Persian MS 642 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
The title for the volume, recorded in prior catalogues, does not appear in a header, but derives from a later inscription on the first right flyleaf a side (f. ia), likely in the hand of Muhīn Dās, assitant to former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written 1 to 2 column, in 8 to 12 lines, primarily in an oblique (chalīpā) format.
Hand(s)
Written in clear nasta’līq script by ‘dar khaṭṭ-i Kashmīr-i dilpazīr’, ‘pleasant Kashmir script’) in black, with red subheaders by ʿĀlījāh Kashmīr Khān (fl. early 19th c.).
Decoration
Folios 1b, 77b, 141b, and 163a bear illuminated headpieces.
Marginal ruling thorughout, with folios bearing illuminated headers ruled in gold outlined in thin black single and double lines, surrounded by comparatively thick indigo single lines, with the columns divided by two double-ruled black lines. The remaining folios ruled in pale ochre outlind with single-ruled black, surrounded by comparatively thick single vermilion, with the columns also divided by two lines of the latter.
Inscription: The first right flyleaf a side (f. ia) inscribed with the title in Persian nasta‘līq, likely in the hand of Muhīn Dās, assistant to former owner Colonel George William Hamilton.
Bookplates: The left paste-down: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘2/K’, ‘Hamilton MSS No. 559’
Binding
Probably restored for former owner Colonel George William Hamilton. Resewn on a single thread support, edges trimmed, then twined chevron endbands worked in red and yellow silk threads at head and tail. Bound in a semi-limp brown goatskin leather over thin pasteboards, without a flap (type III binding per Déroche), with squares along the edges due to trimming of the edges. Spine subsequently rebacked in sheepskin leather, with added endpapers and British 'Spanish' wave-patterned marbled paper doublures.
Board margins tooled with a decorative vegetal scrollwork roll in gold. Rebacked spine palleted with double-fillet lines in gold.
177 × 106 × 18 mm.
Handle binding with caution. Binding in fair condition. Board edges abraded, cracking, and breaking. Tightly sewn, with the pening to the gutter margins restricted. Boxed.
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.
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.
Revised and expanded by James White in 2018 with reference to the volume.
Further amended, enhanced, and patron identified by Jake Benson in 2022 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.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile).
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
John Rylands Research Institute
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