Aja'ib al-Makhluqat,

lithographed in Tehran

The Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Muwjudaat, was compiled by the thirteenth-century geographer and cosmographer Zakariyah Qazvini (d. c. 1283 AD) and is also referred to as the 'Cosmography of Qazvini'.

The text draws from a range of literary sources, including the works of Ibn Sina, and is divided into two main sections: the celestial and the territorial. The text is often extensively illustrated and frequently includes unusual imagery of angels and fantastical creatures, visual representations of imaginary phenomena from the heavens and from the earth. The celestial section of the text describes spheres, incorporating the fixed stars, the 12 signs of the Zodiac, stellar constellations and the surrounding planets. The terrestrial section follows with descriptions of the four elements (fire, wind, water, earth), then heavenly phenomena of the earth such as rainbows, thunder, and lightning. There is also a compendium of animals (a bestiary of sorts on the animal kingdom including mankind and the jinns), with descriptions of plants and minerals included as well.

The text is known for merging the scientific world with that of mysticism and wonder. The language is more literary and poetic than factual and there is a notion that the text was compiled to amuse the intellectual readers of the time as well as educate them on our planet and skies. Some have observed that Qazvini compiled this text towards the end of his life, during the Mongol invasion of Asia, in which time both he and many of his contemporary readers would have been displaced and seeking escapism from their everyday realities.

Although manuscript copies of this text exist in vast numbers, lithographed copies are notably rare. No other examples of this edition have been found in commmerce.

Single volume, lithographed with illustrations throughout, from a manuscript copied in nasta'liq script, complete, small folio (335 x 210 mm); extensively illustrated in the text, no endpapers present, recycled leaves from other lithographs used as pastedowns, some illustrations soiled and tarnished (possibly from earlier censorship of sensitive imagery), some light finger-soiling; housed in contemporary sheep over boards, extremities rubbed with slight loss to leather, covers a little scratched, early paper label to spine reading 'Volume Persan'.