Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Property from the Arthur Probsthain Bookshop
The iconic London bookshop, founded by the Probsthain family in 1903, has been a fixture at 41 Great Russell Street, opposite the British Museum, since 1905. Initially managed by Arthur Probsthain, it later passed to his nephew, Walter Sheringham, who took over in 1941. He was soon joined by his wife in 1943. Their children, Michael and Lesley, became involved in the 1970s, ensuring the continuity of this renowned family business. For decades, Probsthain's has been considered one of the foremost dealers in Chinese books in the Western world.
The iconic London bookshop, founded by the Probsthain family in 1903, has been a fixture at 41 Great Russell Street, opposite the British Museum, since 1905. Initially managed by Arthur Probsthain, it later passed to his nephew, Walter Sheringham, who took over in 1941. He was soon joined by his wife in 1943. Their children, Michael and Lesley, became involved in the 1970s, ensuring the continuity of this renowned family business. For decades, Probsthain's has been considered one of the foremost dealers in Chinese books in the Western world.
Lot 19
A Ruzname, or calendar, in scroll form, by repute formerly in the collection of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, copied by Mustafa, known as Hikmeti the Second Ottoman Turkey, probably Constantinople, dated AH 1233/AD 1817-18
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,480 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A Ruzname, or calendar, in scroll form, by repute formerly in the collection of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, copied by Mustafa, known as Hikmeti the Second
Ottoman Turkey, probably Constantinople, dated AH 1233/AD 1817-18
Ottoman Turkey, probably Constantinople, dated AH 1233/AD 1817-18
Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, in scroll form around bone spindle with turned ends, text written in small naskhi script in black and red ink, numerous tables and diagrams, these interspersed with further gold ground and panels of illumination, illuminated headpiece in colours and gold, gilt leather covering flap attached to upper edge
130 x 10.3 cm.
130 x 10.3 cm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Warren Hastings (1732-1818), Governor-General of India, 1774-1785, by repute and according to the section clipped from a saleroom or dealer's catalogue, late 19th/early 20th Century, accompanying the lot.
With Arthur Probsthain, Great Russell Street, London.
The manuscript bears the title Ruzname-i Darendevi, 'Darendevi Calendar', which follows the calendar prototype giving prayer times for Istanbul established by Mehmed Darendevi (d. 1739). Little is known about him other than that he came from the town of Darende in central Anatolia. According to the accompanying catalogue fragment the calendar covers the years AH 1233-1318/AD 1817-1901.
The colophon, in the illuminated roundel before the beginning of the text itself, reads: harrarahu ad'af al-kuttab mustafa al-ma'ruf bi-hikmati-i thani 1233, 'The weakest of servants [of God], Mustafa known as Hikmati [Hikmeti] the Second wrote it, 1233 [1817-18]'.
For three ruznames in the Khalili Collection, see F. Maddison, E. Savage-Smith, Science, Tools and Magic: Part One, London 1997, pp. 280-281, nos. 170-172. While the first is early 17th Century, the others are dated 1805-06 and 1853-54. To quote the introduction to the three pieces: 'The known almanacs vary in length, but usually give tables of the times of Muslim prayers for each month of the solar year, and other times of religious importance; the length of day and night, and the time of nightfall; the time when the sun is in the direction of Mecca (data usable also for the orientation of mosques); and information for calendar-calculation correlating the lunar calendar with the days of the week, and with the Rumi calendar, which was the Syro-Arab version of the Julian calendar'.