8vo. xi, 31 pp., 48 b/w plates, figures in text, publisher’s original wrappers, lightly rubbed round edges, otherwise copy inside clean & in very good condition, from the series Iconography of Religions No. XXII, 1, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1970.

Synopsis

In this brief history many of the illustrations are of pages from the Koran, providing important continuity, but equally fascinating are other literary documents and inscribed objects, both secular and religious; they have special qualities that gave rise to new styles, from the arcane Musalsal, used for ‘secret’ messages, to the light and elegant Nata’liq, which is often complemented by delicate miniatures in fifteenth and sixteenth century Persian manuscripts.