غرائب الفنون وملح العيون

Bodleian Library MS. Arab. c. 90

Kitāb Gharāʼib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʻuyūn (كتاب غرائب الفنون وملح العيون) ('The Book of Curiosities')

Incomplete late 12th or early 13th century copy, probably made in Egypt, of an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050. Contains a number of unique illustrations and rare texts. Erroneously attributed to ʻArabānī, ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Husām al-Dīn, d. 1450.

Contents: Divided into two books, one on celestial matters, one on the Earth.

Extent: ff. 48. Size of page: 324 x 245 mm. Size of written area: 291 x 226 mm.

Layout: 27 lines per page. Frame-ruled text area.

Hand: Medium-large Naskh script in dense black ink, with headings in red.

Decoration: 23 maps and diagrams.

Binding: Disbound, binding retained. 18th or 19th century Ottoman binding in poor condition.

Kitāb Gharāʼib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʻuyūn (كتاب غرائب الفنون وملح العيون) ('The Book of Curiosities')

Bodleian Library MS. Arab. c. 90

Arabic

1190–1210

Egypt

Bought from Sam Fogg, 2002.

Description in part based on Savage-Smith, E. and Rapoport, Y. (2013), An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe, pp. 2-4.

Arabic Manuscripts and Maps

The acquisition of the Book of Curiosities was made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations from the National Arts Collections Fund, the Friends of the Bodleian, Saudi Aramco, several Oxford colleges, and private individuals. These grants and donations, along with the Arts & Humanities Research Council, have also funded the project to prepare a full study of the treatise, including an edition of the Arabic text and English translation, and to disseminate the results as widely as possible through the internet, exhibitions, and an outreach programme.

Annotations converted by Data Futures (https://www.data-futures.org/).

2018-04-11T16:03:03Z

Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford