Persian MS 266 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
ملاها تقی جامی نامش * و خواهرزادهٔ ملا عبد الرحمن جامی است
Sir William Jones English translation published in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1788, together with translations of the better-known version of Niẓāmī, influenced British romantic-era author Issac D'Israeli's English adaptation, which in turn profoundly impacted subsequent oriental-themed works by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.
Physical Description
Thin Indian laid paper, lightly sized with starch and minimally burnished, and used crossed-grain. Laid lines approximately 1 mm apart, with barely discernible chain lines, approximately 28 mm apart.
Endleaves of late 19th–early 20th c. machine-made cream coloured paper.
Foliation marked in pencil at top-left corner of the a sides in Arabic numerals.
Collation
Catchwords on b side of nearly every folio.
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 to 2 columns, with 7 to 16 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Nasta‘liq script in black ink, in a medium, clear hand for the majority of the text, with rubricated chapter headings
Nasta‘liq script in black ink, in a medium but clear hand that transcribed an unrelated couplet by Sa‘di on folio 79b.
Nasta‘liq script in black ink, in a heavy, rudimentary hand that transcribed six unidentified couplets on folio 79b.
Inscriptions:
- Inscribed by former owner Captain H. F. Cane (d. 1828) on folio 1a: ‘Lilu Mignoon by Hatefee –H. F. Cane.’
- Folio 69b bears additional Persian couplets.
Binding
While it lacks a binder's ticket, the style matches others rebound for Lord Crawford by Fazakerley of Liverpool, half-bound in dark blue morocco-grain goatskin leather. Paper sides of British-made dark blue moirée Spanish patterned with printed marbled gold veins.
gold fillet lines. Spine features blind and gilt fillet lines with full titling.
241 × 162 × 11 mm.
In good condition.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Formerly belonged to Captain H. F. Cane (d. 1828) who inscribed the volume on folio 1a, then later acquired by the Persian scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death his oriental manuscripts were sold through Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) in 1866 to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880).
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s and his Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898. Emended and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2020 with reference to the manuscript.
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.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile)
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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