MS. Selden superius 44 (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)

The first item in the volume is a copy al-Risālah al-Shamsīyah fī al-ḥisāb by al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Nīsābūrī (or al-Naysābūrī), transcribed in 810/1407, a year before the author’s death in 811/1408. On folio 1a, a different hand than produced the copy has written out an explanation in the first person − that is, with al-Nīsābūrī himself speaking − explaining the origins and title of the treatise and its dedication to [Shams al-Dīn] ʿAbd al-Laṭīf, one of the sons of Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍl Allāh al-Ṭabīb, the Persian statesman and historian of the Ilkhanid period who was executed in 718/1318

The rectangular space left blank in the tenth and eleventh lines of this explanation of the title and dedication has been filled by a later hand with an arithmetical calculation. On the bottom half of the same folio, written diagonally, there is a verse on the multiplication of numbers below ten:

References

? = Ibn al-Kh.ʼs *al-R. al-Sh. fī al-qawāʻid al-ḥisābīyah]. Frag. (last 2fols.) only.

*Paris 2470.

References

d. As in Meshed and Esc. MSS.; Brock. “Jāmiʻ”.

References

The copy is undated and unsigned. It appears to be a rather early copy and to predate the earliest dated item in the mixed volume of which it now forms a part; item 1 in the volume was copied in 810/1407. The appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggest a dating of the eighth/fourteenth century.

A fragment containing only the first eight aphorisms from the first book (maqālah). The text corresponds to pp. 1–4 of the edition by John Tytler.

Dimensions 23.6 × 14.2 (text area 14.7 × 8.9) cm; 23 lines per page. The title and author are given in the first line of text. The text area is frame-ruled. The text is written in a small, consistent Naskh with extended terminal strokes for the lettersض , ي , and ن. It is written in dense-black ink with headings in red. There are almost no diacritical dots and no vocalization.

The smooth, glossy, pale-biscuit paper has a thickness of 0.10–0.11 mm. It is quite fibrous, with thin patches, inclusions, and vertical laid lines; no chain lines are visible. The paper is damp-stained, worm-eaten, and slightly soiled with grime.

There is one marginal correction near the sixth line, apparently added later

References

Sketches for various water-lifting and mechanical devices

References

SEB III, entry no. 2842

References