AJA'IB AL-MAKHLUQAT, THE WONDERS OF CREATURES, ZAKARIYA AL-QAZWINI (1203-1283AD), COPIED LATE 18TH CENTURY

A Persian copy of Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat, meaning The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation.
Persian manuscript on paper, 454 ff. with 15ll. to each page written in black ink, titles and catchwords in red ink, throughout the book many illustrations of the discussed creatures in gouache colours heightened with gilt, the text ruled in red and blue ink. In deep red leather binding.
21 by 28 cm.

This book consists of two parts, the first part is celestial, dealing with the spheres of the heaven with its inhabitants (the angels) and chronology. Astronomical knowledge of that time is compiled together with astrological ideas.
The second part discusses the terrestrial: the four elements, the seven climes, seas and rivers, a sort of bestiary on the animal kingdom (including mankind and the jinns), the plants, and minerals.

The author:
Zakariyya' al-Qazwini also known as Qazvini (born c. 1203 in Qazvin and died 1283), was a cosmographer and geographer. He belonged to a family of jurists originally descended from Anas bin Malik (a companion of the prophet Muhammad).

Born in Qazvin, of either Persian or Arab ancestry, al-Qazwini served as a legal expert and judge in several localities in Persia. He traveled around in Mesopotamia and the Levant, and finally entered the circle patronized by the Ilkhanid governor of Baghdad, Ata-Malik Juvayni (d. 1283 CE). This treatise, frequently illustrated, was immensely popular and is preserved today in many copies such as this copy.