Sinan Pasha, Tadharu’a-nama (prayers and invocations to God), dedicated to Sultan Bayazid II (r.1481-1512), Turkey, Ottoman, circa 1481-1512

Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 31 leaves plus a flyleaf, 17 lines to the page written in naskh script in black ink, opening double page with 2 dedication roundels in gold on blue, following page with illuminated headpiece with bismillah in white thuluth script against a blue ground with scrolling split-palmettes, contemporary red morocco binding with simple tooled decoration, one with cartouche reversed

in fairly good overall condition, binding worn with repair, losses to some leaf edges, particularly at the opening, minor stains, illuminated headpiece splitting, pages generally clean, as viewed.
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Like his father Sultan Mehmed II (‘the Conqueror’), Bayazid was a renowned bibliophile who took great interest in his father’s library, and continued to commission and acquire rare manuscripts once he ascended the throne. A library identification inscription written in riqa’ script in black ink at the top of folio 1r reads: “tadharu’a – nama Sinan Pasha al- marhum min qibal al-Mawa’iz” which translates as follows: “the tadharu’ – nama of the late Sinan Pasha prior to al – Mawa’iz”. The hand is probably that of Sultan Bayazid II since it is very similar to another inscription written in the same script by the Sultan (and in the same place, usually near the library inventory number on folio 1r), with an added note stating that the inscription was written in the noble hand of Sultan Bayazid. This inscription is published in J. Raby and Zeren, Turkish Bookbinding in the 15^th Century, London, 1993, p.102, no.83 and confirms the involvement of the Sultan personally in the cataloguing and organising of his library.