TWO RARE WORKS ON ASTRONOMY IN ONE VOLUME: KITAB MAFATIH AL-QADA ('KEYS OF SOLUTION'), DATED 694 AH/1294-95 AD; ABU’L-HASAN KUSHYAR IBN LABBAN AL-JABALI (D. CIRCA 1030 AD), MAJMA’ AL-USUL FI AHKAM AL-NUJUM, PERSIA, DATED 695 AH/1295-96 AD |

Persian and Arabic manuscript on paper, 98 leaves plus 1 fly-leaf, 21 lines to the page written in black naskh, titles, chapter headings and significant words in thick red ink, several diagrams and tables throughout in black and red, in brown leather binding with a central stamped medallion decorated with interlacing geometrical motifs

In generally good condition, the margins have been trimmed but are overall clean with old annotation in several languages, the pages have been numbered in pencil, various stains and minor smudges, the binding damaged, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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This interesting compendium collates two rare scientific works composed in the ninth century and collated by a scribe at the end of the thirteenth century in Persia. The text includes occasional marginal commentaries and annotations in Greek added in the fourteenth century and later. The colophon of the first treatise, which bears a date 694 AH/1294-95 AD, states that the title of the book is Kitab mafatih al-qada, 'Keys of Solution'. The author of this text is still to be identified. Rosenfeld lists this work under the following two authors:

Abu ‘Uthman  Sahl ibn Bishr ibn Habib ibn Hani al-Isra’ili (al-Yahudi) (d. circa 850 AD). He was a Jewish astrologer at the court of the viceroy of Khurasan, Tahir al-Husayn al-A’war (d.822 AD) and later under Ma’mun vizier al-Hasan ibn al-Sahl (d.850 AD). He was known in Europe as 'Zahel' and 'Zahel Benbris' (Rosenfeld & Ihsanoglu 2003, p.29 and Brockelmann, GAL S I 396).

Mashallah ibn Athari al-Basri (d. circa 815 AD), a Jewish man of science originally from Basra. An astronomer and mathematician, he was part of the group who carried out the preliminary survey for the foundation of Baghdad in 762-63 AD. He worked in Baghdad under the patronage of the Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur, Harun al-Rashid, Amin and al-Ma’mun (Rosenfeld & Ihsanoglu 2003, p.17). A copy of the mafatih al-qada is recorded by Rosenfeld & Ihsanoglu as being in Paris (II 895); the title is also recorded in Brockelmann Gal I 249.

Abu’l-Hasan Kushyar ibn Labban al-Jabali, better known as 'Gilani', as he was originally from Gilan on the Caspian sea, was a Persian astronomer, mathematician and geographer active between 971 and 1029 AD. His treatise Majma’ al-usul fi ahkam al-nujum, translated as 'Introduction to the Principles of Predictions of Stars', is also known under other similar titles (Kitab al-madkhal si sina’at ahkam al-nujum and Kitab al-mujmal (mudkhal al-usul fi sina’at) ahkam al-nujum) (see Rosenfeld & Ihsanoglu 2003, p.119). Several copies survive today; one dated 1061 AH/1651 AD is now in the British Library (inv. no.IO ISL 1514/3, Stocks & Baker 2001, p.379); see also Brockelmann GAL 252-3).