Walters Ms. W.664, Epic of Alexander the GreatIskendernāmeاسكندر نامه<note type="title" xml:id="n298.176223">Title on fol. 2a reads Kitāb Iskandarnāmah min kalām Aḥmadī raḥmat Allāh taʿālá ʿalayhi wa-riḍwānuhu; title also inscribed on the tail edge</note>Ahmedî, 1334?-1413Aḥmet bin Ibrāhīm Aḥmedīاحمد بن ابراهيم احمديAuthor dates preferred by cataloger: d. 815 AH / 1413 CEscribeKamāl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qarāmānīكمال بن عبد الله القرامانيThe scribe's name is followed by a qualifier: of (min) Sulṭān Jam ibn ʿUthmān. The nisbah of his name, al-Qarāmānī, appears to point to the Qaramanid dynasty of south-central Anatolia and the Mediterranean coast land that reigned there from 654 AH / 1256 CE -- 880 AH / 475 CE.Principal catalogerGacek, AdamCatalogerLandau, AmyCatalogerSmith, SitaEditorBockrath, DianeContributorBarrera, ChristinaContributorEmery, DougContributorHerbert, LynleyContributorNoel, WilliamContributorSimpson, ShreveContributorTabritha, ArielContributorToth, Michael B.ContributorValle, ChiaraConservatorJewell, StephanieConservatorQuandt, AbigailThe Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.

Copied by Kamāl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qarāmānī in a clear, vocalized naskh script, this manuscript of the Epic of Alexander the Great or the Alexander romance (Iskendernāme) by Aḥmet bin Ibrāhīm Aḥmedī (d. 815 AH / 1413 CE) was completed in Aleppo (Ḥalab) in 891 AH / 1486 CE. Written in two columns and surrounded by a frame, it opens with an illuminated title page (fol. 2a), followed by an incipit page with illuminated titlepiece inscribed al-mulk li-Llāh al-wāḥid (Supreme authority belongs to the One God).BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.664The primary language in this manuscript is Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928).fols. 2a - 245aIskendernāmeاسكندر نامه<note type="title" xml:id="n298.176278">Title on fol. 2a reads Kitāb Iskandarnāmah min kalām Aḥmadī raḥmat Allāh taʿālá ʿalayhi wa-riḍwānuhu; title also inscribed on the tail edge</note>ذكر بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم * ...scribeqad waqaʿa al-farāgh min Kitāb Iskandarnāmah bi-ʿawn Allāh wa-ḥusn tawfīqih /1/ fī awāsiṭ shahr Jumādá al-ākhar sanat iḥdá /2/ wa-tisʿīn wa-thamānimiʾah ʿalá yad al-ʿabd al-faqīr /3/ ilá Allāh taʿālá Kamál ibn ʿAbd Allāh /4/ al-Qarāmānī min Sulṭān Jam (?) ibn ʿUthmān ḥāmidan /5/ li-Llāh taʿālá wa-muṣalliyan ʿalá Nabīyih Muḥammad wa-<ā>lih /7/ wa-musalliman bi-madīnat Ḥalab ḥamāhā Allāh [subscript: 891] ʿan al-karb /8/ wa-al-āfah /9/In Arabic in tawqīʿ script, containing title of the work, name of the scribe, and date and place of copying

Main text of thick, non-European paper; flyleaves of Italian paper bearing a watermark: crescent with human profile in a shield and the initials LGC

Foliation: i+245+i33.023.025.017.0Fol. 245b gives the following computations: leaves (awrāq) 243; lines (saṭr) 34 (two lines for each couplet); verses (bayt) 7973

Written on versos, often shavedConsists of quaternions and quinions

Framing lines in blue, black, and goldWritten in large, vocalized naskh script in black ink with chapter/section headings in blue; colophon in tawqīʿ scriptIlluminated title page with title and author’s name in upper and lower panels and a round medallion (shamsah) (fol. 2a); incipit page with illuminated titlepiece with the inscription al-mulk li-Llāh al-wāḥid (fol. 2b); framing lines in blue, black, and goldIlluminated title pageTitle page; medallionThis illuminated title page has the title and the author’s name in the upper and lower panels and a round medallion (shamsah) in the middle, with no inscription.Incipit page with illuminated titlepieceIncipit; titlepieceThis incipit page with illuminated titlepiece is inscribed al-mulk li-Llāh al-wāḥid (Supreme authority belongs to the One God).

Brown leather (with flap), blind-stamped and decorated with a central oval and pendants

Mid Jumādá II 891 AH / 1486 CEḤalab (Aleppo, Syria)Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequestRelevant WorksFor more information on the Alexander romance, see "Iskandar Nāma." Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed. s.v.Minorsky, Vladimir. The Chester Beatty Library. A Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts and Miniatures. Introduction by J. V. S. Wilkinson. (Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1958), 407.Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), 193.ArtMedicineMuseumPoetryScriptMuhammad, the ProphetKashmiriHorsesWalters Art MuseumBlockbookDocumentGeneologyAstrologyDevotionHistoryLegalLiterature -- PoetryLiterature -- ProseLiturgyPhilosophyScienceScience -- MedicineScriptureSufismTheologyMineralogyLogicGeographyGeomancyCosmologyCartographyFortune-tellingKoranQur`anFirmanPalimpsestPrayerBibleGospelsPsalterMissalLectionaryBook of HoursAntiphonaryPrayerbookHomilaryProcessionalHorologionBreviaryHymnalChroniclePsalter/HoursMaghrebSub-Saharan (West) AfricaTurkeyAfghanistanCentral Arab Lands (Near East)Central AsiaEgyptEnglandIndiaIranIraqPakistanGermanyFranceAustriaNetherlandsEthiopiaArmeniaFlandersGreeceMamlukMughalOttomanOttonianArmenianByzantineAbbasidQajarRajputChristianArabicAustrianDutchEgyptianFatimidGermanIndianIslamicPersianSafavidTimuridTurkishUmayyadEnglishFrenchFlemishEthiopianCarolingianCalligraphyChartsColophonHeadpieceIlluminationIllustrationMedallionMiniatureOrnamentPainting'Kufic'Early Abbasid scriptRaginiRomanesqueGothicWatermarkTreasure BindingGrotesquesHistoriated initialInhabited initialCarolingian MinusculeGothic Book handWhite-vine letteringEnglish secretaryTexturaBatardaHumanisticUncialAccordion bookAlbumBookCodexManuscriptHeraldrySaint's LifeDrawingGrisailleOriginal BindingBindingNew Abbasid stylecharter8th Century9th Century10th Century11th Century12th Century13th Century14th Century15th Century16th Century17th Century18th Century19th Century20th CenturyMusical notationRussiaRomaniaLiturgicalDevotionalScripturalTheologicalLegalHistoricalScientificScientific -- MedicalLiterary -- ProseLiterary -- PoetryPhilosophicalAstrologicalSufiEnglishBookCodexColophonIlluminationIslamicManuscriptOttomanTurkeyTurkishWalters Art MuseumLiterature -- Poetry