SIGNED HASAN AL-FAWZI, KNOWN AS QALTAQJI-ZADA AL-KUTAHI, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED AH 1242 / 1826-27 AD

The scribe of this manuscript, Hasan al-Fawzi (Hasan Fevzî), known as Qaltaqji-zada (Kaltakçi-zade) al-Kutahi (Kütahi) was born in Kütahya into a family known as "Kaltakcı-zâde" (lit. born of the maker of the wooden frames of saddles). He completed his primary education in his hometown and also took lessons in the art of calligraphy. Later, he went to Istanbul to pursue a madrasa education. There, he practiced the six classical scripts, naskhi, muhaqqaq, rayhani, thuluth, riqa' and tawqi', under Seyyid Osman Efendi known as "Afif Dâmâdı" and "Deli Osman" (Osman the Mad, d.1805) and received his ijaza (calligrapher's license). Although some sources claim that he subsequently returned to Kütahya to assume an official post, it is not clear where he worked (Tim Stanley, 'Qur'ans from Istanbul, 1800-1850,' Bayani, Stanley and Rodgers (eds.), The Decorated Word, Qur'ans of the 17th to 19th Centuries, Part Two, London, 2009, p.166), and no information is available regarding the date of his death or his place of burial.

Hasan al-Fawzi copied a volume of al-Jazari's Al Hisn-ul-Hasin (The Fortified Fortress) preserved in the Vâhid Paşa Library, Kütahya, and dated AH 1236⁄1820-21 AD. One of his students, Ahmed Zihni, known as Safi-Zade Kütahi, went on to become one of the most renowned calligraphers of Kütahya. A Qur'an by Ahmed Zihni was sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2024, lot 143, while another was sold at Sotheby's, London, 9 October 2013, lot 78. For other copies of al-Jazuli's Dalail al-Khayrat, see Nurul Iman Rusli, Dalail al-Khayrat: Prayer Manuscripts from the 16th-19th Centuries, Kuala Lumpur, 2016, cats.6-14.