{ "title": "Mingana selected manuscript findings", "reviewed": "2026-11-06", "scope": "Historical catalogue and public-record review; no independent full collation or translation census.", "cases": [ { "id": "quran-identities", "title": "Three Qur’an shelfmarks need separate records", "identifier": "Islamic Arabic 1572a · 1572b · 1563", "status": "Identities and dating boundaries checked", "finding": "The historical catalogue used an unsplit 1572 entry. Current Birmingham records distinguish 1572a’s two leaves from 1572b’s seven. Its radiocarbon result for 1572a dates parchment, not ink; it must not be transferred to 1572b. The failed 1572b sample provides no radiocarbon result.", "gap": "Reconcile the historical folio order with modern shelfmarks and images. Preserve the old catalogue’s dating estimates as historical descriptions, not replacements for current assessments.", "next_step": "Make a folio-by-folio concordance before combining coverage or dates.", "sources": [ "catalogue", "faq" ] }, { "id": "verse-boundaries", "title": "A specific Hud verse-numbering discrepancy remains open", "identifier": "Islamic Arabic 1563 · old 11a/11b and current 11r/11v", "status": "Two published descriptions compared; explanation unconfirmed", "finding": "The historical catalogue gives 11:46–51 and 11:51–57 on these faces. Corpus Coranicum aligns the current faces with 11:44–49 and 11:49–54, including partial verses. Different numbering conventions are a possible lead; a precise concordance has not established the explanation.", "gap": "Cadbury’s latest reply clarified manuscript-reference notation but did not resolve these verse boundaries. Surah 71 must not be described as a missing chapter in these fragments merely because it is absent from their recorded coverage.", "next_step": "Compare visible wording on each face against the cited editions, numbering systems and folio identities; record partial verses explicitly.", "sources": [ "catalogue", "1563r", "1563v", "numbering" ] }, { "id": "instrument-loss", "title": "A damaged instrument treatise has comparison witnesses", "identifier": "Catalogue 1902 (560) · printed p. 353", "status": "Historical losses described; comparison route located", "finding": "The catalogue describes a later first leaf, the main al-Khujandi work beginning on folio 2, a substantial break in its sequence and a surviving fragment on folio 30. ISMI lists four witnesses of the base work: Birmingham 560, Bursa Haraççıoğlu 1217, Cairo Miqat 970 and Oxford Huntington 566.", "gap": "A loss in Birmingham’s copy is not proof that the work is lost in every witness. Oxford’s exact folios, completeness and study-image availability remain to be confirmed.", "next_step": "Obtain existing Oxford catalogue and image references, then select a short matching passage for a documented comparison.", "sources": [ "catalogue", "base", "birmingham", "oxford" ] }, { "id": "separate-supplement", "title": "The Hibatallah appendix is a separate research question", "identifier": "Birmingham 560 · folios 31–35", "status": "Separate work identified; parallel copy unconfirmed", "finding": "The catalogue describes a Hibatallah supplement following the main treatise and notes possible incompleteness at its end. ISMI identifies it as a separate work within the same codex. Its work record lists Birmingham 560.", "gap": "Huntington 566’s association with the base text does not establish that it preserves this supplement. Marsh 663, folios 163–189, is a possible related-work lead, not a confirmed duplicate.", "next_step": "Ask for the correct Marsh catalogue record and compare title, opening and closing words before treating it as a parallel witness.", "sources": [ "catalogue", "birmingham", "supplement", "edition" ] }, { "id": "edition-status", "title": "An edition lead needs a current bibliographical answer", "identifier": "Al-Khujandi · Kitab al-alah al-shamilah", "status": "Scholarly lead located; present coverage unverified", "finding": "Hogendijk’s guide reports Richard Lorch’s edition and translation work as unpublished. A 2025 institutional report documents further research on al-Shāmila. Neither source supplies a verified complete edition for this dossier.", "gap": "An unpublished-work report is not a worldwide census of translations. Current publications, research papers and the status of Lorch’s materials require specialist confirmation.", "next_step": "Request existing references and referrals, rather than label every witness wholly untranslated.", "sources": [ "edition", "recent", "base" ] }, { "id": "calendar", "title": "A dated calendar can test methods of human timekeeping", "identifier": "Catalogue 1915 (571) · printed p. 356", "status": "Historical catalogue description checked", "finding": "The catalogue identifies an anonymous Ottoman astrological calendar for 1055 AH / 1645 CE, associated with Ibrahim I, in fourteen leaves. This is a defined later witness for studying calendar practices.", "gap": "The actual tables, place, computational method and epoch have not been read from manuscript images. This description supplies no independent date for an ancient Flood or the first human act of counting.", "next_step": "Locate existing images and an edition; transcribe a selected table with its labels and units before testing its calculation.", "sources": [ "catalogue" ] } ], "sources": [ { "id": "catalogue", "title": "Derek Hopwood, ed. · Mingana Catalogue IV, revised edition (1985)", "url": "https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=XMingana", "scope": "Historical catalogue consulted privately: printed pp. 1–2, 353 and 356, and the revised-edition introduction. The public link identifies the collection and catalogue request route. Supplied PDFs are not redistributed." }, { "id": "faq", "title": "Birmingham · Qur’an manuscript FAQs", "url": "https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/cadbury/birmingham-quran-mingana-collection/birmingham-quran/faqs", "scope": "Current institutional descriptions distinguish 1572a, 1572b and 1563. Parchment radiocarbon dating is separate from the date of writing." }, { "id": "1563r", "title": "Corpus Coranicum · Mingana 1563, folio 11r", "url": "https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/manuscripts/2452/page/11r", "scope": "Current verse alignment: 011:044:010–011:049:004. Alignment and an accompanying reference translation are not a new diplomatic translation of every manuscript reading." }, { "id": "1563v", "title": "Corpus Coranicum · Mingana 1563, folio 11v", "url": "https://corpuscoranicum.de/en/manuscripts/2452/page/11v", "scope": "Current verse alignment: 011:049:005–011:054:005. Compare the photograph, historical catalogue and numbering systems before reconciling the difference." }, { "id": "numbering", "title": "Michael Marx · The Quran—the First Arabic Book (2011)", "url": "https://corpuscoranicum.de/pdf/Quran_the_First_Arabic_Book.pdf#page=20", "scope": "The discussion distinguishes Flügel numbering from the Cairo edition’s system. This is a possible research lead, not a demonstrated explanation for this manuscript discrepancy." }, { "id": "base", "title": "ISMI · al-Khujandi’s comprehensive instrument treatise", "url": "https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/text/106303", "scope": "Four listed witnesses, including Huntington 566. A catalogue association is not an independent collation of the manuscripts." }, { "id": "birmingham", "title": "ISMI · Birmingham Islamic Arabic 560", "url": "https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/codex/198991", "scope": "One physical codex contains two separately identified works. Base work: witness 99404. Supplement: witness 110393." }, { "id": "supplement", "title": "ISMI · Hibatallah’s supplement", "url": "https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/text/99184", "scope": "This work record lists Birmingham 560. It does not establish that the Oxford witness contains the same appendix." }, { "id": "oxford", "title": "ISMI · Huntington 566 witness record", "url": "https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/witness/208667", "scope": "Located comparison candidate. Current folio extent, losses and existing study-image routes have been requested from the Bodleian." }, { "id": "edition", "title": "Jan P. Hogendijk · al-Khujandi bibliographical guide", "url": "https://www.jphogendijk.nl/khujandi.html", "scope": "The guide reports unpublished edition/translation work by Richard Lorch. Current publication status requires confirmation. Related works by the same author must be checked separately." }, { "id": "recent", "title": "Istanbul Medeniyet University · 2025 Scientiae research report", "url": "https://bilimtarihienstitu.medeniyet.edu.tr/en/news/our-institutes-scholars-present-at-the-international-scientiae-symposium", "scope": "Records a presentation on al-Shāmila as a sundial. A conference presentation does not itself establish a completed critical edition or translation." }, { "id": "imaging", "title": "Cadbury Research Library · imaging services", "url": "https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/cadbury/imaging-services", "scope": "Separate study and publication processes; fees may apply. Self-service photography has conditions. No chargeable order has been placed for this investigation." }, { "id": "bodleian", "title": "Bodleian Special Collections · contact and support", "url": "https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/weston/contact-and-support", "scope": "Official route used for the focused Huntington 566 inquiry sent on 6 November 2026. A response is pending." } ] }