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Lot Essay
These folios are part of a now dispersed manuscript of Al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars, a 10th-century astronomical treatise that expanded and updated Ptolemy’s Almagest, integrating it with the rich star lore and nomenclature of the anwa' the pre-Islamic tradition (Mary McWilliams (ed.), In Harmony, New Haven, 2013, cat.64, p.216). The manual described 48 constellations, each with a star chart and two depictions; as seen on a celestial globe and as it appears in the heavens. The two present folios show the constellations as they appear in the sky.
Another folio depicting Cassiopeia is in the Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Cambridge, MA (2002.50.145); Perseus and Gemini are in the David Collection, Copenhagen (37/2006 and 4/2000 respectively); Serpentarius and Ophiucus (Harvard Museum (1919.131); Andromeda and Pisces in the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM00043) and Sagittarius in the Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art, Kansas City (35-30/1).
These two folios are an important and previously unrecorded addition to these existing eight folios from the Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thabita.
Another folio depicting Cassiopeia is in the Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, Cambridge, MA (2002.50.145); Perseus and Gemini are in the David Collection, Copenhagen (37/2006 and 4/2000 respectively); Serpentarius and Ophiucus (Harvard Museum (1919.131); Andromeda and Pisces in the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM00043) and Sagittarius in the Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art, Kansas City (35-30/1).
These two folios are an important and previously unrecorded addition to these existing eight folios from the Kitab suwar al-kawakib al-thabita.