Islamic Codicology. (continued: lay-out and scripts 2)

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1 Islamic Codicology Making the Islamic manuscript (continued: lay-out and scripts 2) by Prof. Jan Just Witkam (University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands) The Levantine Foundation Museology & Conservation Training Programme Cairo, April 28, 2010

2 Summary: Division of codicological subjects: - writing surface: papyrus, parchment, paper, other - quires: organization of the codex - instruments - techniques: ruling, lay-out - craftsmen - scripts: paleography, styles, calligraphy - ornamentation: illumination, illustration - bookbinding - dating a manuscript - collections of manuscripts - terminology in use (Summary of subjects, following F. Déroche 2006)

3 Zig-i Ilkhani, astronomical tables by Nasir al-din al- Tusi (d. 672/1274).,(الخط الفارسي) Nasta liq script dated 835 AH. Lay-out leaves space open for tables (here for a survey of the old-persian calendar). Text is set in a frame, so that there can never be a confusion with notes in the margin. Use of red ink. Look at the page number, which is possibly authentic. Source: MS Leiden Or. 75, f. 17a.

The story of Ma mun with Shagarat al-durr, an Arabian Nights-like story. Maghribi script. Undated, but possibly 16th century (because of provenance history).

4 The story of Ma mun with Shagarat al-durr, an Arabian Nights-like story. Maghribi script. Undated, but possibly 16th century (because of provenance history). Language with features of middle-arabic. Lay-out: single text block, open space for title. Polychrome: use of four colours (two different reds)..(تعقيبة) Look at the catchword Source: MS Leiden Or. 89, f. 21b.

5 Anwar-i Suheili, Persian translation of Kalila wa-dimna, by al-kashifi (d. 910/1504). Naskh script. Dated 919 AH, copied in Herat. Lay-out: single text block, entire text within frame. Illumination over first page. A luxury book. Use of five colours (black, red, blue, ochre, gold). Look at the.(تعقيبة) catchword Source: MS Leiden Or. 102, ff. 1b-2a.

Title-page of Al-Zig al-kabir al- Hakimi, by

Naskh script written on lines (an Oriental

Not dated, but several tamalluk, one dated 852

al-din b. Ma ruf (2nd half, 16th century).

6 Title-page of Al-Zig al-kabir al- Hakimi, by Ibn Yunus al-misri (d. 399/1009). Naskh script written on lines (an Oriental feature, possibly Iran). Not dated, but several tamalluk, one dated 852 AH. Another tamalluk by the astronomer Taqi al-din b. Ma ruf (2nd half, 16th century). Lay-out: complex frame work. Different script size. Source: MS Leiden Or. 143, title-page.

7 al-ragaz al- Mantiqi, by Ibn Sina (d. 428/1037). Naskh. Dated 514 AH. Lay-out: Double column (poetry). Source: MS Leiden Or. 184, ff. 27b-28a.

8 al-risala al-shamsiyya fil-hisab, by al-hasan b. Muhammad al-nisaburi (8/14th cent.) Nasta`liq script. Dated 850 AH. Lay-out: Single text-block, marginal notes in different writing directions. Note the catchword. Source: MS Leiden Or. 204, ff. 30b-31a.

9 Kitab Khalq al-nabi wa-khulqih, by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Abdallah b. Abd al- Aziz (lived in the 5th cent. AH). Naskh script. Dated ca. 441/1049 AD, copied in Ghazna. Lay-out: Single text-block, within frame in gold. Gold script with outline. One of the oldest known illuminated Arabic manuscripts. Source: MS Leiden Or. 437, p. 2.

10 Shahnama by Firdawsi (10-11th century AD). Nasta liq script. Dated 840/1437. Lay-out: Illuminated introductory page. Titles in illuminated cartouche. Main text in two columns (poetry). Source: MS Leiden Or. 494, f. 9a.

11 Shahnama by Firdawsi (d AD). Nasta liq script. Dated 840/1437. Lay-out: Main text in four columns (poetry), to be read two by two, horizontally (as one can see from the rhyme). Illustration exceeds the text block for an extra spatial effect. Illustration: Rustam slays the white elephant. Source: MS Leiden Or. 494, f. 49a.

12 Autograph notes by the Egyptian historian al-maqrizi (d. 1442). Dated 839/1435. Scholar s hand. Lay-out: Main text one block. Rubrication by the author/copyist. Look at the signature by the author, in the last two lines of the page. Source: MS Leiden Or. 560, f. 14b.

Lay-out: Main text one block. Large title.

Illustration (Gadwal): mansions of the moon

13 Illustrated astronomical compilation in Persian, probably from Anatolia, not dated, but 14th or 15th century? Persian Naskh script. Heading in Thuluth. Lay-out: Main text one block. Large title. Rubrication. Illustration (Gadwal): mansions of the moon during one month, explanatory text within the illustration. Circle made by measurement, as there is no geometrical contruction possible for dividing a circle in 28 equal parts. Source: MS Leiden Or. 563

14 Title-page of Fawa id al-hadith by Tammam al-razi (lived 414/1023). Copy dated 595/1198. Main title (of quire 1) in large script. Mention of the riwayat and one sama in smaller script. Conspicuous feature of this page: many readers notes of important scholars. Among them the Egyptian historian al-sakhawi. Source: MS Leiden Or. 580, f. 2a

15 Mushkil al-qur an by Abu Muhammad `Abdallah b. Muslim Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889). Leaning script. Colophon with date Dhu al-qa`da 404. Source: MS Leiden Or. 704, f. 182b

16 A collective volume with a great number of philosophical texts. Nasta liq (= Farisi) script, dated mid-10th/16th century. Text shown is Fi Bayan al-nafs by Mulla Lutfi (d. 900/1494). Look at the system of reference between main text and marginal notes. Source: MS Leiden Or. 958 (27), f. 83b

17 al-risala al- Imadiyya fi Fann al-siyaqa, by Imad-i Sarawi. Copied in the author s lifetime (not exactly indicated, however). A guide how to learn to read and write Siyaqa-script. Text block within frame, in two columns, catchword. Source: MS Leiden Or. 1015, f. 158b-159a

18 Ahasin Kalim al-nabi, by al-tha alibi (d. 429/1038). Table of contents. Naskh script, not dated (but 8/14th century?). Change between very large and much smaller scripts. Catchword. Source: MS Leiden Or. 1042, f. 62b-63a.

19 Mishkat al-anwar by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-ghazzali (d. 505/1111). Naskh script in several sizes. Dated 630 AH. Safina-shaped, note-book. Text goes around main text block. Source: MS Leiden Or ff. 1b, beginning of f. 2a.

20 Title-page of part 3 of the Kunnash, the notebook on medical matters by Ibn Serapion (3rd/9th century). The book has been in hands of scholars who knew Greek and who knew Hebrew. Source: MS Leiden Or f. 1a

21 Guz. Hayat al-anbiya fi Quburihim. Dated 866 AH. A small booklet, as they were issued to students of Hadith. Source: MS Leiden Or ff. 1b-2a.

22 Syair Ken Tambuhan. Malay poetical text. Not dated, but first half 19th century. Lay-out from South-East Asia. Illuminated opening page. Script possibly derived from Nasta aliq style. Source: MS Leiden Or f. 1b.

Illuminated Qur an, from South-East Asia, not dated, but 19th century, assumed so because of provenance history as it was once owned by the Dutch orientalist Taco Roorda (d. 1874).

23 Illuminated Qur an, from South-East Asia, not dated, but 19th century, assumed so because of provenance history as it was once owned by the Dutch orientalist Taco Roorda (d. 1874). Naskh script for text. Elongated script used for the headings. Beginning of sura 18 (al-kahf), whereby the illumination serves to indicate that the reader is halfway the text. Right half of an illuminated double page. Source: MS Leiden Or f. 140b.

TIMA s Introduction to Islamic Codicology

TIMA s Introduction to Islamic Codicology Matenadaran, Yerevan, Armenia 18-22 June 2013 A self-portrait of the illuminator: Mention in your prayers the priest Mkrtitch, the miniaturist and the illuminator