Bloomsbury is putting up high-profile Middle Eastern works for auction

“A 15th-century Arabic book on alchemy – how can you not want to read through that?”

Roxana Kashani from Bloomsbury Auctions is talking about one of her favourite lots at a sale of Middle Eastern books in London this week – and she’s slightly worried that curiosity might get the better of anyone who meets the estimated sale price of £1,800 (Dh10,500).

“It’s a tricky one,” she says. “It’s fragile, and it does need to be respected and looked after. But’s it’s also a terrible shame if it ends up behind a glass cabinet. It should be held and read … but with caution.”

Kashani’s sense of excitement about the first foray by Bloomsbury Auctions Book Department into a sale devoted to Middle Eastern works is infectious. Half Iranian, she has lived in Dubai and understands better than most the importance of the collection – which takes in everything from a handsomely decorated Quran to an important guide to 17th-century Arabic grammar – to this part of the world.

“I know the UAE,” she says. “Anything which is of cultural benefit is really endorsed, so we believe there’s a huge potential market for this sort of material.” So rather than just sell individual manuscripts as and when they came to market, Kashani was keen to hold back the more important works so a collection could be formed and a more high-profile sale arranged. What’s interesting is that, just like the Middle Eastern Contemporary Art sale by the auctionroom.com in London last month, the buyers aren’t only collectors in the United Kingdom.

Original article by Ben East

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Bloomsbury is putting up high-profile Middle Eastern works for auction