The Master Scribes: Qur'ans of the 11th to 14th Centuries AD (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, VOL II) [Hardcover]

David James (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0197276016 | ISBN-13: 978-0197276013 | Publication Date: December 1, 1992

This, the second of the four-volume catalogue of the Qur'anic material in the Collection, covers the period from AD 1000 to 1400 and includes examples from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Anatolia, India, Spain and North Africa. The 56 items presented here include a Qur'an written in gold in 12th-century Iraq; one of a small group of Qur'ans known to have been produced in Valencia in the same period; and what may be the earliest surviving Qur'an from India. Even more remarkable is a section from a 30-part Qur'an written by Yaqut al-Musta'simi, the greatest Islamic calligrapher of the later Middle Ages: other sections from the same Qur'an are in Istanbul and Dublin, but this is the only one to retain its original illumination. These important items are the subject of substantial new studies and other essays cover Qur'an production in Damascus and manuscript patronage in Shiraz under the Inju'ids and Muzaffarids. The detailed catalogue entries are complemented by multiple colour illustrations, and colophons and other significant documentation are reproduced with full translations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`intelligently produced and sumptuously illustrated' Weekend FT

'A massive 30-volume survey of the arts of Islam open with three opulent volumes on Qur'ans, The Abbasid Tradition, The Master Scribes and After Timur,intelligently produced and sumptuously illustrated.' Susan Moore, Financial Times

About the Author

David James, Former Curator, Nasser D. Khalili Collection.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Kha (December 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0197276016
• ISBN-13: 978-0197276013
• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 10.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,638,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Synopsis, June 20, 2000

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This review is from: The Master Scribes: Qur'ans of the 11th to 14th Centuries AD (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, VOL II) (Hardcover)

Synopsis The Khalili Collection is the greatest collection of Islamic art in private hands; it is continuing to grow and improve. It contains a large and comprehensive range of Qur'anic material, covering the entire history of Qur'an production from the seventh to the twentieth century, including examples from centres as far apart as Spain and India. This is the second of four volumes cataloguing the Qur'ans in the Khalili Collection. Notable among the manuscripts in this volume is a Qur'an by the greatest calligrapher of the Middle Ages, Yaqut al-Musta`simi, which is exceptional in that it retains its original illumination. Other masterpieces include a Qur'an written in gold from twelfth-century Iraq; the only twelfth-century Qur'an from Valencia still in private hands; and a manuscript that is possibly the earliest Qur'an to survive from India. The lavish presentation of this catalogue is combined with detailed scholarship that not only encompasses the history of the subject, but also presents in accompanying essays new findings that have been made in the course of cataloguing. This book is intended for art historians, Islamicists, collectors and curators of Islamic art.