Eton Pote 288 (Eton College Library, Eton College)

Pote Collection

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

Author: Anonymous

Title: ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt (Persian translation in verse)

Title: عجائب المخلوقات

Language(s): Persian

Colophon details: Date: Undated Scribe: Anonymous.

References

Margoliouth no. 147 (shelf/item: 13/2)

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]

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

Physical Description

Form: codex

Extent: 96 folios.

Dimensions (leaf): 20.5 × 13.5 cm.

Dimensions (written): 15.5 × 7 cm.

Foliation: Foliated (twice: in Arabic and Latin).

Layout

13 lines per page.

Ruled in gold, double red and blue on the first opening (with interlinear gold). After that, ruled in double red with a blue outer. Two columns. Rubrications in red. Catchwords.

Hand(s)

Script: nastaʿlīq. Scribe: Anonymous.

Decoration

F.1v: illuminated sarlauh (Indian stlye): gold, blue, red and bright green. Numerous illustrations generally wider than the text block. F.13r. F.17r. F.20r. F.21v. F.23r. F.27r. F.29r. F.32r. F.33v. F.35r. F.36v. F.37v. F.39v. f.42r. f.47r. f.48v. f.50r. f.51r. f.65v. f.66r. f.68r. F.70r. Margins of f.70v. F.71r. f.74r. Margins of f.76v. f.80v. f.83v. f.88r.

Additions:

F.1r: seal of Polier (1181) and two others.

Binding

Reddish brown and dark brown leather, Indian style. A gold inlayed turanj , pendants and corner pieces with a frame ruled in silver. Plain paper doublures. Dimensions: 20 × 13 × 1.2 cm. Boxed. Polier's number: 744.

History

Origin: Undated.

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