King's Pote 159 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Dīvān Ḥāfiẓ.

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: D-har in Malva Date: 20 Ṣafar (year 45 ʿĀlamgīr) 1113 / 27 Jul 1701 Scribe: Shīv Rām Dās Surjad-ḥ شيو رام داس سرجدح .

References

Browne no. 536

Palmer no. 159

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 299 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 16.4 × 10.6 cm.

Dimensions (written): 11.1 × 7 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Condition

All folios have been remounted.

Layout

11 lines per page.

Ruled in black-outlined gold, red and a blue outer (ff.1-16) thereafter gold with a black outer. 2 columns. Red and black rubrications. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Quality: Good. Scribe: Shīv Rām Dās Surjad-ḥ شيو رام داس سرجدح.

Decoration

F.1v: an illuminated sarlauh in gold, pale blue and burgundy. Ff.1v-2r: interlinear gold. Gold sprinkling in the textblock throughout.

Additions:

Flyleaf: a smudged seal of Polier (1181) alongside a note saying the manuscript is for him. F.1r: the seal of Polier (1181).

Notes concerning codex: A handsome manuscript in a beautiful binding.

Binding

Dark brown, Indian style. Decorated leather doublures. Enclosed in a purple silk bag. Decorations: Boards: a gold patterned central panel within a border of cartouches and corner-pieces. Doublures: high quality gold lobed turanj with two pendants and a painted gold border. Dimensions: 16.4 × 10.5 × 4.2 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 394.

History

Origin: D-har in Malva; 20 Ṣafar (year 45 ʿĀlamgīr) 1113 AH; 27 Jul 1701 CE

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