King's Pote 222 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Samar al-Falāsifah (“Tales of the Philosophers” of Greece and Rome).

Author: Lāhūrī, ʿAbd al-Sattār ibn Qāsim لاهورى، عبد الستار بن قاسم

Note concerning author: ʿAbd al-Sattār was a student of the celebrated Jesuit missionary Xavier from whom he learned Latin at the command of Akbar.

Title: Samar al-Falāsifah (“Tales of the Philosophers” of Greece and Rome)

Title: سمر الفلاسفه

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: Rudauli Date: 12 Ramaḍān 1197 / 11 Aug 1783 Scribe: Mīr Asad ʿAlī مير اسد على .

Colophon further notes: The same scribe might have copied Bodleian Ouseley 176 in 1197.

References

Browne no. 770

Palmer no. 222

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.177b and p.1077a [BL Add. 16685]

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 I.2 p.1110 (1197H); I.1 p.164 (footnote)

Mughals in India: a bibliographical survey. Vol. 1. Manuscripts D.N. Marshall 1962 p.25 (Thamarat al-falasifah)

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Thin chickpea coloured, burnished paper.

Extent: 108 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 23.4 × 17.7 cm.

Dimensions (written): 16.5 × 12.2 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Condition

Good condition.

Layout

15 lines per page.

Ruled in black-outlined yellow with a blue outer. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Mīr Asad ʿAlī مير اسد على.

Binding

Plain brown leather, European style. Plain paper doublures (watermarked). Dimensions: 24 × 17.7 × 1.8 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 544.

History

Origin: Rudauli; 12 Ramaḍān 1197 AH; 11 Aug 1783 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