pronouncing.
She pointed out that the library wing also included a photo archive documenting the Hijaz Railway project in 1948, along with a group of rare books, including the book “The Abiz” “1877”, which is one of the unique dictionaries, and the first full edition of “One Thousand and One Nights” that was printed at the Bulaq Press in 1835, in addition to a group of original paintings drawn by the artist Edmund Duclak for the 1907 edition of the same book.
Among the other exhibits that the library has reviewed is a stone version of the book “Territories” based on the Introduction manuscript and is considered one of the oldest printed Arabic maps, and the book “Arabian Sands” for the British traveler Wilfred Thisger, and the book “MORISH Recipes” issued in 1954, which is one of the first English cooking books dedicated to the Moroccan kitchen, in addition to the first A printed edition of the book “The Elements” by Euclid (1482), which was based on Arabic translations in the Middle Ages and is considered one of the basic texts in the history of mathematics.
Cecilia Gasrholm confirmed that all the exhibits were carefully chosen from the library archive in London, and include various fields of children’s books to exploration books and rare manuscripts, noting that the participation of the British “Peter Harrington” library, which has been going on for more than ten years at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair reflects its commitment to cultural communication with the region.
She emphasized that the exhibition has become a global platform that allows cultural institutions to display its heritage in front of a wide and multiple audience.
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