This manuscript is an Arabic textbook of medieval astronomy. The author, Qâdi Zâda Al-Rûmî (1364–1436), was a Turkish astronomer and mathematician who worked for the Timurid rulers of Iran.

The text (compiled in 1412–13) consists of a commentary on the Compendium of Astronomy by al-Jaghmini (early 13^th century), itself based on the writings of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy and the works of generations of Islamic scholars. The present manuscript was made within a few decades of the author’s death, probably in or near Samarkand, where a great astronomical observatory was constructed in the 15^th century. It is one of the earliest surviving copies of this important work.

The manuscript is illustrated with diagrams of planetary orbits, solar eclipses and lunar phases. An early reader has made annotations in the margins, and there are several quatrains of Persian poetry on the preliminary leaves.

 

Provenance: Early Persian ownership inscriptions and stamps to endpapers; purchased in November 2020 with contributions from the Sparrow Fund, the Friends of Winchester College, and the Friends of National Libraries.

Location: Fellows’ Library