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Or 13706

Record Id:

032-003390403

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-003390403

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100050844036.0x0000f1

LARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100145419542.0x000001

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Or 13706

Title:

West African Illuminated Qur'an and Carrying Case

Scope & Content:

A richly illuminated copy of the Qur'an, probably Hausa. Probably from Nigeria. The writing style is not consistent, changing slightly in size and style throughout. There are some additions and crossings out in a later hand as well as pre-BL repairs, suggesting the book was passed down to several people. Marginal designs also change in shape, style and ornamentation, but the work was probably composed originally in a single hand. Trefoils in red ink with yellow filling after each verse, and after every fifth verse a hāʾ/number five in black filled with red or yellow. After the 10th verse, a roundel of two concentric circles, with some red infilling. However in this ms. this system is not at all consistent. Regular yellow dots mark hamzas. Full page illumination on second folio recto and four medallions on third folio recto to introduce the work. Further illuminated folios at 136, 266r and 416v. Medallions are sparse and do not seem to mark sixty ḥizb divisions as in other contemporary Qur'an copies from West Africa. Likewise elaborate marginal rectilinear divisions of diverse design do not seem to represent the eight divisions of the sixty ḥizb as suggested by Brockett (Adrian Brockett, 'Aspects of the physical transmission of the Qur'an in nineteenth-century Sudan: script, decoration, binding and paper', Manuscripts of the Middle East, 2 (1987), 45-67), nor do they have a consistent pattern using bāʾ, thāʾ and nūn. No colophon.

Collection Area:

Oriental Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

West African Arabic Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-003390403", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 13706: West African Illuminated Qur'an and Carrying Case" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-003390403

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-003390403

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

582 ff

Digitised Content:

https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100145419542.0x000001

Thumbnail:

Languages:

Arabic

Scripts:

Arabic

Start Date:

1800

End Date:

1900

Date Range:

Mid 19th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Material: leather, fabric and pulp board carrying case, two pulp board boards, thin cleanly cut brown paper with rounded edges.

Paper: Watermark lines every 3cm and descending three crescent (tre lune) mark, and what seems to be a hand-written name in copperplate Latin characters.

Dimensions: 220x165mm

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil.

Script: medium Central Sudanic, perhaps Hausa/Borno hand.

Ink: black for text, red for rubrications, yellow and red for trefoils. Red, black and yellow inks for medallions and illuminations, red and black for rectilinear designs, occasional marginal notations also in red. Vocalisation in red.

Ruling: 11 lines per page. No margin.

Binding: loose leaf. Text block held in carrying case of leather, pulp board and cloth. Main body of the carrying case is of light brown and soft (suede-like) leather, flap is dark red and the leather harder and shinier with embossed diamond design. Two decorated roundels on the body made of circles of leather decoratively threaded with leather thread. Diamond shape in the middle created with crochet leather but only stitched to the box via the outer ring. Inside the box is a layer of loosely woven cloth. Sides of the box stitched together with leather and some more modern cloth in the places this stitching has unravelled.

Condition: complete work. No colophon. Carrying case is in a poor condition. The sides of the case are falling apart, large portions of the cloth and leather covering missing or frayed. Folios tattered and cracked in places. Some folios repaired with light cotton threading.

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:

Purchased in December 1975

Arrangement:

loose-leaf

Administrative Context:

Place of origin: West Africa

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)