Persian MS 289 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
کواثر پندت
In his handlist, Michael Kerney describes this volume as a Dīvān, probably derived from the description of J. Clarke's catalogue; however, it only contains one work by the author and no others.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written primarily in 2 columns with 15 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders by Kavās̱ir Pandit.
Decoration
Illumination: Folio 1b bears a scalloped domed headpiece with bold ultramarine palmette scrollwork on a gilt ground, and surmounted vertical radiating lines.
75 × 79 mm.
Ruling: Vertical column dividers and horizontal headers ruled in thin double black lines. Margins ruled in gold outlined with single interior and double exterior thin black lines, and surrounded by single dark blue lines.
Inscriptions: The right pastedown, top-left, bears bookseller's notations.
Folios 1a numbered ‘Nº 167’, possibly in the hand of former owner Rev. Adam Clarke .
Folio 279b, underneath the colophon, inscribed ‘1700 A. D.’ in the hand of former owner Rev. Adam Clarke .
Bookplates: The right pastedown appears to bears the remnants of a pasted catalogue entry, probably to Clarke's sale catalogue.
The left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘2/K’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 327’, with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘123’ written aside.
Binding
Since Adam Clarke's catalogues describe a different binding, it appears that Nathaniel Bland probably had the volume rebound in its present European style binding.
Endpapers of thick wove paper added to the beginning and end. Resewn single-flexible on four raised cords, laced into pastebaords. Edges trimmed, coloured red, but endbands omitted at head and tail. Spine covered in quarter black goatskin leather, with cords in the headcaps, and the boards faced with 'Old Dutch' comb-patterned marbled papers.
Spine blind-palletted with triple fillet lines by the bands, and along the overlapped paper facing the boards.
244 × 147 × 34 mm.
Binding in good condition, albeit tight sewing restricts opening to the gutter margins.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remains unclear, Methodist minister Rev. Adam Clarke (1762–1832) acquired it from an unidentified source.
After Clarke's death, his son Jospeh Butterworth Bulmer Clarke (d. 1855) inherited the volume and describes its present state in a catalogue published in 1835.
The next year on 20 June 1836, Clarke's son auctioned his father's collection through the London firm of Sotheby & Son, no. 436, which bookseller John Cochran purchased for £3 11 shillings.
Probably sold by Cochran to scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803-1865) for his library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866, and moved to Bibliotheca Lindesiana at Haigh Hall, Wigan.
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, Manchester.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, concisely published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Subsequently augmented and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2024 with reference to the manuscript in hand, and in consultation with Prof Paul Losensky, Indiana University, who correctly identified the work.
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
The Persian Heritage Foundation
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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