No Secret is Safe Behind the Bamboo Curtain (signed in English and Chinese)
New York; (1952): Farrar, Straus and Giroux. First Edition. Octavo. Item #029115
x-202 pages. Inscribed by the author "To my dear uncle Martin Schwarzschil/ Loving memory /Hartwig Derenbourg" and with his uncle's bookplate. French text. One of the most important primary sources in translation of the author, Usamai ibn Munqid, who was born in the first year of the First Crusade (1095) to a family who were the lords over the Shayzar Fortress on the River Orontes. His position gave him firsthand contact not only with the major Syrian princes but also with Saladin himself. His view of the Franks led him to say: May Allah's curse be upon them. His education in the court included the Quran but also rhetoric, calligraphy, and poetry. One of the most important contemporary histories of the Crusades. It is no wonder that he was called "a hero of Islam". He describes perhaps with disgust the behavior of the Franks, also he tells of the heroic acts of women in the struggle. A nice copy of an important work bound in black paper over marbled paper covered boards, original front wrapper bound in, some wear or chipping to edges of boards and spine.
Price: $90.00