St John’s College has twenty-one Arabic and Persian manuscripts. These are fully described in Emilie Savage-Smith’s Descriptive Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts at St John’s College, Oxford (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 3-97.
In Savage-Smith’s catalogue, these twenty-one manuscripts are divided into eight thematic categories: astronomy, mathematics, military arts, encyclopedias and compendia, belles-lettres and literature, Ḥadīth and Fiqh, Qur’āns, Bibles and Old Testament. We have preserved this arrangement here.
Astronomy
MS 91 (Savage-Smith no. 6)
MS 91 contains an Arabic translation of Ulugh Beg’s astronomical and chronological tables (zīj) in the revised version. It was completed on 20 Ṣafar 939 (= 21 September 1532).
MS 103 (Savage-Smith no. 2)
MS 103 is the earliest recorded copy of al-A‘raj al Nīsābūrī’s commentary on Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s al-Tadhkirah fī ‘ilm al-hay’ah (‘Memoir on the Science of Astronomy’).
MS 155 (Savage-Smith nos. 4, 10)
MS 155 contains an anonymous and incomplete set of Arabric astronomical tables in addition to an anonymous set of Arabic calendric conversion tables. This manuscript was probably made in the 17th century.
Separate catalogue entries available for item 1 and item 2
Full digital facsimile available
MS 186 (Savage-Smith no. 8)
MS 186 contains texts on quadrants and timekeeping composed by the Mamluk astronomer Sibṭ al-Māridīnī. The last item in the manuscript is dated 993/1584.
Mathematics
Military Arts
MS 83 (Savage-Smith no. 22)
MS 83 is an illustrated copy of Kitāb al-Ḥiyal fī al-ḥurūb wa-fatḥ al-madā’in wa-ḥifẓ al-durūb (The Book of Devices for Wars, Conquest of Cities, and Protecting Mountain Passes). The manuscript was completed in 757 H (= 1356).
Encyclopedias and Compendia
MS 33 (Savage-Smith no. 24)
MS 33 is a Persian encyclopaedia of the sciences. The manuscript, which was probably completed c.1550-1580, contains numerous diagrams.
MS 122 (Savage-Smith no. 23)
MS 122 is a heavily annotated copy of a compendium on the linguistic sciences written by al-Sakkākī. This manuscript was completed on 23 Rajab 732 [= 20 April 1332].
Belles-lettres / Literature
MS 370 (Savage-Smith no. 25)
MS 370 is a complete copy of all 50 maqāmāt by al-Ḥarīrī. This copy was collated and vocalized by Jarmānūs Farḥāt (1670-1732), a Syrian grammarian.
Ḥadīth and Fiqh
MS 367 (Savage-Smith no. 27)
MS 367 is a treatise on Isalmic law (fiqh) written by the Ḥanafite scholar al-Ghaznawī. This copy was made in 1186 [= 1773].
MS 369 (Savage-Smith no. 26)
MS 369 is a collection of ḥadīth. This illuminated manuscript was completed in 901 [= 1496].
Qur’āns
MS 72 (Savage-Smith no. 30)
MS 72 is a copy of the Qur’ān made in 1626-7 (1036 H). The manuscript was possibly made in Egypt or Syria.
MS 107 (Savage-Smith no. 32)
MS 107 is an illuminated copy of the Qur’ān probably made in the late 16th or early 17th century.
MS 201 (Savage-Smith no. 28)
MS 201 is an illuminated copy of the Qur’ān, probably made in Iran in the first half of the 16th century.
MS 215 (Savage-Smith no. 31)
MS 215 is an illuminated copy of the Qur’ān, probably made in Iran or India in the 17th century.
MS 304 (Savage-Smith no. 29)
MS 304 is an illuminated copy of the Qur’ān, probably made in Iran in the mid-16th century.
Bibles / Old Testament
MS 105 (Savage-Smith no. 33)
MS 105 is a Persian translation of the Book of Psalms by an unnamed translator. The copy was completed on 8 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1071 [= 4 Aug 1661].
MS 133 (Savage-Smith no. 34)
MS 133 is a Persian translation of the Book of Psalms by an unnamed translator. This manuscript was probably produced in the 16th or 17th century.