It looks as if another correspondent of mine will be making it possible for the second half of al-Makin’s History to be typed up. I have today sent her a cut-down copy of the edition by Erpenius from 1625.
Extraordinarily, there are only two editions of this half of the work (and none of the other half). There is Erpenius’ effort, which is incomplete at the end. There is also the one done by Ali Bakr Hassan in Cairo a few years ago. It would be unfair for me to use that one, since it is probably still in print, although where I don’t know. Indeed I only have a copy of it by the kindness of Dr Hassan himself! But for the same reason I can’t use that as the basis for a free online text.
Here’s hoping this works out as well.