Persian MS 947 (The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Riz̤ā Samīʻʹzādah published a critical edition of the text based upon this manuscript and the other surviving half in Konya.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 to 2 columns, with 17 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭārah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written primarily in black and sepia naskh script with sub-headers in red.
Inscriptions:
- The right pastedown bears a pasted note in Arabic and English that describes the work but misattributes authroship to Rashīd al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, Vaṭvāṭ (ca. 1114–1182).
- Folios 1a and 4a inscribed by former owner Muḥammad Rashīd, the latter adjacent to his seal impression and a price of 25.
‘محمد رشيد دارنده وى’
Binding
Rebound in the 19th century. Unsupported sewing at two stations pasteboards, with twined chevron endbands worked in pink and blue ilk threads. Spine, flap, and board edges all hemmed in medium brown goatskin leather faced with a roller=printed decorated papers, with a flap (type II binding per Déroche). Board interiors lined with blue paper. A binion of straight-grained, ivoury-coloured, unwatermarked European wove paper added only at the end.
A paper label adhered to the spine bears the title in naskh.
241 × 196 × 52 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In poor condition with exterior leather and paper delaminating, signs of insect damage, and broken or loose sewing throughout. The fore-edge flap fits improperly, which causes the envelope flap and right board to yawn. Boxed.
1: Folio 1a bears partially-legible blue circular seal impression, with a central inscription stacked in three lines double-ruled, surrounded by four cartouches, single ruled, one of which clearly names former owner Jibrā'īl bin Yūsuf al-Mukhalla‘ (d. 1851), albeit posthumously dated 1877. ~38
2: Folio 4a bears a black oval seal impressions of a former owner named Muḥammad Rashīd, in three stacked lines, single-ruled.
‘مجمد رشيد رب وفق امور’
13 × 15 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Formerly owned by one Muḥammad Rashīd as per his seal impression on 4a and adjacent inscriptions there and on 1a.
Subsequently acquired Syrian scholar and translator Jibrā'īl bin Yūsuf al-Mukhalla‘ (d. 1851) as per his seal impression and adjacent notation on folio 1a, then auctioned together with the rest of his library in Damascus in 1920.
Evidently obtained by London antiquarian booksellers and publishers Luzac & Co..
Purchased by the John Rylands Library from Luzac & Co. in 1920.
Record Sources
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to an unpublished handlist and accession registers, and to the manuscript in hand.
Availability
The manuscript is available for consultation by any accredited reader.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile)
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