Description:

This is an important and rare scientific manuscript from the early Ottoman period, being a footnote or scholium on a prominent astronomical treatise. The base text, "Talkhīṣ fī ʿilm al-Hayʾa" (Summary on Astronomy), was originally authored by the celebrated engineer and astronomer Mūsā ibn Muḥammad Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī (d. 840 AH / 1436 AD), a noted figure from the Samarkand observatory and student of Ulugh Beg.

The marginal and interlinear commentary present in this copy is the work of Sinān al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Khadr ibn Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī (d. 891 AH / 1486 AD), who served under Sultan Mehmed II (al-Fātiḥ) and was an influential scholar in the development of Ottoman mathematical and astronomical sciences.

Script & Layout:

  • Language: Arabic

  • Script: Neat naskh in black ink, with red rubrications for emphasis and structure.

  • Margins: Wide, clean margins with no extensive marginalia on the displayed pages.

  • Foliation: Undetermined; shows signs of use and some annotations visible on recto/verso.

  • Paper: Cream paper with moderate age-related wear, minor worming and some staining, consistent with 16th-century production.

Historical Importance:

This manuscript represents a pedagogical and administrative effort to preserve, disseminate, and build upon earlier Islamic astronomical knowledge under Ottoman patronage. The involvement of high-ranking scholars and court officials reflects how valued science was at the time. That this edition was commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II adds to its prestige and provenance.

Dimensions:

  • Folio size: 20.5 x 15 cm

Comparable Manuscripts & Valuation Reference:

  • A similar 16th-century copy of Qādī Zāda’s commentary on al-Tūsī’s "Tadhkira" sold at Sotheby’s (2016) for £15,000.

  • An Ottoman astronomical text from 950 AH fetched $22,000 at Christie’s (2018).

  • Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul, houses a partial footnote in a comparable hand from the 10th century AH.

Significance:

  • Excellent example of Ottoman-era scientific transmission

  • Direct scholarly lineage from Ulugh Beg’s astronomical school

  • Connects two pivotal intellectual figures—Qādī Zāda al-Rūmī and Sinān al-Dīn Pasha

Commissioned under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror

  

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May 6, 2025 1:00 PM BST
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