Compendium of alchemical treatises in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman

Or 13006

Download PDF (1 GB)

Search within this record

The record is made up of Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. 159+i. It was created in 919-1177. It was written in Arabic, Persian, Farsi and Turkish, Ottoman. The original is part of the British Library: Oriental Manuscripts.

About this record

Content

The volume comprises two manuscripts. The first (ff. 3-112) was the notebook of the Qudrat Allāh al-Marandī al-Ādharī, who copied into it thirteen alchmical texts between 919 AH/AD 1513 and 925 AH/AD 1519, first at Fez and then Damascus (see colophons on ff. 11r, 14r, 57r and 66r). The second (ff. 113r-159v) was copied in the 18th century, beginning with ff. 113r-158r copied in 1177 AH/AD 1764 by Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Mawṣūlī in Algiers (see colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. on f. 158v).

The volume contains 16 alchemical texts:

  • Anonymous, Risālah nāfi‘ah fī ghāyat al-naf‘ wa-l-nafāsah lam yu‘raf muṣannifuhā (رسالة نافعة في غاية النفع والنفاسة لم يعرف مصنّفها) (ff. 3r-11r);
  • Khālid ibn Yazīd al-Umawī (خالد بن يزيد الأموي), Risālah li-Abī Hishām al-Amīr Khālid (رسالة لأبي هشام الأمير خالد ) (ff. 11v-14r);
  • al-Ṣafadī, Khalīl ibn Aybak (الصفدي، خليل بن أيبك), Extract from Kitāb al-Ghayth al-musjam fī sharḥ Lāmīyat al-ʿAjam (كتاب الغيث المسجم في شرح لامية العجم) (f. 14r);
  • al-Ṭuġrāʾī, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (الطغرائي، الحسين بن علي), Kitāb tarākīb al-anwār (كتاب تراكيب الأنوار) (ff. 14v-57r);
  • Democritus (ذومقراطيس), Untitled alchemical treatise (ff. 57v-66r);
  • Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (جابر بن حيان), Ayn fuṣūl az ba‘z̤ kutub ustaẕ Jābir (اين فصول از بعض كتب أستاذ كبير جابر ) (ff.66v-67v);
  • al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar (الرازي، فخر الدين محمد بن عمر), Selections from Kitāb al-Mulakhkhaṣ (كتاب الملخص) concerning physics (ff. 67v-76b);
  • al-Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā (الرازي، أبو بكر محمد بن زكريا), Selections from al-Rāzī’s al-Kutub al-Ithná ‘asharah (الكتب الإثنى عشرة) (ff. 77r-91v);
  • Ibn Waḥshīyah, Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī (ابن وحشية، أحمد بن علي), Extracts from Kitāb fī Maʿrifat al-ḥajar (كتاب في معرفة الحجر) (ff. 91b-96b);
  • Anonymous, Excerpts from a commentary on the poem of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Tammām al-ʿIrāqī (عبد العزيز ابن تمام العراقي) (ff. 96v-98r);
  • Anonymous, Excerpts from a commentary on the alchemical poem Shudhūr al-dhahab (شذور الذهب) (ff. 98r- 110v);
  • al-Sayyid al-Sharīf al-Bukhārī al-Naqshabandī (السيد الشريف البخاري النقشبندي), Excerpts from the Risālah fī al-Ṣināʿah al-falsafīyah (رسالة في الصناعة الفلسفية) (ff. 111r-112r);
  • Anonymous, Cancelled page of Persian alchemical poetry (f. 112v);
  • al-Maṣmūdī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (المصمودي، محمد بن أحمد), Kitāb al-Wāfī fī al-Tadbīr al-kāfī (كتاب الوافي في التدبير الكافي) (ff. 113r-158r);
  • Anonymous, Fragment of a treatise on practical chemistry (f. 159r);
  • Anonymous, Instructions for producing perfumes (f. 159v).
Extent and format
Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. 159+i
It is grouped into
Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 215 x 150 mm leaf [168 x 112 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; Arabic foliation in the purple crayon typical of Lebanese bookdealers of the 19th century

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cm (ff. 113r-158v: 29 lines per page; vertical spacing 17 lines per 10 cm)

Script: Naskh with nasta‘līq tendencies and some titles in thuluth (ff. 113r-158v: naskh )

Scribes: Qudrat Allāh al-Marandī al-Ādharī (ff. 3r-112v) and Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Mawṣilī (ff. 113r-158v)

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated, yellow and green headings and overlinings in red (ff. 113r-158v: black)

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: Some worm damage, foxing, and tears towards the fore edge. Folios 19, 21 and 24 have been replaced.

Marginalia: Extensive marginal corrections, conjectures, glosses in Arabic and Persian and other evidence of collation and textual study (ff. 113r-158v: very few)

Written in
Arabic, Persian, Farsi and Turkish, Ottoman in Arabic script
Type
Manuscript

Archive information for this record

Access & Reference

Original held at
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference
Or 13006

History of this record

Date(s)
919-1177 (AH, Hijri qamari)
Context of creation

Damascus, Fez, Algiers

Related material

Use and share this record

Share this record
Cite this record in your research

Compendium of alchemical treatises in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 13006, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000003591.0x000001> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this record
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000003591.0x000001/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images