Persian MS 174 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Physical Description
Foliation marked at top-right corners of the a sides in Hindu-Arabic numerals in black ink.
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column, with 21 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written primarily in a clear naskh hand tending towards nasta‘līq in black, with subheaders in red, by Ḥusayn ibn Hasan.
missing portions and infilles written primarily in a hasty nasta‘līq script shikastah ligatures in black, apparently by the same hand that completed Persian MS 173.
Binding
Probably bound in the Indian subcontinent in full brown goatskin leather in two separate pieces that overlap on the spine.
Boards uniformly decorated together with the other volumes as a set, with paper onlays for the central scalloped mandorlas, detached pendants, and corners with the boards ruled in white. Paper label on the spine bears the title of the volume in Persian.
304 × 192 × 85 mm.
Handle with caution. In poor condition, with right board pulling away from the spine, otherwise loose sewing, and the text block split between folios 104 and 105, exterior binding joints breaking. Boxed.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Likely either restored for, or obtained by Jonathan Duncan, who governed the Bombay Presidency for sixteen years.
After Duncan's death, his family sold his library through the London firm of Samuel Leigh Sotheby (1805–1861) where Sir Graves Champney Haughton (1788–1849), an early student at Fort William College who excelled in the study of several oriental languages, purchased this set as per his inscription on folio 1b dated Feb. 1818.
Later owned 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.
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.
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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