SAVARY (Claude Étienne). Lot n° 113

Moral of Mahomet; or Collection of the purest maxims of the Koran. One will find in this abridged version only thoughts suitable to elevate the soul, and to remind man of his duties towards the divinity, towards himself and towards his fellow men. Constantinople and in Paris, Lamy, 1784. In-16 of [4]-91 pp. Fawn basane, smooth spine decorated, title page in black marble, red pages (contemporary binding). A few small wormholes in the binding otherwise a fine copy in its original binding. Very rare first edition of this abridgement in French of the key concepts of Islam by the orientalist and Egyptologist Cl.-Et. Savary (1750-1788), based on his French translation of the Qur'an published the previous year. While only a few scholars read the entire Qur'an, including in their own language, this summary offers a much wider European audience (as well as French speakers in the Ottoman Empire) a general idea of the Islamic religion. (Brunet V, 154.)