King's Pote 58 (King's College Library, King's College Cambridge)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of Bahjat al-Mabāhij.

Author: Shīʿī Sabzavārī, Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn, 14th cent. (a Shīʿite) شيعى سبزوارى، ملا حسن بن حسين

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: 24th Jumādā II 1199 / 4 May 1785 Scribe: Mumtāz ʿAlī ممتاز على .

Colophon further notes: (the same scribe penned King's 254).

Note concerning work: An account of the lives and miracles of the 12 Imams. For another copy see Bodleian Ms. Whinfield 21 (catalogue, part 3, p. 72, entry #2782, which refers to yet others in BL India Office Delhi Persian 578a and 578b).

References

Browne no. 202

Palmer no. 58

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.758b [mention only, as source]

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 I.1 p.182 (1199H)

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: c. 500 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 21 × 13 cm.

Dimensions (written): 18 × 9 cm.

Foliation: Neither foliated nor paginated.

Layout

14-15 lines per page.

Not ruled. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: Indian nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Mumtāz ʿAlī ممتاز على.

Binding

European style, marbled paper on suede with a suede spine. Plain European paper doublures (watermarked). Dimensions: 21.8 × 13.5 × 6.6 cm. Boxed. Polier's number: 109.

History

Origin: 24th Jumādā II 1199 AH; 4 May 1785 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

Funding of Cataloguing

King's College Cambridge

Subjects

Imams (Shiites)--Biography

Comments

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