Three Kufic Inscriptions Keyed A, B and C, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1780

An original antique copper engraving, published in 1780, a wide folding plate with three Arabic inscriptions in an angular script, keyed A, B and C. No title or caption is engraved on the sheet.

A, at the top, runs to three long lines of script across the full width of the plate, followed by a shorter fourth line set in the center with a word placed above it. B, in the middle of the sheet, is four long lines. C, at the bottom, is two long lines. The letters are drawn in a firm, even line on a plain ground, with the tall upright strokes rising well above the others and many of them finished in loops, hooks or small knotted forms. Wide spacing between the lines and between the three blocks keeps each inscription separate, and small hatched patches interrupt the lines in a few places.

The plate number Tab: XLIX. is engraved at the upper right. No artist's or engraver's name is lettered on this sheet.

This sheet belongs to volume two of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie, translated from the German (Traduit de l'Allemand) and published at Amsterdam by S. J. Baalde and at Utrecht by Barthelemy Wild in 1780. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815), a German born surveyor in Danish service, was the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767) to return alive. The expedition's artist, Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind, died at sea in 1763.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Folding plate, original center fold as issued. Slight wear at the bottom left and top left corners. Shallow nicks along the bottom and left edges.

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