DESCRIPTION:
Taqsim (Arabic: تَقْسِيم‎ / ALA-LC: taqsīm; Greek: ταξίμι taksimi, Turkish: taksim) is a melodic musical improvisation that usually precedes the performance of a traditional Arabic, Greek, Middle Eastern, or Turkish musical composition.Taqsim traditionally follows a certain melodic progression. Starting from the tonic of a particular Arabic maqam, the first few measures of the improvisation remain in the lower ajnas of the maqam, thereby introducing the maqam to the listener. After this introduction, the performer is free to move anywhere in the maqam, and even to modulate to other maqams, as long as he returns to the original one. Taqsim is either a solo instrument performance, or one that is backed by a percussionist or other instrumentalist playing a drone on the tonic of the maqam.Taqsim is widely regarded as a connection to the spirit world.

The illustrations are from The Morgan Crusader Bible. It was originally a Picture Bible without text created for and likely commissioned by Louis IX, the crusader king of France (1226-1270). It presented Old Testament history with an emphasis on holy war and kingship. Sometime after the death of Louis IX, unknown scribes added Latin texts to the margins of the manuscript. There are also more modern inscriptions added including Persian and Judeo-Persian. Six painters participated in the illumination of the Gothic Crusader Bible. Their miniatures are not only different in style but also in terms of colouring. A very clear difference is discernible in the rich use of gold. The original binding was lost during the centuries. However, the Bodleian Library in Oxford still possesses a manuscript which King Louis IX commissioned around the same time as the Crusader Bible and which still is in its original Gothic de luxe leather binding. That binding was used as a model for this fine art facsimile edition.