Bughyat al-Fallahin fi'l-Ashjar al-Muthmira wa al-Rayahin (T - Lot 23

Bughyat al-Fallahin fi'l-Ashjar al-Muthmira wa al-Rayahin (The desired object of farmers for fruit trees and aromatic plants) by Al-Malik al-Afdal al-'Abbas ibn 'Ali Black and red ink on paper, embossed brown leather binding Yemen, second half of the 16th century 30 x 21.5 x 5.2 cm This manuscript is written in naskh script in black and red ink, spread over 21 lines per page. It includes diagrams and numerous annotations. It is probably a copy of a Bughyat al-Fallahin fi'l-Ashjar al-Muthmira wa al-Rayahin (The desired object of farmers for fruit trees and aromatic plants) by the Rassoulide ruler Al-Malik al-Afdal al-'Abbas ibn 'Ali (d. 1377). The first part includes several extracts from al-Filaha al-Rumiyya, an Arabic translation of a Greek work of Geoponica by the Byzantine author Cassianus Bassus Scholasticus, by Qusta b. Luqa. In several places we find dedications to the "caliph" al-Mu'tasim billah 'Ali Yahya b. al-Mutahhar b. Yahya Sharaf al-Din. This is probably a Zaydi imam from Yemen, possibly the son of imam al-Mutahhar bin Yahya Sharaf al-Din. This book is an interesting testimony to the agricultural and commercial practices of the region during this period. It is bound in brown leather and decorated with stamped plant mandorls.