Ajaib al-Makhluqat Al-Qazwini 1280 Arabic Manuscript Facsimile For Sale

Opus Fine Arts London presents a hand-bound facsimile of one of the great illustrated manuscripts of the medieval Islamic world: Zakariyyā al-Qazwīnī\'s Kitāb ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt wa-Gharāʾib al-Mawjūdāt — The Wonders of Creation and the Marvels of Existing Things.

This edition reproduces the celebrated manuscript preserved in the Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek), Munich, under shelfmark Cod. arab. 464.

Completed at Wāsiṭ in 1280, only three years before al-Qazwīnī\'s death in 1283, this manuscript is described by the Bavarian State Library as the oldest known textual witness to the original work.

Al-Qazwīnī\'s Wonders of Creation is among the most famous works of medieval Islamic cosmography. It presents an extraordinary vision of the universe, bringing together astronomy, geography, natural history, zoology, botany and accounts of extraordinary creatures.

The first part concerns the celestial realm — including the planets, constellations and angels — while the second turns to the terrestrial world, describing mountains, rivers, seas, animals, plants and unusual beings.

One of the manuscript\'s most remarkable features is its extraordinarily rich pictorial programme. More than 400 miniatures and drawings accompany the Arabic text, including depictions of planets, constellations, angels, animals, plants and fantastic creatures. The Bavarian State Library particularly notes the manuscript\'s vivid representations of angels and its unusual use of colour.

Date: 1280 AD (678–679 AH)

Language: Arabic

Size/ Format: 435 pages / Approximately: A4 , 210 x 297cm , 8.3\" x 11.7\"

Script: Arabic – Naskh script
Current Location: Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek), Munich, Germany
Shelfmark: Cod. arab. 464

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