Persian MS 997 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Summary of Contents: The Shāhnāmah-'i Qāsimī (Book of Kings of Qāsim) by Mīr Muḥammad Qāsim Gunābādī, pen named 'Qāsimī' (d. ca. 1575. An epic mas̱navī (couplet) poem modelled upon the classic text of Firdawsī, the author presents an embellished account of the life Shāh Ismā‘īl I (b. 1487, r. 1501–1524). Evidently commenced during his reign, the author completed it in 940 AH (1533–1534 CE).

Author: Qāsimī Gunābādī, Mīr Muḥammad Qāsim, d. 1574 or 5;
مير محمد قاسم قاسمى گنابادى

Title: Shāhnāmah-ʼi Qāsimī‌

Title: شاهنامهٔ قاسمی

Title: Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl

Title: شاهنامهء شاه اسمعيل

Rubric: برگ ۱پ (Folio 1b): به نستعین

Incipit: (beginning) برگ ۱پ (Folio 1b): خداوندی بیچون خدایی تراست * بر اقلیم جان پادشاهی تراست | تعالى الله ای از تو بود همه * وجود تو اصل وجود همه

Colophon: No colophon

Language(s): Persian

A prior unpublished register quote notes by former owner Samuel Robinson (1794–1884) alluding to a copy of ‘‘Ināyat Allāh’, which must be misplaced from Persian MS 991.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Very fine, thin-weight, evenly formed, straight-grained paper.

Extent: Folios four endleaves (ff. ii + ? + ii).

Dimensions (leaf): × mm.

Foliation: Partly foliated in in Hindu-Arabic numberals on the upper-left corners of the a sides for the first ten folios then every tenth thereafter.

Collation

Undetermined, but probably primarily binions throughout. No catchwords.

Condition

Handle text with caution. In fair but stable condition, extensive stains, foxing, losses and historical repairs throughout.

Layout

Written in 3 columns with variant oblique lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in slightly shaky, inconsitent, but legible black nasta‘līq with red subheaders and markings.

Additions:
Inscriptions: Numbered ‘Nº 19’.

Binding

Probably rebound for the Univeristy of Manchester Library in the mid-20th century, together with Persian MS 978 and 991.

Resewn, with modern, heavy-weight, ivory-coloured, machine-made wove endpapers added at the beginning and end. Edges left untrimmed, spine lined, with machine-made headbands adhered to head and tail. Covered in quarter chieftain goatskin leather with commercially printed 'shell'-patterned marbled paper sides.

280 × 178 × 46 mm.

Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition, with pastedowns delaminated, and tightly sewn with openings to the gutter margins restricted.

Accompanying Material

Various loose notes pertaining to Persian MS 991 within.

History

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

Provenance and Acquisition

Subsequently acquired from an unidentified source by Manchester merchant and scholar Samuel Robinson (1794–1884) of Wilmslow, the author of Persian Poetry for English Readers (1883), who donated it to Owens College (the original institution that evolved into the of The University of Manchester today).

Apparently borrowed by University of Manchester Professor J. A. Boyle (1916–1978) before his death then not returned.

Returned together with manuscripts presented by Boyle as part of his bequest to the John Rylands Library, Feb. 1990.

Record Sources

Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 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

Ḥājjī Khalifāh, Kashf al-ẓunūn fī asāmī al-kutub wa al-funūn = Lexicon Bibliographicum et Encyclopædicum a Mustafa ben Abdallah Katib Chelebi dicto et nomine Ḥaji Khalfa celebrato compositum, Vol. IV (London: [Richard Bentley], 1835), p. 13, no. 7409.

C. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. II (London: British Museum, 1881), p. 660–661 [British Library Add. 7784].

C. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey, Vol. I Pt. 2 (London: Luzac & Co., 1936), pp. 304–305, no 379.

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

Comment on this record