Persian MS 180 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Physical Description
Foliated in pencilled Arabic numerals on the upper-left corners of the a sides.
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 columns with 29 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in a very clear nasta‘līq in black with subheaders in red by the scribe ‘Ayn al-Dīn.
Decoration
Illuminated header on folio 1b, with gilt marginal ruling throughout.
Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Archibald Swinton, Esq.’ and ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ bookplates, the latter with the shelf mark ‘1/A’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 401’.
Binding
Evidently rebound as a set for former owner Archibald Swinton after his return to Britain in 1766. Uniformly bound with Persian MS 181; however, 182 comports with Persian MS 802, and 179 appears to be an unrelated, separate addition. Abbreviated resewing on six cords, laced into pasteboard, edges trimmed and marbled with a loose serpentine pattern drawn over a stone design in yellow, green, black, and red. Decorative front-bead decorative endbands sewn in red and yellow silk threads. Covered in full, bright green calfskin leather, tight-backed and tight-jointed, with 'Old Dutch' patterned marbled endpapers.
Spine fully gilt, with Swinton's arms blocked on gold on skiver leather labels applied to the top panel. Gilt floriate chain borders on the board perimeters, with floral sprig corners, and board edges tooled with a leaf-and-dart roll.
388 × 249 × 60 mm.
Handle with caution. Exterior and board edges abraded, and joints cracked.
1: A partially legible, rectangular seal impression, intaglio-carved in three stacked lines, double-ruled, on the upper-left corner of one ‘...khān [Ḥ]usayn Bahādur’.
12 × 13 mm.
2 (Top): A large rectangular seal impression of former owner Captain Archibald Swinton, intaglio-carved in nasta'liq script in two stacked lines, double-ruled, dated 1174 AH (1760–61 CE):
‘ارچبالد سوینتن رستم جنگ بهادر ۱۱۷۴’
21 × 26 mm.
3 (Spine):Swinton's arms blocked in gold on a skiver leather label adhered to the upper panel of the spine, features a boar tethered to an oak tree:
18 × 17 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Subsequently acquired by Captain Archibald Swinton (1731–1804), who served in the East India Company from 1752 to 1766, initially as a surgeon then later as an interpreter and emissary for Lord Robert Clive (1725–1774), the first Governor of the Bengal Presidency. After amassing a significant collection of manuscripts and works of art, he returned to Britain where he evidently commissioned the rebinding of other disparate volumes together with this one as a set, as evinced by his Anglo-Persian seal impression, bookplate, and arms blocked in gold upon the uppermost spine panel.
After his death, James Christie Jr (1773–1831) sold Swinton's collection in London on 6 June 1810, where antiquarian dealer Thomas Gwennap (d. 1850) purchased it for £1-11s-6d.
Probably purchased from Gwennap by Persian scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death London antiquarian dealer Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.
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.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2021 with reference to the volume in hand, and in consultation with Christie's archivist Lynda McLeod, regarding Swinton's sale.
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
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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