RSPA 16 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Jones Collection
Royal Society Arabic and Persian
Contents
1 copy of Kifāyat al-Taʿlīm by Muḥammad ibn Masʿūd al-Ghaznavī
Language(s): Persian
The scribe, who signs himself off as Muḥammad Qāsim, is reported to have made several errors in his copying, one of which (ṣalwāh instead of ṣalwah) is visible in the colophon.
This is a very rare text and the author is largely unknown beyond it. The work is one of Islamic astrology and the author is reputed to have lived in around the twelfth century. The text is divided into two jins and then these are divided into subsections. The first jins is ff3r-63v and the second, much bigger, jins is ff63v-263r.
On 264r there is a table. In the first jins there are several illustrations, all of which are either geometrical diagrams of the nightsky and star positions or tables.
There are frequent illustrations (either diagrams or tables) in the first half of the manuscript in particular. These include astral projections of the stars and other, largely mathematical, diagrams.
Physical Description
European numerals in pencil. Perso-Arabic numerals in black ink.
Condition
Good condition. Some repair work.
Layout
Hand(s)
Very elegant black nastaʿlīq with rubrications.
Decoration
There are very few marginal comments. On ff217-8 there are several marginal comments in a scruffy Persian hand.
Before the main textblock starts, there is a page written in Persian which appears to be a fragment of another text followed by another page with a geometric projection of the Zodiac.
Binding
Standard India Office half leather binding with wine-coloured marbled endpapers.
Accompanying Material
History
Provenance and Acquisition
RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. According to Wilkins, this manuscript was presented by Lady Jones.
The Royal Society's collection of 280 Persian and Arabic, and 86 Sanskrit manuscripts were transferred to the India Office Library in 1876.
1876
India Office Library
Record Sources
Availability
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.
Funding of Cataloguing
BL
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