Persian MS 993 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Summary of Contents: This anonymous work entitled Dastān Sayyid Maḥmūd , (Story of Sayyid Maḥmūd) appears likely completed in 19th-century Qājār-era Irān. Clearly written on every other folio, with ink transfer on the blank pageopposite suggests the author employed the blank pages as blotting paper, and did not fill the entire volume. The exterior cover bears the title Sultanpur, but this appears unrelated to the text. It suggests that the volume may have originated as a decorated blank book that the author coopted to write this story.

Author and Translator: Anonymous

Title: Dāstān-i Sayyid Maḥmūd

Title: داستان سید محمود

Incipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (Folio 1b): حمد لايق ذو الجلال پاک است * شد کزو بر آب خاک است.

Explicit: گفت میخواهی چو پی افزود کماست *‌داستان سید محمود ماست | باد یا رب در جناب او قبول * طرز فکرم سهر چنین و تبو.

Colophon: تمام شد.

Colophon: Uninformative colophon

Language(s): Persian

This work awaits identification.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Textblock of heavy-weight, cross-grained, ivory-coloured, calendered machine-made European wove paper.

Extent: Undetermined number of folios, 5 flyleaves (ff. iii + ? + ii).

Dimensions (leaf): 202 × 134 mm.

Dimensions (written): 150 × 105 mm.

Foliation: Unfoliated.

Collation

Undetermined. No catchwords.

Condition

Text in good condition.

Layout

Written in 2 columns with 8–9 lines per page. Unruled.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq.

Additions:
Inscriptions: The first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) signed by former owner ‘J. A. Boyle,
London, Nov. 30 1947’.

Binding

Bound in a late 19th century British style binding.

Sewn on 3 recessed cords, laced into pasteboards, edges trimmed, marbled, and polished. False machine-made red and green endbands applied at head and tail. Covered in half maroon calfskin leather with two false bands on the Spine, and marbled paper sides and interior endpapers that match the edges, so produced by the same workshop, in-house. It may be a private commision for the author, who then used it for another purpose.

Spine decorated titled ‘SULTANPUR’ on the spine.

209 × 141 × 18 mm.

Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition, with extensive abrasion to the paper and leather along the spine and board edges. Opening to the gutter margins restricted.

History

Origin: Possibly completed in Greater Iran undated, but possibly late 18th to early 19th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, University of Manchester Professor J. A. Boyle (1916–1978) subsequently acquired it from an unidentified source in London on 30 Nov. 1947.

Bequeathed by J. A. Boyle to the University of Manchester, Feb. 1990.

Record Sources

Bibliographical description derived from an unpublished handlist of additional Persian manuscripts.

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2024 , 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

Soudavar Memorial Foundation and The John Rylands Research Institute

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library

The Soudavar Memorial Foundation

Subjects

Comments

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