Persian MS 76 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
In his addendum on first right flyleaf b side (f. ib), former owner Sir Gore Ouseley misinterprets the date of completion of the work by the author given in the explicit on 71b, Sunday 21 Sha‘bān 763 AH (23 Jun. 1362 CE), as a date of completion of that portion of the manuscript, then repeated by Michael Kerney in his handlist. For a copy of this poet's Dīvān, see Rylands Persian MS 531.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 20 lines in the centres of the pages, with another 44 hemistichs in the surrounding margins, for 64 lines totalled. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in black nasta‘līq script with gold headers by ‘Aṭā' Allāh ibn Shaykh ‘Alī.
Decoration
Illumination: Folio 1b, top header bears a gold Kufic basmala on an ultramarine ground.
Ruling: Vertical columns, horizontal section breaks, and margins ruled in gold single lines outlined with thin black single lines.
Inscriptions: The the right flyleaves (ff. ivb–ib) bears a description of the manuscript and the work's author, signed by former owner Sir Gore Ouseley, Hall Barn Park, Feb. 1838, written from left-to-right.
Bookplates:
- Right doublure: ‘Sir Gore Ouseley’.
- Left doublure: ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘F/4’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 298’.
Binding
Probably bound in India then subsequently restored for former owner Sir Gore Ouseley.
Resewn on five recessed cords laced into the original boards. Edges trimmed, coloured red, with tall front-bead endbands sewn at head and tail in brown and white silkthreads. Original boards of smooth, polished dark red goatskin leather, with internal doublures of the same. New flyleaves added when restored, and the original board rebacked in British tan coloured calfskin leather.
Original boards blocked in gold with scalloped central mandorlas, detached pendants, and corners featuring floral scrollwork designs, the last with prominent irises. Rebacked spine fully paletted in gold and titled
‘KULIAT
I
SELMAN’.
Binding in sound by fair condition, with some abrasion to the exterior decoration and the rebacked spine.
1: A small round, scalloped seal impression, single ruled, with the name of a former owner or associate, Farīdūn Aḥmad:
‘بفریدون المستهر المعتمد احمد علی الله الصمد’
~12 mm. dia.2: An elongated hexagonal seal impression, double-ruled, bears the name of a former owner or associate, Sayyid Muḥammad:
‘غلام خاندان محمد سید استاء غبار اشرع احمد’
11.5 × 17 mm.History
Provenance and Acquisition
Probably previously owned by Farīdūn Aḥmad and another individual named Sayyid Muḥammad, as per their seal impressions on 1a.
Subsequently acquired by Sir Gore Ouseley (1770–1844).
Later obtained by scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.
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, concisely published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2021 with reference to the volume in hand, and in consultation with Elaine Wright, Curator of Islamic Collections, Chester Beatty Library (retired), regarding potetntial attributions for the manuscript.
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).
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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