[Turkey] Bayer, G.S. Historia Osrhoena et Edessena ex numis illustrata

St. Petersburg, Ex Typogrphia Acadmiae, 1734. (10),362,(10) p., w. 7 engr. plates dep. helmets and coins, num. letterpress examples in Arabic and Greek in the text, very finely bound in 19th-cent. half sheepskin, gilt and ribbed spine w. 2 contrast. mor. letterpieces, 4to. A very fine LARGE PAPER copy w. just a few internal and external imperfections. The only edition, very rare. This work by orientalist, sinologist and philologist Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738) is an important early scientific study on the history of Osrhoene and its capital Edesse (now Sanliurfa in Turkey). The author used numismatics for reconstructing the political and cultural history of the area from Hellenistic times up to early Christanity, also mentioning the legend of king Abgar V corresponding with Jesus Christ (from p. 104 onwards).