Mustafa Nazif Kadırgalı Efendi

Complete Ottoman Qur'an, lithographed in Istanbul in 1889 after the calligraphic composition of Mustafa Nazif Kadırgalı Efendi, then individually finished by hand with red rubrication, gilding and illumination.

The volume comprises 612 pages printed in black on fine paper with a parchment-like surface. The Arabic text, written in an elegant naskh hand in fifteen lines to the page, is enclosed within black rules heightened in bright and matt gold, the text panels measuring 8.1 x 13.2 cm. The verses are divided by small gilt and polychrome rosettes, while larger illuminated medallions appear in the margins of selected leaves. Chapter...