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Catalogue: Physiognomy - Gallery


Folio 1b of Kitāb Sirr al-asrār (The Secret of Secrets) attributed to Aristotle. The stiff beige paper has visible vertical laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. The text is written in medium-large, rather stiff, naskh script using black ink with headings in red.
MS A 57, fol. 1b
Folio 7a of Kitāb Sirr al-asrār (The Secret of Secrets) attributed to Aristotle featuring two charts for determining whether a person will live or die based on the numerical value of the patient's name. The stiff beige paper has visible vertical laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. The text is written in medium-large, rather stiff, naskh script using black ink with headings in red.
MS A 57, fol. 7a
Folio 2a of Shams al-Dīn al-Dimashqī's Kitāb al-Jalil fi ‘ilm al-firāsah (An Important Book on the Science of Physiognomy) featuring the illuminated opening. The illuminated headpiece is executed in gold, black ink, and blue and white opaque paint; a rectangular band carries the name of the treatise, while the author's name is in the large shamsah. The beige, lightly-glossed, paper is thick and nearly opaque. The text is written in black ink with headings in brown-red.
MS A 58, fol. 2a

Folio 86b of Shams al-Dīn al-Dimashqī's Kitāb al-Jalil fi ‘ilm al-firāsah (An Important Book on the Science of Physiognomy) featuring Illustrations of the lines on the hand and palm used in physiognomy in red ink. The beige, lightly-glossed, paper is thick and nearly opaque. The text is written in black ink with headings in brown-red.
MS A 58, fol. 86b
Folio 87a of Shams al-Dīn al-Dimashqī's Kitāb al-Jalil fi ‘ilm al-firāsah (An Important Book on the Science of Physiognomy) featuring Illustrations of the lines on the hand and palm used in physiognomy in red ink. The beige, lightly-glossed, paper is thick and nearly opaque. The text is written in black ink with headings in brown-red.
MS A 58, fol. 87a
The front and back covers of of Shams al-Dīn al-Dimashqī's Kitāb al-Jalil fi ‘ilm al-firāsah (An Important Book on the Science of Physiognomy). The front or upper cover is a 15th-century Egyptian/Syrian binding of brown leather over pasteboards. The frame is formed of blind-tooled fillets either side of a running pattern made of impressions of a rectangular stamp with a vegetal design. The inner panel is defined by fillets, one of which is painted gold; the decorative devices in the corners are also painted gold. At the center of the inner panel is a circular medallion filled with interlocking strapwork, highlighted with gold paint. The circular medallion has a gold-painted outline with points in ogival form passing through a bar-shaped vestigal ring to end in finials, all outlined in gold. The back cover is of red leather over pasteboards. At the center is a symmetrical vegetal design, blind stamped, surrounded by smaller S-shaped stamps and flower-heads aligned along blind-tooled lines markings the horizontal, the vertical, and the diagonals. There is a wide frame formed of three blind-tooled fillets either side of a row of S-stamps, with small flower-heads at the corners.
MS A 58, covers
Welcome Getting started Medieval Islam Catalogue Bio-bibliographies Glossary Abbreviations Credits About the Author Concordances A 1 - A 29 A 30 - A 59 A 60 - A 89 A 90 - A 92 P 1 - P 29 Authors, Translators & Commentators Copyists & Illustrators Owners & Patrons

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