1892 Rare Book - ABDALLAH, Or The Four-Leaved Shamrock, An ARAB TALE by Edouard Laboulaye.
(description)
Author: Laboulaye, Edouard.
Title: Abdallah, Or The Four-Leaved Shamrock. (Mary L. Booth, translator).
Publisher: Boston, Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Company, 1892. New American Edition (stated).
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7 " X 5 ".
Pages: 232 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine contemporary half green morocco leather over marbled boards ruled in gilt, spine in six compartments with gold lettering and decorations on the spine, finely bound by Ringer bindery for A.C. McClurg & Co (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. Upper edge gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, ink stamp of a previous owner on the second blank page - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with engraved head and tailpieces and the chapters' engraved initials.
The book: Attractive and rare edition of Abdallah, Or The Four-Leaved Shamrock, An Arab Tale by Laboulaye.
This is an Oriental tale of one who loved only himself, who devoted his life to covetousness, avarice, and the gathering of wealth; and of another, his foster brother, who took no thought of riches, but lived for brave deeds, good works and acts of friendship and kindness. Mansour, the great merchant, sought by enchantment to gain good fortune for Omar, his newly-born son; and, praying that the child might have great riches, good health, and love no one but himself, his prayer was granted. Halima, the widow of a brave Bedouin chief, besought that Abdallah, her son, might be virtuous and happy. Omar, the son of the rich merchant, became the foster brother of the young Bedouin, and the boys grew up together, to follow different paths in afterlife—Omar to amass great wealth through greed and cunning, Abdallah to seek the four-leaved shamrock, the magic talisman of contentment and happiness, to be found only by self-denial and good deeds. The son of the desert—noble, generous, and brave—toils for the good of his people, fights to succor those in danger and dies the death of a brave man through the treachery of Omar, to find his reward in Paradise. The wretched Omar finds that his wealth and cunning give him naught but perdition.
The author: Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye (18 January 1811 – 25 May 1883) was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist. In 1865 he originated the idea of a monument presented by the French people to the United States that resulted in the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. He got the idea thinking that this would help strengthen their relationship with the United States.
The bindery: Ernst Hertzberg was a young child in Germany in the mid-1800s when he used to play among the ruins of an old monastery. Interested in the bookbinding and scribing that used to take place at the monastery, Ernst pursued bookbinding as a career. When he and his family immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s, Ernst obtained a position with Ringer Book Bindery in Chicago. In 1902 the company moved to the location of the building in my photo. Eventually, Ernst was able to afford the business and named it the “Monastery Hill Bindery”, which was in recognition of the inspiration he gained from his early interest in monastery bookbinding...