Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate World

Persian MS 544 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Persian Manuscripts

Contents

Summary of Contents: The Kulliyāt-i Jalāl-i Asīr (Complete Works) by Safavid-era poet Jalāl al-Dīn ibn Mīrzā Muʼmin Shahristānī Iṣfahānī, pennamed ‘Asīr’ (fl. 17th century). His novel style broke with earlier poets and profoundly influenced his contemporaries, especially Ṣā'ib Tabrīzī. While this volume lacks a colophon, it appears likely from the Indian subcontinent, possibly in the 18th century CE, and is the sole example of this author's work held in the Rylands.
Incipit: (basmala) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b): ای دانهٔ تسبیح خیالت دل دانا * سر حلقه مستان رخت دیده بینا
Explicit: برگ ۳۰۷پ (folio 307b): گر یک قدم راه محت بلد شوی * چون نور دیده آینه نیک و بد شوی | دشنام بیشتر که دعا بیشتر کنم * کلدسته بسته گلشن عمر آبد شوی .
Colophon: No colophon.

For more on the life of the author and his impact, see Fīrūzkūhī.

Language(s): Persian

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Textblock of thin-weight, straight-grained, externally sized and polished, ivoury-coloured paper probably handmade in the Indian subcontinent with ~9 laid lines per cm and no discernible chain lines.
Extent: 307 folios, 2 flyleaves (ff. ii + 307 + ii).
Dimensions (leaf): 239 × 132 mm.
Dimensions (written): 160 × 65 mm.
Foliation: Inconsistent pencilled Arabic numerals on the upper-left corners of the a sides every ten folios.

Collation

Undetermined, but possibly primarily quaternions. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides, with some trimmed off when restored.

Condition

Hand text with caution. In fair but stable condition, with considerable water and insect damage and historical repairs throughout, especially at the beginning and end.

Layout

Written in 1 to 2 columns with 17 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.

Hand(s)

Written in clear black nasta‘līq with occasional shikastah ligatures.

Decoration

Illumination: Folio 1b bears a scalloped domed headpiece with palmette foliate scrollwork executed in pale gold wash.

Ruling: Central text ruled in yell outlined with thin internal single and external double black lines, and surrounded bright red single lines, the latter also useds to mark the vertical column and horizontal dividers.

Additions:
Inscriptions: The first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears the title in Persian.
The second right flyleaf a side (f. iia) bears the title in Latin.
Folio 1a bears the title in Persian. Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘2/G’, and ‘Hamilton MSS No. 461’, with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘544’ written aside.

Binding

Rebound in a European manner, possibly in Shāhjahānābād (Dehli) for George William Hamilton.

Sewn on 4 cord supports laced into pasteboards, with some areas also oversewn. Earlier coarse flyleaves remain with later machine-made wove endpapers added, one bearing an embossed seal (see seal description). Edges trimmed, and red cloth headbands adhered to head and tail. Covered in full naturally coloured sheepskin leather.

Leather exterior spattered black after covering. Board margins blind-tooled with a chain design with a decorative roll. Spine bears an octagonal paper label with the title written in nasta‘līq script.

250 × 148 × 45 mm.

Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition with abrasion on the exterior board edges and joints, the left board warped, and extensive insect damage on the spine and corners. Interior opening restricted to the gutter margins due to oversewing and extensive repairs.

Seal(s):

Embossed seal on the lower-right corners of the first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) bears the figure of a hound with the initials ‘RF’ on either in a serif font at top and again below as an elaborate calligraphic monongram, possibly a stationer or mill mark.
18 × 14 mm. The same embossed seal appears on Persian MS 753.

History

Origin: Probably completed in the Indian subcontinent possibly 18th century CE.

Provenance and Acquisition

Subsequently acquired by Colonel George William Hamilton (1807-1868) from an unknown source. He 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 purchased 352 from his widow, Charlotte Logie Hamilton (1817–1893), 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

    H. Ethé, Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the library of the India Office, Vol. I (London: Printed for the India Office by H. Hart, 1903), cols. cols. 841–845, nos. 1541–1561 [British Library IO Islamic 416 &c.].
    K. Amīrī Fīrūzkūhī, 'Asīr Eṣfahānī' Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. II Fasc. 7 (1987), pp. 765–766.
    C. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British Museum, Vol. II (London: British Museum, 1881), p. 681 [British Library Add. 19662].
    E. Sachau and H. Ethé, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstani, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Vol. I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889), cols. 684–686, no. 1096–1100 [Bodleian MS Elliott 44 &c].

Funding of Cataloguing

Iran Heritage Foundation

The John Rylands Research Institute

The Persian Heritage Foundation


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