Sacchi - Storia Orientale - 1850

Autograph manuscript “Oriental History” – handwritten manuscript notebook from the era

Elegant handwritten notebook, datable to the late 19th century, composed of numerous sheets written in ink with orderly legible cursive. Contemporary binding with a hard cover in cardboard.

Pp. 78, 19.6 x 15 cm

The manuscript presents itself as complete and in good overall conservation, with the physiological signs of time (slight yellowing and marginal wear). Of particular charm is the presence of a dried natural element (a leaf) inserted between the pages, direct testimony of the notebook’s personal use.

Text of a historical-educational character dedicated to the history and civilizations of the Orient, with references to peoples, customs and geographic contexts, Egypt, Carthaginians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Palestine, Medes; drafted with a didactic or study aim. The layout and style suggest a school exercise or a personal study compendium, plausibly from a nineteenth-century milieu.

A unique exemplar as it is a manuscript, not intended for printing, which offers a precious testimony of educational practice and the transmission of historical knowledge in the nineteenth century. Objects of this kind, especially complete and well preserved, are increasingly rare on the antique market, both for the fragility of the support and for the private nature of their production.

Interesting for manuscript collectors, the history of didactics, and for scholars of nineteenth-century culture.