arabic poetry printed in Calcutta

Abu Tammam (d. 845 AD) was an Arab Muslim poet, and this Kitab al-Hamasah is his best known work, often considered one of the most prolific collection of authentic Arabic poems ever assembled.

First Edition; bound in 2 vols., printed in Arabic with a title-page in Arabic to vol. I and another in English at the beginning of the vol. II (dated '1880'), 8vo (237 x 158 mm); continuous pagination throughout the two volumes, interfoliated throughout with blank leaves probably for the purpose of note-taking, early ownership inscription in Arabic to endpapers, pencil inscriptions to blanks throughout citing Lyall's English translation of the text (see 'Translations of Ancient Arabian Poetry, chiefly pre-Islamic, with an Introduction and Notes'); late 19th-century green cloth bound by Kelly & Walsh Ltd. (Singapore), spines lettered in gilt, yellow-coated endpapers, edges sprinkled in red, extremities rubbed, corners a little worn.