Obj. ID: 40686
Jewish printed books Locmani sapientis fabulae et selecta quaedam... by Amthal Luqman al-Hakim, Leiden, 1615
This text was prepared by William Gross:
Rare First Edition. Text in Arabic with a translation, preface and commentary in Latin. Erpenius s 1615 edition was the first Arabic printing of the Amthaal a collection of proverbs and fables attributed to Lokman the sage, who the arabs say was of Ethiopian decent and lived about 1100 B.C . Lokman (also known as Luqman the Wise or Luqman al-Hakeem ) was a wise man after whom the thirty-first sura (chapter) of the Qur an, was named. There are many stories about Luqman in Persian, Arabic and Turkish literature. The Bahב ı́ holy writings also make reference to Luqman. His so-called Fables are known to have existed In the 13th century, but are not mentioned by any Arabian writer. Since their first publication in Europe in 1615, the Fables constitute an obligatory passage for learning Arabic, which explains the proliferation of versions (including those for school use). The collection was edited by Thomas Erpenius (1584-1624), professor of oriental languages at Leiden. In 1613, after his return from Paris, he set up a private press with types cut specially for him.
Editor: Thomas Erpenius
Typographia Erpeniana Linguarum Orientalium