Manuscript of Automata

Illustrated manuscript of the Kitab fi Ma'rifat al Hiyal al Handasiya (The Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices) by Badi' al Zaman ibn al Razzaz al Jazari, a treatise on automata devoted to the construction of fifty devices grouped under six categories, deficient. Arabic manuscript on dark buff paper, decorated in black naskh, headings in thuluth. Illustrated with painting in gouache heightened with gold.