Comparative Alphabets with Transliterations, Niebuhr, 1780

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1780, a full page table of alphabets from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's travels. The plate carries no caption; it is lettered only "Tab. II." at the upper right, and the scripts are set out in six groups keyed with the capital letters A to F.

Groups A, B and C fill the upper half of the plate, each bracketed at the left. Under every character a Latin transliteration is engraved in a small italic hand, running through syllables such as Ka Kha ga gha na in group A, a gha Ka cha in group B and a i u e ga in group C. Group A also has a row of ten numerals, each with its figure 1 to 10 printed beneath. Groups D, E and F occupy the lower half and are bracketed at the right. Group D gives letters with names such as schin sin ce re dal and lamaleph; group E runs through three rows with syllables beneath; group F sets two rows of characters with Arabic letters written below them, without Latin transliteration. The characters are cut boldly, so that each letterform reads clearly against the open paper.

No artist's or engraver's name is printed on the sheet.

The plate comes from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation printed for S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and Barthelemy Wild at Utrecht; the title page of the volume reads TOME SECOND and is dated MDCCLXXX. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen, and this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.