Delhi Persian 903B (Oriental Manuscripts, British Library)
India Office Library
Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī by Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī
Contents
Physical Description
India Office stamped foliation. Foliated on every fifth leaf in pencil though the numbers do not correspond.
Collation
Catchwords on the bottom-left corners of the verso.
Condition
Partially damaged. Some folios are stuck together.
The manuscript was repaired at least once, after which the inner lines of the text box were ruled again.
Layout
17 lines per page.
Hand(s)
Nastaʻlīq; copied in black ink, with headings and overlinings in red. Copyist is Aḥmad Multānī.
Decoration
Illuminated polychrome headpiece, mostly in gold (f. 1v).
F. 1r has a note which reads: اخلاق محسنی Ethé No 2188-2250.
F. 122v has a note written by one Muḥammad ʿAlī who introduces himself as a diciple of Yāqūt and another name which reads Najaf ʿAlī Shīrāzī.
The majority of pages have marginal notes explaining the meanings of words and phrases in addition to some anecdotes and hadith.
Binding
Brown leather Indian binding, probably dating from the 19th century.
Oval seal of former owner Khayr al-Dīn reading Khāksār Khayr al-Dīn ʿAbduh, 1225 (1809/10) (f. 1r).
Black Government of India Delhi MSS oval stamp (ff. 1r, 2v, 122v).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Belonged to Khayr al-Dīn (his seal on f. 1r).
Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859.
Acquired by the India Office Library as an administrative deposit in 1876.
Record Sources
Based on R. Levy's description in Drafts for Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the India Office Library, vol. III, Mss Eur E207/33, f. 9. Revised by Ali Shapouran.
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. 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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