This is a register book from an Ottoman era.Written neatly in Riqa and the register was binded in an oblong format ( safinah). The covers are made of hard boards and covered with marble papers. The Ottoman used marbled papers as manuscript covers starting from 17th century. Due to costly leather, marbled papers as substitute for manuscript covers were well received.
Marbling is done by transferring colours floating on the surface of a gum solution onto a paper. This method originated from Iran from 15th Century CE.
I dont have any knowledge on the content of this register as it was written in Turkish. This register is not officially dated but from the record written on the first few pages, there are some recorded dates as early as 1061 AH ( 1651 CE) till 1068 AH ( 1659 CE).
Codicology
Title Page :Unknown
Content : A register
Date : 7 Rajab 1061 AH ( 1651 CE)
Copyist : Anonymous
Patron : Nil
Origin : Istanbul, Turkey
Place acquired : Istanbul
Illuminations : Nil
Calligraphy : Riqa
Number of lines :
Inks : Main text in black
Punctuation: Diacritical marks in black
Frame : Nil
History of Manuscript :
Number of folios : 12 ff
Support of writing : yellowish oriental paper
Gatherings : N/A
Catchwords :nil
Dimensions : 23.5 cm x 10.0 cm
Binding : marble paper
Estimated Market Price :
Purchased Price : USD
Remarks :
This manuscript may be old, but it is certainly not "ancient." The inscription on the cover reads hadha dafter-i Sulayman Bey b. Mustafa Bey [????] Pasha. Is the hand of that inscription match the text inside (which is a hasty naskh, not riq'a script)? I could be wrong, but the pattern on the cover is probably not indigenous Ottoman marbled paper; it is a European "shell" pattern made with synthetic Prussian blue, commonly seen on bindings dating to 1800-1850. That said, the Turks were using pigments imported from Europe. The discovery of Prussian blue overwhelmed the trade in indigo.
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