Back
Fol. 33b depicts Katip Celebi's interpretation of the seven climes by Ptolemy. This hints that Katip Celebi had access to Ptolemy's cartographic work Geographike Hyphegesis and had probably read it.
The seven climes are drawn in red and black ink inside a golden circle.
On fol. 90b is part of a sketch of a map of Anatolia and the Balkans. The sketch was done rather roughly in writing ink, as opposed to ink made for drawing.
This map was drawn on a loose piece of paper and was subsequently added to the manuscript after it had already been bound. According to Gottfried Hagen, one of the leading experts on Katip Celebi's work, this map is one of the few that can be attributed with a large degree of certainty to Katip Celebi himself.
This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.
Name of Object:
Jihannuma (View of the world)
Location:
Vienna, Austria
Holding Museum:
Austrian National Library (ANL)
About Austrian National Library (ANL), Vienna
Date of Object:
Around 1058-1064 AH / 1648-1654 AD
Scribe(s):
Katip Celebi, by name Haci Halife
Museum Inventory Number:
Mixt. 389
Material(s) / Technique(s):
Naskh script of 25 lines per page.
Dimensions:
235 x 165mm (195 x 95mm), 254 folios
Period / Dynasty:
Ottoman
Binding:
The manuscript is bound in red-brown leather. The edges of both covers are framed by gilded, ornamental embossing. Both doublures and endpapers of this manuscript are made out of marvellously crafted Ottoman marble paper.
Description:
Katip Celebi went down in history as a gifted polymath. Born as Mustafa ibn 'Abd Allah in Istanbul in 1017 AH / 1609 AD, he started his studies in Arabic calligraphy and grammar when he was a mere six years old. He was said to be an exceptional writer, which later on earned him the name Katip Celebi, literally translating to "Learned Scribe". His passion for learning made him interested in various fields of study including lexicology, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, medicine, geography, astronomy, genealogy, history and chronicling. In addition to writing books and treatises in Turkish, Arabic and Persian, Katip Celebi also translated texts from French and Latin.
This particular manuscript is a rarity for two main reasons, one that it is the first edition of Katip Celebi's famous geographical book Jihannuma, and the second being that it contains additional notes for the planned second edition. The presence of these reconsiderations has earnt the manuscript another name, the "Viennese Concept", as it clearly documents Katip Celebi's process of revising his own work and assembling a second edition of the Jihannuma. Finally, it is important to note that parts of the text were written and annotated by the Learned Scribe himself.
How Object was obtained:
After Waclaw Rzewuski's death in 1831 AD, the manuscript was bought from the Viennese antiquarian bookshop Kuppitsch for the Imperial Court Library.
How provenance was established:
On fol. 45a there is "ex bibliotheca orientali Wenceslai Comitis Rzewuski" written in ink.
Link to catalogue/digitisation in Holding Institution’s database:
http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC14018433
Selected bibliography:
Duda, Dorothea, Islamische Handschriften II/2. Die Handschriften in türkischer Sprache, Die illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, vol. 5/2, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008: 110-113.
Hagen, Gottfried, "Überzeitlichkeit und Geschichte in Katib Celebis Gihannüma" Archivum ottomanicum, 14 (1995/96), 133-159.
Taeschner, Franz, "Zur Geschichte des Djihannuma", Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin, 29 : 2 (1926), 99-111.
Citation of this web page:
Leonie Fernsebner "Jihannuma (View of the world)" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;at;Mus24;35;en
Prepared by: Leonie Fernsebner
Copyedited by: Jonathan Turnbull
MWNF Working Number: AT4 35
RELATED CONTENT
Islamic Dynasties / Period
On display in
Exhibition(s)
Download
As PDF (including images) As Word (text only)