Ibrahim Haqqi, Ma'rifetnama (An Encyclopaedic Compendium), Copied by Adham Ibn al-Hajj Husayn, Turkey, Ottoman, dated 1235 AH/1819 AD

Arabic manuscript on paper, 339 leaves plus 2 flyleaves, 35 lines to the page, written in neat Naskh script in black ink, subheadings in red, margins ruled in black, red and gold, illuminated headpiece comprising foliate motifs in colours and gold, the manuscript comprising various coloured maps, tabels and charts, florally-illuminated colophon, 2 further illuminated headpieces, red morocco binding with gilt-stamped cartouches decorated with interlacing vines, with flap

In good overall condition, occasional minor stains, pages generally clean, minor scuffs to binding, as viewed.
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The Ma'rifetnama is an encyclopaedia of cosmological topics put together by Erzurumlu Ibrahim Haqqi in 1170 AH/1756-7 AD. The planispheric maps were drawn by a surveyer named only as Mustafa, and were based on the Dutch cartographer Joan Blae's (d.1673) Atlas Major. Two further copies of Haqqi's Ma'rifetnama, both dating from the first quarter of the nineteenth century, can be found in the British Library (MS.Or.12964) and Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London (see Rogers 1995, pp.121 & 123, no.74), whilst a similar copy was sold in these rooms 6 April 2011, lot 216.