Description

This copy of Mabādi' al-handasa (Elements of geometry) is a second edition of a work by Rifā‘ah Rāfi‘ al-Ṭahṭāwī (1801−73), a leading intellectual and a pioneer of the 19th century Egyptian enlightenment. In his introduction, the author refers to an edition of 1842−43, written for students at the Madrasa al-Ṭubjīa, the military school founded by Muḥammad ʻAlī Bāshā (1769−1849) in Ṭura, Egypt. He also mentions the celebrated 1794 geometry textbook by A.M. Legendre, Eléments de géométrie (Elements of geometry). Al-Ṭahṭāwī says that this new 1854 ...