Persian MS 393 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Physical Description
Foliation marked at top-right corners of the a sides in Hindu-Arabic numerals in black ink.
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column, with 27 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in a clear, small nastaliq hand in black, with subheaders in red, the same as .
Decoration
Illuminated header on folio 2b.
Inscriptions:
- The first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears the title of the volume and the name of former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
- Folio 103b bears two quatrains, in bold nasta'liq hand, with one trimmed off at the fore-edge, in the same hand as the companion volume, Persian MS 392.
Binding
Probably uniformly rebound in a hybrid British-Indian style in Multan, together with the other volumes in full red goatskin leather over pasteboards, without a flap (type III binding per Déroche), as a set for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
321 × 214 × 25 mm.
Handle with caution. In fair condition. Exterior stained, tail headcap broken, and doublures separating,with extensive white salts (spew) likely resulting from prolonged exposure to moisture.
Accompanying Material
- Two folios (one bifolium) loosely inserted at the front of the volume bears a table of contents written in a hand consistent with many other volumes that Hamilton formerly owned.
- Inserted between folios29b to 30a, a folded, loose sheet of highly polished scrap paper bears practice calligraphy lines (mashq) with repeated lines extracted from Chapters 1 and 27:60–65 from the Qur'an together with the devotional Arabic poem known as Li-l Khamasati (For the Five) that praises the Prophet Muḥammad and his family.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Formerly owned by one Āqā Muḥammad Kāẓim, son of Muḥammad Hādī Iṣfahānī, as per his inscription and signatures on the exact companion to this volume, Persian MS 392, folio 1a.
Subsequently obtained by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. During his tenure, he acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts, from which the British Museum selected 352 volumes after his death, now held in the British Library.
In 1868, Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) purchased the remainder.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands 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 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.
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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