Ɵ Kitab Durra al-Aghwas wakunaz al-Ikhtasis, on paper [probably Ottoman Levant, 1004 AH (1596 AD)]

Ɵ Abu' Hassan Ali bin Muhammad al-Jaldaki, Juz' al-Thani min Kitab Durra al-Aghwas wakunaz al-Ikhtasis (on gemstones and alchemical sciences), volume two only, decorated manuscript on paper [probably Ottoman Levant, dated Jumada II 1004 AH (1596 AD)]single volume, 37 leaves, lacking at least one bifolium (this probably containing the fihrist), some leaves misbound, single column, 23 lines black angular and formal script verging on naskh, headings and key phrases in red, some small annotations in a later hand, catchwords throughout, foliation in a later hand, some staining (particularly affecting fols. 22-24), some outer edges with paper repairs (rarely affecting text), 215 by 160 mm.; twentieth-century leather over pasteboards, covers stamped in blind Little is known about the early years of al-Jaldaki (d. 1341 AD), but he is believed to have been born in Jaldak, a small town near Khorasan, before emigrating to Egypt early in his life. He authored a number of important treatise in his lifetime including al-Misbah fi Ilm al-Miftah (Key of the Science of Light) and Kitab al-Burhan fi asrar 'ilm al-mizan (The Proof Regarding the Secrets of the Science and Balance), which are both alchemical and scientific in nature, but perhaps closer to chemical science than the occult (see also al-Alam bibliography, vol. 5, pp. 5, 2007).