COMPLETE SUB-SAHARIAN QUR'AN

COMPLETE SUB-SAHARIAN QUR'AN CHAD OR NIGER, 19TH CENTURY. Arabic manuscript on laid paper with a watermark (tre lune; A. Galvani), comprising 393 unbound folios held between two cardboard and leather covers. The text is copied in Sudani script (also known as Kanemī) at a rate of 14 lines per page; the first 17 folios—containing 11 lines per page—were likely added later to complete the text. Consonantal text in brown ink, vowels in red, the hamza indicated by a yellow dot, verses separated by three red dots arranged in a triangle—likely added after the text was copied—groups of ten verses marked by medallions drawn with a compass; in the margins: geometric decorations indicating additional textual divisions. Surah titles in red, indicating the title, place of revelation, and number of verses; four geometric decorations in brown and yellow marking the divisions into quarters, including a checkerboard pattern between Surah al-Fatiha (1) and al-Baqara (2), a full-page decorative panel before Surah al-A‘raf (7), a braided motif before Surah Maryam (19), and a set of two decorative motifs preceding Surah Sad (38). Headers appear on the verso of the leaves. Original flap binding in garnet-colored leather, cold-stamped with a diamond pattern, fastened with a leather cord. Leaf dimensions: 22.3 × 16.8 cm; writing area: 15 × 8.5 cm. The use of several watermarks—including the “three moons” motif, a moon with a face within a shield, and “Andrea Galvani Pordenone”—allows us to date the production of this manuscript to the 19th century. Condition: Good condition, with a few insect holes.