Persian MS 954 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Summary of Contents: The Jahān-i Dānis̲h̲ (World of Wisdom), an astronomical and geographical text completed by 12th-century scholar S̲h̲araf al-Dīn Muḥammad bin Masʿūd al-Masʿūdī, which he translated into Persian from his now-lost Arabic version, al-Kifāyah fī ʿilm haiʾat al-ʿālam. He divides the work into two essays (maqālah) 'Dar bayān-i tarkīb-i aflāk', in twenty-three chapters, (bāb), and the second, 'Dar bayān-i haiʾat-i zamīn' in fourteen bābs. An unidentified scribe completed this volume in 14 Ṣafar 1219 AH (25 May 1804 CE)

Author: ;
مسعودي، محمد بن مسعود المسعودي

Title: Jahān-i Dānis̲h̲

Title: جهان دانش

Colophon: Completed in 14 Ṣafar 1219 AH (25 May 1804 CE).

Language(s): Persian

For another copy of this work held in the Rylands, see Persian MS 708.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Layout

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.

Additions:
Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’, with class mark ‘Arabic MS 795’ e.

History

Origin: Completed 14 Ṣafar 1219 AH (25 May 1804 CE).

Provenance and Acquisition

The circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, but acquired by Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) from an unidentified source, and moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.

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Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2023, with reference to the volume, an unpublished handlist, accession registers, and a Persian description of the volume published by Tawfiq Subhani in 1993.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

Storey Vol. 2 No. 89

Tawfīq Subḥānī, 'Kitāb'hā-yi khaṭṭī-i Fārsī fihrist nashudah dar Kitābkhānah Jān Rāylāndz, Manchistir' Majallah-'i Dānishkadah-i Adabiyāt va ‘Ulūm-i Insānī n.s., Vol. 1, Nos. 2-3 (1372 SH [1993 CE]): pp. 171–172, no. 13.

Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World