King's Pote 118 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Nafaḥāt al-Uns.

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Colophon further notes: P.443. A fairly old manuscript but the single line colophon is undated. P.391: internal colophon refers to Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī.

Note concerning manuscript: A numerated table of contents has been added at the beginning (on a separate quire), followed by a note stating 622 great people are listed, of which 34 are women.

References

Browne no. 1322

Palmer no. 118.119

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 pp.349-351 [BL Add. 16717] and p.17 [BL Add. 5567]

Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the India Office (2 vols.) H. Ethé 1903-37 col.765, no. 1359 [BL IO Islamic 2082]

Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library E. Sachau and H. Ethé 1889 col.632, no. 957 [Bodl. Elliot 284]

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 I.2 p.954

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Pp.1-198 is darker ochre paper with a double green ruling.

Extent: 443 pages.

Dimensions (leaf): 23.2 × 12.3 cm.

Dimensions (written): 16.5 × 8.0 cm.

Foliation: Paginated.

Condition

Some worm damage. Some folios have been repaired in the margins.

Layout

18 lines per page.

Ruled in double green up to p.198 and in double red after that. Ruled frame size varies. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: naskh. Quality: Neat (pp.355-373, pp.380-391, pp.411-430, pp.439-443 in mediocre nastaʿlīq ). Scribe: Anonymous.

Additions:

P.1: four seals, mostly erased (one reads Muḥammad, another is dated 1121). Occasional marginal notes.

Binding

Reddish brown leather, European style. Plain paper doublures (watermarked: "G.R."). Decorations: The spine is embossed: "Salemi by Jami". Condition: Good. Dimensions: 23.9 × 12.8 × 4.7 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 1089.

History

Origin: Undated.

Provenance and Acquisition

The "Pote Collection" arrived in England from India in 1790 and was divided between the Colleges of Eton and King's, Cambridge, with the first half alphabetically going to King's. Both halves of the collection are now housed in Cambridge University Library on permanent loan. Most if not all of the manuscripts had previously been owned by Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741–1795).

Gift of Edward Ephraim Pote (d.1832) in 1788.

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on E. G. Browne, "A supplementary hand-list of the Muhammadan manuscripts, including all those written in the Arabic character, preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge", Cambridge, 1922 and E. H. Palmer, "Catalogue of the oriental manuscripts in the library of King's College, Cambridge", J.R.A.S. v.3 (1867), pp.105-131 enhanced with additional descriptions and corrections by Shiva Mihan.

Availability

All manuscripts of the Pote Collection are on permanent loan at Cambridge University Library. Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures consult Cambridge University Library. Contact near_eastern@lib.cam.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World