[BIRCH, Samuel]. Inscriptions in the Himyaritic Character discovered chiefly in Southern Arabia, and now in the British Museum. London, Printed by Order of the Trustees, 1863.
Oblong large folio (42 by 53 cm); modern half calf over pebble-grained cloth morocco lettering-piece to spine; pp. [iv], 6, 18 lithographic plates; endpapers a little toned and spotted, with a few small marginal flaws, minimal toning to text and plates; a very good copy of a great rarity deaccessioned from Newcastle Central Reference Libray with their bookplate (one on opposite fly-leaf removed), their library stamps on title page and most of the plates.
First edition of this impressive work on the inscriptions found in Yemen, left by the pre-Islamic Himyarite Kingdom which adopted Judaism as state religion in the late fourth century CE, before native Christian rulers took over. The Sasanian Empire and Aksum fought over it and it was controlled by the Sasanians until the rise of Islam. The work opens with a preface by Samuel Birch followed by introductory remarks on the history of Western discoveries of Himyaritic inscriptions from Niebuhr and Seetzen up to the middle of the nineteenth century.
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