Indian Drawings 4 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Persianate South Asian album features 33 primarily facing paintings.
Contents
198 × 110 mm. 177 × 83 mm.
A French inscription appears abraded at right. This folio appears constructed differently from the others in the album and appears likely appended to the balance of the album overall.
دلچند
فتج مصور
337 × 214 mm. 192 × 141 mm. 175 × 127 mm.
These external stencilled margins also appear in the "small" Lord Clive Album and another held in the British Museum. Since the folio is double-sided unlike the others, it must be an isolated inclusion taken from another album.
کشچند
264 × 167 mm. 167 × 103 mm. 152 × 85 mm.
کشچند
264 × 167 mm. 167 × 103 mm. 152 × 85 mm.
Physical Description
Condition
Layout
Binding
Probably originally bound in the Indian subcontinent in a lavish chahār bāgh style binding soon after completion, then subsequently restored in Britain, possibly for Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880), given similar endpapers found in other albums.
Individual folios attached with white cabric strips to form paired binions. Endpapers of heavy-weight, heavily flocked, European machine-manufactured blue paper added as endpapers to the beginning and end. Edges untrimmed, with dark blue and red front-bead decorative endbands sewn at head and tail. Boards originally covered in a 'hemmed' binding structure with smooth black sheepskin applied to the spine and board edges, with prominent central relief cruciforms covered in the same claret-coloured goatskin leather, flush cut with the edges, with defined joints, but without a flap (Type III binding per Déroche). Interior doublures lined with claret-coloured, smooth goatskin leather. Spine subsequently replaced with dark black goastkin leather (similar to Persian MS 10, over a hollow tube, with repairs to the board edges in the same. Interior hinges of red goatskin leather replaced with when rebound.
Boards decorated with recessed rectangles of red goat or sheepskin, blocked with interlaced geometric strapwork punctuated by rosettes, subsequently hand-painted in gold, against a floral scrollwork designs. Cruciforn dividers ruled with double lines along the edges, connected to a central square with reserve quatrefoil design in gold. Outer board interior and exterior margins ruled with wide yellow lines with thin double lines of the same on either side. Interior doublures ruled with single lines on the interior margins, and thick lines with thin double lines on either side, all in yellow.
359 × 256 × 40 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition with extensive abrasion to the exterior leather, and much of the ruling on the relief areas worn away. Boxed
History
Provenance and Acquisition
While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, scholarNathaniel Bland (1803–1865) acquired it from an unidentified source for his library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in June, 1866, paid in two instalments of £450 and £400, and then moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library, Manchester.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2025 with reference to the volume in hand.
Availability
To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Persian Heritage Foundation
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