Biography of the prophet Mohammed, excerpted from his Decline & Fall

Gibbon, Edward

The Life of Mahomet, with Sketches of the Reigns of His Successors Abubeker, Omar, Othman, and Ali. From The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire. [Mohammed]

Leominster, [Massachusetts]: Printed at Leominster,by Salmon Wilder, for John Whiting, of Lancaster, 1805. First American Edition. Full-Leather. Very Good / No Jacket. Item #2327121

First American edition thus. Ink name and date (Robert Peele, 1807) on front endpaper, joints beginning to weaken, endpapers toned, minor loss from edges of front free endpaper.

171 pp. 5 3/4 x 3 5/8. Full tree calf, red spine label, gilt titles and rules. A biography of the prophet Mohammed, taken from Gibbon's larger work The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire - its first separate appearance. While there is documentation of Muslims arriving in the United States as part of the African slave trade (and strong indications that the religious tradition had representation in the U.S. much earlier than that), printed works related to Islam in the United States were uncommon: Islamic teachings were suppressed on plantations, and nearly all slaves in captivity were compelled to convert to Christianity. Prior to the late 19th century, the vast majority of documented non-enslaved Muslims in North America were merchants, travelers and sailors. "An estimated 20 percent of enslaved Africans were Muslims, and many sought to recreate the communities they had known." (Manseau, Peter (February 9, 2015). 'The Muslims of Early America'. The New York Times.) An interesting early example.

Price: $750.00