Persian MS 952 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

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Persian Manuscripts

Contents

Summary of Contents: A Persian inscription on the first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) identifies this incomplete dictionary as the Jāmi‘ al-Lughāt (Assembly of Languages) and ascribes the work to one Qamar al-Dīn Ḥusyanī, while another in English vaguely describes it as ‘Arabic explained, Persian’. The text regrettably lacks both the opening and a significant number of final pages, but on the basis of the script style, extensive damage, and numerous historical appears, it may possibly date to the 15th–16th century CE.
Author and Attributed name: Qamar al-Dīn Ḥusyanī;
قمر الدین حسینی
Title: Jāmi‘ al-Lughāt
Title: جامع اللغات
Title: Arabic explained, Persian
Incipit: برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): ⟨...؟⟩ زده‌ آب بیکرانرا یعنی رونـق سببی و ⟨...؟⟩ بیکر جـنوبی و شیدایی‌ ⟨...ه؟⟩ کرده، و(؟) آتش سودا یعنی کرمی طبع و فیاضی‌ آن و تیری لفکر(؟) ⟨ـت...؟⟩ اِتِتاَ بکسرتین مع التشدید پرهیزیدن و ترسیدن في اتحيا ⟨...تح؟⟩ برهیز گاردان اِتِکاَ بالکسرتکیه کردن اِثراً بالکسر توانگر شدن ⟨ـا...؟⟩ بارکسر برای دیک دیکیایه کردن اَثناَ بالفتخ ميانه ⟨...؟⟩
Explicit: برگ ۶۷۹پ (folio 679b): ...هامون دشت و زمین هموار  و سخت که باران قبول نکند و هامن‌‌ و هان ‌ یعنی‌ بدلیز و بدلیز و موش (؟)...
Colophon: No colophon
Language(s): Persian

In his essay, Subḥānī misreads the name of the ascribed author as ‘Fakhr al-Dīn’. Some, but not all terms, appear verbatim in the Shums-ool-Loghat published under the direction of a Portuguese resident of Calcutta named Joseph Barretto (1786–1824 in 1806, hence that and this manuscript both apparently reference a common unidentified source.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: 679 folios, 2 flyleaves (ff. i + 679 + i).
Dimensions (leaf): 270 × 170 mm.
Dimensions (written): × mm.
Foliation: From folio 4a onwards, Hindu-Arabic numerals appear in black ink on the centres of the a sides.

Collation

Undetermined. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.

Condition

Handle text with caution. In poor but stable condition, with extensive water and insect damage and subsequent historical repairs throughout.

Layout

Written in 1 column with 25 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black naskh albeit with occasional unusual ligatures and red subheaders for terms.

Additions:
Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘3/C’, and ‘Hamilton MSS No. 99’, with the name and number crossed out and and class mark ‘Arabic’ and ‘304’ written aside, then the current class mark, ‘Persian 952’ written underneath.

Binding

Probably rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style inDelhi for Colonel George William Hamilton

Resewn and endpapers of comparatively heavy, flocked-flocked, and unevenly formed papers added as endpapers to the beginning and end. Edges trimmed, then chevron endbands twined at head and tail. Covered in half dark brown goatskin leather with 'shell'-patterned marbled paper sides, over pasteboards.

× × mm.

History

Origin: Possibly completed in the Indian subcontinent; undated, but possibly 15th to 16th centuries CE.

Provenance and Acquisition

Subsequently acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. He acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts, from which the British Museum selected 352, now held in the British Library.

Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) purchased the remainder of Hamilton's collection in 1868.

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, Manchester.

Record Sources

Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, concisely published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023, with reference to the volume, an unpublished handlist, accession registers, and a Persian description of the volume published by Tawfiq Subhani in 1993.

Availability

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Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

The Soudavar Memorial Foundation

Subjects

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