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"a book, sometimes adding the author's name, but seldom any satisfactory notice "of the contents, or any remark concerning "the reputation, the style, the excellence, or "defects of a work. On many occasions the inquisitive reader is much disappointed, "even by HÁJI KHALIFAH himself, the great Turkish bibliographer, whose notices "are sometimes extremely short and meagre; "and the same charge may be brought against D'Herbelot, who has inserted in “his Bibliothèque Orientale' a considerable portion of HÁJI KHALIFAH's Kashf al "Zunún.*

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*On the subject of this most valuable work (containing notices of many thousand Arabic, Persian, and Turkish books) I shall here quote a passage from Baron Ienisch's "Commentatio de Fatis Linguarum Orientalium," p. lxxxiii., which thus mentions HÁJI KHALIFAH, or, as his fellow-countrymen, the Turks, generally call him, KÁTIB CHELEBI (B)

كشف الظنون عن اسامى الكتوب و الفنون qui in opere suo “

Detectio cognitionum de nominibus librorum et scientiarum inscripto, quemadmodum in adjecta auctoris hujus vita ad tabulas suas chronologicas Constantinopoli typis datas Ibrahim Efendi memorat, libros omnes quotquot præfato auctori Katib inspicere licuit, ex tercentis et amplius scientiis in ordinem alphabeticum redactos recensuit." We learn from Mr. Mitchell,

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"It must however be allowed, that if many

Catalogues are deficient in information on "the subject of certain manuscripts, some "few may be found that, with respect to the "works which they describe, exhibit much accuracy in dates, and afford very useful "statements of the principal contents, and, "in some instances, curious or entertaining "extracts as the Catalogues composed by "Pococke, Casiri, Assemani, Stewart, Ha"maker, and two or three others, will suffi"ciently prove.

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in the preface to his excellent translation of HÁJI KHALIFAH'S History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks," (lately published by the Oriental Translation Fund,) that the Turkish

مصطفي بن عبد الله خلف author's name was, at length

MUSTAFA BEN ABDULLAH HAJI KHALIFAH, and that he died at Constantinople in the year of the hejrah 1068 (of the Christian era 1657). It will gratify the Orientalists of Europe to know, that a translation of his bibliographical work (the "Kashf al Zunún" above mentioned) has been undertaken for the Oriental Translation Committee, as the following notice in a printed list will show :-" Háji Khalífah's Bibliographical "Dictionary; translated by Monsieur Gustave Flugel. This "valuable Arabic work, which formed the groundwork of "D'Herbelot's 6 Bibliothèque Orientale,' contains accounts "of upwards of thirteen thousand Arabic, Persian, and Turk"ish works, arranged alphabetically."

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"Of this Persian work, which I now con'sign to you, the chief merit consists in two "circumstances it directs our notice to "historical manuscripts but little known, perhaps not existing, in Europe; of some, "indeed, the author himself informs us that " he had never been able to procure a copy. "The other circumstance which particularly recommends this tract is, that it offers "remarks on the style of different writers; "and, as a descriptive Catalogue, may be "considered almost singular in not only praising excellencies, but censuring defects.

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"I therefore should not hesitate to am"plify the title superscribed on its cover by "Dr. Scott, as above mentioned, and to style "it A Critical Essay on various Manuscript "Works, Arabic and Persian, illustrating "the History of Arabia, Persia, Turkomania "and India, Syria, Egypt, Mauritania, and Spain;' for such is its extensive range,

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comprehending, in fact, all those regions "which are or have been subject to Muselmán sovereigns.

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"Your continued residence at a most in"convenient distance from London induces

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me to renew my offer of assistance (as on a "former occasion) in conducting this Essay through the press; and

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"I am, my dear Sir, yours, &c.

"WILLIAM OUSELEY."

"London, February 10th, 1832.

In addition to the obliging offer of assistance contained in his letter above quoted, Sir William has kindly undertaken to annex a few notes, as the pages of this work pass, under his correction, through the press; and I have adopted the title recommended by him, since it expresses the author's object better than any that could be suggested by myself.

In representing by means of our letters the Arabic and Persian names which occur throughout the following pages, I have observed the system adopted in the Geographical Work of SADIK ISFAHANI : this is the system suggested by Sir William Jones,1 and recommended by the Oriental Translation Com

1 In his "Dissertation on the Orthography of Asiatic Words in Roman Letters,"-Asiatic Researches, vol. I.

mittee, according to which "the letter a (having an accent above) is used to express the broad or long sound of our a in fall, call, and as Ámul, Shíráz. The letter {, accented in the same manner, represents the sound of our ee in peer, feel, and as in Shíráz above mentioned: and ú, likewise accented, denotes the sound of our oo in boot, moon, &c.; thus in Kúfah. Without accents those letters (a, i, and u,) have their short sounds: a, as in man, battle; thus Kazvín, Tabri, Marv, &c.: i in imp, as Isfahan, Mirbát: u, as in bull, full, &c.; thus Suhrvard, Dábul; but in Persian words the u is never pronounced like our u in pun, mutter, &c. Although the short a may be the proper symbol, the short e, as Sir William Jones remarks in his work above quoted, may "be often very conveniently used" to express the first vocal sound; and in the word America (with which he exemplifies his remark) we find both the short a and e: thus he writes chashm (p), raft (,), ber (;), perveresh (^,„;), &c.1

1 See the Preface to SADIK ISFAHANI'S "Geographical Works," p. xii. It may be here remarked, that for the letter

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