Author
Hadee, Merza Mohamed, author, compiler.
Publication Date
1865
Subject
Occultism -- Early works to 1900, Astronomy -- Early works to 1900, Numerology -- Early works to 1900, Linguistics -- Early works to 1900, Geographical positions -- Early works to 1900, Alchemy, Curiosities and wonders, Paleography, Arabic (Cufic), Arabic alphabet, Picture-writing, Urdu language -- Transliteration, Sextant, Astronomy, Geographical positions, Linguistics, Numerology, Occultism
Type
kitap
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Getty Research Institute
Library Asset ID
2015.M.40
Record ID
GETTY_ALMA21168209400001551
Library Location
Checked out from Special Collections SPECIAL COLLECTIONS - CONTACT REFERENCE (2015.M.40 )
Date
1865
Notes
Title from introduction., The text is inscribed in black ink on paper. The headings and selections of text are also variously inscribed in sepia, purple, blue, and red. Included are numerous headpieces and tailpieces, decorative and architectonic page borders, and many other illustrations throughout the text., "Koofee grammar by Merza Mohamed Hadee, Calcutta, 1865"--Unnumbered leaf 312., Bound in full contemporary goatskin with flap; gilt-tooled medallions on the front and on the back cover; gilt edges.
Sample Text
This manuscript in Arabic and Urdu, apparently the only known copy, assembles a range of scientific, linguistic, and esoteric materials from both Eastern and Western traditions into a compendium of occult symbology. Manifold intellectual impulses are explored and illustrated: charts of latitudes and longitudes for various locations, numerological and astronomical diagrams, and tables of pictographs and alphabets provide all the necessary tools for describing and comprehending the world. The text is accompanied by depictions of monsters, men, ships, and even a sextant, with figures resembling Islamic medical sketches alongside those resembling 18th-century European illustrations. A glossary of ornamental Arabic lettering is included and features examples of kufic, nasta 'līq and naskhī scripts.Hadee's pictorial vocabulary shows a global influence, combining alphabets reminiscent of those attributed to the 10th-century alchemist Ibn Wahshiyya and figures which seem to originate from both Islamic medical texts and 18th-century European illustrations, as well as Egyptological emblematic imagery influenced by the works of the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher.
Erişim/Haklar
Restricted. Contact the repository for information regarding access.
Biyografik/Tarihsel Not
The author, Merza Mohamed Hadee, otherwise unknown, writes in the introduction that at the age of eleven, in 1840, he went to Azimabad in Patna, India, to study medicine before accompanying his father on the Hajj. Upon returning he took up the study of linguistics, learning Bengali, Sanskrit, Gujarati, and several other languages. At some point he decided he should collect and write up a compendium of all his studies, calling it the Kanz al-hādī. In 1864, while on pilgrimage in Najaf during the time of the festival of Nawrūz, he met a man named Aga Mirza Muhammad Sahib, for whom he made a copy of his writings.
Tür/Janr
Manuscripts (document genre) -- India -- 19th century, Emblems (symbols) -- India -- 19th century, Alphabets (symbols) -- India -- 19th century, Early works
Tür/Janr[]
Manuscripts (document genre) -- India -- 19th century, Emblems (symbols) -- India -- 19th century, Alphabets (symbols) -- India -- 19th century, Early works
Kaynak
GRI Library Catalog
