Are there any websites that sell old Urdu and Farsi poetry books, specifically from the 1900s until about the late 1950s, not later than that. The website should preferably have a REALLY good selection because i’m having a lot of difficulties in finding the works of this one poet - although his name is mentioned in several places, it’s kind of hard to find his works over the net. Please, if anyone knows of any places… infact they don’t even have to be online; if you know of a good bookstore that does sell relatively older Urdu poetry books, secondhand or new doesn’t matter, please let me know their name and mailing address. Would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Ok, on a related note… does anyone know of good Urdu bookstores, with a wide selection, in Abu Dhabi/Dubai?
Sorry, I can’t help with your direct questions, I just didn’t want to see the thread go without replies 
Here’s my advice on tracking down tough books: network. If you’re near a decent university, bother the librarian. That, or find (online maybe) some professors specializing in this area and ask them. Also, antique bookstore clerks are amazingly knowledgeable. Find one of those and if they don’t know what you’re talking about they’ll at least know someone that can help.. they all know each other it seems. Even if you’re looking for something in another language like Urdu you’ll eventually stumble upon someone that can help, though you might have better luck with the Farsi ones.
Good luck! btw, who is the poet you’re looking for? I’ll try poking around some for you.
aw. Spoon, you just made my day. 
Thanks yaar. The poet is Raza Ali Wahshat.
Yeah, there’s this store called “Pages” in my city. It’s an independent little bookstore, they do author readings and other bohemian-type stuff on cold winter evenings. Anyways, i thought if anyone would have it, they would. They do order foreign-language books in special cases. However, the lady checked up on her database and said that in this case, she’d have to order the book from Delhi or Calcutta; she gave me the impression (very gently) that they are not accustomed to dealing with such ‘faroff’ orders. i think the most ‘foreign’ order they deal with is probably Mexico or Latin America. India was out of the question. She checked amazon.uk, and she got a price quote of the book, but no chance of ordering it through amazon.uk because they don’t carry the book anymore.
Re: professors… yeah, you know, that’s actually a really good idea. i don’t have any profs at my uni who specialize in south asian poetry/colonial history, but i found a cool prof’s homepage (some dude in the UK)… Christopher Shackle is one name that comes to mind. This is an avenue that at least has some possibilities.
Antique bookstore clerks… hmm. Thanks, i haven’t tried that one yet. The sucky part about where i live, is that there aren’t a whole lot of old second-hand bookstores. All the major ones are like “Chapters” and stuff. i think we have two old bookstores in the whole city; i’ll try those.
Thanks Spoon for replying i REALLY appreciate it. 
Thanks for wishing me good luck, i think i’ll need it.
hey Nadz
So the bookstore didn’t want to order your book?! :disgust: Just tell them to give you the contact info for the distributor next time and that you’ll do it on your own. :snooty:
I’ve never been able to get into poetry.. not that I don’t want to, I just always find myself having to blow my time elsewhere. That’s one of the few things I actually regret. Oh well, maybe this digging around will give me a good excuse to start 
I’m in Germany now so I wouldn’t know where to begin looking for these things locally, but back in Philly there’s dozens of eccentric old bookstores. This one has always been good for books on politics and history but I think Urdu poetry might be out of their league. .. I just did a quick search on Raza Ali Wahshat and came up with next to nothing, I see what you mean! I found some indirect links that might help though (this is just a start)..
Karachi University
[DR. MUHMUD HUSAIN LIBRARY](http://www.ku.edu.pk/contact2.htm#DR. MUHMUD HUSAIN LIBRARY)
Dr. Rehana Afsar (prof of Persian) = [email protected]
The urdu prof’s email wasnt listed..
Columbia University - Frances Pritchett, Professor of Modern Indic Languages (esp. urdu lit)
Here’s the email for the prof you mentioned: [email protected]
Now i need to go find some good general books on the subject for myself.. and some dictionaries. You’ve got me interested
Thanks a mil, Spoon. You went out of your way to help me out and i honestly do appreciate that.
hehe waisay i understand why she was hesitant about it over the phone. It’s a small little bookstore, independently owned, i think she was worried about the charges and all that. Obviously, i would have paid for everything - shipping, handling, etc. But i dunno.. maybe she was stressed out as it is because of all their Christmas orders. 
oh well, she was courteous and polite over the phone, so i didn’t mind. They’re a cute little bookstore, i like them; if she had been rude about it, then i’d feel pissed. But she did sound like she was trying to find it in their database, over the phone, and so it’s all good. i have two other places in mind to check out.
Thanks a mil for your help, man that’s really going out of your way. i appreciate the e-mail addresses you hunted out. Thank you so much.
Did you try typing that name on google? You came up with two pages, right, mostly just links from Dawn or the Allama Iqbal society right? i’ve already e-mailed the AI society, they are so awesome. i was so impressed with their efficiency. They offered to mail me a copy of this one particular 1983 edition i am looking for (regarding Raza Ali Wahshat’s relationship with Allama Iqbal) - for free, all the way from Pakistan. i insisted i would pay for everything, but the organization’s chairman refused. He said it was a complimentary copy; that was so sweet of him i thought. So Alhamdulillah, i am getting somewhere in this search;~D
>>Now i need to go find some good general books on the subject for myself.. and some dictionaries. You’ve got me interested<<
Sorry, do you mean some general books on Urdu poetry? Actually to be honest, i know next to nothing about this field, am totally ignorant about it. Winter break’s coming up, and thought i might as well read something different.
Do you mind if i ask - for how long have you been living in Germany? My dad was there a few months ago, on a business trip. Said he loved the place although i am not entirely certain which cities he visited. Heard, nature-wise, it’s a beautiful place.
Thanks again for all of your help. Much appreciated by myself.