Panama Canal

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Canal de Panamá (The Panama Canal) is a collection of documents published in 1903 by the Senate of the Congress of Colombia. Panama was at that time a province of Colombia, and on January 22, 1903, Tomás Herrán, the Colombian chargé d’affaires in Washington, and John Hay, the United States secretary of state, signed a treaty giving the United States the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The United States was to obtain control of a zone extending five kilometers on each side of the center line of the canal, in exchange for a cash payment of $10 million and an annuity of $250,000. Herrán had signed the treaty under intense pressure from Hay and the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, which threatened to pursue a route across Nicaragua if Colombia did not quickly come to terms. Public opinion in Colombia regarded the financial terms of the treaty as wholly unsatisfactory, and objected to the way in which the agreement impinged upon Colombian sovereignty. On August 12, 1903, the Colombian Senate voted unanimously against ratification. Canal de Panamá contains the text of the Herrán-Hay Treaty, copies of communications between the Colombian government in Bogota and Herrán in Washington, and the texts of various other documents relating to Colombia and an isthmian canal. The United States eventually was able to build the canal by encouraging the breakaway from Colombia of the province of Panama to create a newly independent Republic of Panama. It then concluded, on November 18 of the same year, a treaty with Panama on essentially the same terms as the Herrán-Hay Treaty with Colombia.

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Treaty between the Republic of Colombia and the United States of America for the Settlement of Their Differences Arising from the Events That Took Place in the Isthmus of Panama in November 1903, Signed in Bogota on April 6, 1914

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Tratado entre la Républica de Colombia y los Estados Unidos de América para el areglo de sus diferencias provenientes de los ancontecimientos realizados en el Istmo de Panamá en noviembre de 1903, soscrito en Bogotá el 6 de Abril de 1914 (Treaty between the Republic of Colombia and the United States of America for the settlement of their differences arising from the events that took place in the Isthmus of Panama in November 1903, signed in Bogota on April 6, 1914) is an official publication of the government of Colombia concerning the understandings reached between Colombia and the United States regarding the establishment in 1903 of the independent state of Panama. On January 22, 1903, Colombia and the United States signed a treaty that gave the United States the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, at that time part of Colombia. Public opinion in Colombia regarded the financial terms of the treaty as unsatisfactory and objected to the way in which the agreement impinged upon Colombian sovereignty. On August 12, 1903, the Colombian Senate voted unanimously against ratification. The United States eventually was able to build the canal by encouraging the breakaway from Colombia of the province of Panama to create a newly independent Republic of Panama. It then concluded, on November 18 of the same year, a treaty with Panama on essentially the same terms as the earlier treaty with Colombia. Colombia subsequently sought redress for the wrongs it had been done, but it was rebuffed by the Republican administrations of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. When Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, became president in 1913, he sought a new start with the Colombians. In the agreement presented here, concluded by the Wilson administration with the government of Colombia, the United States expressed “sincere regret” for the events of 1903 and agreed to pay Colombia $25 million in compensation. Roosevelt was still a formidable force in American politics, however, and he successfully rallied opposition to the treaty in the Senate on the grounds that no admission of American guilt should be made. Not until 1921 and the Harding administration was a settlement with Colombia reached. The United States agreed to pay the $25 million, but the reference to “sincere regret” was dropped.

Laws of the Canal Zone. Isthmus of Panama

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Under the agreements concluded between the United States and the Republic of Panama in 1903‒4 regarding the construction and operation of an isthmian canal, the United States acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone, a swath of territory across Panama that in most places extended five kilometers on each side of the center line of the canal. The residents of the zone were mainly U.S. citizens and West Indians engaged in the construction and operation of the canal. An Isthmian Canal Commission, composed of U.S. military and civilian officials, was formed to promulgate laws for the zone during the period when the canal was under construction. Laws of the Canal Zone is a compilation of the 24 acts passed by the commission between August 16, 1904, and March 1, 1905. The acts concern organizational and administrative matters, such as the setting up of a judiciary and the organization of municipal governments, as well as the establishment of a penal code dealing with the full range of crimes against persons, property, and public order. The texts are followed by a detailed index to topics. Under the terms of two treaties signed by the United States and Panama on September 7, 1977, the Panama Canal Zone was abolished in 1979 and its territory turned over to Panamanian control. The volume is from the Panama Canal Zone Library, which was transferred to the Library of Congress in 1978.

United States Congressional Serial Set. Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Practicability of a Ship-Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by the Way of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

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Report of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Practicability of a Ship-Canal Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by the Way of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a report prepared by the United States Navy for the United States Senate concerning an expedition to southern Mexico undertaken by the navy in October 1870‒May 1871. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the place at which the distance between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans is the shortest, and it thus was considered a prime possible location for an interoceanic canal. The expedition was under the command of Captain Robert Wilson Shufeldt and included both naval officers and civilian experts. The volume includes a summary report by Shufeldt and two detailed reports by members of the expedition, one by the chief civil engineer on the technical challenges of building a canal across the isthmus, and another by several experts on the geology, climate, flora and fauna, and inhabitants of the region through which the canal would pass. In his introduction, Shufeldt put forward strong strategic and economic arguments for building the canal in this location. “A canal through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an extension of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. It converts the Gulf of Mexico into an American lake. In time of war it closes the Gulf to all enemies. It is the only route which our Government can control. So to speak, it renders our own territory circumnavigable. It brings New Orleans 1,400 nautical miles nearer to San Francisco than a canal via Darien [i.e., Panama], and such is the character of the intervening waters, that it permits a canal boat to load in Saint Louis and discharge her freight in California with but little more than the risk of inland navigation.” For a variety of technical and political reasons, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ultimately was not chosen as the site for a canal. The report contains 20 maps and meteorological tables, which are placed at the end of the volume, as well as 11 illustrations. Also included is the diplomatic correspondence between the American secretary of state, Hamilton Fish, and the Foreign Minister Lerdo de Tejada of Mexico, in which the former requests and the latter grants permission to conduct the survey on Mexican territory.

United States Congressional Serial Set. Reports of Explorations and Surveys for the Location of a Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Nicaragua: 1872-'73

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Reports of Explorations and Surveys for the Location of a Ship-canal Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Through Nicaragua: 1872-’73 is a volume containing two reports prepared by the United States Navy for the United States Senate concerning two expeditions to Nicaragua undertaken by the navy in March‒July 1872 and December 1872‒June 1873. The purpose of the expeditions was to locate and survey a route for an inter-oceanic canal through Nicaragua, using Lake Nicaragua as part of the waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The first report was compiled by Commander Chester Hatfield, who took command of the expedition after Commander Alexander F. Crosman was drowned in an accident off Greytown (present-day San Juan del Norte), Nicaragua, on April 12. It contains Hatfield’s report on the death of Crosman and five seamen attached to the expedition (containing, among other information, the fact that only two of the five seamen could swim); Hatfield’s overview report of the expedition; and reports by the surveyors, civil engineers, and the geologist attached to the expedition. The second report was compiled by Commander Edward P. Lull, who took over command from Hatfield and completed the survey. It includes Lull’s overview report as well as separate reports by naval and civilian experts attached to the expedition on the geography, hydrography, geology, health and climactic conditions, and flora and fauna of the region surveyed. In the conclusion to his report, Commander Lull wrote: “An interoceanic ship-canal across the American isthmus, or through Central America, has been the subject of discussion for three hundred and seventy-five years, among statesmen, navigators, geographers, and merchants. Its desirability has been often proved by able pens. The enormous saving of distance, time, cost, and risk, which it would give the world, has been carefully tabulated. There seems to be nothing left to show, therefore, but its feasibility; this, I believe, the information herewith forwarded amply does.” The reports include tables and drawings, and there is a detailed set of maps at the end of the volume.

Constitution of the Republic of Colombia

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This volume, most likely published in Bogota in November 1821, contains the text of the constitution of the first Republic of Colombia, proclaimed by President Simón Bolívar in October of the same year. In 1717‒23, the Spanish imperial authorities combined territories comprising all or parts of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador into the Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada; Panama was added in 1751. In 1810, following Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 and the captivity of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII, different jurisdictions in New Granada declared their independence from Spain. After a period of civil war and the Spanish reconquest of New Granada in 1815‒16, Bolívar defeated the Spanish forces in a series of battles between 1819 and 1822. The Republic of Gran Colombia was organized at the Congress of Cúcuta in 1821 and a constitution drafted and adopted. Called Gran Colombia because it included what are now the separate countries of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador, the republic existed until 1830, when, following the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador, a new constitutional convention was called and a new Republic of New Granada, comprising just Colombia and the Isthmus of Panama, was established. The 1821 constitution is comprised of 191 articles in ten titles, covering the organization of the central government and the powers of the executive, legislature, and the judiciary; the administration of the departments of the country; and the civil and political rights of citizens. This volume, from the collections of the Law Library of Congress, once belonged to the Harvard Law Library, but was sold as a duplicate copy to the Library of Congress in the early 20th century.

Laws of the Canal Zone. Isthmus of Panama

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Under the agreements concluded between the United States and the Republic of Panama in 1903‒4 regarding the construction and operation of an isthmian canal, the United States acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone, a swath of territory across Panama that in most places extended five kilometers on each side of the center line of the canal. The residents of the zone were mainly U.S. citizens and West Indians engaged in the construction and operation of the canal. An Isthmian Canal Commission, composed of U.S. military and civilian officials, was formed to promulgate laws for the zone during the period when the canal was under construction. This volume, published in 1921, is a compilation of the laws enacted by the Isthmian Canal Commission during the entire period of its operation, from August 16, 1904, to March 31, 1914. It reprints the complete contents of an earlier volume containing the texts of the 24 acts enacted by the commission between August 16, 1904, and March 1, 1905, and it includes a new section with the texts of 23 ordinances enacted between April 27, 1907, and September 15, 1913. The acts concern organizational and administrative matters, such as the setting up of a judiciary and the organization of municipal governments, as well as the establishment of a penal code dealing with the full range of crimes against persons, property, and public order. The ordinances generally deal with lesser matters, including, for example, the sale of intoxicating liquors and the licensing and regulation of motor vehicles. Under the terms of two treaties signed by the United States and Panama on September 7, 1977, the Panama Canal Zone was abolished on October 1, 1979, and its territory turned over to Panamanian control.

Panama Canal, Acts of Concession

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In 1878 the government of Colombia granted to the French businessman and adventurer Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse a concession to build an interoceanic canal across Panama, which at that time was a province of Colombia. Wyse sold the concession to a French company, La Société internationale du Canal interocéanique, headed by Ferdinand Marie De Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal. Digging began in 1881, but the firm soon ran into difficulties, which included tropical diseases and a far more challenging terrain than De Lesseps had faced in Egypt. In 1887 De Lesseps abandoned his original plan to build a sea-level canal not requiring locks. Work began in January 1888 on a canal that would use a system of locks to lift and lower ships as they made their way across the hills of central Panama from ocean to ocean. Faced with much higher costs than originally expected, the company went bankrupt in May 1889, having completed about 40 percent of the work of building the canal. Canal de Panama: Actes de Concession (The Panama Canal: Acts of Concession) is a compilation of documents relating to the French effort in Panama. It contains the texts of the 1878 contract between the government of Colombia and Wyse and the legislation and agreements of 1890 relating to the suspension of the concession following the bankruptcy of the firm. The texts are in French. In 1894 a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, took over the concession and resumed digging. It later sold its assets to the United States, which eventually completed the project, building on the work that the French had accomplished.

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The Independence of the Isthmus of Panama: Its Antecedents, Causes and Justification

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The Independence of the Isthmus of Panama: Its Antecedents, Causes and Justification is a pamphlet published in late 1903 by the Panama Star and Herald newspaper in Panama City. The purpose of the pamphlet was to justify with arguments from history the breakaway of Panama from Colombia, which had occurred in the course of the year. In January 1903 the representative of the Colombian government in Washington, Tomás Herrán, and John Hay, the United States secretary of state, signed a treaty giving the United States the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Public opinion in Colombia regarded the financial terms of the treaty as unsatisfactory and objected to the way in which the agreement impinged upon Colombian sovereignty, and in August 1903 the Colombian Senate voted unanimously against ratification. With U.S. encouragement, the province of Panama subsequently declared its independence from Colombia. The United States and the new republic then concluded a treaty on essentially the same terms as the January 1903 agreement with Colombia. This pamphlet seeks to bolster the case for independence by invoking a historical precedent going back to 1840‒41. Amid a civil war in which many parts of what was then the Republic of New Granada revolted against the central authority in Bogotá, in November 1840 the province of Panama declared independence and constituted itself as the Estado Libre del Istmo (Free State of the Isthmus). The pamphlet contains the text of the “fundamental law” of this new state. Article 1 stipulates that the “Cantons of the former Province of Panama and Veraguas shall compose a sovereign and independent State….” Other articles provide for the negotiation of readmission to New Granada as a state, should “the Government of New Granada be organized according to the federal system and convenient to the Interests of the Isthmus.” This in fact happened as, after 13 months of independence, on December 31, 1841, the Panamanian republic was reunified with New Grenada. The pamphlet also includes later documents relating to the relationship between Panama and Colombia, as well as an introduction and concluding essay. The work was compiled and written by Ramón M. Valdés (1867‒1918), a prominent Panamanian author and politician who in 1916‒18 served as president of Panama.

Historical Documents Relating to the Establishment of the Republic of Panama

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Documentos historicos relativos a la fundacion de la Republica de Panama (Historical documents relating to the establishment of the Republic of Panama) is a compilation of documents published in Panama in 1904, shortly after the province of Panama declared its independence from Colombia. In January 1903 the representative of the Colombian government in Washington, Tomás Herrán, and the United States secretary of state, John Hay, signed a treaty giving the United States the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Public opinion in Colombia regarded the financial terms of the treaty as unsatisfactory and objected to the way in which the agreement impinged upon Colombian sovereignty, and in August 1903 the Colombian Senate voted unanimously against ratification. With United States encouragement, in November 1903 the province of Panama declared its independence from Colombia. The United States and the new republic then concluded a treaty on essentially the same terms as the January 1903 agreement with Colombia. This pamphlet, which appears to have been hastily produced in order to bolster the legitimacy of the new state, contains the texts of the Act of Independence and several other acts relating to independence along with long lists of the signatories of these documents, the texts of decrees issued by the provisional government of Panama in late 1903, and various other documents bearing on the events of November 1903. The pamphlet was compiled by Rodolfo Aguilera (1858‒1916), a historian, journalist, and politician, who was a prominent advocate of Panamanian independence.

Treaties, Conventions and Agreements Approved by the National Congress of 1913

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Tratados, convenciones y acuerdos aprobados por el Congreso nacional de 1913 (Treaties, conventions and agreements approved by the National Congress of 1913) is a compilation of documents published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Colombia. The book is the second annex to a ministry publication on Colombia’s international relations in 1913; the first annex contains the text of a treaty concluded between Colombia and the United States in that year relating to the breakaway from Colombia in late 1903 of the province of Panama to form an independent republic. On January 22, 1903, Colombia and the United States signed a treaty giving the United States the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, which at that time was part of Colombia. Public opinion in Colombia regarded the financial terms of the treaty as unsatisfactory and objected to the way in which the agreement impinged upon Colombian sovereignty. On August 12, 1903, the Colombian Senate voted unanimously against ratification. The United States eventually was able to build the canal by encouraging the breakaway from Colombia of the province of Panama to create a newly independent Republic of Panama. It then concluded, on November 18 of the same year, a treaty with Panama on essentially the same terms as the 1903 treaty with Colombia. Colombia subsequently sought redress for the wrongs it had been done, and the treaty concluded in 1913 represented an attempt by the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to express “sincere regret” for the events of 1903 and to pay Colombia $25 million in compensation. The treaty was blocked in the United States Senate, however, and a settlement between the United States and Colombia was not reached until 1921. The volume presented here contains some additional documentation relating to the 1913 treaty, as well as the texts of agreements concluded by Colombia with other countries.

Cosmography

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The Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus (circa 100–circa 178), known as Ptolemy, was a theoretician of geocentrism who collected his geographical works in the Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis (Introduction to geography) in eight books. This work, which was considered the summation of all the geographical knowledge of the Greco-Roman world, was largely neglected in the West during the Middle Ages. It came back into fashion thanks to the Byzantine humanist Manuel Crisoloras (1350‒1415), who brought knowledge of the work to Italy. One of his pupils, the Florentine Jacopo di Angelo da Scarperia (also seen as Jacobus Angelus de Scarperia), translated the book from Greek into Latin with the title Cosmographia. He dedicated his translation to Pope Alexander V. Copies of Ptolemaic manuscripts were jealously guarded in the richest libraries of Italy and elsewhere in Europe. This manuscript was copied by the German Benedictine monk Nicolaus Germanus in the second half of the 15th century in the court of Borso d’Este (1413‒71) at Ferrara. The tables in the work are prefaced by brief descriptions and drawn in conic projection, enclosed externally within a gilded frame and internally within a further frame indicating the geographic coordinates. Bodies of water, mountains, plains and woods are drawn in different and particularly vibrant colors: blue, sienna, white, and green. A striking aspect of the work is the planisphere in the middle of the book representing the whole world as it was known at the time; it is surrounded by anthropomorphic depictions of the winds on a delicately water-colored azure background. The decorations and illuminations in the codex are by a Florentine artist, possibly belonging to the school of Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433‒84), one of the most elegant illuminators of the Florentine Renaissance. Near the beginning of the manuscript is a depiction of Ptolemy at work at his calculations. Ptolemaic works were not superseded in the West for almost two centuries, as numerous printed editions were produced in the late 15th and 16th centuries. Jacopo di Angelo da Scarperia’s Latin translation was first published in 1475, while the original Greek text saw its editio princeps in 1533, edited by Erasmus of Rotterdam. The publication of modern atlases―starting in 1570 with the Theatrum orbis terrarum (Theater of the world) of Abraham Ortelius―in time relegated the works of Ptolemy to little more than testaments to the geographic and astronomical knowledge of the ancients. The manuscript is part of the Farnese Collection, which arrived in Naples with the Bourbon monarch, Charles III, King of Spain and conqueror of Naples in 1734, heir on his maternal side to this extremely rich collection that once belonged to Pope Paul III.

Book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Flora”

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Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis (La Flora) (Book of Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Flora”) is a lavishly decorated and illuminated codex that derives its name from the extraordinary presence of carefully drawn flowers and fruits. It is one of the most beautiful manuscripts in the National Library of Naples, known for the richness and variety of its iconography, which follows the taste and methods of the great masters of Flemish illumination. The codex begins with a calendar in which the months of the year are surrounded by an architectonic frame and each illuminated with two distinctive scenes; the second scene features the zodiacal sign. The codex includes more than 100 illuminations, 36 of which are full page. Produced in Flanders somewhere between Valenciennes, Bruges, and Ghent, the manuscript was realized in a workshop, as is evident from the use by the workshop of test sheets or tracing cards for the recurring scenes. Great masters contributed illuminations to the manuscript at different times; Simon Marmion (1420‒89), creator of one of the most ancient and prestigious cycles of full-page illuminations, stands out among these artists. Other outstanding contributors were Gerard Horenbout and the Master of the Dresden Prayer Book. The uniformity of the handwriting and of the illuminations, both the originals and the re-tracings, suggests the presence of a single master who managed a workshop that employed excellent architectural landscape artists and colorists. The handwriting is round gothic and was produced by a single copyist. Numerous illuminations are framed within gilded elements of gothic architecture. From a stylistic point of view, the close-ups of highly detailed figures are particularly noticeable. The use of color is very impressive and is typical of the illuminations produced during the Renaissance in the court of Burgundy, which had many connections with the Flemish court. Research has revealed that the codex was not produced for Charles VIII of France; his coat of arms, which is found inscribed in a gilded medallion under a crowned letter K at folio 2 verso, is a later addition. Textual analysis seems to suggest instead a bourgeois client. The date of production falls between 1483 and 1498. The codex is part of the Farnese Collection, which was brought from Parma to Naples after the Bourbon monarch, Charles III, King of Spain, conquered Naples in 1734.

Psalter of David the Prophet

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The manuscript presented here is entitled Kitāb zabūr Dāwūd al-nabī ʻalayhī afḍal al-salām (The Book of Psalms of David the prophet, the most favorable peace be upon him). It contains the text in Arabic of the 150 psalms in the biblical Book of Psalms. The manuscript is undated, but the colophon states: “It was completed by the servant Thalja based on the copy made by the youth Butrus, son of Halab Shah the Armenian.” If the latter were the artist Halab Shah ibn ‘Isa of Aleppo, then the manuscript could be dated to the period between 1600 and the early 1700s. Some of the psalms are copied out of order or are not numbered according to customary enumeration, a fact noted by the copyist. Some psalms are attributed to writers other than David, such as Zechariah and Korah (who is mislabeled a prophet in the text). The work is copied in a strong, unvowelled naskh script in black ink for the text and red for the title and heading of each psalm. The book is bound in red leather with the traditional fore-edge flap. There are 18 lines per page. The book is unpaginated, but there are guidewords and guides for the bookbinder. The manuscript bears the ownership inscription of George Rentz (George S. Rentz, Junior, 1912‒87), an American Arabist and scholar at Saudi Aramco, formerly the Arabian American Oil Company.

The Best of Poetic Companions for the Noblest of Destinations. A Sage Rhyme on Writing the Holy Qurʼan

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Presented here is a 12th-century manuscript copy of ʻAqilat atrab al-qaṣaʼid fi asna al-maqasid manzumah ra’iyah fi rasm al-Quran al-Karim (The best of poetic companions for the noblest of destinations: a sage rhyme on writing the Holy Qurʼan). It is a qasidah (poem) on the Quranic sciences, detailing the history, development, and purposes of correctly writing the Qurʼan. The author, poet al-Qasim ibn Firruh al-Shatibi (1144‒94), was born in Shatibah, near present-day Valencia in Muslim Andalusia (Spain). There he studied the Qur’an and the hadiths before traveling to Mecca. He eventually established himself in Cairo, where he became a Qur’an reader and lectured on the Arabic language and its grammar at al-Fadiliyah school. The poem opens with a versified history of the recensions of the text. The main body of the work is a rhymed commentary on technical matters such as formation of letters, directions on shortening or lengthening letters, and a brief treatment of orthographic issues arising in various surahs (chapters) of the Qurʼan. This poem may be considered a companion to al-Shatibi’s widely used guide to the seven approved readings or recitations of the Qurʼan known as al-Shāṭibīyah (al-Shatibi’s recitations). Al-Shatibi remains to the present day highly regarded and extensively studied by Muslim scholars for guidance on correct rasm (graphic representation of the recited text). His works are also considered by scholars when studying the history of authentic transmission of the Qur’an. The manuscript is complete and is written in a clear naskh script in red and black ink, with headings in red. It has marginal notes and is vowelized. The number of lines per page varies. The manuscript, which was copied by ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Wazir, is dated 590 AH (1194), which puts it very close to the date of the author’s death.

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The Downpour, or Commentary on the “Lamiyah” of the Persian

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Al-ghayth al-musjam fī sharḥ Lāmīyat al-ʻAjam (The downpour, or commentary, on the Lamiyah of the Persian)is a commentary by the famous man of letters Khalil ibn Aybak al-Safadi (circa 1297‒1363) on the poem al-Lamiyah by Persian scientist and poet al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali al-Tughra’i (1061 or 1062‒circa 1121). Both writers are widely known and studied by scholars in a variety of fields: chemistry, alchemy, history, and literature. Al-Safadi comments extensively on al-Tughra’i’s poem al-Lamiyah, digressing at length on many topics, serious and humorous. Indeed, writing this book provided occasion for al-Safadi to show off his comprehensive knowledge of literature and virtuoso wordplay. The volumes are well-indexed, so the reader can dip in to read about such diverse topics as chemistry, wine drinking and other luxuries, flirtation, and love-making. The author mixes the serious with the profane in his review of topics supposedly touched upon by al-Tughra’i, many of whose verses would be lost but for this collection. Al-Safadi is known as an historian and for his biographical dictionary Wafi bi-al-wafayat (Trustworthy obituaries). Al-Tughra’i was a chancery clerk at the court of the Seljuks in Persia (present-day Iran) and is best known for his works on alchemy. This two-volume edition was published in Cairo in 1888. The first volume begins with an introduction and ends with injunctions about wine and luxury. The second volume begins with introductory remarks and ends with a note on the delights of wordplay. On the margin of the volumes is a commentary by al-Safadi’s contemporary, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Nabatah (1287‒1366), on Sarh al-ʻuyun (Meadow for the eyes),a work on pre-Islamic and early Islamic poets by Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Zaydun (1003 or 1004‒71).

Summary of “al-Miftāḥ”

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Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ (Summary of al-Miftāḥ) is a commentary on Miftāḥ al-ʻulum (Key to the sciences), a work of Arabic rhetoric by Yusuf ibn Abi Bakr al-Sakkaki (1160‒1229). The author of the summary is Jalal al-Din Muhammad al-Qazwini (1267 or 1268‒1338), better known as al-Khatib al-Qazwini (the Preacher al-Qazwini) and sometimes as Khatib Dimashq (the Preacher of Damascus). He was a master of Arabic grammar, eloquent expression, and the principles of Islamic law, as well as a prolific author. Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ is a short style manual filled with examples of good and bad composition. It covers grammatical topics, such as subject-predicate agreement, and stylistic matters, such as brevity, prolixity, and proper balance. Little is known of the author of Miftāḥ al-ʻulum except that he was born in Central Asia, in present-day Uzbekistan. Unlike the commentator, al-Qazwini, al-Sakkaki seems to have written very little, or few of his works have survived. Al-Qazwini, on the other hand, was a figure of some prominence. He was an important jurist in Cairo and Damascus as well as an authority on the Arabic language. The Talkhīṣconcentrates on various rhetorical lessons, such as interpolation and verbosity, and on reasoning, prosody, and wordplay. The work enjoyed widespread influence, as the many surviving manuscripts and editions attest, and is still the subject of scholarly attention. The book appeared in print in Calcutta in 1815 and in Istanbul in 1844. The edition presented here was printed in Beirut in 1884 or 1885 under the sponsorship of one Salim Nasrallah Daghir, about whom there is no biographical information.

Balancing Scales for Evaluating Hadith Transmitters

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Mīzān al-iʻtidāl fī naqd al-rijāl (Balancing scales for evaluating hadith transmitters) is a reference book listing hadith transmitters along with evaluation of their reliability, written by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Dhahabi (1274‒1348). The sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, known collectively as hadith, were collected and written down by scholars well after the death of Muhammad. Major collections, such as those of al-Bukhari (810‒70) and Muslim ibn Hajjaj (circa 821‒75), were based on the recollections of those who knew Muhammad or witnessed his activities. The quotations and stories were passed on orally through the centuries until finally assembled in what are called the Six Books, that is, compilations of traditions that are recognized as authoritative and carry great weight in judicial decisions. The difficulty faced by collectors was to evaluate the validity of each hadith. This required the appraisal of each person in the oral chain of transmission. Transmitters and their texts were evaluated according to a scale from sahih (sound) to mawduʻ (fabricated) or munkar (reprehensible). Mizān al-iʻtidāl lists the thousands of these transmitters found in the Six Books and includes the rating of each person in a process termed ʻilm al-rijal (biographical science). The three volumes of this work are arranged into several alphabetical sets: by personal name, kunyah (nickname such as ‘Abu), nasab (associated places or other ascriptions), women transmitters, and unknown transmitters listed by putative or best-available name. This edition is “corrected” (i.e., edited) by Muhammad Badr al-Din al-Na’sani al-Halabi (1881‒1943), who prepared many classical works for publication. He was from Syria, where later in life he worked as a teacher and newspaper editor. Mizān al-iʻtidāl was printed at al-Saʻadah Press in Cairo and distributed from the al-Khanji bookstore, both businesses that were part of the well-developed printing and publishing trade in early 20th century Cairo. 

History of the Seljuk Empire

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Tārīkh dawlat Āl Saljūq (History of the Seljuk Empire) is a chronicle of the Seljuks in Iraq between 1055 and approximately 1175. It is a version of a work of the Persian-born political figure and savant ʻImad al-Din Muhammad al-Isfahani (1125‒1201), as abridged by his near contemporary, al-Fath ibn ʻAli al-Bundari (1190 or 1191‒1245 or 1246). The original work by ‘Imad al-Din is entitled Nusrat al-fatrah wa-ʻusrat al-qutrah (Victory over feebleness and refuge from trifles). The story begins with the entry of the Seljuk conqueror, Tugrul, into Baghdad in 1055. The work covers the complex royal succession of the dynasty and its amirs, as well as other civil and military leaders, wazirs (advisors), religious authorities, and other notables. It also covers the origin of the name “Seljuk” and the impetus for the rise of the Seljuk sultanate. Although born in Persia (present-day Iran), ʻImad al-Din wrote principally in Arabic and spent most of his life at the Ayyubid courts of Egypt and the Near East. He died in Damascus in 1201. His chronicle is written in a mix of straightforward narrative and baroque rhymed prose, which scholars have found a challenge to interpret and about which al-Bundari complains: “I found the pearls of what he wished to say and express hidden in the wave-crashing seas of his rhyming….” ‘Imad al-Din nonetheless is an important source for the history of the medieval Near East, both in his history of the Seljuks and in several other historical works and literary anthologies. Little biographical information exists about al-Fath ibn ʻAli al-Bundari, except that he also condensed another of ‘Imad al-Din’s historical works, al-Barq al-Shami (The Syrian thunderbolt), which is a personal account of life at the court of the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, Saladin (1137‒93). The edition of Tārīkh dawlat Āl Saljūq presented here was published by al-Mausu’at Press in Cairo in 1900.

Guide for the Sensible to the Attractions of Europe

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Irshād al-allibā ilá maḥāsin Ūrūbbā(Guide for the sensible to the attractions of Europe) is the travel diary of Muhammad Amin Fikri and his father, ʻAbd Allah Fikri Pasha (died 1889) of their trip to attend the Eighth International Congress of Orientalists held in Stockholm, Sweden, and Christiania (present-day Oslo), Norway, in 1889. ʻAbd Allah Fikri Pasha was a poet and writer of major importance. He was invited to lead the Egyptian delegation, which included his son, who looked after his father who was in fragile health. Upon their return to Cairo the pair set about organizing their large quantity of travel notes. ʻAbd Allah died before the job was complete; his son finished the organization of the papers and saw to their publication in this meticulously detailed account. Muhammad Amin Fikri studied law in France and later held the post of chief prosecutor in Cairo. The Fikri family was closely allied with the royal family of Egypt and shared its commitment to creating a modern state. Irshād al-allibāoffers an excellent example of the commanding place that Europe occupied in the thinking and aspirations of Egypt’s 19th century cultural leaders. The book is part travel guide and part report to Khedive Abbas Hilmi (ruled 1892‒1914) to demonstrate that expenditure on the journey was not misplaced. Every stage of the trip is documented, including train and sea travel, visits to museums and cultural landmarks, and introductions to European royalty and scholars. The book was published at al-Muqtataf Press, whose founder Ya‘qub Sarruf was a significant figure in what is called the Arab renaissance of the second half of the 19th century. Sarruf shared in the Fikris’ wholehearted admiration for European culture. As a publisher, Sarruf founded the general interest press and magazine al-Muqtaṭaf in 1876 and al-Muqaṭṭam in 1889.