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拍品专文
The work of the 14th century geographer Ibn al-Wardi was one of the most widely transmitted works of geography and cosmology in the Ottoman Empire. His work drew together the contributions of earlier geographers such as al-Mas'udi, al-Tusi and Yaqut al-Rumi. As well as describing the geography, he also described some of the peoples known to medieval Arabs as well as providing a memorable account of the truly global consequences of the Black Death in 1348, describing its devastating impact on India, China, Byzantium, and Iran. Copies of his works were often accompanied by two diagrams: the first a world map, oriented with the South at the top of the page as was standard for the period, and the second a drawing of the Kaaba indicating which countries lay to each of its cardinal points.
Manuscripts of this work span from the 15th to the 18th century. Maps were closely copied from older manuscripts, and their conservative style makes them hard to date. These closely resemble manuscripts produced in the 17th century, such as one in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., which has a colophon dated to 27 Jumada II AH 1041 / 20 January 1632 AD (G.93.117 1500z). Like our manuscript, that example is copied on European paper. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, is another copy of the manuscript with a colophon signed by a certain 'Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Karim al-Rumi, who finished copying it in Cairo, 9 Rajab AH 1005 / 26 February 1597 AD (Arabe 2193). On most manuscripts, the world map is across a double page spread, though for another example on which the map is fitted onto a single page, see a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire, Strasbourg (MS.4.190).
All of those manuscripts postdate the world map drawn up by the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis in 1513, which is believed to be the first Ottoman map to include the coastline of America. They show how traditional cosmologies survived in the Islamic world and were able to co-exist with the new discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Manuscripts of this work span from the 15th to the 18th century. Maps were closely copied from older manuscripts, and their conservative style makes them hard to date. These closely resemble manuscripts produced in the 17th century, such as one in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., which has a colophon dated to 27 Jumada II AH 1041 / 20 January 1632 AD (G.93.117 1500z). Like our manuscript, that example is copied on European paper. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, is another copy of the manuscript with a colophon signed by a certain 'Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Karim al-Rumi, who finished copying it in Cairo, 9 Rajab AH 1005 / 26 February 1597 AD (Arabe 2193). On most manuscripts, the world map is across a double page spread, though for another example on which the map is fitted onto a single page, see a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire, Strasbourg (MS.4.190).
All of those manuscripts postdate the world map drawn up by the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis in 1513, which is believed to be the first Ottoman map to include the coastline of America. They show how traditional cosmologies survived in the Islamic world and were able to co-exist with the new discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries.