Grammatica Arabica Agrumia appellata. Cum versione Latina, ac dilucida expositione

First edition of this Arabic grammar, one of the earliest works printed by the Propaganda Press, whose own printing office had only been established in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII through the consolidation of several typographical collections, notably the Medici Arabic presses.

Contemporary full stiff vellum, smooth spine, title and date lettered in black ink, small wormholes to one joint and the left margin of the upper cover, sprinkled edges, contemporary binding.

A wormtrack runs through most of the leaves, occasionally affecting a few letters of the text.

The Franciscan friar Tommaso Obizzino (1585-1632), a native of Novara, produced several manuals for the study of the Arabic language.

He served as head of the convent at Aleppo from 1613 to 1616, and again in 1619-1620, before being appointed to the highly important office of Custos of the Holy Land. He did not return to Rome until 1621.

Provenance: Copy from the library of the celebrated orientalist Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (1731-1805), the true pioneer of Avestan studies in France, bearing his manuscript ownership inscription on the title-page, together with a manuscript note by a subsequent owner on a blank endleaf.