Persian MS 39 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
The author references a work by a variant title Majma‘ al-Fuqarā' or Majmūa‘ al-Fuqarā' in his compilation of ornate prose eplitolography entitled Munsh'āt-i Barahman. However, in their notes on this passage published to their critical edition of that work, S. Ḥ. Qāsimī and and W. Ḥ. Siddiqī apparently could not locate any copies of this work in subcontinental catalogues that they consulted. For a recent analysis of this author's life and ouvre, see Kinra. For a copy of this author's Dīvān, see Rylands Persian MS 584.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 9 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders and markings.
Decoration
Illustrations: Seventy-two portraits of different deities and famous holy men of the Mughal Empire; however, ten blank spaces at the end of the manuscript suggest that the painter never finished it
Inscription: The final left flyleaf a side (f. iva) bears several pencilled inscriptions, presumably in the hand of former owner Nathaniel Bland, which includes an illegible price paid for the volume, then identifies it as formerly
‘Sir Gore Ouseley's
72 Drawings
3 Dº loose(?)
_
75
places for 10 more
& 3 blank pages ’.
Bookplates: The left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘F/6’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 49’.
Binding
Rebound in Britain, possibly for former owner Sir Gore Ouseley, although the style markedly differs from other volumes from his library.
Resewn on two recessed cords, laced into pasteboards, then edges trimmed and gilt, nd decorative front-bead endbands sewn at head and tail in cream, as well as medium and dark brown silkthreads. polished dark red goatskin leather, with internal doublures of the same. Flyleaves of dark brown wove stiff-leaved to ivory wove add at front and back. Covered, hollow-backed, in full, medium-brown, straight-grained morrocco goatskin leather, with four pairs of false bands on the spine.
Spine panels palleted with single fillets besides the bands, with dashed rope designs upon and diapered ropes between them,and the board edges bear diagonal lines bound by double fillets, all in gold. Spine vaguely titled
‘ILLUMINATED
PERSIAN
MANUSCRIPT’.
Handle binding with caution, with the left board detached and some abrasion to the exterior.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Subsequently acquired by Sir Gore Ouseley (1770–1844), as per a notation to that effect on the final left flyleaf a side (f. iva).
Later obtained by scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865) for his library at Randalls Park, Leatherhead. After his 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.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume in hand, and in consultation with Prof Rajeev Kinra, Northwestern University, regarding the attribution of this text to the author.
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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