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Book/Printed Material The Wonders of Creation.

About this Item

Title

  • The Wonders of Creation.

Summary

  • Zakarīyā ibn Muhammad al-Qazwīnī (circa 1203--83), was a distinguished Iranian scholar who was conversant in poetry, history, geography, and natural history. He served as legal expert and judge in several localities in Iran and at Baghdad. After traveling throughout Mesopotamia and Syria, he wrote his famous Arabic-language cosmography, 'Aja'eb ol-makhluqat wa qara'eb ol-mowjudat (The wonders of creation, or literally, Marvels of things created and miraculous aspects of things existing). This treatise, frequently illustrated, was immensely popular and is preserved today in many copies. It has been translated into Persian, Turkish, and German. The book covers such subjects as astrology, cosmology, and the natural sciences. The book's subject matter divides into two broad groupings: the sublime and transcendental, and the gross or material. From the point of view of the vastness of information contained in his work, al-Qazwīnī is often compared with the great Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (AD 23--79) and frequently has been called the "Pliny of Middle Ages." The present manuscript, a Persian translation of the 'Aja'eb, contains curious drawings and paintings in the Persian style, both monochromatic and in watercolor. The copy is kept in the manuscript collections of the National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Names

  • Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad, circa 1203-1283 Author.

Created / Published

  • Iran : [publisher not identified], [1500 to 1599]

Headings

  • -  1203 to 1283
  • -  Celestial bodies
  • -  Cosmography
  • -  Curiosities and wonders
  • -  Geography, Medieval
  • -  Natural history
  • -  Planets
  • -  Science, Medieval
  • -  Zoology

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1160 pages : 210 x 355 millimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library and Archives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
  • -  Content in Persian.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667284

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā Ibn Muḥammad, Circa Author. The Wonders of Creation. [Iran: Publisher Not Identified, to 1599, 1500] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667284/.

APA citation style:

Qazwīnī, Z. I. M. (1500) The Wonders of Creation. [Iran: Publisher Not Identified, to 1599] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667284/.

MLA citation style:

Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā Ibn Muḥammad, Circa Author. The Wonders of Creation. [Iran: Publisher Not Identified, to 1599, 1500] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667284/>.