Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??

Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...

Or 6992

Record Id:

032-003390400

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-003390400

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100050844036.0x0000ee

LARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100145248282.0x000001

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Or 6992

Title:

West African Illuminated Qur'an

Scope & Content:

Illuminated Qur'an. The original catalogue reference reports that the Qur'an was copied by a Hausa scribe. It is unclear where this information came from, but the manuscript is definitely of West African origin, probably Nigeria. The script is uniform but not especially refined. The script and paper both change for folios 232 and 233. The first folio has two fine geometric designs. A pattern of small pinholes has been made through the paper for artistic effect. The second folio has five medallions and a single geometric design to accompany the first Sūra. There are medallions every 8th/9th page to mark sixty ḥizb divisions. Each one has a different design. There are verse markers of yellow trefoils.The 5th marker is a red and black hāʾ/number 5 and the 10th is a double-edged red and black roundel. There are rectilinear divisions surrounded by trefoils and arrangements of straight and wavy lines or sometimes - e.g. ff 113r, 113v - trefoils, lines and letter within a frame. There is a pair of simple geometric designs to announce new Surahs on folios 120, 243-244 and 361, but otherwise rubricated titles for Surahs with no illumination. F. 122v: crossed-out text replaced by a note in a different - Hausa - hand. There are marginal notations in this hand throughout the text. No illuminations to mark the end of the work.

Collection Area:

Oriental Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

West African Arabic Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-003390400", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 6992: West African Illuminated Qur'an" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-003390400

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-003390400

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

499 ff

Digitised Content:

http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100145248282.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)

Thumbnail:

Languages:

Arabic

Scripts:

Arabic

Start Date:

1800

End Date:

1908

Date Range:

Mid 19th century

Era:

Access:

Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.

Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.

Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.

If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.

This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.

User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Material: text block of loose leaf thin brown paper folios. Original British Museum binding held with item in separate box. Binding removed in 2014-15 by the British Library's Conservation department, thus restoring manuscript to original loose-leaf format. Magnani watermarked paper with three crescent moons descending in size, characters L MAGNANI q G and lines vertical to Latin text every 3cm. Magnani is a famous paper mill in Pescia, Italy. Rough unmarked paper of a different manufacture for folios 232 and 233.

Dimensions: 220x160mm.

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil.

Script: medium Central Sudanic hand changing to more Barnawi (from Bornu)/Hausa hand on folios 232 and 233.

Ink: dark brown for text, red for vocalisation and rubrication, yellow for trefoils in red outline, yellow red and black for circular verse-end markers, yellow red and black for medallions and geometric designs. Vocalisation and rubrication.

Ruling: 14 lines per page. No discernible margin.

Binding: loose-leaf, although marks on one side of the text block suggest it had been bound previously. Text block held in British Library double-layered grey cardboard box.

Condition: complete work, good condition. Initial pages seem to have been clipped around the edges. Missing sections replaced with thin brown paper overlay. The yellow pigment has become discoloured throughout, is cracking in places and in others has adhered to the facing page.

Marginalia: occasional, Arabic

Custodial History:

Usage Statement: The West African manuscripts published in digitised format by the British Library are to the best of our knowledge not in copyright under the law of their countries of origin. While it is not possible to be certain about the origin of all the manuscripts, our research suggests that they come from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal and/or The Gambia.

The British Library recognises broader interests in the cultural heritage which the West African manuscripts represent. They are often of a religious nature, and the Library has taken considerable care not to distort or alter the underlying material. We ask users also to show appropriate respect in reusing the digital images of the West African manuscripts, which should not be altered or reused in ways that might be derogatory or offensive to those communities for whom they are of special cultural importance.

Source of Acquisition:

Presented by Sir Henry Hoyle Howarth K.C.I.E. (Knight of the Indian Empire) in 1909. However, the foliation is noted as having been completed in May 1908.

Arrangement:

loose-leaf

Administrative Context:

Place of origin: West Africa

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)