Sirr al-asrār.
سر الاسرار.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Contributor:

Aristotle, attributed name.

Nūr al-Dīn Arslān Shah, former owner.

Schoenberg, Lawrence J., former owner.

Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

نور الدين ارسلان شاه،, former owner.

Standardized Title:

Secretum secretorum. Arabic.

Language:

Arabic

Subjects (All):

Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.

Islamic magic.

Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C--In literature.

Alexander.

Education of princes--Early works to 1800.

Education of princes.

Kings and rulers--Duties--Early works to 1800.

Kings and rulers.

Kings and rulers--Duties.

Political ethics--Early works to 1800.

Political ethics.

Astronomy--Early works to 1800.

Astronomy.

Islamic magic--Early works to 1800.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

illuminations (paintings)

treatises

Tables (Data)

Manuscripts, Arabic.

Manuscripts, Medieval.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by Nūr al-Dīn Arslān Shah, Turkmen ruler of Mosul, 1193-1211 (illuminated name, f. 1r).

Sold by Sam Fogg Ltd., Islamic Calligraphy catalog (2003), no. 25, to Lawrence J. Schoenberg.

Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2012.

Gift of Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2016.

Physical Description:

127 leaves : paper, color illustrations ; 190 x 127 (120 x 65) mm bound to 190 x 140 mm

Place of Publication:

[Mosul?, Iraq], [between 1193 and 1211]

Language Note:

Arabic.

Summary:

Early copy of the long form of this popular treatise presented as a letter from Aristotle to Alexander the Great on statecraft, astronomy, astrology, magic, and medicine. The ending of the manuscript is missing; the text breaks off during a discussion of magical alphabets.

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title from introduction (f. 1v).

Foliation: Paper, i + 127; 1-127, later foliation ink, upper left recto.

Layout: Written in 9 long lines.

Script: Written in naskh script, with some headings in a larger naskh and some in thuluth; opening bismillāh in Early Abbasid style script (f. 1v); occasional marginal notes in a later hand.

Decoration: Illuminated name and titles of Nūr al-Dīn Arslān Shah (f. 1r); bismillāh in blue ink outlined in red (f. 1v); open octagon in gold, red, and blue, with text running around the edge (f. 80r); geometric illustration of a bell in black, gold, and red (f. 108v); tables outlined in red ink with headings in red and green ink (f. 114v-117r); names of the planets in colored inks (f. 124r); significant words, phrases, and punctuation in red ink.

Binding: 15th-century blind-stamped morocco with flap (Type II), different but coordinating stamps on each board and flap; repaired.

Origin: Probably written in Mosul, Iraq, between 1193 and 1211 (reign of owner named on f. 1r).

Cited in:

Described in Transformation of knowledge: early manuscripts from the collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), p. 17 (LJS 459).

Cited as:

UPenn LJS 459.

OCLC:

802371095

Online:

The Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative Fund Home Page