Paris, 1880-82. Consecutive run of 41 lithographed issues. 4to. Comprising: Le Flûtiste, Nos. 1-3, June 4-20, 1880, in Arabic (each 4 pp.); La Clarinette, Nos. 1-3, July 12-August 27, 1880, in Arabic (each 4 pp.); Le Charmeur, Nos. 1-4, February 5 March 25, 1881, in Arabic (each 4 pp.); Abou Naddara 5è année (1881), Nos. 1-15, in Arabic (each 4 pp., except Nos. 6-8, with 8 pp.); Abou Naddara/Abou Naddara Zarka 6è année (1882), Nos. 1-7, in Arabic (each 4 pp.), Nos. 8-16 including translations in French. Numerous lithographed illustrations. Scattered wear and toning.

An extensive and consecutive run of this rare and subversive Egyptian-French satirical magazine--the first Arabic magazine to feature cartoons, and the first to print in colloquial Arabic.

James Sanua, also known as Abou Naddara ("man with glasses") came from a Sephardic Jewish family and became one of the major intellectual figures in late 19th-century Egypt. An incisive political commentator, he founded the satirical magazine Abou Naddara in Cairo in 1877. Its sharp criticism of Egyptian society and politics, published in widely readable colloquial Arabic, and its satirical caricatures that mocked Egyptian ruler Isma'il Pasha and his family, resulted in its quick suppression and the author's forced exile in 1878. Sanua relocated to Paris where he continued to publish the magazine using increasingly technical lithographic printing, which was then smuggled into Egypt. To outwit the khedivial press censorship, he frequently changed the layout and title of the magazine during this period, as can be seen here. By 1881 he began to consistently issue it under the Abou-Naddara header, which remained largely unchanged up to the magazine's final issues in 1910. Despite the severe risk of punishment his Egyptian readers faced if caught with this magazine, it enjoyed great popularity and had a considerable circulation.

A large and rare run of this ephemeral and subversive magazine.