Details

Subject(s)

• Alphabets—Specimens [Browse]

Summary note

Collection of encrypted correspondence between the compiler and various correspondents, in approximately 150 alphabets, accompanied by transcriptions of the letters in Arabic. The compiler cites Shihāb al-Dīn al-Jindī al-ʻAlāʼī, Burhān al-Dīn al-Qudsī, and Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Jaʻfar al-Ḥusaynī as authorities for some of the alphabets. The manuscript is incomplete, lacking its beginning and end. Occasional marginal notes. Some worm damage in margins.

Notes

• Binding: Modern quarter leather, wood covers.
• Collation: Paper, 106; 1² 2¹⁰ 3-4⁸ 5¹⁰ 6⁴ 7⁶ 8-12¹⁰ 13⁸. Catchwords on each page, lower left verso.
• Decoration: Arabic equivalents written above some alphabets in red.
• Layout: Written in 13 long lines.
• Ms. codex.
• Origin: Possibly written in Syria, in the 15th century.
• Script: Written in naskh script.
• Title supplied by cataloger.

Location of originals

• Original Columbia, Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• OPenn University of Pennsylvania Libraries.

Language note

Arabic.

Provenance

• Gift of Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2015.
• Sold at auction at Christie's, 1996.
• Sold by Sam Fogg Limited (London) to Lawrence J. Schoenberg, June 1996.

References

Described in Transformation of knowledge: early manuscripts from the collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), pages 43 (LJS 51).

Cite as

UPenn LJS 51.

OCLC

808642011

Statement on responsible collection description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...