The Walters Art Museum


W.658: Book on Navigation

Originally composed in 932 AH/AD 1525 and dedicated to Sultan Süleyman I ("The Magnificent"), this great work by Piri Reis (d. 962 AH/AD 1555) on navigation was later revised and expanded. Walters manuscript W.658, made mostly in the late 11th century AH/AD 17th, is based on the later expanded version and has some 240 exquisitely executed maps and portolan charts. They include a world map (fol. 41a) with the outline of the Americas, as well as maps of coastlines (bays, capes, peninsulas), islands, mountains, and cities of the Mediterranean basin and the Black Sea. The work starts with the description of the coastline of Anatolia and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnese peninsula, and the eastern and western coasts of the Adriatic Sea. It then proceeds to describe the western shores of Italy, southern France, Spain, North Africa, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, western Anatolia, various islands north of Crete, the Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It ends with a map of the shores of the Caspian Sea (fol. 374a).

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All images of Islamic manuscripts were created and are provided through a Preservation and Access grant awarded to The Walters Art Museum by the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2008-2010.

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Book on Navigation

Piri Reis (Turkish, 1465-1555)

late 11th century AH/AD 17th century-early 12th century AH/AD 18th century (Ottoman)

ink and pigments on laid European paper bound between boards covered with red leather with gilt

Folio H: 13 3/8 x W: 9 7/16 in. (34 x 24 cm); H open in cradle: 14 1/8 x W: 25 13/16 x D: 5 13/16 in. (35.8 x 65.5 x 14.7 cm)

Description
Originally composed in 932 AH/AD 1525 and dedicated to Sultan Süleyman I ("The Magnificent"), this great work by Piri Reis (d. 962 AH/AD 1555) on navigation was later revised and expanded. Walters manuscript W.658, made mostly in the late 11th century AH/AD 17th, is based on the later expanded version and has some 240 exquisitely executed maps and portolan charts. They include a world map (fol. 41a) with the outline of the Americas, as well as maps of coastlines (bays, capes, peninsulas), islands, mountains, and cities of the Mediterranean basin and the Black Sea. The work starts with the description of the coastline of Anatolia and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Peloponnese peninsula, and the eastern and western coasts of the Adriatic Sea. It then proceeds to describe the western shores of Italy, southern France, Spain, North Africa, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, western Anatolia, various islands north of Crete, the Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It ends with a map of the shores of the Caspian Sea (fol. 374a).
Additional Information

Kitab-I Bahriye

Book of Maritime Matters

Acquired by Henry Walters

W.658

Not on view

fols. 1b-378a: Kitab-i bahriye
fol. 24a: blank
fols. 31a-31b: blank
fol. 40a: blank
fols. 370bisa-370b: blank
fol. 373b: blank
fol. 374b-375b: blank

378 fols. + 4 flyleaves (front i, ii, back i, ii); 34.0 x 24.0 cm (textblock: 23.5 x 13.5 cm); 1 column of 19 lines; text in prose arranged in one column, verses in two columns; catchwords written obliquely outside of the frame on the versos of folios; the original foliation is 361 folios, inscribed in the middle on the left side of the frame, shaved on the final few folios; marbled paper used for the first set of mounted flyleaves; the codex contains a number of blank leaves (fols. 24a, 31a, 31b, 40a, 370bisa-b, 373b, 374b, and 375a-b), most likely intended for charts; main text opens with an elegant illuminated headpiece; body of the text surrounded by a frame decorated in gold and colors; 239 exquisite color maps and charts.

Turkish (Ottoman, 1500-1928)

Islamic

Turkey


Provenance

Ahmad Afandi [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 4a]; Ali Afandi [date and mode of acquisiton unknown] [see folio 4a]; Sayyid Ali Qapudan [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [see folio 1a]; Sultan Mahmud Khan [date and mode of acquistion unknown] [waqf seal and followed by a bequest statement (now erased), and the seal of the inspector of wakfs, Mustafá Tahir, see folio 4a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

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