Commentary on the 1501 Astronomical Tables by Abraham Zacut (Zacuto b. Salamanca; 1452) written by Abraham Gascon (16th century) and adapted to the geographical position of Cairo.Condition: tornLayout: 20-23 lines
An astronomical treatise by Abraham b. ʿAnzar(?) on the seven planets and the model of the Universe. Mentions Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Abraham bar Ḥayya, Copernicus and the philosopher Abū Bakr b. al-Ṣāyiḡ (ibn Bajja), whose book the author read with a Muslim.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 15–27 lines (2v is blank)
A collection of anonymous astrological and magical treatises. Also bound together with this manuscript is a lithographed copy of Kitāb fī al-tamām wa-al-kamāl by Abū Maʻshar. This book is in two parts, the first dealing with horoscopes of men and their signs the second with women. Each part has 12 sections.
Watermark: Anchor in circle. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 1-8.Text rubricated; marginal notes in hand of copyist (?) and others.Date in colophon: taḥrīran fī awākhir shahr Dhī al-Qaʻdah ʻām sabʻah wa-ʻishrīn wa-alf min hijrat al-nabawī [i.e. November 1618].Pp. [5-19]. Bound with: [2] Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Bannāʾ, Abwāb yastadillu bi-hā ʻalá al-awqāt wa-al-sāʻāt wa-yuʻlam bi-hā awqāt al-ṣalāh, pp. [20-47]; [3] Abū al-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Qalaṣādī, Kashf al-asrār ʻan ʻilm ḥurūf al-ghubār, pp. [48-116].On timekeeping and the conversion of calendars.
Watermarks: Three crescents; initials W+W. For the first see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Contains star tables and astronomical diagrams.Rubrication on first 5 pp. only; marginal corrections in another hand."A treatise dealing mainly with astrology.... This work merits investigation." David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), p. 42.
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldPortolan atlas containing a world map, regional maps of the Mediterranean, and astronomical and chronological tables; undated manuscript of a work compiled c.1571.
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldRecord origin: "Description based on the Bodleian Library's public card index of Arabic manuscripts with additional enhancements by the OCIMCO project team. Image descriptions based in part on CarboniRecord origin: S. (1988)Record origin: Il Kitab al-bulhan di Oxford."Composite manuscript in Arabic of divinatory works, dating principally from the late 14th century A.D., containing astrological, astronomical and geomantic texts compiled by Abd al-Ḥasan Al-Iṣfāhānī, with illustrations. Fol. 81a is in Turkish.Extent: 176 leaves (ff. 80 + 13 + 36 + 33 + 7 + 4 + 3). 245 x 160 mm.Layout: Various page formats.Hand: Naskh, with title in Eastern qufic, fol. 1b.Decoration: 83 illustrations, including miniatures.Binding: European calf, 17th century, double blind fillets toward board edges, blind garland rolls on fore-edges of boards, red speckled edges of textblock, numbered on fore-edge in pen, spine title stamped in gilt: Astrolog. Shelfmark on spine stamped in gilt: Bodl. 133. Paper label on spine: Arch. O c.2.
Binding: Late 16th or early 17th century calf over wooden boards, with blind-tooled panels and rolls and centrepiece ornaments on both boards; sewn onto four supports, with raised bands; remains of metal clasps; text block edges sprinkled red.Contents note: Includes vocalised text of Five Scrolls. Some marginal manuscript annotations in Hebrew in Sephardi cursive script.Decoration: Title page decorated with simple floral motifs.Dimensions: 200mm (height) x 158mm (width) x 48mm (depth).Layout: Biblical text in a larger square script and vocalised; Almosnino’s commentary that surrounds it is in a semi-cursive script. Hebrew types resembling square and semi-cursive scripts.Moses Almosnino was an eminent Jewish rabbi in the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century (born in Salonica in ca. 1515 and died in Constantinople in ca. 1580). He was known for his erudition not only in the rabbinic sources but also for his interest in science, i.e. natural physics and astronomy. His ‘Yede Mosheh’ (Hands of Moses) that was printed in Salonica, around 1571-1572 is the first edition of his lengthy commentary on the biblical Five scrolls (i.e. the books of Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther).
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldThe Cyranides is one of the works of the Hermetic corpus, the body of writings ascribed to Hermes Trismegistos. Hermes Trismegistos was a Hellenistic incarnation of the ancient Egyptian Thoth, and the god of all magic, alchemy and astrology. Arabic Hermetic literature continues the Greek tradition; in Islam Hermes is the inventor of all arts and sciences, and master of astronomy, numbers, poisons, chemistry, medicine, &c. This manuscript contains a translation or adaptation from the Greek of part of Book 1 of the Cyranides. The Cyranides is divided into 24 chapters, one for each letter of the Greek alphabet. Under each letter are represented a plant, a bird, a stone and a sea animal, all of whose names begin with that letter. Their individual occult influences combine to produce a new composite effect.Leaf.
Hebrew and Judaica Manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford UniversityContents: Abraham ben Meïr ibn Ezra, Sefer ha-ibur (The Book of Intercalation) (ff. 1v-7v). Isaac ben Salomon Ḥadab, Mapah asṭrologit (ff. 14v-18r). Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allâh ibn al-Ṣaffār, Manual on the Astrolabe (ff. 24v-31v).