What is it about?
Manuscript Cambridge, University Library, Or. 658 is a collection of eleven texts transmitted in anonymous and untitled form whose precise content has so far remained obscure. On closer inspection, however, the manuscript turns out to be a so-far neglected witness of some authentic and pseudepigraph works of, among others, Avicenna (d. 427/1037) and Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1050/1640-1). This paper aims to provide an identification of all the works contained therein, along with a hypothetical reconstruction of the milieu in which the codex was produced.
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Why is it important?
This article presents for the first time the contents of a manuscript containing works ascribed to - among others - Avicenna and Mulla Sadra that has been neglected by studies until now.
Perspectives
Hopefully, the rediscovered MS Cambridge, University Library, Or. 658 will now be used to edit and study the fundamental texts of Islamic philosophical thought that it preserves.
Silvia Di Vincenzo
Scuola Normale Superiore
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A New Source for the Study of Avicenna’s Safavid Reception, Journal of Islamic Manuscripts, April 2021, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/1878464x-01202003.
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