Arabic MS 677 (The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
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An early illustrated copy of the Assemblies of Ḥarīrī.
Title: Maqāmāt al-ḤarīrīTitle: مقامات الحريريTitle: The Assemblies of HārīrīLanguage(s): ArabicThe manuscripts contains the 50 maqāmāhs with the usual Preface and Epilogue (where the author gives his name as ابو محمد القاسم بن علي بن محمد الحريري. It does not contain however the Risālahs appended in some copies (e.g. John Rylands Library, Arabic MS 664).
Incipit: قال الشيخ الامام ابو محمد القسم بن على بن محمد بن عثمان الحريري رض الله عنه اللهمPhysical Description
Form: codexSupport: paperExtent: 172 folios (no flyleaf).Dimensions (leaf): 337 × 154 mm.Foliation: One leaf is missing between folios 134 and 135.Collation
Catchword on every verso on the mount, added by a later hand.Condition
Part of folio 89 is lost.
A leaf is missing between folios 134 and 135, and the contents were written in the lower margin, but a part of that was lost in the binding..
Layout
The leaves are all inlaid except folios 2 and 46 which are more recent.
The inlaid parts of folios 14 and 33 are of a different paper, and the lines longer.
Red rulings, broad margins.
249 × 173 mm.
Hand(s)
Bold, clear Naskh of ca. the beginning of the 13th century CE or not more than a hundred years after Ḥarīrī's death. Fully vocalised.
The maqāmah headings were originally in illuminated kūfi script.
Naskh script of maqāmah headings, of the 17th century.
Decoration
131 coloured illustrations: 109 of large size, occupying roughly half of the page, and 32 smaller.
Folios 89b-90a: miniature occupies both pages of the opening.
Illuminated headings; originally in kūfi (e.g. folios 4a, 29a). A 17th-century hand covered the kūfi titles thin slips bearing titles in illuminated Naskh (e.g. folios 6b, 9a, 11a). In places, this later slip with the Naskh title has been partially come off and parts of the original kūfi title are visible (e.g. folios 23a and 26a).
Additions:Folios 2 and 46 are later additions.
Folios 157-171 seems to be later additions: paper whiter, writing closer, vowels fewer, style different. The illustrations in this part are the 32 smaller ones. The notes of the manuscript having been read are on these leaves.
Folio 2a (new title page): imperfect citation from Zamakhshari.
Binding
Oriental binding, gold-tooled with central mandorlas on both covers and paste-downs; probably of the 16th century.
338 × 255 × 50 mm.
History
Origin: Produced in the early 13th century CE.Provenance and Acquisition
Ownership inscription by the maulawi (حثمت ودود) of the 17th century.
Inscribed by reader on folio 170b: ونظر فى هذا الكتاب احمد ... فى الحوران فى سنه.... Mingana deciphers the name as احمد الاسيهي.
Several more inscriptions on folios 172a and 172b, to be deciphered.
Purchase note: Empsit Damasci Theodorus Preston Coll. S.S. Trin. Cant. Soc. 1847 A.D." Theodore Preston is the author of the abridged translation of Harīrī in the Oriental Translations Fund series.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812-1880), book collector and writer on art Crawford, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1812-1880
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847-1913), astronomer and book collector Crawford, James Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of, 1847-1913
Formerly in the Crawford Library (Bibliotheca Lindesiana) at Haigh Hall, Lancashire, which was formed and developed by Alexander and James Ludovic Lindsay.
His bookplate on 172b: Bibliotheca Lindesiana E/3.
Crawford's handwritten label on 172b:
AdditionalMSS. Arabic No.197666677 المقامات الحريري Al-Maqámatu l-HaríríPurchased by Enriqueta Rylands in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847-1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843-1908) Rylands, Enriqueta, 1843-1908 in 1908 to The John Rylands Library .
Record Sources
Catalogue information based on Alphonse Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, Manchester University Press, 1934.Availability
The item is available for consultation by any accredited reader.
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Digital Images
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Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
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