Nawal Nasrallah - Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens_ Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq's Tenth-century Baghdadi Cookbook-BRILL (2007)

introduction 5
II. The Istanbul Manuscript
A third manuscript Öhrnberg and Mroueh did not have the chance
to use in editing the Arabic text of al-Warr§q’s cookbook is the Istanbul
manuscript of Topkapi Sarayi. 17 Since I use it in this translation
to verify the edited text, and make references to it, a brief discussion
is in order here. 18
The first of two title pages, written by a later hand, 19 reads:
‏(كتاب الوصلة الى الحبيب ليغتنى به عن جهد الطبيب)‏
Kit§b al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb, li Yuÿ9tan§ bihi ban Jahd al-•abÊb
(The Book of Winning a Lover’s Heart and Sparing him the Need for a Doctor)
A preface follows, written throughout in Ottoman Turkish, also added
at a later date. It first contains the familiar greetings and paying
respects to the author:
عالم وفاضل ابو محمد مظفّر بن نصر بن ستّار الوراق رحمه الله
Most learned and virtuous, Abå MuÈammad bin Naßr bin
Satt§r al-Warr§q
May God have mercy on his soul (fol. 2r)
It is followed by a list of the chapters of the book (fol. 2r–5r). Then
comes a full title page written in Arabic (fol. 6r). It begins with a
main title, given in large script:
17
Library of Ahmed III, signum A. 2143.
18
Professor Kaj Öhrnberg, co-editor of al-Warr§q’s book, wrote an article on the
manuscript, so far the only one available on the subject. It is “Ibn Satt§r al-Warr§q’s
Kit§b al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb,” La alimentacion en las culturas islámicas (1994): 23–35.
19
Öhrnberg’s comment. He also suggests that the title Kit§b al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb
might well have been an “almost institutionalized name for a whole genre,” and that
“it need not necessarily be introduced by the author or compiler; it can come about
in the course of copying, or even in the process of cataloguing the manuscripts.”
See “Ibn Satt§r al-Warr§q” (24, 25–26). An extant thirteenth-century cookbook that
carries a similar title is Al-Wußla il§ ’l-0abÊb fÊ Waßf al-•ayyib§t wa ’l-•Êb, attributed
to Ibn al-bAdÊm (see the fourth point in Section V, below).