Abou Naddara--James Sanua [Ya'Qub Rufa'il Sanu'], called Abou Naddara

ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS:
Abou Naddara Zarqa. [Cairo]: January-June 1878, 12 (of 15) issues (nos. 3-5 and 7-15), Arabic text, some wear
Rahlat Abou Naddara. Paris: August 1878-March 1879, Nos.1-30 (complete), Arabic text, captions to cartoons in Arabic and French; together with 'L'Editeur au public' (12pp., index and list of issues in French)
Rahlat Abou Naddara Zarqa. March-December 1879, Nos. 1-30 (complete)
Al Nazzarat al Misriyya. September 1879-March 1880, Nos. 1-10 (complete)
Le Flutiste. June 1880, Nos. 1-3 (complete)
La Clarinette. July-August 1880, Nos. 1-3 (complete)
[Introduction to Al Hawi (The Magician)]. 1881
Le Charmeur. February-March 1881, Nos.1-4 (complete)
Abou Naddara. Organe de la jeunesse d'Egypte. 1881, Nos.1-15 (complete)
Abou Naddara. Organe de la jeunesse d'Egypte. 1882, Nos. 1-16 (complete)
Abou Naddara Zarqa. January-December 1883, Nos. 1-14 (complete)
The Egyptian Patriot. September-November 1883, Nos.1-2 (complete)
Abou Naddara. Journal Oriental. January-December 1884, Nos.1-10 (complete)
Abou Naddara. Journal Oriental. February-November 1886, 5 (of 12) issues (Nos. 2-4, 7 and 11)
Abou Naddara l'Attawadod. February-November 1896, 8 (of 9?) issues (nos. 1-8), slightly worn and wormed

TOGETHER WITH:
Abou Naddara: 1878-1910. Beirut: Dar Sader [no date, 1974?], facsimile edition, 10 volumes, 4to, crimson cloth, lettered in gilt

Cf. Ettmüller, Dr Eliane Ursula. The construct of Egypt's national-self in James Sanua’s early Satire and Caricature. (Stadium sum Moderrnen Orient 22. Klaus Schwarz Verlag, Berlin, 2012)
Abou Naddara Collection website: http://kjc-fs1.kjc.uni-heidelberg.de:8080/exist/apps/naddara/index.html

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A GOOD COLLECTION OF THESE RARE SATIRICAL MAGAZINES. THE FIRST ARABIC MAGAZINE TO FEATURE CARTOONS, WITH CAPTIONS IN FRENCH AND ARABIC, AND THE FIRST TO USE A FORM OF COLLOQUIAL ARABIC.

In the extraordinary, rich, and multi-layered culture of Egypt in the nineteenth century, with its polyglot and ethnic diversity flourishing under the weakening aegis of the Sublime Porte, and the ever more intrusive British economic and political influence, one remarkable figure stands out as both cultural innovator in the field of Arabic drama, as political commentator, and, with al-Afghani and others, as one of the founders of Egyptian nationalism. This is James Sanua, called in Arabic Ya'qub Rufa'il Sanu' but often referred to simply by his pseudonymn, Abu Naddara ('father of spectacles'.)

Born into a family of Sephardic Jews and partly educated in Italy at Livorno in the 1850s, Sanua became active as a journalist, writing in a number of languages, of which, other than Arabic, the most important was French. He played an important role in the development of the Arabic theatre in the 1870s, both as a writer of original plays in Arabic and with his adaptations of French plays, but it was as a satirical journalist that he became famous in his day, a thorn in the side of both the Khedive and the British interlopers.

Early in 1877 Sanua founded the satirical magazine Abou Naddara, which had an immediate appeal to both those who could read and those who had it read to them. It was quickly suppressed as being liberal and revolutionary, and its author banished. In March and April 1877 fifteen issues appeared, and of these no copies are known. Sanua went into exile on the 22nd of June 1878 sailing on the ship Freycinet from Alexandria to Marseilles. Exile in Paris simply redoubled his journalistic efforts, and his celebrated journal, reproduced lithographically from handwriting in both Arabic and French, continued to appear, printed at a shop aptly located in the Passage du Caire in the second arrondissement. Like many such journals it frequently changed its name, although the title which remained most constant was Rahlat Abou Naddara Zarqa... (Travels of the Man in the Blue Glasses from Egypt to Paris).

Its circulation was considerable in Egypt, where it was smuggled inside other larger newspapers (its format is small and each issue consisted only of two leaves.) There is clear evidence of its presence, even in the highest circles, in Egypt - and each issue may well have been printed in some 3300 copies. The magazine concentrated on both political and financial difficulties in Egypt, and Sanua probably had privy information from friends and well-wishers within the administration. Certainly his magazine was well-known: the Saturday Review in London printed in July 1879 a highly favourable notice, and many European memoirs of the period refer to it.