Kolic66 respeding New Books. 3\59 



that no occasion should be neglected of giving detached no- 

 tices upon the most celebrated writers ; and by pointing out 

 their names and writings, we shouUl employ all the means 

 furnished by criticism, in order to present with the greatest 

 possible exactness, and in original characters, the entire 

 name of the auil)ors, and titles of their works. 



The most important books of this description, and those 

 which would furnish the greatest number of articles for 

 literary history, are: 



The K'ltab ylljihr'ist, bv Aboul-faradji Moliamed Bcn- 

 Ishak, better known bv the name of Ebn-Abi-Yacoub Ne- 

 tlim : it is a catalogue of Arabian anthors and their works, 

 for the three firrt centuries of the TIegira and a part of the 

 fourth. 



The JVafijnt Aiayan, or dictionary of illustrious men, by 

 Ebn-Khilcan. 



The Tav'ikh ylUdum, by Dhchebi. 



The Mcnhal Alsap't, another diclionarv c)f the same kind, 

 composed by x\boulmaha5scn, forming a continuation of 

 llie preceding. 



The Kitah Almohadhara, an abridged history of Egypt, 

 by Soyouti, which contains a very useful catalogue of cele- 

 brated men wlio'have been born or lived in that country. 



The Kiluh Casclif Aldlwnoun, or library of xVrabian, Per- 

 sian, and Turkish books, by Hadji Khalia. 



This last work, of which Herbclot has already made so 

 great use, is the same from which the author of the Cvclo- 

 pedical V^iew of the. Sciences of the East has extracted the 

 greatest part of the materials he has collected in the volume 

 now before us ; but he has also laid under contribution six 

 other works, four of which are writleu in Arabic, one in 

 Persian, and one in Turkish. 



The author explains, in the preface, the plan according to 

 which he has arranged the extracts from these various works. 

 The last six have merely served to supply the desiderata in 

 the general picture of ihe sciences of the East by Hadji 

 Klialfa. Sometimes tlie extracts of several of these works 

 have been blended together ; but oftener he ha? contented 

 himself will) abridging tlieni, indicating the source of each in 

 •Z 4 i-ariicuhuj 



