Watermarks - Islamic manuscripts

Islamic Codicology and
Paleography
A short survey of the issues involved
by Prof. Jan Just Witkam
(University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands)
www.janjustwitkam.nl
www.islamicmanuscripts.info
International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM)
Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT)
Kuala Lumpur, March 9, 2012

Survey of subjects of codicology and paleography:
1. codicology
writing surface: papyrus, parchment, paper, other
quires: organization of the codex
instruments
techniques: ruling, lay-out
craftsmen
2. paleography
scripts: paleography, styles, calligraphy
ornamentation: illumination, illustration
3. various:
bookbinding
dating a manuscript
collections of manuscripts
terminology in use

The term ‘Codicology’ is derived from the Latin word codex. The
codex is the book as we know it. Novelties of the codex: random
opening, text on the two sides of the writing material. The codex was
invented in Europe in c. 300 CE.
Source: Déroche 2006, p. 16

Before the codex there were already ‘books’. The volumen is such an
earlier book form:
Source: Déroche 2006, p. 13

‘A Reading from Homer’ for an audience of young and beautiful
people, with the use of a parchment scrol, a ‘volumen’.
Classicist painting by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema (1838-1912) of
a reading session, as imagined by the painter in 1885.
Source: Original painting, oil on canvas, 91.8 x 183.5 cm, in Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Before the codex there were already ‘books’. The rotulus is yet
another earlier book form. This form has been preserved in Islam for
non-official texts, such as genealogies, diploma, talismans, etc.
Source: Déroche 2006, p. 13

Outside the Mediterranean world entirely different shapes of the book
were devised. Here is a Sanskrit text on palmleaf. This shape of the
book has been preserved in South-East Asia as well.
Source: Déroche 2006, p. 16

Leather (kulit) is used in
South-East Asia also as
writing material.
Here it is the writing material
on which a set of Silsila’s
from Malaysia has been
written.
The heading reads: Silsila raja
Patani keturunan Kelantan
ilah Teungku Muhammad
teungku besar raja Patani.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 26.541, ff. 40b-41a

Wood can also be used as writing material.
Documents from an archive of a public notary, from the High
Atlas Area in Central Morocco. Source: UB Leiden, Or. 26.165

‏:(البردي)‏ Papyrus
The word is used for the plant
and also for the writing material
made of that plant.
The plant is typically Egyptian,
but not exclusively so. It is
known to grow in other regions
where there is an abundance of
water, such as Mesopotamia.
The etymology of the word
‘papyrus’ is Coptic. From it, the
word ‘paper’ in European
languages was derived, through
Greek and Latin, but paper and
papyrus are entirely different
materials.
Source image: Jonathan Bloom, Paper before
print, (2001) No.20.

Qalam or Qasab (reed, sugar
reed) and Papyrus (Fafirus, al-
Bardi), as depicted in the Arabic
translation of the Materia Medica
of Dioscurides (c. 40-90 CE), in a
manuscript written in Samarqand
in 475/1082.
It is a coincidence that the two
base materials for writing, the pen
and the leaf, are here depicted on
one and the same page.
See also the medical use of the
papyrus plant: the care for the
wounds made during treatment of
hemorrhoids and fistulae.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 289, f. 35a

A bilingual (Greek and Arabic) text (a document of financial content) on
papyrus. This is possibly the oldest dated Arabic text on papyrus: Gumada
I of the year 22 Higra (643 CE).
Source: Vienna, National Library.

Parchment, showing which part of the hide can be used for writing.
Folding twice gives a standing or oblong format, folding three times
gives an almost square format (as books from the Maghreb have).
Source: drawing from F. Déroche (2006), p. 39

Large (c. 50 x 70 cm) Qur’an on parchment, showing hairside (left)
and fleshside (right). Note the difference in colour. The two leaves
shown do not belong together, text is not continuous. The parchment
has become brittle (dried out) and was damaged in course of time.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 14.545a, ff. 1b-2a

Qur’an 8:1-13.
The first line reads:
الله ورسوله ان كنتم مومنين،‏ انما
المومنون الذين
One of the oldest known
Qur’anic manuscripts,
possibly datable to the end of
the first century Hijra
(beginning 8th century CE).
The writing material is
parchment, the backward
leaning (ma’il) script is called
Hijazi. It is entirely without
punctuation and without
vowels.
Source: MS Paris, BnF, Arabe 328a, f. 40a

A Maghribi (or Andalusi?) Qur’an on parchment, showing
traces of scraping (bottom, left), 13th century (?).
Source: MS Leiden Or. 228, p. 27, detail.

A Maghribi (or
Andalusi?) Qur’an
on parchment.
Colours indicate
additions to the
`Uthmani rasm. Not
dated but possibly of
the 13th century. In
the West of the
Islamic world,
parchment remained
longer in use (for
important texts) than
in the Mashriq.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 251, f.
24a

Paper, a Chinese invention, conquers the world
A short chronology:
Oldest paper known in China, where the technique of paper making
was invented; it dates from the beginning of the Christian era, or
before.
Imports of Chinese paper in the Middle East before the 8th century
are known, but not documented.
Beginning of Islamic papermaking in Central-Asia, mid-8th century.
Slow but irresistible journey of paper in Western direction. Around
year 1000 complete substitution of parchment and papyrus by paper
in Mashriq. The Maghrib follows suit.
Around the year 1500 is the end of Middle-Eastern paper industry
due to heavy competition from Europe, especially Italy. Remote
regions (e.g. Central-Asia) keep producing their own paper.

Fictitious
portrait of Tsai
Lun, the Chinese
minister said to
be the inventor
of paper making
in the year 105
CE.
He has his
writing utensils
in front of him
on the table.
Source: woodcut
reproduced in Voorn,
Papiermolens Noord-
Holland, plate 1.

Chinese paper makers at work. Filling the mould with paper pulp (left),
and emptying the mould by piling-up the ready paper leaves (right).
Source: A. Grohmann, Arabische Paläographie, vol. 1, p. 103, after Joseph von Karabacek..

‏:(ورق،‏ قرطاس،‏ كاغذ)‏ Paper
Different etymologies of the word
for paper: waraq is Arabic, qirtas
comes from Latin, kaghidh is a
Soghdian (Central-Asia) loanword.
In English ‘paper’ is derived from
the ‘papyrus’.
The image shows a female paper
maker from Nepal, using a simple
mould over which paper pulp is
poured. When the water has leaked
away, the solid material is paper of
blotting quality.
After drying under pressure the
surface of the paper has to be
covered or polished in order to
prevent ink from leaking through.
Source image: Jonathan Bloom, Paper before print,
(2001) p. 67.

A Japanese paper mould, as still in use.
Chinese, and therefore Japanese, culture is still very much
characterized by a great veneration of paper, and paper making is,
apart from an industry, often also a hobby and pastime.
Source image: Jonathan Bloom, Paper before print, (2001) p. 70.

A papermaker at work:
1. Pulp is made in watermill.
2. Pulp is sieved over water.
3. Basin with watery pulp
4. Mould is filled with pulp
5. Filled mould leaks dry.
6. Sheets dry on a line.
7. Pile of sheets under pressure
8. Paper is sized and polished
Captions are in Persian,
illustration from a Kashmiri
manuscript illustrating arts and
crafts (written c. 1850-1860).
Lower right corner: the well with
the windlass.
Source: Original MS: India Office Library,
London, Or. 1699, here quoted from G. Bosch
(a.o.), Islamic bindings. Chicago 1981, p. 21,
explanation on p. 28.

The paper burnisher at work. Source: Original MS: Freer Gallery of Art, N. 54.116.
Washington DC, here quoted from G. Bosch (a.o.), Islamic bindings. Chicago 1981, p. 36.

Structure of Oriental paper with chain-lines spaced at regular
intervals. Source: F. Déroche, Islamic Codicology (2006), p. 55

Structure of Oriental paper with chain-lines in groups of three.
Source: F. Déroche, Islamic Codicology (2006), p. 56

A (Hebrew) manuscript on Oriental paper, dated 1112 CE.
Laid paper with a structure with chain-lines and wire-lines.
Source: Oxford (Bodleian Library), Hebr. F. 18, f. 17, detail; illustration taken from M. Beit-
Arié, Hebrew Codicology (Jerusalem 1981), plate 3.

Gharib al-Hadith, by Abu
‘Ubayd al-Qasim b. Sallam al-
Baghdadi (d. 223/837).
Dated Dhu al-Qa‘da 252 AH (=
866 CE), and thereby probably
the oldest dated Arabic
manuscript on paper in
existence.
The paper is coloured, is very
thick, almost like carton board,
and shows no internal structure
of lines.
The text is written in a
conciously executed lay-out.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 298, f. 2b

Colophon, dated Dhu al-Qa‘da 252 (= 866 A). Gharib al-Hadith by Abu
‘Ubayd al-Qasim b. Salam. On paper. Edgy script, dots, vowels, reading
signs, all developed.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 298, f. 241b

Mishkat al-Anwar by Abu Hamid
Muhammad al-Ghazzali (d.
505/1111). Naskh script in several
sizes. Dated 630 AH.
Safina-shaped, note-book. The text
also goes around main text block,
and indicates the limits of the writing
area.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 1093-ff. 1b, beginning of f. 2a.

The advantages of paper over parchment and papyrus
Paper was less cheap than papyrus (more work to manufacture!), but
was more stable. At the same time it was less stable than parchment,
but much cheaper. The combined advantages of parchment and
papyrus made paper the ideal substitute of either one of then.
Islamic and Middle Eastern manuscripts as we mostly know them are
books made of paper. Papyrus and parchment became obsolete after
the introduction of paper.
The impact of paper on the development of written culture can hardly
be overestimated. The general availability of a relatively cheap
medium gave rise to scholarly multiplicity. Numerous copies of one
and same text were made by many students and teachers. Many new
texts were created and gained right of dissemination. The limitations
of papyrus (fragility) and of parchment (dearth, scarcity) disappeared.
No wonder therefore that the 9th and 10th centuries saw an
unprecedented flowering of sciences and literature in the Middle-East.
Also bureaucracy profited from the wide availability of paper. The
invention of printing is inconceivable without paper.

A Dutch paper mill at work. The
windmill (in Holland) provides
the power needed for the making
of the pulp (central part). At the
left side, moulds are filled with
pulp. At the right side sheets of
paper are drying.
A windmill is used because there
is hardly any running water in
Holland. In mountainous areas
mills obtain their power from
water.
Source: Voorn, Papiermolens Noord-Holland,
plate 7.

Detail of a metal paper mould from
a Dutch paper mill; chain and wire
lines are of metal. The watermark
(shield, crown, post horn) is
attached to the structure of the
mould. At that place the paper will
contain less pulp and hence show
the watermark.
Source: Voorn, Papiermolens van Noord-
Holland, plate 51

Islamic watermarks in European
paper.
European papermakers quickly
realized that it was of no use to
export paper with watermarks of
typically Christian or Western
symbols (crosses, crowns and the
like) to Islamic countries. They
therefore started to devise
‘Islamic’ watermarks. The
crescent was often used. A very
common ‘Islamic’ watermark was
a combination of three crescents
in decreasing size. This was
called by its Italian name ‘trelune’
= ‘three moons’.
Source: Heawood, Watermarks, plate 136.

Islamic watermarks in European
paper.
Several trelune watermarks in
Italian papers used for manuscripts
found in the Balkans.
Photographing watermarks can be
complicated, and the photographs
are never very clear. That is why the
common reference works on
watermarks (Briquet, Heawood,
Voorn, etc.) prefer to use drawings
of watermarks.
Source: Velkov & Andreev, Tri luni (1983)
Nos. 840-842.

Watermarks and dating
The utility of watermarks in dating a manuscript is often overrated.
At best a watermark can corroborate or refute a proposed dating.
Sometimes it can provide an approximate date.
However, if a very popular watermark, such as the trelune or the
anchor, is used, it is virtually impossible to establish a secure dating.
The reason for this is that one can never make an absolute, one-toone,
identification between a watermark in a manuscript or document
and the drawing or photograph of a similar watermark in the
reference works on watermarks.
The illustrations in the reference works on watermarks provide us
with an overview of trends in watermark design and of the periods
and the places in which these were used. From the 19th century
onwards the number of papers with watermarks becomes too large
for any meaningful determination or identification.

A library in the City of
Helwan.
Abu Zayd astonishes his
audience by his wide
knowledge. A scene from
Maqama 2 of the Maqamat.
by al-Hariri (1054-1122).
Against the back are
bookshelves, with books in
different ways of
arrangement.
Painting by Yahya al-Wasiti,
dated 1237 CE, possibly
from Baghdad.
Source: MS Paris, BnF, Arabe 5847, f. 5b.

Scholarship with books and
instruments.
The research team of fifteen
science-minded men of Taqi al-Din
b. Ma‘ruf, the famous late-16thcentury
astronomer to the Ottoman
Sultan, in his newly established
Observatory in Istanbul.
Classical Islamic instruments and
modern Western equipment can be
seen together in one image.
At the background are bookshelves,
with the Observatory’s library. The
captions are given in Persian poetry.
Source: MS Istanbul, University Library.

Illuminated title-page of
Shawarid al-Amthal.
Anonymous collection of
proverbs. With illuminated
ex-libris of the library of an
Ayyubid prince (12th
century CE). Text of the
ex-libris:
| شوارد الامثال بخزانه
مولانا السلطان الملك الناصر
صلاح الدنيا والدين ابى
المظفر يوسف ابن الملك
العزيز خلد الله ملكه ه
|
|
|
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 1073, f. 1a
|
|
|

Complexities: Not all manuscripts of the Middle East are always in
Arabic script, even if their language is Arabic. Example: Qissat Yusuf
ha-Saddiq, in Judeo-Arabic, copied in Mosul, 1859
Source: MS Leiden Or. 14.403, ff. 16b-17a

Complexities: Not all
manuscripts of the Middle
East are exclusively in Arabic
script, even if their language
is sometimes Arabic.
Example: Christian prayer for
after the noon meal. Greek
and Arabic text. Egypt,
possibly 13th century.
Bilingual texts are often in
use when the older of the two
languages has become less
well-known.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 14.239, f. 38a

Complexities: Not all
Islamic manuscripts are
always entirely in Arabic
script.
Example: A Qur’an from
Sulawesi (Indonesia) with
Makassarese interlinear
translation, copied
between 1861-1869.
Source: MS Leiden, NBG Boeg. 52e,
p. 183

Complexities: Not all
manuscripts of the Middle
East are always entirely in
Arabic script and in the
Arabic language.
Example: Beginning of Sifr
Ayyub al-Barr, the Book Job,
of the Old Testament, in
Coptic and Arabic. Dated
1508/1792
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 14.544, f. 4a

Not all manuscripts of the
Middle East are always in
Arabic script, even if the
language is Arabic.
The first line reads
(transcribed in Arabic):
بسم الاب والابن وروح القدس
It is the Christian basmala.
Example: Khitam fi Alhan
al-Mar Afram, by al-Khuri
al-Salibi al-Dimashqi.
Arabic text in Syriac script:
Karshuni. Dated (possibly)
Rome, 18th century.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 14.607, f. 139b.

Complexities: Not all Islamic
manuscripts are always in
Arabic, though written in
Arabic script. Example:
Fragment of an old (15thcentury
CE?) text in Berber.
This extremely rare (just this
damaged leaf preserved!)
example of a work written in
Berber proves that already in
the Middle Ages there was a
written Berber culture. There
are several words
recognizable in Arabic, but
the overall text is in Berber.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 23.306, recto side

Complexities: Not all Islamic
manuscripts are always in
Arabic script.
Example: Miniature of the Ark
of the Prophet Nuh, in a
Javanese translation of an
Arabic or Persian version of
the Qisas al-Anbiyâ’, the
‘History of the Prophets’.
Manuscript in Javanese, from
Java (Indonesia), around 1830.
Look at the Dutch flag, with
the words Lâ and Allâh
written in it, apparently as part
of the Shahâda.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 2251, p. 22

Drawing of the human organ of speech: a cross-section of the mouth.
Indicated are the articulation points of the Arabic phonemes, as part of
the preliminary pages of an Acehnese Qur’ân of the 19th century. In
non-arabophone regions (Turkey, South-East Asia, etc.) one may find
similar explanations of Arabic phonology. On the left side a poem in
Malay telling how to recite the Qur’an. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 2064, f. 4a

A ceramic inkwell from Morocco (19th/20th century) for
the making of polychrome manuscripts.
Source: Original in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Another ceramic inkwell, with silver frame (not original?),
and provided with a Maghribi reed pen, from Morocco
(19th/20th century) for the making of polychrome
manuscripts.
Source: Original in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden

Inkwells from Central-Asia for making monochrome manuscripts.
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Inkwell from Central-Asia for making monochrome
manuscripts, with pen rest. Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Inkwells for making manuscripts in two colours.
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Portable penholder with inkwell, for making manuscripts in two
colours. Ottoman style after originally Japanese design. This one
was purchased in Surabaya in 1995.
Source: Collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Bambu pens.
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Reed pens, Middle-East.
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

Mistara, ruler with fixed lay-out, and line-applier of bone
(from Egypt)
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden

A mistara from South Arabia, with a page
lay-out in columns.
Source: Original in Israel Museum, Jerusalem, image quoted
from Beit-Arié, Hebrew Codicology, plate 17.

A simple student’s
mistara from the Cairo
genizah.
Source: Original in Cambridge
University Library, TS K 11.54, image
quoted from Beit-Arié, Hebrew
Codicology, plate 19.

A simple student’s mistara from
Egypt. The threads are pasted to
the cardboards. The reverse side
of the cartdboard has the exact
mirror image of this page. The
present side makes a recto page
in an Arabic manuscript, the
reverse the exactly identical
verso page. Age not determined,
but possible beginning 20th
century. Height c. 29 cm.
Source: Original in the Library of Deir al-Anba
Maqar, the Monastry of St. Macarius, Wadi
Natrun (Egypt). This mistara was shown during
the course by Father Epiphanius El-Makari, one
of the participants.

Paper scissors (Egypt, 16th century CE?), with detail:
‏.(يا فتاح)‏ Ya Fattah
Source: Originals in collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden.

The components and proportions of the Arabic script, here shown for
a type font, but they can equally be used for a better under-standing of
the Arabic script. Don’t forget: Type designers are calligraphers.
Useful terminology for describing the constituent elements of script.
Source: Edo Smitshuijzen, Arabic Font Specimen Book. Amsterdam 2009, p. 19.

Most decipherment is given
by the text itself
The formulaic character of
some texts, not only of
documents but of numerous
non-literary texts, helps to solve
previously unsolved reading
problems.
This is particularly the case
with theological literature,
where a limited vocabulary is
repetitively used. The reading
certificates at the end of texts or
quires are another case in point.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 580, f. 11b.

|
وفى اخره ما مثاله سمع جميع هذا الجز على الشيخ ابى محمد عبد الكريم
بن حمزه بن الخضر بن العباس السلمى رضى الله عنه قال ىا عبد الحميد بن
احمد بن محمد الكتانى فى سنه ثمان وخمسين واربعمايه صاحبه الشيخ ابو
عبدالله الحسين بن الخضر بن الحسين بن عبدان وابنه ابو الحسين عبد
الرحمن بقراه الشيخ ابى القسم على بن
...
|
An example of repetitive text: the titles and proper names in a
reading certificate at the end a quire are another case in point.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 580, f. 11b, detail of previously displayed page

‏(إهمال)‏ About ihmāl
The twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet in fact consist of only
some fourteen different groups of base forms.
The letters in each composite group are usually distinguished from
those in the same group by dots or no dots. Those dots are written on
top or underneath the ductus (rasm in Arabic). Writing such dots is
called iʿǧām, ʻto provide with a diacritical pointʼ. Not writing such dots
is called ihmāl, ʻto neglectʼ, ʻto omitʼ, ʻnot-providing with dotsʼ.
The following fourteen groups of base forms are distinguished in the
Arabic alphabet: 1. alif; 2. bāʾ, tāʾ, thāʾ, nūn, yāʾ; 3. ǧīm, ḥāʾ, khāʾ; 4.
dāl, dhāl; 5. rāʾ, zāy; 6. sīn, shīn; 7. ṣād, ḍād; 8. ṭāʾ, ẓāʾ; 9. ʿayn, ghayn;
10. fāʾ, qāf; 11. kāf, lām; 12. mīm; 13. wāw; 14. hāʾ.
Each copyist has his own choices for providing the muhmalāt with
ihmāl signs. The alif, mīm, wāw and hāʾ are not really groupes and do
not need ihmāl signs. A copyist will not always use all possibilities.

Examples of ihmāl signs:
v-sign on top of ra’, v-sign on top
of sin, little ‘ayn underneath the
‘ayn, little ha’ underneath the ha’,
all in order the indicate that these
letters are neglected.
But note that the emphatic ta’ does
not have a sign of ihmāl.
It is important that the student,
while describing a scribe’s hand,
makes an inventory of the copyist’s
repertoire of ihmāl signs, because
these are meaningful additions.
From a manuscript from Ghazna
(Afghanistan) of the early 11th
century CE.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 437, p. 2

Kashf al-Asrār ʿan ʿIlm
Ḥurūf al-Ghubār by ʿAlī b.
Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-
Qurashī, known as al-
Qalaṣādī al-Basṭī (d.
891/1486), dated 1265-
1266 (1849-1850),
Extraordinary polychrome
Maghribi calligraphy.
Source: Collection, J.J. Witkam, Leiden,
No. 35, beginning, f. 210b

Sharḥ al-Farāʾiḍ al-Sirāǧiyya,
commentary by ʿAlī b. Muḥammad
al-Ǧurǧānī al-Sayyid al-Sharīf (d.
816/1413), on Al-Farāʾiḍ al-
Sirāǧiyya, the work on the law of
succession by Sirāǧ al-Dīn
Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd
al-Rashīd al-Saǧāwandī (lived c.
600/1203).
Central Asian nasta‘liq script, dated
1275 (1858).
Source: Collection, J.J. Witkam, Leiden, No. 60, f.
[4]b, beginning of the text. Purchased in Bukhara,
2009.

Kitāb Dāniyāl al-Nabī lil-
Shuhūr al-Ithnaʿashar wa-
Dukhūl al-Sana. A work on
astronomical phenomena (in
connection with the twelve
months in the solar year, which
are referred to by the Byzantine
names), ascribed to the Prophet
Daniel. Originally a Christian-
Arabic text, but this version is
islamicized (see the basmala)
Ruq‘a script, dated 1271 AH
(1854-1855).
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 12.050, p. 4.

Ta ṣliya prayer. Mention of ʿAbd al-
Qādir al-Ǧīlānī. A manuscript from
The Gambia.
West-African script, end-19th
century, sometimes written as
heard, not according to the rules of
orthography.
Source: Collection J.J. Witkam, Leiden, ff. 1a.

West-African manuscripts are
usually written on single leaves or
on sheets, but these are not made
into quires.
These leaves and sheets are put
onto a pile, and then kept in a
satchel.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 14.052 (7)
A typical
sub-Saharan
book satchel.
MS. Leiden
Or. 25.418

Syair Ken Tambuhan. Malay
poetical text. Not dated, but first
half 19th century.
Lay-out from South-East Asia.
Illuminated opening page. Script
possibly derived from Nasta‘aliq
style.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 1965. f. 1b.

Illuminated Qur’an, from South-East Asia, not
dated, but 19th century, assumed so because of
provenance history as it was once owned by the
Dutch orientalist Taco Roorda (d. 1874).
Naskh script for text. Elongated script used for
the headings. Beginning of sura 18 (al-Kahf),
whereby the illumination serves to indicate that
the reader is halfway the text. Right half of an
illuminated double page.
Source: MS Leiden Or. 2098. f. 140b.

The bookbinder at work. A
survey of the tools of the
bookbinder.
Captions are in Persian,
illustration from a Kashmiri
manuscript illustrating arts and
crafts (written c. 1850-1860).
Source: Original MS: India Office Library,
London, Or. 1699, here quoted from G. Bosch
(a.o.), Islamic bindings. Chicago 1981, p. 22.

The bookbinder at work.
North India, 17th or 18th
century.
Source: Original in India Office
Library, Add. 1111. Quoted from
G. Bosch (a.o.), Islamic bindings.
Chicago 1981, opposite p. 41.

The Islamic
bookbinding
and its
constituent
parts, with
terminology in
English.
Source: G. Bosch
(a.o.), Islamic
bindings. Chicago
1981, p. 38.

The study of the (geometrical)
designs in Islamic book bindings
is usually classified as part of art
history. In order to have good
reproductions of book bindings
rubbings are used, in preference
to photographs.
Here a rubbing (made by Max
Weisweiler) of the binding around
a MS of Gawidan-i Khirad (al-
Hikma al-Khalida) by Ibn
Miskawayhi (d. 421/1030), dated
729/1329, is shown. One should
always take into account that the
binding shown is later than the
manuscript to which it serves as a
cover.
Source: MS Leiden, Or. 640 (MS dated
729/1329).

One of the best-known
authorities on Islamic
book bindings is Max
Weisweiler (d. 1968). In
his detailed study Der
islamische Bucheinband
des Mittelalters nach
Handschriften aus
deutschen,
holländischen und
türkischen Bibliotheken
(Wiesbaden 1962), he
showed a great number
of rubbings.
However, in his private collection of study materials he has many more
rubbings and notes on Islamic bindings. A page from his study notes is
shown here. Source: Weisweiler Archive. Leiden University Library, Or. 22.307.