Persian MS 750 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Note that in his handlist, Michael Kerney misreads Abū Ḥanīfah's name as ‘Abū Khaifah’. For a detailed overview of the work, its authorship, and contents, work see Ivanow catalogue (ASB 1037).
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 25 lines per page. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in clear black nasta‘līq with red subheaders.
Table of Contents: listed in Persian in another later hand on folios 1a to 2b.
Marginalia: notes in the margins, together with internal glosses and emendations by different hands thoughout. Inscriptions: The second right flyleaf a side (f. iia) bears the Persian title in black nasta‘līq. Bookplates: Left pastedown: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with pencilled shelfmark ‘2/D’, and ‘Hamilton MSS No. 667’, with the name and number crossed out and Persian and 750 written aside.
Binding
295 × 178 × mm.
Binding in fair but stable ondition, with the upper headcap broken and the lower abraded, and white salts (spew) on the interior doublures, likely due to prolonged exposure to moisture.
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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