Persian MS 952 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
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
Collation
Condition
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.
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
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Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023, with reference to the volume, an unpublished handlist, accession registers, and a Persian description of the volume published by Tawfiq Subhani in 1993.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
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
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