King's Pote 190 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Dhakhīrat al-Fiqh.

Language(s): Arabic

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

Colophon further notes: There is no colophon; the manuscript is apparently incomplete (it finishes at end of chapter 4 and the catchword indicates this would have been followed by chapter 5).

Note concerning work: A work on Jurisprudence.

References

Browne no. 639

Palmer no. 190

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: c. 350 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 38.1 × 24.6 cm.

Dimensions (written): 28.5 × 17.8 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Condition

Water damage and damage where the green paint has corroded around headings. All folios have been remargined at the gutter.

Layout

49 lines per page.

Ruled in double red with a blue outer. Rubrications in black-outlined gold, red and blue. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nondescript. Quality: (the hand does not resemble a conventional script). Scribe: Anonymous.

Decoration

Ff.1v-2r: a double page illuminated frontispiece with cross-hatching around the text. Another double page illuminated frontispiece appears around halfway through the volume. Numerous illuminated medallions occur in the margins, accompanying decorated headings.

Additions:

F.1r: five seals including those of Muḥyī al-dīn ʿAlī Khān [see p.281 and p.324 and p.333 of J. Seyller, "The Inspection and Valuation of Manuscripts in the Imperial Mughal Library", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 57 (1997)], Ṣādiq Khān and Arshad Khān year 2 (the same seal, connected with the Mughal royal library, is also found in King's 78; there are related seals in King's 233 and King's 181). F.1r also has various notes (inspection: 5 Rajab year 17; librarian: 7 Rabīʿ II, year 7 - transferred to Sayyid ʿAbd al-Walī; 26 Jumādā II year 5 given to Muḥāfiẓ Khān).

Binding

Marbled paper on suede, European style. Plain paper doublures (watermarked). Dimensions: 38.8 × 25.5 × 5 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 452.

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