Book on Logic

Walters manuscript W.591 is a supergloss on the gloss (hashiyah) by al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani (died 816 AH/AD 1413) on the Lawami' al-asrar by Qutb al-Din al-Tahtani al-Razi (died 766 AH/AD 1364), being in turn a commentary on a book of logic entitled Matali' al-anwar by Siraj al-Din Mahmud al-Urmawi (died 682 AH/AD 1283). Written for the library of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, it was completed in Bursa in 918 AH/AD 1512, the year of that ruler's accession to the throne. The text, which opens with an illuminated headpiece (fol. 1b), is written in Naskh script mostly in black ink with certain words, such as qawluhu and aqulu, in red. It is possible that the scribe is also the author of this work. The brown goatskin binding with central lobed oval and pendants with arabesque designs is contemporary with the manuscript.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Izzat [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [ex libiris (min kutub), seal erased on fol. 1a]; 'Abd al-Qadir [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [ex libris, fol. 1a]; Muhammad Amin, Inspector of awqaf [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [bequest entry on behalf of Bashir Agha with seal and the shelfmark 419 on fol. 1a; bequest (waqf) seal of of Bashir Agha dated 1130 AH/AD 1717; the same seal is also present on fols. 2a, 35a, 52a, and 77b; the shelfmark 419 is also inscribed on the tail edge]; al-Hajj Bashir Agha Dar al-Sa'adah, 1130 AH/AD 1717, by bequest [ex libiris, dated 1158 AH/AD 1745 (plus his seal) on fol. 1a, middle of the page; the same seal is also on fols. 32b and 78a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.