RSPA 109 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Jones Collection
Royal Society Arabic and Persian
Anthology of Arabic and Turkish poetry
Contents
1 copy of Dīwān al-ʿāshiq
Language(s): Arabic & Turkish
The manuscript is mixed in content: ff1-89 are Arabic poems, ff90-92 are Turkish and then ff111-113 is a poem in Arabic by al-Shahrazuri. Poets which feature include Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk, al-Tawḥīdī, Shihāb al-Dīn Maḥmūd al-Ḥalabī, Ibn Nubātah, Zuhayr, Aḥmad al-ʿInāyātī, Ibn Maṭrūḥ and others. Turkish poems by Nawā, Nasīmī, Fahmī and others.
On f97v there is a note in a European's hand: "Eastern manuscripts of Gen. J. Carnac (=John Carnac) mathnawī bi-shāhid wa-shuhūd “A fine poetical romance by Elisair an Indian poet written in the year 1740” / “So a miscellany containing extracts from seven poems by Hozein” which he lists and whose titles he translates followed by “mathnawiyāt-i Huzayn Seven poems of Hozein” (this being Hazīn Lāhījī d.1766).
Physical Description
European numerals in pencil.
Condition
Textblock is in good condition. There are guards throughout, but very little wear and tear except for some extensive discoloration.
Layout
Hand(s)
The style is mixed; Arabic is written in a clear black naskh with rubrications. Turkish is written in beautiful nastaʿlīq and is only black.
Decoration
Some marginalia. On some Arabic poems Jones has written such things as “bellissima” or, on f65r, “the first couplet highly elegant”. There are two notes on f1r, both of which are in Ottoman. On f94-5 there are some interesting writings in a very square script. This is the alphabet written out (for practice?) and numerical glyphs for large numbers with a small paragraph in Turkish. This script is the same as the poem on 92v by Fahmi. On f106v, there are two names written out (“Bahā ud-Din Zohayr” and “ʿAfif ud-Din Tilimsani”) in a script that is not Jones’s. On f110v there are some abbreviations explained for the Turkish poem. On f113 Jones has written “diwan alʿāshiq: A collection of Arabick poems some of which are extremely beautiful – Anthologia Amatoria”
Binding
Accompanying Material
History
Provenance and Acquisition
RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady Jones. According to Wilkins, this manuscript was given by Sir William Jones.
The Royal Society's collection of 280 Persian and Arabic, and 86 Sanskrit manuscripts were transferred to the India Office Library in 1876.
1876
India Office Library
Record Sources
Availability
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact British Library, Registering for a Reader Pass. Contact apac-enquiries@bl.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript. For information on catalogues and ordering manuscripts see Finding and ordering Persian manuscripts in the British Library.
Funding of Cataloguing
BL
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