Persian MS 309 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Former owner Nathaniel Bland repeatedly references this work in his seminal essay on chronicles of poets, and E. G. Browne published a critical edition in 1901. For other copies in the Rylands collections, see Persian MS 54, 310, and 838.
Physical Description
Incomplete Hindu-Arabic pagination ink black ink on the upper corners until folio 12b.
Collation
Catchwords on b side of nearly every folio.
Condition
In good condition.
Layout
1 column and 2 for some poetry. 15 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Copied in a neat nasta'liq script hand in black, with Arabic quotations, names of poets, and some descriptors in red.
Bookplates and Binder's Ticket
-
Left paste-down , pasted binder's ticket: ‘Bound by R. Macculloch No 143 Mirzapore Calcutta’.
- Left paste-down, ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘2/G’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 470’.
Binding
Bound by Robert MacCulloch (fl. 1827–1834) in Mirzapore, Calcutta (Kolkata). According to East India Company records (Z/O/1/10 No. 6261, spelled ‘McCulloch’) obtained a bond and covenant with security of £500 to reside in Bengal, sponsored by Edinburgh bookbinders Archibald Sinclair of Shakspear Square, and James Marsh of Nether Bow, Edinburgh. An earlier record (N/1/12 f.44) recording the baptism of one ‘John McCullock, son of bookbinder Robert’ born at Fort William in 1822 likely references to the same individual.
Abbreviated sewing on three recessed cords with linen thread. Cloth endbands of the same linen applied to head and tail. Quarter bound by ‘R. MacCulloch, 145 Mirzapore,Calcutta’ in starch-filled linen cloth, gray-brown British shell patterned marbled paper sides, light brown sprinkled edges, and European wove paperendpapers.
Red sheepskin skiver leather label applied to the spine titled ‘TUSKIRAH I DOULET SHAHW’ in gold.
252 × 162 × 41 mm.
Handle with caution: in fair condition, abrasion to the edges and headcaps.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Subsequently acquired by Persian scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death London antiquarian dealer Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.
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.
Manuscript description completed by James White in 2017.
Record subsequently amended and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2021 with reference to the volume.
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 Soudavar Memorial Foundation
Please fill out your details.