Computation of solar, lunar and planetary positions for two dates in 1299 CE (midnight between the 14th and 15th of June and 6 pm on June 29th), with some Coptic numerals.Condition: torn, holesLayout: various lines in 3 columns + marginalia
A fragment of a calendar for the year 5571 of Creation (= 1810-1811 CE). In the Hebrew part of each entry astronomical and astrological details on the month are given and dates of holidays and special Šabbats are given. In the following Judaeo-Arabic part of each entry the relationship between the length of day and night during the particular month and the name of the corresponding month of the Muslim year are given.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: various lines (recto: verso is blank)
Contents: 1. fol. 1b-12a: Persian treatise on the quadrant. Begins with faṣl dar alqāb-i khuṭūṭ-i rubʻ; dated 1096 H.Contents: 2. fol. 13b-31a: Risālat Kashf al-rayb fī al-ʻamal bi-al-jayb.Contents: 3. fol. 32b-40a: Risālah fī al-rubʻ al-mujayyab.Contents: 4. fol. 40b-51a: Mukhtaṣar dar maʻrifat-i asṭurlāb. A Persian treatise on the astrolabe compiled from the works of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭusī; in 20 bāb.Contents: 5. fol. 51b-53b: Ikhtiṣār mā yataʻallaqu bi-abwāb ʻamal al-layl wa-al-nahār bi-al-rubʻ al-mujayyab.Contents: 6. fol. 54b-61b: Risālah fī al-rubʻ al-mujayyab.Contents: 7. fol. 62b-67a: Bu risale amal-ı nücumu beyanindadir rub-i daire. Turkish treatise on the quadrant in 14 faṣl.Contents: 8. fol. 67b-77b: Işbu risale rub-i dair vaz edip cüzüsünün tarikindadir. Turkish treatise on the quadrant.Contents: 9. fol. 77b-81a: Risālah fī maʻrifat al-ʻamal bi-al-rubʻ al-muqanṭarāt.Contents: 10. fol. 81a-82a: Definitions of astronomical terms. In Arabic; followed by an extract on the astrolabe in Ottoman Turkish on fol. 82a.Contents: 11. fol. 84b-99b: Ahval-ı sahife-yi ceyb. Turkish treatise on the sine quadrant in 21 faṣl.Contents: 12. fol. 100b-131b: Risālat al-kurah.Contents: 13. fol. 132a-136a: Risālah fī al-kurah dhāt al-kursī.Ms. composite codex.
Collection of astronomical works by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, which include material on sunset and sunrise, the size of the earth, the moon, the distance to the moon, the distance between the sun and the planets, movement of the spheres, and eclipses. Some marginal notes in another hand, affected by trimming.
Collection of works on astronomy and astronomical instruments in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish copied in the same hand and bound together; the Turkish work (3) is missing the first leaf; f. 84v-98v are all excerpts from (naqala min) the same book with no attribution, Miṣbāḥ al-ẓalām.
Four treatises on astrolabes and astronomy, the first and fourth treatise are incomplete; the first treatise skips from chapter 22 to chapter 30 (f. 5-6) and the fourth treatise is missing some amount of the beginning, the first complete section is "taṣtīḥ dāʼirat al-ufuq" (f. 14r).
Text rubricated; many marginal and interlinear corrections and assorted doodlings in the hand of the copyist.[1] consists of at least 7 bābs, missing the beginning and end, and is on timekeeping by solar methods; [2] consists of 15 bābs, missing the beginning and the last page(s) of the khātimah, and is on timekeeping by night using the stars and the characteristics of the Byzantine and Coptic calendars. The item in hand seems to have been used for practice in copying.
Letter of one of the followers of Nathan b. Abraham, probably c. 1042. On verso there are astronomical calculations regarding the position of the moon.Layout: 52 lines (recto); 61 lines + marginalia (verso)
Recto: theological notes on the chances of miracles, the ban on idolatry and the wisdom of the Lord. Verso: astronomical notes on the zodiac, Coptic months and planets (mercury).Condition: tornLayout: 18 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
Watermarks: Anchor in circle. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 1-8.Contains a table of the risings and settings of the planets on each day of the week.Text rubricated; marginal notes and corrections in hand of copyist.Unidentified work. Copy defective: beginning missing up to last few pp. of bāb 1; also, 2 or 3 ff. missing between pp. [28-29].
Contains tables and diagrams of the markings on astronomical instruments.Text rubricated; marginal notes in hand of copyist and others."Said by the dealer from whom it was purchased to be a rare work on astronomical instruments by Abū Jaʻfar Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, al-Ṭūsī, 587/1201-672/1274. No such treatise by Naṣīr al-Dīn is listed among his works by Suter or Brockelmann, and the author's name does not appear in this manuscript.... The beginning [is] lost ... it is apparent that many other folios have been either lost or misplaced." Cataloging by Elinor M. Husselman, 1945.Instructions on how to make astrolabes and other astronomical manuscripts, and how to use them in astronomical observations.
Abstract: Treatise on astronomy in thirty chapters. The volume also contains portions of a work on astronomy by Kushyār ibn Labbān (Maqālah 3, bāb 9-11 and 3).Binding note: Covers and envelope flap made of brown leather over paper pasteboards. The covers are similarly decorated, with a central blind-stamped mandorla and a border of two double blind fillets. The envelope flap has the same border and a blind stamped roundel on the point. Paper pastedowns.Contents: 1. fol. 2a-96a : Kitāb al-Majisṭī / Farghānī.Contents: 2. fol. 96b-116b : Excerpts from al-Zīj al-jāmiʻ / Kūshyār, d. ca. 961 (Maqālah 3, Bāb 9 : Fī ʻilm al-hayʼah ; Bāb 10 : Fī al-ṭarīq ilá masāḥat al-arḍ ; Bāb 11 : Fī maqādīr al-abʻād wa-al-ajrām ; Bāb 3 : Fī ṣifat azmān mā bayna al-kusūfāt).Ms. codex.Title from title page (fol. 1a).The name of the author appears in the opening of the text as Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī (fol. 2b).The title also appears on the lower edge (hardly legible).11 long lines per page. Written in medium small naskh in black ink, with red for headings, numbers and overlining. Glazed European paper with watermark. A few corrections in the margin. On fol. 1a: inscription "L135 (Ga.II.29)". On the pastedown on the upper cover: Arabic number "139".Collation: Paper, fol. 116 ; 1¹⁰ (-1 with no loss of text) 2-11¹⁰ 12⁶ (+1) ; quires numbered using Arabic numerals (quire 3 and 4 only, fol. 20a and 30a) ; catchword on the verso of each leaf.Copied by Khalīl ibn Aḥmad al-Tūnisī in 22 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1068 (colophon, fol. 116b, with the seal of the copyist).Incipit : بسم ... هذا كتاب الفه احمد بن محمد بن كثير الفرغاني الحاسب في جوامع علم النجوم واصول الهيئةِ وحركات الاشخاص السماوية وهي ثلاثون فصلا الفصل الاول في سني العرب و العجم ... الفصل الثاني في ان السماءExplicit : والاخر في الناحية الجنوبية فقد بينا من كشوف الشمس والقمر ما فيه كفاية ان شآء الله تعالي تم الكتاب
Collection of four treatises on astronomy copied between 15 (?) Dhū al-Qa‘dah 1226/1 (?) December 1811 and 20 Jumādá I 1227/29 (?) May 1812 by Muḥammad Muḥsin ibn Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Dawrī (محمد محسن بن محمد صالح بن محي الدين الدوري, see ff. 1r, 235r, 245v, and 255v), Qāḍī at Ūrdá (? القاضي بالاوردى, f. 245v) for his own use (ff. 1r and 245v).Contents:(1) Qāḍīʹzādah al-Rūmī (قاضي زاده الرومي),
Sharḥ al-mulakhkhaṣ fī ‘ilm al-hayʾah(شرح الملخص في علم الهيئة; ff. 1r-100v);(2) al-Birjandī (البرجندي), [
Taʿlīqāt ʿalá sharḥ al-mulakhkhaṣ] ([تعليقات على شرح الملخص]; ff. 102r-235r);(3) Fakhrī'zādah al-Mawṣilī (فخري زاده الموصلي),
Sawāniḥ al-qarīḥah fī sharḥ al-ṣafīḥah fī ‘ilm al-asṭurlāb(سوانح القريحة في شرح الصفيحة في علم الأسطرلاب; ff. 237r-245v);(4) Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين العاملي),
Tashrīḥ al-aflāk(تشريح الأفلاك; ff. 247r-255v).A small unfoliated leaf has been been bound into the volume between ff. 113 and 114Codex; ff. i+257+iiMaterial: Western laid paperDimensions: 202 x 140 mm leaf [125-55 x 65-95 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 17-25 lines per page; vertical spacing 13-16 lines per 10 cmScript:
Naskh; the scribe is Muḥammad Muḥsin ibn Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Dawrī (محمد محسن بن محمد صالح بن محي الدين الدوري, see ff. 1r, 235r, 245v, and 255v)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings and diagrams in redDecoration: NoneBinding: Red leather binding with envelope flap; gold-tooled medallions on boards, and blind-tooled border on boards and flap; xylographic decorated doublure of yellow paper on inner boards and flap; marbled paper visible on inner joints of flapCondition: F. 1 torn and repaired, minor tidemark to edgeMarginalia: Numerous by more than one handSeals: f. 1r
Contents:(1) al-Lāhūrī (اللاهوري),
al-Taṣrīḥ fī sharḥ al-tashrīḥ(التصريح في شرح التشريح; ff. 1r-16r);(2) al-Landanī (اللندني),
al-Ijābah ʿalá taʿ
līq al-Jawnbūrī(الإجابة على تعليق الجونبوري; ff. 16v-22r);(3) Anonymous,
Tarjamah-’i Sab‘ shidād(ترجمه سبع الشداد; ff. 23r-44v);(4) al-Ṭūsī (الطوسي),
Risālah fī kayfīyat al-ʿamal bi-al-asṭurlāb(رسالة في كيفية العمل بالأسطرلاب; ff. 47r-60v).Codex; ff. ii+62+iiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 295 x 175 mm leaf [200-30 x 110 mm written]Foliation: India Office Library foliation stamped in black inkRuling:
Misṭarah; 23-25 lines per page; vertical spacing 12 lines per 10 cmScript:
Nasta’līqInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in redDecoration: NoneBinding: Case binding; boards with red leather at edges and spine and marbled paper in centreCondition: Minor insect damage, some holes repaired; extensive pre-digitisation conservation work to spine and bindingMarginalia: Almost noneSeals: 1r, 16r, 22v, 23r, and 60v
The volume comprises three distinct manuscripts (ff. 1v-63r, 63v-67r and 68r-135r).Contents:(1) Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين الطوسي),
Taḥrīr al-Majisṭī(تحرير المجسطي ; ff. 1v-63r);(2) Menelaus of Alexandria (مانالاوس),
Fī ashkāl al-kurīyah(في أشكال الكرية; ff. 63v-67r);(3) Ulugh Beg (ألغ بيك),
Zīj-i Ulugh Beg(زيج ألغبيك; ff. 68r-135r).Codex; ff. v+135+4Material: PaperDimensions: 235 x 160 mm leaf [180 x 115 mm written ff. 1v-63r; entire writing surface used ff. 63v-67v; 180 x 132 mm written ff. 68v-135v]Foliation: British Library foliation in pencil; previous foliation in Arabic-Indic numerals, black ink, visible on some foliosRuling:
Misṭarah; 32 lines per page ff. 1v-63r, approximately 60 lines per page ff. 63v-67v, 33 lines per page ff. 68v-135v; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cm ff. 1v-63r, 27 lines per 10 cm ff. 63v-67v, 16 lines per 10 cm ff. 68v-135vScript:
Naskh; the scribe of Item 1 (ff. 1v-63r) is Ḥamzah ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah al-Qazwīnī al-Bayhaqī, known as Sa‘d al-Khurāsānī (حمزة بن على بن حمزة القزويني البيهقي المشهور بسعد الخراساني; see colophon on f. 62r)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings, diagrams and table borders in redBinding: India Office binding with guardsCondition: Badly worm eaten; all folios removed from quires, protected with silk and mounted on guards; one folios is missing after folio 32Marginalia: Numerous and mostly in hand of scribeSeals: Ff. 1r, 68r, 105r, 106r and 135v
An Ottoman collection of texts on astronomy and related subjects.Contents:(1) Abū Ma‘shar (أبو معشر), Kitāb al-milal wa-al-duwwal (كتاب الملل والدوّل; ff. 1r-117r);(2) Muḥammad al-Ṣūfī (محمد الصوفي), al-I‘lām bi-shadd al-minkām (الإعلام بشدّ المنكام; ff. 118v-127r);(3) Najm al-Dīn Muḥammad Ma‘rūf (نجم الدين محمد معروف), Mir’āt al-ayyām wa-al-daraj (مرآة الأيام والدرج; ff. 128r-144v).Codex; ff. i+145+iPhysical characteristics:Material: Western laid paper, with water mark often partially visible in gutter near tailDimensions: 170 x 110 mm leaf [120 x 75 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 21 lines per page; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and tables and diagrams in redBinding: British Museum bindingCondition: Minor waterstainsMarginalia: Very few; marks that appear to be pen trials are found at the head of many pages and elsewhereSeals: F. 1r
Collection of three astronomical commentaries from the 14th and 15th centuries.A bibliographical note in English appears on f. 1r, and ff. 2r-3r contain astronomical notes and diagrams.A number of related notes on scraps of paper have been bound into the volume.Contents:(1) al-Jurjānī, ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad (الجرجاني، علي بن محمد),
Sharḥ al-Mulakhkhaṣ fī al-hayʾah(شرح الملخص في الهيئة) (ff. 4v-52r);(2) al-Turkmānī, Kamāl al-Dīn (التركماني، كمال الدين),
Sharḥ al-Mulakhkhaṣ fī al-hayʾah(شرح الملخص في الهيئة) (ff. 53v-109r);(3) al-Nīsābūrī, al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad (النيسابوري، الحسن بن محمد),
Tawḍīḥ al-Tadhkirah al-Nāṣirīyah(توضيح التذكرة الناصرية) (ff. 110v-364v).Codex; ff. ii+364+iiiMaterial: PaperDimensions: 215 x 125 mm leaf [157 x 85 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 27 lines per page; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cmScript:
Nasta‘līqInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in redDecoration: Mandorla of blue and gold ink containing inscription in gold (erased) on red field (f. 4r); opening illuminated in blue and gold (ff. 4v-5r);Binding: Red leather binding with blind tooled medallion and pendants, and two borders of two fillets each, containing starsCondition: Minor waterstains to upper outer corner, some foxingMarginalia: Many by various handsSeals: ff. 4r and 110r.
Three texts on mathematics and astronomy related to Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين محمد بن حسين العاملي; d. 1621), two by al-‘Āmilī, and a commentary by his student Jawād ibn Saʿd ibn Jawād al-Kāẓimī (جواد بن سعد بن جواد الكاظمي, d. ca 1654-5 [see al-Amīn,
A‘yān al-shi‘ah, vol. 4, p. 271]).The three texts were transcribed in 1114/1702-3 by Ibn Muḥammad Riḍá Muḥammad Amīn (ابن محمد رضى محمد أمين, see ff. 131v, lines 6-9, 142r, lines 18-19, and 158v).Contents:(1) al-Kāẓimī (الكاظمي),
Sharḥ khulāṣat al-ḥisāb(شرح خلاصة الحساب; ff. 2r-131v);(2) al-‘Āmilī (العاملي),
Tashrīḥ al-aflāk(تشريح الأفلاك; ff. 132r-142r);(3) al-‘Āmilī (العاملي),
Khulāṣat al-ḥisāb(خلاصة الحساب; ff. 142v-158v).Codex; ff. 158+iiiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 200 x 130 mm leaf [135 x 75 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling: Margins ruled, but no line ruling; 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 15 lines per 10 cmScript:
Nasta‘līq; the scribe is Ibn Muḥammad Riḍá Muḥammad Amīn (ابن محمد رضى محمد أمين, see ff. 131v, lines 6-9 and 158v next to colophon)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and diagrams and overlinings in redBinding: Eastern binding without flap; red leather spine, boards covered with yellow paperCondition: Tidemark at upper edge corner towards back of volumeMarginalia: Few, most in first itemSeals: None
A collection of five astronomical and mathematical treatises in Persian and Arabic. Folios 77v and 78r have been left blank.Contents:(1) al-Qūshjī (القوشجي),
Risālah dar ‘ilm-i hay’ah(رسالة در علم هيئة; ff. 1v-46r)(2) al-‘Āmilī (العاملي),
Tashrīḥ al-aflāk(تشريح الأفلاك; ff. 46v-56v);(3) al-Ṭūsī (الطوسي),
Risālah sī faṣl(رساله سي فصل; ff. 56v-77r);(4) al-Ṭūsī (الطوسي),
Bīst bāb dar ma‘rifat asṭurlāb(بيست باب در معرفت اسطرلاب; ff. 78v-103r);(5) al-‘Āmilī (العاملي),
Khulāṣat al-ḥisāb(خلاصة الحساب; ff. 103v-135v).Codex; ff. iv+135+vMaterial: Eastern laid paper; blue paper ff. 94-101Dimensions: 195 x 90 mm leaf [ff. 1v-79r 140 x 45 mm written; ff. 79v-135v 140 x 50 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 18 lines per page; vertical spacing 13 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubrications and some diagrams and overlinings in redDecoration: Illuminated opening ff. 1v-2r; illuminated
‘unwānsff. 46v and 56v; titles in gold ink ff. 78v and 103vBinding: red leather binding mixing European and Islamic styles; blind-tooled medallion and pendantsCondition: Very good; some margins repaired (ff. 94-113); lower corner torn from f. 110Marginalia: Occasional notes and corrections; many on ff. 46v-59v and 104r-105rSeals: f. 1r
The script, ornamentation and binding of the volume indicate that it is part of a set comprising also manuscripts IO Islamic 923, IO Islamic 924 and IO Islamic 1249, all of which were transcribed in 1198/1784, probably for their owner Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal from 1772 to 1785. A collation note at the end of the first text (f. 7v) is dated 14 Shawwāl 1198/31 August 1784.A table of contents in Persian is given f. 1r.A date lable attached to the inside of the back cover (left board) shows that the manuscript was borrowed for two months in 1908 from the India Office Library by Eilhard Wiedemann (d. 1928), professor of physics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen. In 1911-12, Weidemann published a German translation of item 7 in this manuscript ('Die Schrift über den Qarasṭūn', in
Bibliotheca Mathematica, 12, pp. 21-39).Contents:(1) Anonymous treatise on the linear astrolabe (أسطرلاب خطّي) (ff. 2v-7v);(2) Ibn al-Haytham (ابن الهيثم),
Maqālah fī ṣūrat al-kusūf(مقالة في صورة الكسوف; ff. 8v-34r);(3) Anonymous,
al-Muʿādalāt(المعادلات; ff. 35v-180r);(4) al-Kūhī, Wayjan ibn Rustum (الكوهي، ويجن بن رستم),
Risālah fī ʿamal ḍilʿ al-musabba‘ al-mutasāwī al-aḍlā‘ fī al-dā‘irah(رسالة في عمل ضلع المسبع المتساوي الأضلاع في الدائرة; ff. 182v-189r);(5) al-Kūhī, Wayjan ibn Rustum (الكوهي، ويجن بن رستم),
Ṭarīq fī istikhrāj khaṭṭayn bayna khaṭṭaynwa-tatawālá ‘alá nisbah(طريق في استخراج خطّين بين خطّين وتتوالى على نسبة; ff. 189v-191r);(6) Ibn Sinān, Ibrāhīm (ابن سنان ، إبراهيم),
Kitāb fī misāḥat qaṭʿ al-makhrūṭ al-mukāfī(كتاب في مساحة قطع المخروط المكافي; ff. 191v-197r);(7) Thābit ibn Qurrah (ثابت بن قرّة),
Kitāb fī al-qarasṭūn(كتاب في القرسطون; ff. 198v-207r).Codex; ff. i+208+iMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 230 x 130 mm leaf [150 x 80 mm written]Foliation: India Office Library foliation stamped in black inkRuling:
Misṭarah; 12 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cmScript:
Nasta‘līqInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings and diagrams in redDecoration: Every opening and every page has a border in gold, black and red ink; the first opening (ff. 2v-3r) is extensively illuminated in gold, red, green and blueBinding: Hybrid binding with European and Islamic-style features; leather doublureCondition: Excellent condition; book block re-sewn, boards reattached and spine replacedMarginalia: Very few and all appear to be by copyistSeals: ff.1r and 208v
Folio 12v contains six lines of unpointed Arabic text entitled
'On ascertaining the distance between countries (في معرفة قدر المسافة بين البلدين)', and a diagram showing the orbit of the moon around the earth.Folio 13r contains a short and mostly unpointed Persian text attributed to Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī's (نصير الدين محمد بن محمد الطوسي; d. 1274), and a diagram.Ff. 12v-13r
Two excerpts from texts on astronomy with comments. The first (ff. 83v-84v) is from a commentary on Ptolemy's (بطلميوس, Claudius Ptolemaeus; c 90-c 168)
Almagest(كتاب المجسطي), and relates to the question of the use of the term 'widest (أوسع)' in relation to figures of circles; it contains one diagram. The second (ff. 84v-85r) is a comment on a work by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Khafrī al-Kāshī (شمس الدين محمد بن أحمد الخفري الكاشي; d. after 1525).Ff. 83v-85r
Watermark: Three crescents. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Tables rubricated.Date from owner's mark on p. [1].Tables for sexagesimal multiplication and for astronomical observations.
Watermarks: Three crescents; initials PP/FVF in roman. For the first see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Calculations rubricated.Date in headings of pages.Described inside cover as a "first draft of a calendar," this piece includes calculations for the visibility of the lunar crescent at the beginning of each of the Islamic months for the year 1209 [i.e. 1794-5] and for a lunar eclipse on 15 Rajab of that year [i.e. 5 February 1795].
Astrological tables written for the reign of Fatḥ-ʻAlī Shāh of the Qajar dynasty. The text has been rebound and is missing the end; flyleaves have been remounted and are covered in pen tests.
Watermarks: Praying figure; hillock with initials FT in roman. For the latter see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 2610-2616.Contains brief astronomical tables.Text rubricated; text enclosed in red or black borders; copyist same as that of Mich. Isl. Ms. 813,2; corrections and marginal notes in other hands.Pp. [1-5]. Bound with: [2] Tashīl al-ʻibārah fī takmīl mā naqaṣa min al-yasārah, pp. [6-41]; [3] Astronomical treatise, pp. [43-62]; [4] Calendrical work, pp. [66-84]; [5] Fragments in Turkish, pp. [85-90].Fragments on calendar conversion and star observation, including a short calendrical table for Islamic years 1122-1126 [i.e. 1710-1714].
Watermarks: Andrea Galvani of Pordenone; eagle with letters A and FNF in roman. For the first see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 36 and 860.Tables rubricated.Possible date of late 15th cent.-early 16th cent. based on coverage of calendrical tables.Astronomical tables for the latitude of Cairo based on the Raṣd of Ulugh Beg (1349-1449), including calendrical tables for the years 871-931 [1466-1525].
In Maghribī script.Tables rubricated in red and green.Date in heading for tables on pp. [1-3]: ... rasama fī Rajab sanat 1167 [April-May 1754].Astronomical tables made in the year 1754 for latitude 36,40⁰ (Tunis); includes tables for timekeeping on each day of the 12 months of the Gregorian calendar and a table of latitudes and longitudes for cities in North Africa, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and Arabia.
Watermarks: Three crescents; Andrea Galvani of Pordenone. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum ,1950), pp. 24 and 36.Tables rubricated; some foliation in pencil.Probable 18th-cent. date based on start date of tables.Entirely tables: astronomical tables, star catalogs, and geographical tables based on those of Ulugh Beg. Calendrical table for Islamic years 1110 [1698] to 2100 [2658].
Watermark: Anchor in circle. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 1-8.Text and table rubricated; marginal corrections in hand of copyist; marginal notes in another hand.Possible 17th-cent. date based on table showing correspondence of Islamic years 990-1500 [i.e. 5 February 1582-16 November 2077] with Coptic years 1299-1794.Deals with the conversion of calendars in the Coptic and Islamic systems, making astronomical observations, and a very brief treatment of numerology. Text unidentified; copy defective (introduction missing), text begins with faṣl 1 and consists of 3 faṣls followed by 7 bābs and a khātimah. Colophon missing.
Watermarks: Britannia (?); initials CIS in sans serif caps.Contains tables of zodiacal signs and latitudes and longitudes of cities in many different countries.Text rubricated; two copyists: pp. 7-17 (anonymous) and pp. 18-27 (named above).ʻudhran li-annahu jalla man la yasʾhū lā siyyamā fī hādhihi al-azmān allatī kādat al-ʻulūm an tandarasa wa-kathara fīhā al-jahl wa-maʻ iʻtirāfī bi-annī lastu min ahl hādhā al-shaʾn wa-lākin al-ṭamaʻ fī al-ajr ajraʾanī ʻalayhi wa-al-rijāʾ fī thawābihi awdamanī ilayhi wa-bi-Allāh al-iʻtimād wa-bihi thiqatī tamma....Date and author/copyist's name in colophon: wa-aqūl wa-anā al-faqīr ... Aḥmad al-Khaṭīb ibn ʻAbd al-Laṭīf al-Khaṭīb ... qad tamma tabyīḍ hādhihi al-waraqāt fī yawm al-ithnayn yawm al-thāmin wa-al-ʻishrūn min Dhī al-Ḥijjah min sanat 1303 min hijrat al-nabī ... fa-al-marjūw miman aṭlaʻa ʻalá zallah aw ʻathar fīhā ʻalá hafwah an yuṣalliḥahā baʻd imʻān al-naẓr fīhi idh qīlakum muzayyiq ṣaḥīḥan li-ajl kawn fahmuhu qabiḥan fa-idhā taḥaqqaqa al-khaṭaʾ iltamas lī fīhāPp. 7-27. Bound with: [2] Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Risālah fī al-ʻamal bi-al-rubʻ al-mujayyab, pp. [28-33]; [3] Astronomical tables, 1 leaf.Title unidentified, in 20 bābs and a khātimah; copy defective: text begins at end of bāb 2.
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)
On the creation of heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon and the starts), quoting Genesis 1:14-16, and Psalms 136:7-8.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 10 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Table of contents, describing the chapters in a large astrological or astronomical book.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 14 lines + marginalia (recto); 16 lines (verso)
Description of the astral configuration for the days between the 24th and the 29th of the month Ḏū l-Ḥijja of 535 AH (= 30 July - 4 August 1141 CE). Mentions the position of the Moon in respect to the constellations of the zodiac and its astrological bearings.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 14 lines (verso)
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
Recto: astronomical text. Verso: letter in Arabic script, in which the writer says that the addressee is like a father to him.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 39 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
Text rubricated and overlined in red; marginal commentary in Turkish in hand of copyist (same as that of Mich. Isl. Mss. 750,2-4).Date based on that in colophons of Mich. Isl. Mss. 750,2-3.Pp. [1-5]. Bound with: [2] Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Kifāyat al-qanūʻ fī al-ʻamal bi-al-rubʻ al-maqṭūʻ, pp. [6-24]; [3] Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Risālah fī al-ʻamal bi-al-rubʻ al-mujayyab, pp. [25-38]; [4] Fāʾidah fī maʻrifat waqt al-imsāk fī ḥiṣṣat al-fajr, pp. [39-44].Assorted material on timekeeping and the Coptic calendar.
Collection of treatises and excerpts mostly by the Yemeni mathematician Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ‘Umar al-Khuzā‘ī (جمال الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن أحمد بن عمر الخزاعي, fl. 13th century, see King, 'A Medieval Arabic Report on Algebra Before al-Khwārizmī' and idem,
Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen, appendix, no. 3) and related to algebra and inheritance calculations.Contents:(1) al-Khuzā‘ī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (الخزاعي، محمد بن أحمد),
Sharḥ al-mukhtaṣar fī al-jabr wa-al-muqābalah(شرح المختصر في الجبر والمقابلة; ff. 1r-124v);(2) al-Khuzā‘ī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (الخزاعي، محمد بن أحمد),
Kitāb al-inshā’ fī ‘ilm al-jabr wa-al-muqābalah(كتاب الإنشاء في علم الجبر والمقابلة; ff. 125v-130v);(3) al-Khuzā‘ī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (الخزاعي، محمد بن أحمد), Excerpt on magic squares (ff. 130v-132v).Codex; ff. iii+133+iMaterial: Western laid paperDimensions: 302 x 200 mm leaf [200 x 115 mm written]Foliation: India Office Library foliation stamped in black inkRuling:
Misṭarah; 35 lines per page; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated headings and diagrams and overlinings in redDecoration: NoneBinding: Purple cloth India Office bindingCondition: Extensive insect damage especially towards ends of volume, but little damage to text block; f. 1 mutilated, but with minimal loss of text; ff. 1-6 severly trimmed; ff. 131 and 132 are guardedMarginalia: Numerous by many handsSeals: front flyleaf iii and ff. 2r and 132v
Astronomical handbook with tables composed at Merv (مرو) by the astronomer, mathematician and physicist Abū Manṣūr (also known as Abū al-Fatḥ) ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Khāzinī (أبو منصور/أبو الفتح عبد الرحمن الخازني) around 1120 and dedicated to the Seljuk sultan Sanjar ibn Malikshāh (سنجر بن ملكشاه, reg. 1118-57).The manuscript is defective at the beginning and the folios are out of order. David Pingree ('A Preliminary Assessment of the Problems of Editing the Zīj al-Sanjarī of al-Khazini' [London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1420/1999], on pp. 106 and 109) suggests the following as the correct folio sequence: ff. 57-62, 7-8, 2, 1, 3-6, 9-56, 63-69, 71-75, 77, 79, 70, 76, 78, 81, 97, 82-96, 98, 104-107, 102, 99, 103, 108-109, 100, 138-139, 110-123, 127, 126, 124-125, 128-134, 156, 155, 140-148, 135, 149-154, 101, 137, 136 and 157. Maqālah Nine is defective at the end, Maqālah Ten is missing and the Separate Maqālah is defective at the beginning (see table of
maqālātbelow).A table of contents is found on ff. 2v, 1 and 3r (in that order), and the text is divided into eleven treatises (مقالات), each subdivided into sections (أقسام), chapters (أبواب) and parts (فصول).Treatise titles according to the table of contents:Maqālah One: Epochs (المقالة الأولى في التواريخ, ff. 3v-13r);Maqālah Two: Introductions (المقالة الثانية في المقدمات, ff. 13r-16v);Maqālah Three: Ascendants (المقالة الثالثة في الطوالع, ff. 16v-26r);Maqālah Four: Mean Motion of Planets (المقالة الرابعة في أوساط الكواكب, ff. 26v-34r);Maqālah Five: Stations, Latitudes and Motion (المقالة الخامسة في القوائم والعروض والمسير, ff. 34r-38r);Maqālah Six: Parallax (المقالة السادسة في اختلافات المناظر , ff. 38r-42v);Maqālah Seven: Conjunctions (المقالة السابعة في الاتصالات, ff. 42v-45r);Maqālah Eight: Eclipses (المقالة الثامنة في الكسوفات, ff. 45r-52v);Maqālah Nine: Sighting and Rising (المقالة التاسعة في الرؤية والتشريق, ff. 52v-62v, defective at end);Maqālah Ten: Conversions of Years (المقالة العاشرة في تحاويل السنين, missing);Seperate Maqālah: Unusual Works (المقالة المفروزة لأعمال غريبة, ff. 63r-68r, defective at beginning).The eleven treatises of the text (ff. 1r-68r) are followed by tables (ff. 68v-157v). An overview of the contents of these tables is found in Kennedy, 'A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables' (1956), on pp. 159-61.The copy was completed in 20 Jumādá II 620/21 July 1223 by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sālim al-Maqdisī or al-Muqaddasī (محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي, see f. 157, foot of table).Begins (f. 57r, lines 1-2, defective at beginning):صعود الكوبك في فلكه وهبوطه وعمق الأجرام السماوية والثاني يعرف بها أقطار الكواكب بعضها إلى بعض والثالثيعرف بها مقدار أصابع الكسوف من قطب النير المنكسف.Colophon (f. 157r, foot of table):آخر الزيج المعتبر السنجريوفرغ من كتابة محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي في يوم الخميس العشرين من جمادى الآخرة سنة عشرين وستمائة للهجرةوالحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وسلم تسليمًا كثير (!) وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيلText on back page (f. 157v, lines 1-3 [top of page mutilated, probably 1 line missing]):[الجـ]ـداول المضافة إليه وجدت (؟)الأصل المنقول منه وهي من تصنيف مصنّف الزيجومصنّف الشيخ الخازني رحمه الله عليهCodex; ff. i+157+iiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 320 x 230 mm leaf [220 x 170 mm written on pages with text; 260 x 178 mm frames on pages with tables]Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink; British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah(?); 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 9 lines per 10 cmScript:
Naskh; the scribe is Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sālim al-Maqdisī or al-Muqaddasī (محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي, see f. 157, foot of table)Ink: Black, red, green and blueBinding: British Museum bindingCondition: Many folios mutilated and repaired; extensive iron-gall ink corrosionMarginalia: Very few, but see f. 69vSeals: None
Astronomical handbook (زيج) by the Yemenī astronomer Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Kawāshī (محمد بن أبي بكر الكواشي, fl. 13th century, see King,
Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen[1982], p. 27). The text is dedicated to the Rasūlid ruler of Yemen al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf (I) ibn ‘Umar (الملك المظفر يوسف بن عمر, reg. 1250-95, see f. 1v, lines 8-9), to whom the authorship of the treatise is sometimes erroneously attributed (e.g. Kâtib Çelebi,
Keşf-el-zunun, vol. 1, p. 519).The manuscript is defective at the beginning. The title can be found on f. 2r, lines 7-8.The treatise is divided into three books (فنون), each divided into chapters (أبواب) and further subdivided into sections (فصول). A table of contents is found on ff. 2r-3r.Book One: The necessary prolegomena and introduction to the foundations upon which the principals are built (الفن الأول في التوطئة المحتاج إليها وتمهيد القواعد التي تبنى الأصول عليها, ff. 2v-20v);Book Two: Explanation of using the treatises and elucidation of the methods stipulated by the ancients (الفن الثاني في بيان العمل بالرسائل وإيضاح الطرق التي نصّت عليها الأوائل, ff. 20v-89r);Book Three: How the tables are laid out and making their purposes accessible to the user (الفن الثالث في كيفية وضع الجداول وتقريب غرضها من يد المتناول, ff. 89v-139v).The first two books are introductory while Book Three is composed almost entirely of tables. Further diagrams and tables are found in the first two books on ff.5r, 7r-8r, 19r, 23r, 24r, 26r-28r, 29v-30v, 32r, 33r, 34r, 42r, 44r, 45r, 51v-52r, 56v, 73v, 76v.Begins (f. 1r, lines 1-4, folio mutilated towards edge):ومغازيهم وأسفارهم وما يتأهبون له من لقاء عدو أو تجهيز جيش يرصدونالأوقات ويختارون لهم الطوالع ثم لا يخالفونهم في وقت يعينـ [...] ولا [...]في طالع يستخرجونه فالقوم يجرون لسوء بختهم على المثل المستعمل الشعير [...]ويذم ...Ends (f. 139v, lines 11-13):... ثم تقوم بعد الزيادة والنقصان بتلك التعاديليخرج مقومها على ما بيناه وبالله التوفيقوصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وآله وصحبه أجمعينCodex; ff. ii+139+iiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 235 x 160 mm leaf [180 x 130 mm text frame]Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in brown ink, British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 15 lines per page; vertical spacing 9 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Brown ink, with numerals, punctuation, some overlining and some elements in tables and diagrams in redDecoration: All pages framed in redBinding: British Museum binding with leather spineCondition: One or more folios missing from beginning, most folios mutilated and repaired at edge with little loss of text, insect damage from f. 43 towards back of volume most repaired with silk net or paperMarginalia: Numerous, by many handsSeals: f. iii-v (first end flyleaf)
Commentary by ‘Abd al-‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Birjandī (عبد العلي بن محمد بن حسين البرجندي, d. 923/1525 or 26) on the
Kitāb al-tadhkirah fī al-hay’ah(كتاب التذكرة في الهيئة; see British Library, MS Or. 11209) a treatise on the astronomical system presented in the
Almagestof Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus; c 90-c 168) by Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين محمد بن محمد الطوسي; d. 1274). Al-Birjandī completed his commentary in Rabī‘ I 913/July or August 1507 (see author's colophon, f. 393v, lines 22-23, transcribed below).Since the commentary follows the structure of the text commented upon, it is divided into four books (أبواب) each subdivided into chapters (فصول):Book One: What Must Be Presented (الباب الأول فيما يجب تقديمه, ff. 6r-45v [2 chapters]);Book Two: The Arrangement of the Heavenly Bodies (الباب الثاني في هيئة الأجرام العلوية, ff. 45v-272r [14 chapters]);Book Three: The Arrangement of the Earth and What Pertains to it on Account of the Different Positions of the Heavenly Bodies (الباب الثالث في هيئة الأرض وما يلزمها بحسب اختلاف أوضاع العلويات, ff. 272r-362v [12 chapters]);Book Four: Knowing the Measure of the Distances and the Heavenly Bodies (الباب الرابع في معرفة مقادير الأبعاد والأجرام, ff. 362v-394r [7 chapters]).The text contains numerous diagrams including one of the so-called 'Tusi couple' (f. 212v [Book Two, Chapter Eleven]), which demonstrates how linear motion can result from circular motion. This chapter was translated into Sanskrit in the 18th century (Takanori and Pingree,
Arabic Astronomy in Sanskrit[Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002]).This copy was completed on Morning of Sunday 30 Sha‘bān 1097/22 July 1686 at Qom by Muḥammad Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ‘Alī ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān (محمد يوسف بن محمد على بن عبد الرحمن, see colophon, f. 394r, lines 2-6, transcribed below). In two notes next to the colophon, the copyist complains of the difficulties he faced in producing a correct copy of the text, specifically that although he collated his copy as best he could, he was unable to find a correct copy for the collation. Nevertheless, he believes that he has produced the most correct copy in Qom (وظني أنه لم تكن في تلك البلدة نسخة أصح من نسختي والله أعلم, see collation note next to colophon, f. 394r).A scrap of Western laid paper containing verses and calligraphic inscriptions seemingly unrelated to al-Birjandī's text is found inserted between ff. 49 and 50. A scrap of purple Western (?) laid paper containing calculations concerning measurements in cubits (ذراع) has been pasted to f. 273r.Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-4):الحمد لله الذي خلق السموات والأرض وجعل الظلمات والنور وبسط علىبساط الساهرة بميامن قدرته الباهرة الظل والحرور زين بحكمته السماءالدنيا بزينة الكواكب ونور وجه الغبراء بأنوار النجوم الثواقب ...Ends (f. 393v, line 21-394r, line 1):... وقد اتفق جفاف القلم علن تأليفه وترتيبما أودعت فيه وترصيفه في شهر ربيع الأول من السنة الثالثة عشر المنيفة علىالتسعمائة من الهجرة وأنا المتوسل إلى الله تعالى وبنبي الثقلين عبدالعلي بن محمد حسين أصلح الله شأنه وصانه عما شانه آمين رب العالمينCopyist's colophon (f. 394r, lines 2-11):نمقه العبد المحتاج إلى رحمة ربه الرحمن محمد يوسف بن محمد علىبن عبد الرحمن في بلدة قم صانها الله عما شانه وقد تمتنميقه صبيحة يوم الأحد سلخ شهر شعبان المعظم من شهورالسنة السابعة من العشر الأخير من المائة الأولىمن الألف الثاني من الهجرة النبويةالمصطفوية على هاجرها ألف ألفتحية وعلى آله خير الورىالورى سحيةما كرر النهاروالعشيةCodex; ff. i+394+iiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 247 x 130 mm leaf [175 x 65 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling: No ruling visible; 23 lines per page; vertical spacing 13 lines per 10 cmScript:
Naskh; the scribe is Muḥammad Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ‘Alī ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān (محمد يوسف بن محمد على بن عبد الرحمن, see colophon, f. 394r, lines 2-3)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated section headings and overlinings in redBinding: Plain brown leather Islamic binding without envelope flapCondition: Excellent; very minor water damageMarginalia: Corrections and notes by hand of copyist and othersSeals: ff. 1v, 394r, 394v and back flysheet iii-v
Excerpt from a text discussing the construction (إملاء) of magic squares (عدد الوفق) by Jamāl al-Dīn Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ‘Umar al-Khuzā‘ī (جمال الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن أحمد بن عمر الخزاعي). The treatise from which this text is an excerpt may be al-Khuzā‘ī's
Introduction to Arithmetic for All New Secretaries(مقدمة في الحساب لعامة أحداث الكتاب; see Rosenfeld and Ekmeleddin,
Mathematicians, Astronomers, and Other Scholars of Islamic Civilization and Their Works (7th-19th c.), p. 211, no. 604, text M1 and King,
Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen, appendix A, no. 3.2, p. 55) or his
Gems of Arithmetic(جواهر الحساب; see King,
Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen, appendix A, no. 3.3, p. 55).The copy of the excerpt was completed on 2 Jumādá I 1036/19 January 1627.This exterpt is followed by shorter excerpts and notes (فوائد) mostly related to inheritence calculations from various sources.Begins (f. 130v, lines 17-19)ومما أملأه الفقيه محمد بن أحمد الخزاعي في عدد الوفق قال ونرسمه بصورة تأتلف منأعداد محمولة لأشكال موضوعة فكل شكل ينكسر بقدر مربع جانبه موضوعات في كل موضوع محموللها من العدد لأعلى الترتيب إلا الشكل الفرد ...Colophon of excerpt on magic squares (f. 131r, lines 16-17):... تم الإملاء بحمد لله ومنهبتأريخ 2 شهر جمادى الأولى سنة 1036 والحمد لله وحده وصلى الله على من لا نبي بعده وآله وصحبه وسلمEnds (f. 132v, lines 8-11):شخص مات وخلف خمسة عشر ذكورًا فورث خمسة النصف وخمسة الثلث وخسمة السدس والجواب والله أعلمأن يكون عشرة لأم فيرثوا الثلث فيصير لكل خمسة السدس وخمسة من هؤلاء العشرة بنواعم والخمسة الباقينبنواعم أيضًا فيرهوا الثلثين فيصير مع الخمسة بني العم الذين هم أخوة لأم الثلث مع السدس المتقدم فيصير معهم النصفويرثوا مع الخمسة بني العم الذين ليسوا بإخوة لأم الثلث وللخمسة الأخوة للأم فقط السدس والله أعلمFf. 130v-132v
Abstract: "A manuscript commentary on the AlmagestAbstract: the classical 2nd-century mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary pathsAbstract: probably prepared by Mirza Qazi bin Kashif al-Din al-Yazdi (d. 1664/5 CE)Abstract: Sheikh al-Islam and son of a physician to Shah 'Abbas I."
Binding: The volume is bound in a European binding of pasteboards covered with brown leather. The covers have frames formed of two gold fillets. There are five cords on the spine, with two gold fillets either side of each cord. The pastedowns are modern and are blank except for annotations of the manuscript number and a bookplate for St John’s College and E Libris Coll. Di. Jo. Bapt. Oxon. on the back pastedown.Contents note: Annotations by John Greaves (1602-1652), Savilian Professor of Astronomy (1643-8), fols. 12a/b, 13a, 15a.Contents note: Contents described on fol. iii b: Collatio Mensium Arabicorum, Cophticorum, Græcorum, & Judaicorum. Vide pag. 1. ubi habes hunc titulum doctissimi ipsius Pocockij a later hand has crossed out the last two words, and written in pencil: Gul. Laudi manuscriptum. Nec non Tabulæ quædam Astronomicæ. Omnia imperfecta. In margine passim occurrunt Notæ Viri eruditissimi Joan. Grauij, Prof. Astronom. Sauil.Contents note: In item 1, it is evident from numbers placed on each table that there were originally 23, though tables 5–6, 14–15, and 20–1 are now missing and two tables carry the number ‘9’. Ff. 10a/b, 11a and 17b are blank except for frames formed of two black-inked lines.Dimensions: 21.3 × 13.9 (text area 17 × 10.2) cm.Hand: Both items written in a variable (small to medium) Arabic naskh using black and red inks. The text area has not been ruled, but the tables are divided into rows and columns. The texts are written in tables whose cells are delineated by red- and black-inked lines; occasionally there is writing around the perimeter of the table.Layout: The text area has not been ruled, but the tables are divided into rows and columns. The texts are written in tables whose cells are delineated by red and black inked lines; occasionally there is writing around the perimeter of the table. Lines per page vary.Origin note: "No copyist's signature or date(s) or place(s) of copying."Record origin: "Descriptions abbreviated from Emilie Savage-SmithRecord origin: A descriptive Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts at St John's CollegeRecord origin: Oxford (Oxford: Oxford University PressRecord origin: 2005)Record origin: Entries. Nos. 4 and 10Record origin: pp. 19-22Record origin: 41-2."
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: Three crescents. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Text rubricated; finding aids and marginal corrections in hand of copyist.Discusses three different calendrical systems: Arabic, Byzantine, and Coptic, and the astrological significance of their days and months for harvests, the rising and falling of the Nile, and historical events."A treatise on astrology arranged in 2 bābs." David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), p. 100.
One of two known manuscripts of the Arabic original of the Book on the configuration of the orb, otherwise known through its use by Maimonides and through Latin translations, which are often attributed to the Abbasid court astrologer Māshāʼallāh. 14th-century copy of a 10th-century cosmological treatise with discussion of the theory of the four elements, meterology, geology, and astronomy, with the material on natural philosophy presented from an Aristotelian perspective. Manuscript is incomplete (25 chapters and parts of 4 additional chapters out of 39 in the complete work) and misbound; the correct order of pages is: p. 21–23, 1–2, 27–30, 23–26, 35–48, 11–12, 9–10, 13–14, 17–19, 7–8, 3–6, 15–16, 19–20, 31–34, and 49–50 (Taro Mimura).
Calendrical/astronomical work, mentioning the festivals Passover, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, the Moon and the planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, including a list of numerals in gematria and Judaeo-Arabic translation.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 15 lines (verso)
Compostite manuscript written in at least three hands and on more than one type of paper containing eight treatises on astronomy and arithmetic with an introduction; diagrams within and between the works. Some of the works are dedicated to Muḥammad Valī Mīrzā, the third son of Fatḥ ʻAlī Shāh Qajar (see for example, f. 171v, 279r).
Watermark: Andrea Galvani of Pordenone. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 36 and no.860.Text rubricated; marginal notes and corrections in hand of copyist.Date and copyist's name in colophon: wa-kāna al-farāgh min kitābat hādhihi al-nuskhah yawm al-sabt muwāfiq arbaʻah ayyām khalat min Dhī al-Ḥijjah alladhī huwa min shuhūr sanat 1300 [6 October 1883] muwāfiq 26 Tūt sanat 1600 qibṭīyah ʻalá yad kātibihi Aḥmad Saʻd Luqbā[?] al-Marṣafī baladan al-Shāfiʻī madhhaban.Commentary by unidentified author on Tuḥfat al-ikhwān, a poem on timekeeping by Aḥmad ibn Qāsim.
Copy of a treatise on different calendars and how to convert them one to another and the revolution of heavenly bodies and their impact on different days of the year.
Watermarks: horn in scrollwork; ALMASSO in roman. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 2772 and 3748.Contains astronomical tables.Text rubricated and ruled in red.Date of composition, name of copyist, and date of copying in colophon: qāla al-muʾallif ... kātibuhu Riḍwān fī yawm al-khāmis wa-ʻishrīn min shahr Ramaḍān sanat 1105 [20 May 1694] ... wa-qad nasakhahā min nuskhah nusikhat min nuskhat al-muʾallif ... fī shahr Ṣafar sanat 1239 [October-November 1823] tisʻah wa-thalāthīn wa-miyatayn wa-alf hijrīyah ʻalá yad al-faqīr Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sharbatlī."An extensive treatise on timekeeping consisting of an introduction and tables lifted from the main Cairo corpus." David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), p. 107. Contains astronomical tables, star catalogs, and tables giving correspondences of the Islamic and Coptic calendars from 1819 to 1987.
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: Andrea Galvani of Pordenone; initials EAN in roman; three Face-in-the-moons arranged horizontally. For the first two, see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 860 and 2595.In Maghribī script.Text rubricated; marginal notes and corrections by copyist.Date and provenance in colophon: yawm al-jumʻah sabʻah Shawwāl fī ʻām sabʻah wa-sabʻīn wa-alf [2 April 1667] bi-madīnat Fās al-maḥrūsah.Author's commentary on his al-Yawāqīt li-mubtaghī maʻrifat al-mawāqīt, a poem on timekeeping.
Collection of treatises, copied in the same hand, on mathematical sciences. Topics include calculating heights, distances, areas, solving geometrical and algebraic problems, music theory. At the back of the work are three additions: 1) pages of notes, probably by the copyist, about some of the works in the collection (f. 129r-137v), 2) an added commentary on Apollonius' Conics copied in a different hand (f. 139v-143r), 3) further notes. One folio in Persian (f. 71) is misplaced and should follow folio 78.
Watermark: Three crescents. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Contains astronomical tables and diagrams and a map of the northern hemisphere from Spain to China enhanced with blue sand.In Maghribī script.Text rubricated, with silver flecks and blue sand clinging to red ink ; marginal corrections in hand of copyist (?).Date in colophon: wa-wāfaqat nihāyatuhu yawm al-sabt min awākhir shahr Jumādá al-ūlá min ʻām thamāniyah wa-tisʻīn wa-miʼatayn wa-alf min al-hijrah al-nabawīyah [ca. April 1881].Title from opening matter (author's preface) on p.2.A compendium on theoretical astronomy, apparently an Arabic translation of the Persian, Gayhānʹshinākht by ʻAyn al-Zamān Ḥasan ibn ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad Abū ʻAlī Qaṭṭān Marvazī (d. 1153 or 4).
Contains diagrams.Text rubricated in red and gold; triple borders throughout in red, black, and gold; 1 loose sheet bound in; marginal corrections and commentary in hand of copyist (said inside cover to be author himself); finding aids and other notes in another(?) hand; couplets in Persian on endpapers and first flyfleaf.Date and provenance in colophon: qad tamma wa-kamala taʾlīf hādhihi al-nuskhah al-sharīfah fī Qusṭanṭīnīyah fī dār al-ḥadīth li-Ḥusayn Pāshā ... yawm al-aḥad al-thāmin wa-al-ʻishrīn min shahr Rabīʻ al-ākhir min shuhūr sanat sitt wa-ʻishrīn wa-miʾah wa-alf min al-hijrah al-nabawīyah wa-qad badaʾa ...[?]... al-musammá bi-al-turkīyah Qazalṭāgh[?] fī shahr Rajab al-mubārak min shuhūr sanat khams wa-ʻishrīn wa-miʾah wa-alf [July-August 1713].Commentary on Bahjat al-albāb fī ʻilm al-asṭurlāb, "a treatise on the use of the astrolabe in 18 bābs" by ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Qayṣarī Suwaylim Zādah. David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), pp. 165 and 174. On p. [59] is a discussion in a different hand of the origin of the word "astrolabe."
Calendar dated 1226 A.H. showing lunar and solar month concordance; length of day and night in Istanbul; astronomical and chronological tables; marginal notes with comments and computational instructions; rules for finding the direction of the qiblah in Istanbul and surrounding areas.
Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. Manuscript. Persian. Title from title page (Folio 1a). Scribe not identified. Date of acquisition by former owner on fol. 1a: 18 shahr-i Ṣafar al-khayr 1335 [14 December 1916] Gift of Cyrus Ebrahim Zadeh, Nov. 9, 2009. Written in Iran? Paper: bluish, polished laid paper with horizontal chain line and visible watermarks; some pages have Russian countermark SUTF; floral unwan in gold, blue, green, red and pink; paper water damage to foredge; minor worm damage with no loss of text; black ink with rubrication and overlining in red; no catchwords. Naskh; 18 lines in written area 16 x 10 cm. Painted floral design on folios 1b and 170a; tabular charts in red and black ink on fol. 113b-114b and 140a-141a. Folio 1a-192b. Library of Congress. Manuscript, [unnumbered]. Binding: black leather binding with embossed frame lines, many gatherings loose.Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Watermarks: Three crescents; Andrea Galvani of Pordenone; BLACON(?) in roman; AFFE(?) in roman. For the first two see Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), pp. 24 and 36 and no. 860.Text and tables rubricated.Date in pencil on back flyleaf in a different hand: 1210 hijrī fī yawm al-khamīs.Astronomical tables for the latitude of 41⁰ (Istanbul), with brief instructions for their use.
Watermark: Andrea Galvani of Pordenone. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 36 and no. 860.Text rubricated; marginal corrections and notes in hand of copyist.Date and copyist's name in colophon: tamma al-kitābah bi-ʻawn al-malik al-wahhāb ʻalá yad al-faqīr ʻAbd al-Fattāḥ Aḥmad Ṣiwān al-Liqāʾī[?] fī yawm al-thulāthā li-sabʻ ...[?]... min shahr al-Muḥarram sanat 1259 [7? February 1843].In a muqaddimah and 20 bābs, on the "complete" quadrant. Text almost identical with that of Mich. Isl. Ms. 748 through the second bāb, after which the texts diverge; also similar, but not identical, to the text of Mich. Isl. Mss. 796,10 and 835,10, although they share similar titles.
Watermark: Three crescents. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24.Text rubricated and vocalized; lines of each section beginning on p. [8] numbered; text enclosed in red borders; marginal notes in another (?) hand.Date based on owner's mark on p. [1].On the characteristics of calendars in the Coptic, Byzantine, and Islamic systems, the astrological import of their days, and weather conditions for crops on those days.
Watermarks: Three crescents; crown surmounted by 6-pointed star and crescent. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 24 and no. 1132.Contains astronomical tables.Text and tables rubricated and ruled in red; text partially vocalized; copyist's name in colophon: min kitābat al-ʻabd al-faqīr ... Muṣṭafá al-Ābār; marginal corrections in a different hand; on verso of f. 7 a sheet containing tables in a modern hand has been pasted over the original text, some tables apparently missing (description by Elinor M. Husselman, 1945).For an earlier (?), more complete (?) copy of this work see Mich. Isl. Ms. 734.Text (not this copy) published.Includes tables for Islamic years 1189 [1775 or 6] to 1219 [1804 or 5], upon which the 18th-cent. date for this item is based."Prayer-tables for Cairo taken from the main corpus [compiled by Ibn Yūnus] ... preceded by a short introduction in 8 or 10 faṣls, simple calendrical tables, and a solar longitude table, and followed by a star catalog." David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), p. 91.
Three treatises in different hands, bound together. The first is an abridgement of Ibn al-Bannāʼ's Talkhīṣ by Ibn al-Hāʼim. The second is a short work on astrolabe terminology and use. The third appears to be an autograph of Sharḥ mukhtaṣar al-Tuffāḥah fī ʻilm al-misāḥah by ʻAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Aḥmad al-Dimashqī.
Watermark: Anchor in circle. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), nos. 2 and 4.Text rubricated; marginal corrections and notes in hand of copyist; copy defective, text missing from end of bāb 15 on.On the "complete" quadrant in 25 bābs. Text almost identical to that of Mich. Isl. Ms. 742 through bāb 2, then diverges.
Watermark: Scrollwork.Text rubricated."An Arabic treatise on the astrolabe short enough to be written on the ṣafīḥah of an astrolabe." David A. King, A Survey of the Scientific Manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, 1986), p. 161.