Gaster MS Misc 1758 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
For other copies of this work held in the Rylands, see Persian MS 18, 120, 242 and 526.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 17 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with vermilion subheaders.
Binding
European-style single-flexible sewning on five cord supports. Endpapers added, and edges trimmed. Endbands sewn (now missing). Covered in half sheepskin leather with 'Old Dutch' patterned marbled paper sides. Subsequently repaired by oversewing aside the bands to consolidate the spine, with and a semi-limp vellum jacket added, a portion of which remains attached to the right board exterior.
261 × 166 × 88 mm.
Handle binding remnants with extreme caution. In very poor condition due to extensive water damage, with the right board exterior stuck to the vellum jacket. Spine exposed, with openings to the gutter margins restricted by the oversewing. Boxed.
Accompanying Material
Two documents, a binding request form accompanied by a letter from Librarian Edward Robertson to Manchester bookbinding firm H. Richards & Sons.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, the marginal notes reference homework and ‘end of term on 21 Apr. 1817 CE’ which suggests that an unidentified British student of Persian previously owned the volume.
Subsequently acquired by collector and folklorist Moses Gaster (1856–1939) from an unidentified, probably British source as per the English notations therein.
Acquired in 1954 by the John Rylands Library from the heirs of Moses Gaster.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description derived from the Handlist of the Gaster Manuscripts, published in 1995.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023 with reference to the volume in hand.
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
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
Please fill out your details.