THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
KAMAL AL-DIN MUHAMMAD B. MUSA AL-DAMIRI (D.1405 AD), KITAB HAYAT AL-HAYAWAN, COPIED BY 'ABD AL-MUGHITH B. FATH AL-DIN B. MUHAMMAD ABI AL-RAJA B. MAJID AL-HATAWI, OTTOMAN PROVINCES, DATED 1031 AH/1621-22 AD
Auction Closed
October 23, 11:03 AM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
KAMAL AL-DIN MUHAMMAD B. MUSA AL-DAMIRI (D.1405 AD), KITAB HAYAT AL-HAYAWAN, COPIED BY 'ABD AL-MUGHITH B. FATH AL-DIN B. MUHAMMAD ABI AL-RAJA B. MAJID AL-HATAWI, OTTOMAN PROVINCES, DATED 1031 AH/1621-22 AD
Arabic manuscript on watermarked paper, 537 leaves plus two fly-leaves, 27 lines to the page, written in naskh in black ink, important words and chapter headings written in bold red, ruled in red and green, numerous drawings of animals throughout and an illustration of the Ka'ba, Mecca, on f.193b, f.1a with the title written in muhaqqaq, f.1b with an illuminated heading (‘unwan), in gilt-stamped leather binding, with flap, in fitted box
text panel: 16.5 by 10.5cm.
leaf: 22 by 15.7cm.
N. Safwat, A Collector’s Eye. Islamic calligraphy in Qur’ans and other manuscripts, London 2010, no.63, pp.242-5.
Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri (d.1405 AD) was born in Cairo where he spent most of his life. A tailor by trade, he later became a theologian and a scholar, compiling books on different subjects, mainly connected to jurisprudence. The Kitab hayat al-hayawan is his most famous work in which he lists circa 1000 animals mentioned in the Qur’an and Arabic literature.
There are three editions of this book: a long version, a medium length one and a short one. The current manuscript, as stated on the title page on f.1a is the longer version. A copy dated 873 AH/1468 AD is in the John Rylands Library (published in Mingana 1934, p.535, no.345), another copy dated 1061 AH/1650 AD is in the Wellcome Library (published in Iskandar 1967, p.106, inv.no.WMS.Or.11). See also Brockelmann: GAL, II. 172 and S.,II. 170.
The illustrations in the present manuscript are interesting as the hatched shading employed by the artist suggests that they may have been trying to imitate animals depicted in European print sources.