Persian MS 868 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
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Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Summary of Contents: This synchronous illustrated manuscript of the collected poems ('Kulliyat') of Muḥammad Ahlī of Shiraz features his lyric poems in the centres, with additional books written in the margins.Author: Ahlī Shīrāzī, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, 1454-1535 or 6 Muḥammad Ahlī of Shiraz اهلی شیرازی، محمد بن يوسفTitle: Kullīyāt-i Ahlī-ʼi ShīrāzīTitle: كليات اهلی شیرازیIncipit: (basmalla) برگ ۱پ (folio 1b):Explicit: برگ ۳۳۹پ (folio 339b): گر باغ مکافات گل و لاله بچینی گر خان نشانیColophon: برگ ۳۳۹پ (folio 339b): تمت الکتاب بعون الملک الوهاب.Colophon: Uninformative colophon.Language(s): PersianTitle: Ghazlīyāt2b (margin)Title: Dibāchah-'i Siḥr-i Ḥalāl3b (margin)Title: Siḥr-i Ḥalāl55b (margin)Title: Shamʻ va Parvānah (margin)55bTitle: Qaṣā‘id (margin)163bTitle: Rubāʻīyāt (margin)173bTitle: Ṣāqī-nāmah (margin)183bTitle: Muqaṭa‘āt (margin)195aTitle: Rubāʻīyāt (margin)227aTitle: Risālah-'i Mu‘ammayāt (margin)233aTitle: Risālah Zubdat al-Akhlāq233aTitle: Risālah Zubdat al-‘Aqā'id233aTitle: Risālah Zubdat al-‘Aqā'id269bTitle: Dībāchah-'i Qāṣīdat al-Maṣnū‘270bTitle: Qāṣīdah-'i Avvāl bi'Ism ‘Alī Shīr Navā'ī287bTitle: Dībāchah-'i Qāṣīdah-'i S̱ānī288bTitle: Qāṣīdah-'i S̱ānī307bTitle: Dībāchah-'i Qāṣīdah-'i S̱ālis̱309bTitle: Qāṣīdah-'i S̱ālis̱Physical Description
Form: codexSupport: Textblock of thin-weight, cross-grained, externally sized and polished, butter-coloured paper possibly handmade in the Shiraz with ~22 laid lines per 20 mm, no discernible chain lines, and average thickness of 69 microns measured on the last ten folios.Extent: 338 folios, four flyleaves (ff. ii + 338 + ii)Dimensions (leaf): 349 × 228 × 0.069 mm.Dimensions (written): 202 × 121 cm.Foliation: Partially foliated in modern pencilled Arabic numerals added to the upper-left corners of the a sides on the initial folios, and by the illuminated headers, but otherwise every ten folios, followed for this record..Collation
Undetermined. Catchwords throughout most of the lower-left corners of the b sides.Condition
In fair but stable condition, with moderate water damage, staining, and cockelling and historical repairs throughout.Layout
Central text ruled in two columns with 12 lines, with the text continuing to the surrounding margins with 28 hemistichs or 14 couplets.
Hand(s)
Written in very clear, primarily black nasta‘līq red subheaders, and occasional passages in gold and blue.
Decoration
Double-page frontispiece within a bold illuminated border.
Illuminated headings on folios 2b, 55b, 163b, 269b, 270b, 287b, 288b, 307b and 309b.
Binding
Contemporary mid-sixteenth-century Shiraz-style binding.
Full panels blocked on the exteriors in both white an and yellow gold feature central scalloped mandorlas, pendants and corner-pieces, and outer borders of alternating cartouches and quatrefoils blocked in yellow gold. A second interior margin appears added later. Doublures have similar decoration, but are executed in gilt cut-out work on varied coloured backing.
355 × 244 × 50 mm.
Handle binding with caution. In fair but stable condition.
Accompanying Material
Ottoman style slipcase of medium brown goatskin leather faced with craquelure patterned marbled papers (ḳumlū ebrī).
357 × 246 × 52 mm.
History
Origin: Probably completed in Shiraz undated but probably mid-late 16th century CE.Provenance and Acquisition
While the circumstances under which this volume arrived in Britain remain unclear, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) acquired it from an unidentified source then sold to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880), on 4 January 1860 for £21 (Crawford Receipts, f. 692).
Subsequently 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, and B.W. Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library: A Descriptive Catalogue (London, 1980).
Subsequently augmented and enhanced by Jake Benson in 2025 with reference to the manuscript in hand.
Availability
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Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
The Soudavar Memorial Foundation
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