1,800-Year-Old Homer, Sheikh Zayed's Falcon No 1: Rare Items At Abu Dhabi Book Fair

You can hold a Bible once given as a royal wedding gift, unroll a nine-metre Japanese picture story from 1658 or peer at fragments of Homer's Iliad written almost 1,800 years ago, if you can afford the price tag.

These are among the unusual historical treasures being offered for sale at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, where a stand dedicated to rare books and manuscripts has brought together objects spanning centuries of literature, art and history.

At the centre of the display is a fragment of a manuscript of Homer's Iliad dating to the second century, putting it at roughly 1,800 years old. The fragment is written on papyrus, the same ancient material made from the papyrus plant that was widely used in the ancient world for writing.

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Yasser Raad, director of the Austrian rare-book and manuscript dealer Inlibris said the fragment represents part of the surviving manuscript tradition of the works attributed to Homer, the ancient Greek poet whose Iliad and Odyssey became foundational works of Western literature.

The stand also features what remains of another ancient Homer manuscript, offered to collectors for hundreds of thousands of euros.

Such fragments are not necessarily sought by traditional book collectors, Raad said, but by museums, libraries, institutes and private collectors interested in preserving historically significant pieces.

A very different kind of treasure sits nearby: a 17th-century Bible decorated with gold and precious stones. The Bible, priced at €65,000, was presented as a wedding gift and later came from the library of a German princess, according to Raad.

The cover is gold-plated and decorated with stones, while the page edges are gilded. A design showing two hands together represents the wedding, with a cross at the centre.“It was gifted as a gift in a wedding,” Raad said, adding that the stones were intended to protect the Bible.

Another standout is a set of five Japanese picture scrolls dating to 1658. Unrolled end to end, the scrolls stretch for about nine metres and contain 26 illustrations depicting a tale involving romance, revenge and war.

Raad likened the experience of viewing the scrolls to a form of storytelling entertainment that predated modern cinema. The original box in which the scrolls were kept is also part of the collection, along with the leather and gold-decorated scrolls.

According to Raad, the set is priced at €450,000.

The collection also includes an early photograph associated with the Gulf, taken during a British naval officer's travels in the region. Raad said Charles Courtenay Bell photographed the scene during a journey and later assembled his photographs into a personal album, following a practice among naval officers at the time of documenting their travels.

One image is captioned 'Sheikh of Sharjah'. The photograph offers a rare glimpse of the region in the early 20th century, with another image from the same event held by the British Library showing the subjects from a different angle.

The stand also has a more personal UAE connection: a sculpture of Sheikh Zayed's favourite falcon,“No. 1”, created by British wildlife sculptor and painter David Cemmick.

Cemmick was invited to Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Zayed in 2000 and was given access to his falconry training ground in Sweihan and wildlife collection on Sir Bani Yas Island, where he studied and painted the ruler's falcons.

The resulting life-sized bronze sculpture was later cast and hand-painted by Cemmick. The work is a unique artist's cast, according to its INLIBRIS listing.

Raad said another sculpture believed to have been made for Sheikh Zayed may still exist, although its current whereabouts are unknown.

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