Two treatises on the sizes and distances of the celestial bodies

Content

Composite manuscript; folios 1-14 and 15-25 were originally two separate manuscripts, and were written on different papers by different copyists.

Front flyleaf i was a pastedown, and was detached from the inside right board (front-i) during conservation work to reveal the inscriptions of H. Waterman and Sergeant Hutchins of the 13th Light Company as well as a rebus written vertically along the edge of the board that reads 'I see you, but you cannot see me'.

Contents:

• (1) al-Kāshī (الكاشي), Sullam al-samāʾ (سلم السماء; ff. 1r-14r);
• (2) al-Dashtakī (الدشتكي), Safīr al-ghabrāʾ wa-al-khaḍrāʾ (سفير الغبراء والخضراء; ff. 15r-25v).

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. iii+26+i

It is grouped into

Sullam al-samāʾ (al-Risālah al-kamālīyah) سلم السماء (الرسالة الكمالية) Kāshī, Jamshīd ibn Masʿūd كاشي، جمشيد بن مسعود

27 images

Ref: Delhi Arabic 1925, ff 1r-14r

Safīr al-ghabrāʾ wa-al-khaḍrāʾ سفير الغبراء والخضراء Dashtakī Shīrāzī, Ghiyāth al-Dīn Manṣūr دشتكي شيرازي، غياث الدين منصور

22 images

Ref: Delhi Arabic 1925, ff 15r-25v

Physical characteristics

Physical characteristics:

Material: Eastern laid paper

Dimensions: 175 x 120 mm leaf [130 x 80 mm written]

Foliation: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Library foliation stamped in black ink

Ruling: None visible; 20 (ff. 1v-14r)/14 (ff. 15v-25v) lines per page; vertical spacing 15 (ff. 1v-14r)/11 (ff. 15v-25v) lines per 10 cm

Script: Nasta‘līq

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

Decoration: Text frames in red ink on ff. 15v-16r

Binding: Undecorated case binding in brown leather

Condition: Minor insect damage (some repaired), minor water damage towards lower edge corner

Marginalia: Some, by more than one hand

Seals: ff. 1r, 14v, 15r and 25v

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Delhi Arabic 1925

History of this record

Date(s)

17th-18th century (CE, Gregorian)

Provenance

• H. Waterman, his inscription (inside right board [front-i]);
• Serg[ean]t Hutchins, 13th Light Comp[any], his inscription (inside right board [front-i]);
• The Government of India, its seal with central legend 'Delhi MSS' (ff. 1r, 14v, 15r and 25v).

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859; administrative deposit India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Library, 1876

Subjects

Astronomy--Early works to 1800

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Two treatises on the sizes and distances of the celestial bodies, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Delhi Arabic 1925, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100035862936.0x000001> [accessed 29 March 2025]

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