BADGER, George Percy.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Monogram of the Arabic words "Ya Fattah" ("O Conquerer"). An intriguing manuscript, consisting of the monogram that the Reverend George Badger designed for the Sultan of Zanzibar, together with his accompanying explanatory note in pen, the complete piece likely dating from 1873, after Badger had visited Zanzibar as part of Bartle Frere's mission for the suppression of the slave trade. In his note, Badger explains that al-Fattah is "one of the 'Beautiful Names' [al-asma al-husna], applied by Muslims to God, one of which they generally invoke at the beginning of their letters or epistolary correspondence. Al-Fattah means, literally, The Opener or The Conqueror; but the thought conveyed by the invocation is this: oh thou who opened the way for thy people and rulest over all, open the way for us". The intricate printing and embossing were executed by H. S. King & Co., bankers, stationers, and East India agents.Badger grew up on Malta, learning Maltese (which is derived from medieval Sicilian Arabic) and then standard Arabic, which he perfected when studying in Beirut in 1835-6. He then collaborated with the renowned Lebanese author Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, working on a book of Arabic dialogues and an Arabic lexicon. In 1845, Badger became a chaplain at Aden and gained the attention of Sir James Outram, who saw in him "an amount of foresight and military scientific acumen not often acquired by a soldier, and certainly most rarely found in a member of Mr Badger's profession" (quoted

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