DESIGN STUDIO VILLANI on the MANUSCRIPTS OLD SILK ROAD Giuseppe Solmi Studio Bibliografico 40064 Ozzano Emilia (Bologna) Italia Tel. + 39.051.6511029 w w w. g i u s e p p e s o l m i. i t
MANUSCRIPTS on the OLD SILK ROAD MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA London Turfan Paris Genoa Venice Florence Istanbul former Constantinople Alexandria Cairo A149 ( ) Trebizond Antioch A126 Damascus Acri Tabriz Baghdad Basra Teheran A56 Talas Samarkand Bukhara Merv Isfahan Shiraz Hormuz KASHMIR Bactra A138 A156 Kashgar Delhi A163 Xi an A118 Medina (ancient Yathrib) Mecca Silk road routes Manuscripts provenance 'Silk Road': what connections do these words arouse in our minds today? The evocative tag 'Silk Road' talks to us about a vast network of routes that had been followed along their both ways since classical antiquity, connecting China to the Mediterranean sea and vice versa. The very name of the 'Silk Road' is due to the German traveller and geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877: it does not belong, therefore, to remote times.thus silk, although far from being the only valuable good to be traded, came to symbolize the very movement not just of rare luxury items such as herbs, seeds, tools, spices, stones or fabric, but also of techniques, arts and crafts, and even philosophical and spiritual values, that made their own ways along the land and sea routes that crossed the Eurasian continent, connecting East and West. It could be said, maybe daringly enough, that the 'Silk Road' represents, in a sense, an unaware forerunner of a natural process towards globalization. The easiest way to let ideas circulate is of course by means of words and sentences, whereby the most accurate method to make sure that words be able to vehiculate ideas properly is, then as now, by writing them down on some durable support. The written paper, another Chinese invention, shaped and re-shaped entire civilizations solely by letting ideas go about, and this brings us to talk about manuscripts: manuscripts on the Silk Road.
A156) 'Abū-l Qāsim Ferdowsī: Šāhnāmeh TWO HIGHLITGHTS Illuminated Persian manuscript on paper coming from Central Asia (most probably Uzbekistan) of 17th or 18th century, albeit undated. 294 leaves; leaf dimensions: 287 x 223 mm. The text has been written in the typically Persian so-called nasta līq writing style with black ink on four columns made up of 25 lines each. Chapter headings ih red ink; the decoration set includes ten miniatures, representing either battle or court scenes. Old leather binding with blind-stamped and ON THE OLD SILK ROAD A163) Śālihotra Samhitā. Manuscript on paper in sanskrit language coming from North India, probably XVIII century, recased and restored in XIX century. 169 leaves; leaf dimensions 240 x 195 mm. The text is written in devanagari calligraphy with black ink arranged on single column made up of 15/17 lines. Chapter headings and important words in red ink. The decoration set includes more than 400 drawings of horses; some drawing spaces left blank. Old leather binding with flap. gilt decorations. Persia and the Persianate civilization, for centuries the trading midstream between the Chinese and Western cultures, have been the cradle of the very idea of imperial kingship since the most ancient times. Settled Iranic societies and turkish-speaking Asian nomadic tribes, each of them striving for power and glory, often clashed with each other through the immense territories of Central Asia. 'Abū-l Qāsim Ferdowsī, the 11th century first and greatest bard of both Persian literary language and poetry, has narrated us in Persian, by thousands of epic verses, the infinite stories and deeds of the heroes and kings of Persia, whose geographical background was exactly the Central Asia, that restless centre of what would become, had ceased to be, and probably once again will be, the Silk Road. As the most valuable asset disposable in the ancient world for travels and warfare, horses were right deemed as a key opportunity to success. Therefore, purchasing the strongest horses, keeping them healthy and efficient by feeding and training them properly, being able to setting up a caring husbandry, breeding new young horses to the largest possible scope of purposes, and developing ability of healing their diseases: all of it had been representing an investment of utmost importance over millennia. The Śālihotra Samhitā, a collection of some 12,000 verses written in Sanskrit, is considered the first general treatise in the world about horses (and elephants as well), dealing with topics ranging from their different species to the practices of veterinary medicine and their use on the battlefield.
A35) Qur'ān leaf Arabic illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum, Near East or North Africa, IX/X century AD. A39) Al-Buhārī: First Volume Huge Collection of 'Ahadit, the 'Sayings of the Prophet', Arabic manuscript on paper, 1259 AH- AD 1843. A56) Astronomy (blue paper) Atham b. Ahmad Ahni, astronomy treatise. Persian manuscript on paper, Persia, Qajar period, dated 1225 AH - 1810 AD. Complete A97) Nezāmī: ('The Repository of Secrets') Complete manuscript on paper, Persian language Kashmiri provenance, dated at 870 AH-1466 AD, and also signed by a scribe named al-mustafī. A102) Qur'ān most probably from Ottoman area, 18th century. A115) ex A27 Qur'ān Arabic illuminated manuscript on paper, probably from Kashmir, XVIII century, complete. A118) Qur'ān (guz number 10) Complete Arabic manuscript on paper, probably from Egypt, XV/XVI century. A120) Islamic legal treatise (fiqh) originally from Persia, dated 1103 AH. (1691/92 AD.). An illuminated unwān. A 122) Prayer book dated 1274 AH. (1857/58 AD.) A double-page illuminated frontispiece (sarlawh) A126) Islamic legal treatise (fiqh) Arabic manuscript on paper, Egypt or Syria, dated 780 AH (1379 AD.). A127) History of the Qāgār dynasty Complete Persian lithographic volume on paper, 838 numbered pages dated 1273 AH. (1857 AD.). A 135) Single leaf from the Ketāb-e Havātim Illuminated paper leaf in Persian language. XVII/XVIII century, probably from Kashmir. A138) Galāl od-dīn Rūmī: Matnavī-ye Ma navī Complete Persian illuminated manuscript on paper, probably from Kashmir, dated 1112 AH (AD 1700), A141) Qur'an Arabic manuscript on paper most probably from Ottoman area, dated 1265 AH, 1848 AD. Complete. A149) Koran (Qur'ān) Illuminated, manuscript on paper in Arabic language, Ottoman Empire, first half 19th c. Complete. A152) Sa dī, Būstān ('The Orchard') Manuscript on paper,persian language,kashmir area, end of 18th or beginning of the 19th. Complete. A153) Čālipā: a Persian poetic anthology Undated manuscript on paper in Persian language perhaps Western India (Pakistan), 18th century. A155) Ottoman Religious Manuscript Complete illuminated manuscript in Arabic language, Ottoman province, 19th century. A157) Hāfez, Dīvān Complete Persian manuscript on paper, Kashmiri signed by the scribe Ziā od-dīn, dated at the year 1072 AH - 1661/62 AD. manca
At the end of the road... some western medieval fragments. F406A) Biblical Lexicon Latin bifolium on vellum written in littera textualis script, to be dated at the end of 13th or early 14th century,probably of French provenance. F417) Missal with Musical Neumes Leaf on vellum, written in gothic script, to be dated at the end of 13th century, of French provenance. F423) Homilies of St. Gregory Leaf on vellum, written in gothic transitional script, 12th century, of italian provenance. F430) Pandectarum Leaf on vellum, written in gothic script, to be dated at the 14th century, perhaps of Italian provenance. F437) Passion of the Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria Vellum leaf written in a transitional gothic script, 12th century, of italian provenance. Detailed descriptions and informations on request. Giuseppe Solmi Studio Bibliografico