Persian MS 421 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 11 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Copied in bold and clear black nasta‘līq, with Arabic quotations and rubrics in naskh.
Table of Contents: List of chapters on the opening flyleaves.
Marginalia: Notes in various hands in the margins throughout. Inscriptions:
- first right fly leaf a side (f. ia) bears the title in nasta‘līq:
‘ترجمه لب الاخبار... موسوم برسم الخزانة ’ - Folio 1a bears an inspection and endowment notices. ‘کتاب احادیث: ترجمۀ لب الاخبار: ترجمه حدیث: ۱۰۸ ورق: ۱۰۲ (ناخوانا): پنجم ربیع الاول ۱۲۶۲ (ناخوانا): اقول انا العبد الضعیف محمد مومن بن نجف قلی بانی قد وقفت هذا الکتاب وقفیا شرعیا لوجه الله تعالی لاولادی و من: بعد اولادی للمؤمنین لا یجوز بیعه و شراره لعن الله بایعه و شاریه’
Binding
Probably repaired and rebound in Multan between 1858 and 1861 for former owner George William Hamilton.
Resewn at two stations, unsupported. Endpapers of comparatively rough and heavy, cross-grained, buff-coloured sized and polished paper ~ 8 ll per cm and a pair of faint chain lines ~ 46 mm apart evident on the first right flyleaf. Edges trimming, with chevrons of red and green silk threads twined over round cores at head and tail. Covered in full red goatskin over pasteboards, with internal doublures of the same, excess widths put down at hinges. Vertical strips disguise the joins.
Exterior margins, title in yellow.
261 × 153 × 21 mm.
Good condition.
1: A library seal impression of Nāṣir al-Dīn Ḥaydar Shāh (b. 1803, r. 1827–1837) dated 1244 AH (1828–29 CE), inscribed with his title Sulaymān Jāh within two stacked, single-ruled cartouches:
‘ خوش است مهر کتبخانه سلیمان جاه * بهر کتاب مزین چو نقش بسم الله، ١٢۴۴’
‘Khvush ast muhur-i kitābkhānah-'i Sulaymān Jāh bahr-i kitāb; muzayyin chaw naqsh-i basmallah, 1244 ’(‘The seal of the library of Sulaymān Jāh is good; it embellishes the book like the design of a basmallah, 1244’).
17 × 37 mm.
2: A library seal impression surmounted by the royal emblem of Awadh of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1801, r. 1842–1847), with beaded ruling and dated 1260 AH (1844–45 CE):
‘ناسخ هر مهر شد چون شد مزین بر کتاب * خاتم امجد علی شاه زمان عالیجناب، ١٢٦٠’
‘Nāsukh har muhur shud chun shud muzayyin bar kitāb; khātim-i Amjad ‘Alī Shāh zamān-i ‘Ālījanāb, 1260’ (‘Every [prior] seal became cancelled since the book became embellished by the seal of Amjad ‘Alī Shāh in the era of his Sublime Majesty, 1260’).
53 × 45 mm.
3: A library seal impression, surmounted by the royal emblem Awadh of Wājid ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1822, r. 1847–1856), single-ruled and dated 1262 AH (1846–47 CE):
‘ خاتم واجد علی سلطان عالم بر کتاب * ثابت و پر نور بادا تا فروغ آفتاب، ١٢۶۲ ’
‘Khātim-i Wājid ‘Alī, Sulṭān-i ‘Ālam bar kitāb, s̄abit va pur nūr bādā tā farūgh-i āftāb, 1262’(‘The seal of Wājid ‘Alī, Sulṭān of the World, upon the book shall be permanent and as bright as sunlight, 1262 AH [1847 CE]’).
41 × 26 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Subsequently acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) who served in India from 1823 to 1867, latterly as Commissioner in Delhi. He acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts, from which the British Museum selected 352, now held in the British Library.
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) purchased the remainder of Hamilton's collection in 1868.
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 2023 with reference to the manuscript in hand.
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.
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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