al-Jamharah fī ‘ilm al-bayzarah الجمهرة في علم البيزرة Asadī, ‘Īsá ibn ‘Alī أسدي، عيسى بن علي

Content

General manual on hunting with falcons, dogs and other animals by Abū al-Rūḥ ʿIsá ibn ‘Alī al-Asadī al-Baghdādī (أبو الروح عيسى بن علي الأسدي البغدادي, fl. 1150-70). The work was divided into two parts (جزءان), the first on the methods and techniques of hunting, and the second on the care and treatment of animals. This copy is defective at the beginning and the end, and contains only Part Two of the work. For this reason, the incorrect title al-Bayṭarah li-l-wuḥūsh (البيطرة للوحوش, Veterinary Medicine for Wild Animals ) is found on f. 1r and in the margin of f. 2r.

A list of the chapters (أبوب) of Part Two and their titles appears on ff. 5v-12r.

Begins (f. 2r, lines 1-3, defective at beginning):

قال بعض الحكماء لولده لا تطمع في ينل معالي الأمور بالتواني بلوغ

العلوم براحة البدن ولا في ال مع الكبر ولا

في حسن الثناء مع الصحة ...

Ends (f. 184, lines 14-17, defective at end):

... وجعل الطار عليه وضرب في جوانبه الأربعة أربعة

أوتار وينبغي أن يجعل الطريق جميعًا مشددة من تلك الأرض طول

مقدار رمية السهم وإن كان أطول كان ذلك أوفى وأرجي لكثرة

الصيد ثم يجعل المحاذ على الجانب الذي فيه الخزرة أيضًا خاليًا

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. iv+184+v

Physical characteristics

Material: Western laid paper; Tre lune watermark visible towards guttern on many folios

Dimensions: 209 x 150 mm leaf [155 x 98 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ?; 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in red

Binding: Red leather case binding with blind-tooled medallion, pendents and borders

Condition: Waterstains, offsetting and peculiar migration of ink.

Marginalia: Very few, but see dated owner's inscription on f. 32r

Seals: None

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 23417

History of this record

Date(s)

17th century (CE, Gregorian)

Provenance

• Mullā Ibrāhīm [ibn ...] Ḥusayn, secretary of the Nāḥīyah (Ottoman administrative sub-unit) of [illegible] (ملّا ابراهيم [بن ...] حسين كاتب ناحية اهمالـ[؟ ...]), his inscription dated 4 (?) Rajab 1168/16 April 1755 (f. 32r)

Immediate source of acquisition

Mrs Taylor, widow of Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852), Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Baghdad (1828-43), 14 April 1860

Related material

Finding aids

Cureton, William and Charles Rieu, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo Britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens (London: The British Museum, 1846-71), Item 1367, pp. 634-35

Select Bibliography

Editions and translations of extracts:

• Phillot, D. C., and R. F. Azoo, 'Some Birds and Other Animals that have been Metamorphosed [Being an Extract from the Kitābu'l-Jamharah fi ‘ilmi'l-Bazyarah, an Arabic Manuscript, no. 865, in the Library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal]', in Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3.2 (1907), 139-43
• Phillot, D. C., and R. F. Azoo, 'The Birds' Complaint before Solomon: Being an Extract with a Translation from the Kitābu 'l-Jamharah fi ‘ilmi 'l-Bazyarah', in Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3.3 (1907), 173-78
• Phillot, D. C., and R. F. Azoo, 'Things which the Owner of Hawks Should Avoid, Being an Extract with a Translation from the Kitābu 'l-Jamharah fi ‘Ilmi'l-Bazyarah', in Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3.6 (1907), 401-3
• Phillot, D. C., and R. F. Azoo, 'On Hunting Dogs, Being an Extract with a Translation from the Kitābu 'l-Jamharah fi ‘ilmi 'l-Bazyarah', in Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 3.9 (1907), 599-600

Study:

• Shihab al-Sarraf, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamlūk Studies Review 8.1 (2004), pp. 141-20, on pp. 189-90
• Sezgin, Fuat, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums , vol. 3 (Leiden: Brill, 1970), p. 377

Subjects

Veterinary medicine -- Early works to 1800Hunting -- Early works to 1800Falconry -- Early works to 1800

People & organisations

'Īsá ibn 'Alī Asadī

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al-Jamharah fī ‘ilm al-bayzarah الجمهرة في علم البيزرة Asadī, ‘Īsá ibn ‘Alī أسدي، عيسى بن علي, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 23417, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/node/9477> [accessed 21 December 2024]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100027765088.0x000001

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