KITAB AL-RAWḌAH AL-LUBNANIYAH FI SHARḤ AL-BADI‘IYAH ('THE LEBANESE GARDEN: COMMENTARY...
KITAB AL-RAWḌAH AL-LUBNANIYAH FI SHARḤ AL-BADI‘IYAH ('THE LEBANESE GARDEN: COMMENTARY ON THE BADI‘IYAH POEM')
AL-KHURI ARSANIYUS AL-FAKHURI (D. 1883 AD)
COPIED BY AL-KHURI FRANSIS A-SHAMALI
Mount Lebanon, dated 24 February 1860 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, composed of 443 pages (222 folios), 23 lines to the page written in a neat naskh script in dense black ink, rubricated with key terms and verse markers in red, and catchwords throughout, a complete manuscript of 19th-century Maronite scholarship from Mount Lebanon, bound in its original regional monastic binding, the work, titled Kitab Al-Rawdah Al-Lubnaniyah fi Sharh Al-Badi‘iyah ('The Lebanese Garden: Commentary on the Badi‘yyah Poem'), represents a significant contribution to the 19th-century Arabic literary renaissance (Al-Nahdah) by the prominent Maronite scholar and poet, Priest Arsaniyus Al-Fakhuri (d. 1883).
23cm x 18.5 cm
Al-Fakhuri was among the key figures of the Christian literary revival in Mount Lebanon, known for his deep knowledge of Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and poetic traditions. The text belongs to the celebrated tradition of Badi‘iyat (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) poetic compositions in which each verse is constructed to illustrate a specific rhetorical device or figure of speech in Arabic poetics (Ilm Al-Badi), accompanied by extensive prose commentary explaining syntax, tropes, and rhetorical theory (Al-Ma‘ani, Al-Bayan, wa Al-Badi).
The manuscript begins with a devotional Christian invocation typical of Maronite scribal heritage (Bismi Allahi Al-Hayy Al-Naṭiq (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) 'In the name of God, the Living, the Speaking') followed by a full preface outlining the classification of rhetorical figures. The text is copied by Priest Fransis Al-Shamali, who explicitly notes in the colophon that the text was directly collated against Al-Fakhuri's original autograph manuscript (Al-Nuskha Al-Asliyah), establishing its high textual authority.
The volume is housed in a well preserved contemporary Mount Lebanon monastic leather binding (Tajlid Dayri). Monastic binderies in Mount Lebanon (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) most notably at the monasteries of Qozhaya, Tamish, and Balamand (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) developed a distinct style of leatherwork characterized by rich red-brown hides, blind-stamped central diamond medallions composed of floral stamps, and elaborate leafy scroll border frames.
Provenance:
From the property of a private collector.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
KITAB AL-RAWḌAH AL-LUBNANIYAH FI SHARḤ AL-BADI‘IYAH ('THE LEBANESE GARDEN: COMMENTARY ON THE BADI‘IYAH POEM')
AL-KHURI ARSANIYUS AL-FAKHURI (D. 1883 AD)
COPIED BY AL-KHURI FRANSIS A-SHAMALI
Mount Lebanon, dated 24 February 1860 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, composed of 443 pages (222 folios), 23 lines to the page written in a neat naskh script in dense black ink, rubricated with key terms and verse markers in red, and catchwords throughout, a complete manuscript of 19th-century Maronite scholarship from Mount Lebanon, bound in its original regional monastic binding, the work, titled Kitab Al-Rawdah Al-Lubnaniyah fi Sharh Al-Badi‘iyah ('The Lebanese Garden: Commentary on the Badi‘yyah Poem'), represents a significant contribution to the 19th-century Arabic literary renaissance (Al-Nahdah) by the prominent Maronite scholar and poet, Priest Arsaniyus Al-Fakhuri (d. 1883).
23cm x 18.5 cm
Al-Fakhuri was among the key figures of the Christian literary revival in Mount Lebanon, known for his deep knowledge of Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and poetic traditions. The text belongs to the celebrated tradition of Badi‘iyat (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) poetic compositions in which each verse is constructed to illustrate a specific rhetorical device or figure of speech in Arabic poetics (Ilm Al-Badi), accompanied by extensive prose commentary explaining syntax, tropes, and rhetorical theory (Al-Ma‘ani, Al-Bayan, wa Al-Badi).
The manuscript begins with a devotional Christian invocation typical of Maronite scribal heritage (Bismi Allahi Al-Hayy Al-Naṭiq (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) 'In the name of God, the Living, the Speaking') followed by a full preface outlining the classification of rhetorical figures. The text is copied by Priest Fransis Al-Shamali, who explicitly notes in the colophon that the text was directly collated against Al-Fakhuri's original autograph manuscript (Al-Nuskha Al-Asliyah), establishing its high textual authority.
The volume is housed in a well preserved contemporary Mount Lebanon monastic leather binding (Tajlid Dayri). Monastic binderies in Mount Lebanon (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) most notably at the monasteries of Qozhaya, Tamish, and Balamand (كتاب الروضة اللبنانية في شرح البديعية) developed a distinct style of leatherwork characterized by rich red-brown hides, blind-stamped central diamond medallions composed of floral stamps, and elaborate leafy scroll border frames.
Provenance:
From the property of a private collector.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
