Eton Pote 279 (Eton College Library, Eton College)

Pote Collection

Summary of Contents: 1 copy of ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt (Persian prose translation).

Author: Qazwīnī, Zakarīyā ibn Muḥammad, ca. 1203-1283 قزويني، زكريا بن محمد، 605-682 هـ

Title: ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt (Persian prose translation)

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Place: Irajpur Date: Friday, year 33 of Aurangzeb i.e. 1100) / 1688-89 Scribe: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wahb شيخ عبد الوهب .

Colophon further notes: Colophon written with different pen.

References

Margoliouth no. 58 (shelf/item: 9/12)

Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum (3 vols.) C. Rieu 1879-1883 p.462 [BL Add. 16739]; p.995 [BL Or. 1621]

Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library E. Sachau and H. Ethé 1889 col.399, no. 397 [Bodl. Ouseley 312]

Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Part III A.F.L. Beeston 1954 p.15 no. 2506 [Bodl. Ms. Pers. d. 61]

Geschichte der arabischen Literatur C. Brockelmann 1892-1902 (2 vols. plus supplements) GAL I.478; GAL Supp. I.878

Persian Literature: a bio-bibliographical survey C. A. Storey 1927–39 II.1 p.126

Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens, C. Rieu (1846-1871) p.185 no.386 [BL Add. 7504 Rich.]

Supplement to the catalogue of the Arabic manuscripts in the British Museum, C. Rieu (1894) p.473 no.698 [BL Or. 1527]

A catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the University of Cambridge, E. Browne (1896) p.208, no. 126 [Camb. Nn. 3.74]

A catalogue of the Arabic manuscripts in the Library of the India Office (vol. 1), O. Loth (1877) p.209, no. 723 [BL IO Islamic 845]

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 416 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 24.5 × 15.5 cm.

Dimensions (written): 19 × 10.5 cm.

Foliation: Foliated.

Layout

15 lines per page.

Ruled in double red with a blue outer. Rubrications in red.

Hand(s)

Scribe: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wahb شيخ عبد الوهب.

Decoration

Numerous illustrations.

Additions:

Flyleaf (in English): "Wonders of Creation. A most valuable manuscript". F.1r: seal of Polier (1181) and 4 other seals (one: Jaʿfar Allāh Virdī Khān Saljūkī; another for Mulchand, dated 1136). Reading note: 12 Shaʿbān, year 16. Inspection note: 20 Ramaḍān, year 7 of Muḥammad Shāh (1137) - entered the library of Mulchand.

Binding

Reddish brown leather, European style. Plain paper doublures. Dimensions: 25 × 15.5 × 6 cm. Unboxed. Polier's number: 745.

History

Origin: Irajpur; Friday, year 33 of Aurangzeb i.e. 1100) AH; 1688-89 CE

Provenance and Acquisition

The "Pote Collection" arrived in England from India in 1790 and was divided between the Colleges of Eton and King's, Cambridge, with the second half alphabetically going to Eton. Both halves of the collection are now housed in Cambridge University Library on permanent loan. Most if not all of the manuscripts had previously been owned by Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741–1795).

Gift of Edward Ephraim Pote (d.1832) in 1788.

Record Sources

Manuscript description based on D.S. Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of Eton College, Oxford, 1904 enhanced with additional descriptions and corrections by Shiva Mihan.

Availability

All manuscripts of the Pote Collection are on permanent loan at Cambridge University Library. Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures consult Cambridge University Library. Contact near_eastern@lib.cam.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World