Album of scaled calligraphic exercises

h. 1280 [1863]

Beginners started with müfredat meşks, consisting of characters and syllables, followed by mürekkebat meşks, which taught pupils about the arrangement of lines using selected texts. This album consisting of 13 kıt’as (calligraphic compositions), each consisting of two lines of sülüs separated by two lines of nesih, opens out like a concertina, constructed by joining the bottom edge of each kıt’a to the top edge of the next. The kıt’a include both müfredat and mürekkebat meşks. The calligrapher has made it easier for his students by using red ink for the dots that measure the proportions of the characters. The album opens with the Rabbi Yessir prayer (O my Lord, make my task easy, not harder, and let it be brought to a propitious conclusion). The next ten kıt’as are müfredat meşks, and the last three kıt’as are mürekkebat meşks. The empty page (8v) facing the last kıt’a is decorated with brown marbled paper with a red hyacinth motif, and the reverse sides of the pages are covered with marbled paper in tones of pale blue, orange and green. The album has been bound in a 17th century binding with brown leather covers. The brown leather binding has covers with medallions and cornerpieces.