Persian MS 396 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Former owner Colonel George William Hamilton mentions the work in two letters addressed to the Scientific Society, Aligarh, dated 1 Jan. and 2 Feb. 1864 in which he urges its publication, although he describes it as ‘...a large book of 650 leaves or 1300 pages, and the printing of it would be expensive’ (see 'Proceedings of the Scientific Society, 12th of March 1864'). While it appears that his wish never came to fruition, his description of the work as a single volume suggests that engagement with it resulted in his desire to split it into two volumes and rebind them in their present state. As a result, the text on folio 1a opens with the conclusion of the fourth daftar separated from the first volume where a scribe replaced it (see Persian MS 395, folio 287a).
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 to 3 columns with 21 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah.
Hand(s)
Primarily written in nasta‘līq script in black, with subheadings in red nasta‘līq and naskh.
Decoration
Illumination: Headpieces on folios 1b, 83b, and 184b. Marginal ruling throughout in gold outlined in thin single and double black lines, surrounded by red and blue lines.
Inscriptions:
- The first right flyleaf bears the title and with the name of former owner Colonel George William Hamilton in Persian, possibly written by his assistant Muhīn Dās:
‘ سه ۳ دفتر از کتاب هشت بهشت کرنیل جارج ولیم هملتن صاحب بهادر ’ - Folio 303b bears the title of the manuscript in Persian on the upper-right corner, as well as two repeated Indic sīyāq numeral notations written in siyāq script that indicate a price of naw lakh chahār rupee (9004 rupees) paid for the intact volume.
Binding
Probably split into two volumes and uniformly rebound with Persian MS 395 in Delhi for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton. Resewn on a single flat support, with folios 50–66, 82–97, 121–152, and 222–237 oversewn. Edges trimmed, spine lined with cloth, and Islamic-style twined chevron endbands worked in red silk and silver threads. Rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style, tight-backed binding in two separate pieces of smooth, dark red goatskin leather that overlap on the spine, without a flap (type III binding per Déroche), with squares along the edges and defined exterior joints. Cloth lining and thong ends attached to the board interiors, then overlaid with European schrotel-patterned marbled paper doublures.
Spine and board perimeters dyed brown. Decorative onlays feature scalloped central mandorlas, detached pendants, and corners glocked in gold, surrounded by a border of gilt insular dots, with yellow ruling criss-crossing the central decoration and surrounding the inner borders and outer margins. A paper label on the spine bears the title written in black nasta‘līq.
279 × 167 × 43 mm.
Handle with caution. Exterior cover extensively abraded, abrasion to the board exteriors.
Accompanying Material
A loose bifolium inserted at front records the table of contents in Persian.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. He acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts from which the British Museum selected 352 after his death, now held in the British Library.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880), purchased the remainder in 1868.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) (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 handlist 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, and in consutlation with Prof. Christopher Markiewicz, University of Birmingham.
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.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile).
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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