Qur'an manuscript from 1884 - Lot 62

Lot 62
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Estimation :
2500 - 3500 EUR
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Qur'an manuscript from 1884 - Lot 62
Qur'an manuscript from 1884 Single-volume illuminated manuscript on watermarked paper with triple crescent moon, in Arabic. According to the colophon, it was executed in 1884 in the village of Qariyat Yabroud by the scribe Hassan ibn Hassan Rumiyyah. 31 x 21 cm. 15 lines of black cursive naskh on a single column. Copied in an informal hand, sura titles and marginal verse markings in orange, orange double ruled leaves, contemporary keywords throughout, two opening suras with copper additions and lengths of colored paper glued to the leaves to create decorative borders around the text, some adhesions on the upper margins of most leaves (causing a few small tears, rarely affecting the text), some leaves slightly browned. Bound in contemporary Ottoman-style dark red morocco with flap, boards with central medallions stamped in inlaid gilt paper decorated with floral and vegetal motifs in relief, rubbed with a few missing paper additions, contemporary marbled paper spine boards, overall bright and attractive binding. Pagination: i-xxiii10, xxiv7 (collated complete except for last blank leaf to complete final assembly). Some adhesions on the upper margins of most leaves (causing a few small tears, rarely affecting the text), some leaves slightly browned. Contemporary Ottoman-style dark red morocco binding with flap, boards with central medallions stamped in inlaid gilt paper decorated with floral and vegetal motifs in relief, rubbed with a few missing paper additions, contemporary marbled paper counterpanes, overall attractive binding. The use of copper illumination for the frontispiece of this Koran is highly unusual. Typically, handwritten Korans are adorned with gold to highlight the first two suras, a symbol of opulence, wealth and grandeur, and also serving as a gateway to the sacred text. The colophon states that the volume was copied on a Friday in January (Shahr Kanun al-Thani) in the village of Yabroud by the scribe Hassan ibn Hassan Rumiyah. The use of a month from the Christian calendar is highly unusual, which, combined with the scribe's name (Rumiyah meaning the Roman, i.e. the Christian), indicates manuscript production in a region populated by both Christians and Muslims. The mention of the village of Yabroud may correspond to two possible locations. The first is a town in south-west Syria (on the border with Lebanon), historically known for having been home to large Christian communities, and which is said to house the oldest church in Syria. The second is a small village in the central West Bank, Palestine, also multi-faith and known to have been under Ottoman occupation at the time the manuscript was produced. In both cases, the presence of a scribe of Western or Christian origin and the use of the Christian calendar make this provincial Koran an object of great rarity and interest.
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