Codex Auctionalis A Qur'ānic Manuscript From Second Half Of 1st Century Hijra

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First Composed: 1st October 2019

Last Updated: 2nd October 2019

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

Sotheby's October 2010, Lot 3

Christie's April 2011, Lot 10


Christie's October 2013, Lot 50

Sotheby's October 2019, Lot 104

Date

1st century hijra / Late-7th century or early 8th century CE

Size & Folios

Approximately 33 cm x 23 cm.

Total number of folios are 5 = 1 (Sotheby's October 2010, Lot 3)[1] + 1 (Christie's April 2011, Lot 10)[2] + 1 (Christie's October 2013, Lot 50)[3] + 1 (Sotheby's October 2015, Lot 56)[4] + 1 (Sotheby's October 2019, Lot 104).[5]

History Of The Manuscript

Single folios of this codex have appeared at auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's every few years. As far as we are aware, there are no other folios of this codex in the museums and libraries around the world that have been published. The name "Codex Auctionalis" highlights this fact.

Script & Ornamentation

It is written in the ḥijāzī script in sepia ink on vellum. There are 22-23 lines per folio. Sūrah headings are in red perhaps written by a later hand. Also seen are red vocalisation markers and dotted roundel verse markers. Consonant are differentiated by dots.

Contents

The contents of the codex, as tabulated below, are gathered from the published data.

Codex Auctionalis
Folios Qur'anic Sūrah Image Publication Comments
1r 6:141 - 6:149 Sotheby's October 2010, Lot 3
1v 6:150 - 6:158 Sotheby's October 2010, Lot 3
2r 7:169 - 7:180 Christie's October 2013, Lot 50
2v 7:180 - 7:194 Christie's October 2013, Lot 50
3r 9:48 - 9:60 Sotheby's October 2019, Lot 104
3v 9:61 - 9:71 Sotheby's October 2019, Lot 104
4r 38:76 - 38:88; 39:1 - 39:7 Sotheby's October 2015, Lot 56
4v 39:7 - 39:21 Sotheby's October 2015, Lot 56
5r 40:66 - 40:82
5v 40:82 - 40:85; 41:1 - 41:10 Christie's April 2011, Lot 10

Location

Private collections.

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References

[1] Arts Of The Islamic World, 6 October 2010, 2010, Sotheby's: London, pp. 10-11 (Lot 3).

[2] Arts Of The Islamic And Indian Worlds: Including Works From The Simon Digby Collection, Thursday 7 April 2011, 2011, Christie's: London, pp. 16-17 (Lot 10).

[3] Art Of The Islamic And Indian Worlds: Including A Private Collection Donated To Benefit The University Of Oxford, Part IV, Thursday 10th October 2013, 2013, Christie's: London, pp. 50-51 (Lot 50).

[4] Arts Of The Islamic World, 22 April 2015, 2015, Sotheby's: London (Lot 56).

[5] Arts Of The Islamic World, 23 October 2019, 2019, Sotheby's: London, pp. 10-11 (Lot 104).

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