"A MOST REMARKABLE SERIES OF MUSLIM MONUMENTS, RUNNING UNBROKEN FROM THE NINTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY"

CRESWELL, K.A.C. The Mosques of Egypt from 21 H. (641) to 1365 H. (1946). Giza (Orman): The Survey of Egypt, 1949 (-1954). Two volumes. Large folio (13 by 17-1/2 inches), original green cloth gilt, patterned endpapers. $5800.

First edition, lavishly illustrated with 243 stunning large folio photographic plates of Egyptian building and architectural details, numerous in-text drawings, building plans and elevations, and two large folding "Maps of Cairo Showing Mohammedan Monuments" housed in a rear pocket in Volume I. "The finest piece of book production achieved in Egypt."

"Cairo possesses a most remarkable series of Muslim monuments, running unbroken from the ninth to the nineteenth century. In the latter respect it is unique; other cities, such as Damascus, possess a large number of monuments but some centuries are not represented at all." "As one surveys the gorgeous monuments of Muslim Egypt one is struck by the grandeur, the beauty and the mysteries of mosques. They represent Art at its best and in its varied aspects. They record the eventful history of those momentous periods. They seem to hide within them secrets which had far-reaching effects on the political and social history of the country as well as on its intellectual and spiritual life throughout the centuries. Indeed the history of the Muslim World in general and Muslim Egypt in particular cannot be properly understood or rightly interpreted unless mosques are thoroughly studied as links in the chain of the past. It is therefore of great advantage to Egypt and to the world to unveil those secrets and reveal them; for mosques were not only places of worship, but also colleges for the study of religious doctrines, philosophical ideas and political theories." With an introduction and preface dated 1954 laid into Volume I. With a gift inscription to French historian René Huyghe from Egyptian cultural minister Saroite Okasha.

A fine copy.