100 - Al-Bukhârî (d. 870), al-Jâmi' al-Sahīh, Volume 11

Al-Bukhârî (d. 870), al-Jâmi' al-Sahīh, Volume 11 Tunis, 17th century Arabic manuscript on thick laid paper, 135 folios, written in Maghribi script in black ink, with 15 lines per page. Certain words are highlighted in red, blue, and gold, such as the name of the Prophet. Chapter titles are written in chrysography, and the separators take the form of small trefoil motifs. Numerous marginal collation notes and eulogies accompany the text. The volume opens with an illuminated title within a gilded interlaced frame, featuring a marginal fleur-de-lis. It closes with an illuminated cartouche featuring the same ornamentation. The colophon indicates that this copy was produced in Tunis in 1047 AH (= 1637–8). A note adds that the text was verified on the night of the 14th of Dhu’l-Qa’da 1057 (December 11, 1647) by a certain Muhammad b. ‘Ilman Day(?) al-Hanafi al-Tunisi. The flap binding is in brown morocco leather, with a central multi-lobed medallion in a mandorla shape, stamped and gilded. Condition: numerous wormholes; binding restored. 22 × 16 cm. Al-Bukhari’s Sahih (d. 256 H./870), a collection of the Prophet’s hadiths, is one of the two most revered works in the Sunni tradition, along with that of Muslim. This eleventh volume, copied in Tunis in 1047 H. (1637–8), attests to the circulation of the text in the Ottoman Maghreb. The collation notes in the margins and the verification note from 1057 H. (1647), written by a Hanafi scholar from Tunis, attest to the care taken to ensure the text’s accuracy. In terms of format (15 lines, Maghribi script, a volume of the Sahih divided into parts), it can be compared to a volume from 861 H./1456 (Artcurial, auction no. 4465, lot 143), which is approximately two centuries older. Provenance: Private Italian collection. This lot is accompanied by an export certificate issued by the Italian Ministry of Culture.