Arabic MS 680 (The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester)

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Persian Manuscripts

Contents

A copy of the story entitled The Romance of Saif Dhu l-Yazan.

Title: Ḥikāyat Sayf dhī al-Yazan al-Ḥaḍramī
Title: حكاية سيف ذي اليزن الحضرمي
Title: The Romance of Sayif dhi Yazan
Language(s): Arabic

The text of the story differs from that of Bulāq and Cairo editions, and also from the manuscripts British Library ii, 1172 and Berlin 9119, to judge from the qutations given therein. The tale is complete in the manuscripts, and includes the full plot. It ends with the death of Miṣr from grief at the loss of the magical bead that Farḥān, his servant, had swallowed.

Colophon on folio 243b gives the date and place of production.

For another copy, see British Library Or 4643, Rieu, C. Supplement to the catalogue of the Arabic manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1894), p. 740, no. 1172.

Colophon: قد كتبه محليه بغيه وقلمه الفقير ... الحاج احمد نظيف ابن المرحوم ... حثمان خوجه الجزاثرى المقيم بالقسطنطينية ... وذلك فى محرح الحرام سنة سبع وخمسين ومائتان والف.
Incipit: الحمد لله رب العالمين ... اما بعد فان محا يرغب فيه ذوو الالباب
Explicit: محا يوجب الاستغراب وقد استوفينا على ايامه الكلام فليكن هذا منتهى المرام

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: paper
Extent: 248 folios (i+243+iv).
Dimensions (leaf): 220 × 151 mm.
Foliation: Modern foliation in Western Arabic numerals in pencil.

Collation

Catchword on every verso.

Condition

A few usage stains.

Layout

Red rulings, broad margins.

153 × 88 mm.

Hand(s)

Clear Turkish Naskh

Decoration

Folios 1b-2a: text in gilded full border with a gilt centrepiece with floral decorations at the beginning of the text, and golden rosettes signaling the end of sentences. The title is inscribed in the center of the headpiece (sarlawḥ).

Additions:

A French note on endleaf iva mentioning Charles-Edouard Pontois (1792-1871): Histoire de Saïf Duliazan (copié d'un vieux manuscrit Arabe) envoyé en hommage au Roi (par l'intermédiaire de M. le Comte Pontois Ambassadeur à Constantinople) par Ahmed Nazif ben Othoman Khadja sujet français né en Algérie (Juin, 1841).

Short descriptive note on the flyleaf ib in Mr Hunt's(?) handwriting: A complete copy of the Romance of Saif Ben Dhi'lYazen - in Arabic. r. Lane's Manners of the Egyptians [...] - "great scarcity of copies" - "even fragments are with difficulty procured".

Binding

Green leather binding, gold-tooled; marble paper paste-downs.

228 × 160 × 35 mm.

History

Origin: Produced in Constantinople; in 1257 AH (1841 CE)

Provenance and Acquisition

Previously in the possession of Ahmed Nazif ben Othoman Khadja (see French note on endleaf iva).

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 back paste-down: Bibliotheca Lindesiana 3/H.

Crawford's handwritten label on back paste-down: AdditionslArabic No. 200 680 حكاية سبف بن ذي اليزن Hikáyat Saif bin dzí l-Yazan

Enriqueta Rylands (1843-1908), philanthropist and founder of The John Rylands Library Rylands, Enriqueta, 1843-1908

Purchased 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.

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Digital Images

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Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

Subjects

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