Persian MS 735 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
بہا مصاحب بہای حکم سنگہ
جارج ولیم هملٹین
Note that in his handlist, Micheal Kerney previously misidentified this class mark as Persian MS 734 and describes it as Persian MS 730, which contains three different works on falconry; however, it actually contains only one. For another copy of this work held in the Punjab University Library, see Naushahi's catalogue.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 13 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.
Inscription: The second right flyleaf (f. iia) describes the volume, with name of its patron Colonel George William Hamilton underneath, likely in the hand of his assistant Muhīn Dās.
Bookplates: Left pastedown: Bibliotheca Lindesiana with pencilled shelfmark 1/F, and Hamilton MSS No. 622 with the name and number crossed out and Persian and 705 written aside.
Binding
Probably bound in a hybrid British-Indian style in Multan for Colonel George William Hamilton, given how the style matches his other volumes rebound there.
Sewn on two stations, unsupported. Endpapers of comparatively rough cross-grained paper added to the beginning and end. Edges trimmed chevron endbands of red and green threads twined at head and tail. Covered in full reddish-brown goatskin leather, tight-backed, with defined joints and squares along the edges (Type III binding per Déroche). Internal doublures of the same leather, with their excess widths adhered to the first and last flyleaves as hinges to connect the cover to the textblock, covered by vertical strips of paper, serrated along one edge, to disguise the joins.
Spine bears an octagonal paper label with the title in nasta‘līq script.
238 × 182 × 30 mm.
Binding in good condition with minor white salts (spew) on the interior doublures resulting from prolonged exposure to moisture.
1: A rectangular stamp of ‘S. Baurie Fils, Bordeaux’:
17 × 12 mm.
2: An unidentified armorial stamp features a fortress with four towers, with griffin or lion above, surrounded by decorative scrollwork and surmounted by a crown:
17 × 13 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Hamilton acquired over a thousand Indian and Persian manuscripts, which he brought to Britain after his retirement in 1867. After his death the following year, the British Museum purchased 352 volumes 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 in 1868 for 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 and corrections by Jake Benson in 2024 with reference to the volume 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
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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