THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
MEHMED IBN ALI SIPAHIZADE BURSAWI, AWDAH AL-MASALIK ILA MA'RIFAT AL-BULDAN WA A-MAMALIK, A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY DERIVED FROM VARIOUS EARLY ARAB GEOGRAPHIES, OTTOMAN PROVINCES, 977 AH/1569 AD
Auction Closed
October 23, 11:03 AM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
MEHMED IBN ALI SIPAHIZADE BURSAWI, AWDAH AL-MASALIK ILA MA'RIFAT AL-BULDAN WA A-MAMALIK, A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY DERIVED FROM VARIOUS EARLY ARAB GEOGRAPHIES, OTTOMAN PROVINCES, 977 AH/1569 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, 136 leaves plus 6 fly-leaves, 27 lines to the page, written in naskh in black script, ruled in gold and black, important words in red, f.1b and f.2a with a later map of the world, in later green binding, with flap
text panel: 18.2 by 8cm.
leaf: 25 by 14.7cm.
Sold in these rooms, 17 October 1983, lot 369.
N. Safwat, A Collector’s Eye. Islamic calligraphy in Qur’ans and other manuscripts, London 2010, no.64, pp.246-9.
An ownership note on f.3a gives the name Abu Bakr ibn Rustam b. Ahmad b. Mahmud al-Shirvani and can be compared to another, almost identical, inscription on the Kitab al-aghani ('Book of Songs'), now in the Millet Yazma Eser Kutuphanesi, Istanbul (Roxburgh 2005, p.97), as well as on lots 24 and 26 sold in these rooms, 25 October 2017 and on a manuscript now in the British Library, inv.no.Or.1347. Abu Bakr al-Shirvani (d.1723) is known to have built a large manuscript library (now widely dispersed), details of which can be found on the Leipzig University website: orientportal.dl.uni-leipzig.de.
Whilst the colophon states the manuscript was copied in 977 AH/1569 AD, the illustration of the world map may have been added later as indicated by the different paper stock.