244

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.414, cont., 12.415)

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Cod.Or. 12.415 Kiyafetname-i insamye 4uil_aijl *4^LisLJs An undated, but obviously late 19th- or early 20th-century, copy of an anonymous treatise on human physiognomy and chiromancy. The title is found in a heading preceding the text on f. lb. The treatise consists of two main parts, the first (lb- 17b) dealing with physiognomy, and the second (17b-32a) with chiromancy. The first part consists of an introduction with a separate preface (mukaddime) and seven chapters (makale). These treat, respectively, (1) intelligence (firOset, zeyreklik) (2a); (2) the morals and appearance of people in various regions of the [traditional Muslim] world (2b); (3) the morals and appearance of [various classes of] men (4a); (4) terms related to character and the human body (7b); (5) the parts of the human head and what their condition stands for (9a); (6) the characteristics (‘alamet) of other body parts except the hands (15a); (7) the condition and lines of the hand (17a). This last chapter restricts itself to a number of general remarks, and points, in view of the importance of the subject, to the desirability of an added makale dedicated to it. This, then, is the second part, which consists of, again, & mukaddime, followed by six chapters (bab) on, respectively, (preface) the parts and lines of the hand (18a); (1) the (prognostic) ‘signs’ (ni$dn) of the hand (20a); (2,3,4) the signification (delalet) of the various lines in the palm of the hand (21a, 22b, 23b); (5) the relation between a man’s lines and stars (constellation at birth) (23b); and (6) specific cases (ciiz’vyat) (25a). This part of the treatise is illustrated by four drawings, styled $ekl, picturing palms of hands with indications, written in small red script, of the related constellations and the prognostic value of the various parts and lines of the hand (19a, see plate, 24b, 27a). Although manuals on physiognomy and chiromancy were popular and many copies, anonymous or otherwise, have survived, no other copy of this treatise could be found. (A description of a similar work is found in, e.g., Götz II, 376.) A few marginal additions; a pencil annotation, seemingly a prescription for preparing pekmez, is found on f. 35b. Bound in boards with gold-embossed black leather back and edges; cream paper