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Or 8086

Record Id:
032-003719810
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
032-003719810
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100110633211.0x000001
LARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100184851331.0x000002
SLARK:
Format:
ISAD(G)
Reference (shelfmark):
Or 8086
Title:

Three nautical handbooks

Scope & Content:

Three handbooks containing a mixture of tables, geographical coordinates, and short texts on astronomy, calculations, wayfinding, and instruments useful for navigation in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea, bound into one volume.

The colophon to the second text provides the only dating in the volume, stating that it was completed by an unnamed scribe on 2 Jumādá II 1287/30 August 1870 (see colophon, f. 76r, line 7). According to a pencil note on the end flyleaf [vi-v], the volume was seized in 1884 from an Arab-piloted dhow captured by British naval forces under the command of Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles (1838-1914), Acting Political Resident in the Gulf (1884-85; compare British Library, Or. 2920).

A detailed description and analysis of a similar Arabic nautical manuscript can be found in Acevedo, Juan, 'A New Arabic Nautical Manuscript in Lisbon', COMSt Bulletin 7 (2021), pp. 9-36 https://doi.org/10.25592/uhhfdm.9620

Contents:

  • 1) Nautical directory (ff. 1r-50v);
  • 2) Compilation of technical and practical advice for navigators (ff. 51r-76v);
  • 3) Didactic manual of nautical and navigational practices (ff. 77v-106r).
Collection Area:
Oriental Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Qatar Foundation Partnership Programme
Hierarchy Tree:
[{ "id" : "032-003719810", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 8086: Three nautical handbooks" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} },{ "id" : "040-004394619", "parent" : "032-003719810", "text" : "Or 8086, ff 1r-50v: Nautical directory" },{ "id" : "040-004394620", "parent" : "032-003719810", "text" : "Or 8086, ff 51r-76v: Compilation of technical and practical advice for navigators" },{ "id" : "040-004394621", "parent" : "032-003719810", "text" : "Or 8086, ff 77v-106r: Didactic manual of nautical and navigational practices" }]
Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-003719810
Is part of:
not applicable
Contains:
Or 8086, ff 1r-50v : Nautical directory
Or 8086, ff 51r-76v : Compilation of technical and practical advice for navigators
Or 8086, ff 77v-106r : Didactic manual of nautical and navigational practices

 

Click here to View / search full list of parts of Or 8086
Hierarchy:
032-003719810
Container:
View / search within Archive / Collection: Or 8086
Record Type (Level):
Fonds
Extent:
Codex; ff. i+104+iii+2+ii
Digitised Content:
Languages:
Arabic
Scripts:
Arabic
Start Date:
1870
End Date:
1870
Date Range:
2 Jumādá II 1287
Calendar:
Hijri-qamari
Era:
AH
Access:

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User Conditions:
Physical Characteristics:

Material: Different Western laid papers watermarked mostly with tre lune and countermarks. Ff. 53-63 bear watermarks of cursive lettering; ff. 74-75 a watermark of a moon face enclosed in almond-shaped frame; ff. 103-104 is an inserted bifolium of wove paper

Dimensions: 225 x 167 mm leaf; written area varies

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil throughout; Eastern Arabic foliation ff. 9-31

Ruling: Misṭarah; 19-20 lines per page; vertical spacing 11-12 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh in different hands corresponding to text divisions

Ink: Black ink, with occasional use of yellow and blue for text

Decoration: Use of red, blue, black, brown and yellow inks throughout

Binding: Brown leather binding

Condition: Generally good; tidemarks to fore edge margins throughout the second text (ff. 51r-76v) and from f. 97 to end of volume; some waterstains and ink smudges throughout (see especially f. 77r and verso of last flyleaf [vi-v]); sewing of ff. 1-8 and 98-end flyleaf repaired leaving stub between ff. 8- 9 and 97- 98; some ragged tail edges throughout

Marginalia: Few; some marginal corrections to coordinate data (e.g. ff. 27r and 38v); rubricated phrases in the second text (ff. 51r-76v) repeated in black ink in gutter margin

Seals: Yellow British Museum stamps: ff. 1r, 9r, 76r, 77r, 101r, 102v, 103r, 105r, and end flyleaf [vi-v]

Custodial History:
  • Seized by Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles (1838-1914), 1884
Source of Acquisition:

Presented by the widow of Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles (1838-1914), 10 October 1914

Publications:

Overview of navigational methods discussed:

  • al-Hijji, Yacoub Yusuf, 'Arab Navigational Methods after 1850', in Anthony R. Constable and William Facey, The Principles of Arab Navigation (London: Arabian Publishing Ltd, 2013), pp. 35-46
  • Staples, Eric, 'Navigation in Islamic Sources', in Oman: A Maritime History, edited by Abdulrahman Alsalimi and Eric Staples (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2017), pp. 223-252

Study of a similar manuscript:

  • Acevedo, Juan, 'A New Arabic Nautical Manuscript in Lisbon', COMSt Bulletin 7 (2021), pp. 9-36 https://doi.org/10.25592/uhhfdm.9620
Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)
Names:
Miles, Samuel Barrett, army officer, 1838-1914
Subjects:
Navigation, Early works to 1800