Descripción

Original bdg. Dust wrapper. 4to. (28 x 21 cm). Texts in modern Turkish and facsimile manuscript in Ottoman Turkish. 45 p., 128 p., ills. The study of physiognomy, kiyafe(t) ilmi, which is as old as humanity itself, has been developed into a science by Islamic writers who have used in it support of other branches of learning such as medicine, administration, literature and theology. In Islamic thought, the human body is in a sense conceived as clothing or an attire that envelops and protects the soul. Works that dealt with the interpretation of this relationship between the inner qualities and the outer appearance were known under names such as 'kiyafet-nâme, vesiletü'n-'irfân, firâset-nâme and zübdetü'l-'irfân. The science of kiyafet was handed down by Muslim Arab thinkers to Persians and Turks as a cultural legacy and attained a significant place in Ottoman learning. The kiyafet-nâme of Seyyid Lokman Çelebi, who is one of the leading court eulogists, was written in the ornate literary style of 16th century which is difficult to comprehend today. In the introduction of the work he gave it the title of Kiyâfetü'l-insâniyye fî semâili'l-'Osmâniyye. The book is composed of two parts, Part I is concerned with a definition.