RSPA 82 (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Jones Collection
Royal Society Arabic and Persian
Qur'an
Contents
1 copy of al-Qurʾān
Language(s): Arabic
Complete Qurʾān with standard regular juzʾ separations.
Verses are not uniformly divided; in sūrah 2, for example, 2 red concentric circles usually mark the separation between every five verses, but elsewhere, these circles are used to separate each individual verse. There are further examples of use between even four verses.
It is in the same style (and almost identical handwriting as MS RSPA 83, which Dennison Ross and Browne have suggested bears the same style as al-Ḥajj ʿAbd Allāh al-Makkī, who was employed by Jones, and who signed other MSS in the collection, e.g. RSPA 92, see Dennison Ross and Browne, 61-4).
Physical Description
European numerals in pencil.
Condition
The overall condition of the manuscript is very good, with no lacunae or broken pages.
There are small finger marks on f119v, f161r, f208v, f246r, f256r, f279r-v, f362 r-v.
There are (occasionally large) smudges of the ink on f57r, f145r-6v, f151v, 152v, f161r, f163r, f164r, f208v, f471v.
The smudges on f145r-6v obscure various elements of the text, including the catchword on f146v (فأخذناهم) and the rubric juzʾ marking (الجزؤ التاسع) on f145r.
On f164r, the rubric juzʾ marking (الجزؤ العاشر) is smudged, leaving a red stain on 163v.
There are two sections of the text which have been creased along the outer side of the page, f105r-147v and f166r-176v.
There is a very small pinprick hole with a surrounding yellow stain on f100v.
There is visible tape attached to f417v and f425v on the bottom half of the page.
The first word of each line has been smudged on f151v and f152v.
Layout
Text is written uniformly across the folios, with nine lines per side equally spaced.
Margins are 5.5cm from the top of the page, 7cm from the bottom of the page, 8.5cm from the outer edge of the page and 1.5cm from the spine.
Hand(s)
Black ink uniform naskh with rubrications.
Decoration
Red ink used for sajdah markings, juzʾ separations, vocal markers and chapter headings, as well as corrections (usually).
Juzʾ markers, sajdah marks, catchwords and vocal markers used throughout.
Binding
Half leather standard black India Office binding with wine-coloured marble end papers.
Accompanying Material
History
Provenance and Acquisition
RSPA 1-118 were presented to the Royal Society in January 1792 by Sir William and Lady 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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