Research Catalog

Title

The wonders of creation and the singularities of painting : a study of the Ilkhanid London Qazvīnī / Stefano Carboni.

Author

Carboni, Stefano

Publication

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2015]

Supplementary Content

• Contributor biographical information
• Publisher description

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 428 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 25 cm

Summary

"The subject of this book is the so-called London Qazvīnī, an early 14th-century illustrated Arabic copy of al-Qazvīnī's The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existing Things, which was acquired by the British Library in 1983 (Or. 14140). As is commonly the case for copies of this text, the London Qazvīnī is lavishly illustrated, with 368 extant paintings out of the estimated original ca. 520. Its large format, ambitious illustrative cycle and the fine quality of many of the illustrations suggest that the atelier where it was produced must have been well-established and able to attract craftsmen from different parts of the Ilkhanid area. It also suggests that its patron was wealthy and curious about scientific, encyclopedic and 'ajā'ib literature, and keen to experiment with the illustration of new texts like this work, which had been composed by the author only two or three decades earlier. The only centre that was capable of gathering such artistic influences ranging from Anatolia to Mesopotamia appears to have been Mosul. The London Qazvīnī is an important newly surfaced document for the study of early illustrated Arabic copies of this text, representing the second earliest known surviving manuscript, as well as for the study of Ilkhanid painting. In a single and unique manuscript are gathered earlier Mesopotamian painting traditions, North Jaziran-Seljuq elements, Anatolian inspirations, the latest changes brought about after the advent of the Mongols, and a number of illustrations of extraordinary subjects which escape a proper classification." -- Publisher's website

Series Statement

Edinburgh studies in Islamic art

Uniform Title

Edinburgh studies in Islamic art.

Alternative Title

Study of the Ilkhanid London Qazvīnī

Subject

• Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad, approximately 1203-1283. > Illustrations
• British Library
• London Qazvīnī > Illustrations
• Islamic illumination of books and manuscripts
• Illumination of books and manuscripts, Ilkhanid
• Illumination of books and manuscripts > Arab countries
• Cosmography > Early works to 1800

Note

• Outgrowth of the author's thesis (doctoral--University of London, 1992) under the title: Wonders of creation and the singularities of Ilkhanid painting.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 400-421) and index.

Call Number

JQF 16-188

ISBN

• 9780748683246
• 0748683240

LCCN

2015487459

OCLC

919015993

Author

Carboni, Stefano, author.

Title

The wonders of creation and the singularities of painting : a study of the Ilkhanid London Qazvīnī / Stefano Carboni.

Publisher

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2015]

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Edinburgh studies in Islamic art

Edinburgh studies in Islamic art.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 400-421) and index.

Connect to:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description

Table of contents only

Research Call Number

JQF 16-188