Persian MS 9 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)

Decoration

42 illustrations primarily of the Shāhnāmah, with 2 unfinished preliminary sketches, and 11 blank spaces indicate the volume planned to feature 55 illustrations total. B. W. Robinson identifies the hands of two painters, A and B. Lavishly illuninated headers also appear at the start of each work in the Khamsah, all in the un-outlined style of illumination associated with Shiraz from the Muzaffarid period to the second half of the fifteenth century.

Illustrations:

1. Folio 18a: The blacksmith Kāva and his two sons before Zahhāk. Painter A.
   76 × 108 mm.
   Published: Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library, p. 98, no. 431.
2. Folio 28b: The murder of Īraj by his brother Tūr. Painter B.
   76 × 108 mm.
   Published: Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library, p. 98, no. 432. Slight flaking towards outer edge, with Iraj's features retouched. The central group portrayed here became a 'stock' image in the Turkman period. For comparison, see Ars Orientalis I (1954) p. 106 and pl. 6 fig. 15 from the Ḥakīm Shāhnāmah.
3. Folio 38b: Zāl brought down from the Simurgh's mountainous nest by his father Sām, whose elephant awaits him in the lower right-hand corner. Painter A.
   114 × 108 mm.
   Published: Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library, p. 99, no. 433. Group round the elephant badly smudged. According to Robinson, Persian illustrations of this particular moment neither appear elsewhere nor provide Sām with an elephant.
4. Folio 44a: Zāl and Rūdābah stand hand-in-hand by an orange-red carpet under an open window in the palace of the latter's father. Painter A.
   89 × 108 mm.
   Both faces damaged, with Rūdābah's retouched in black ink. A strong contrast to the normal Persian representations of the happy couple.
5. Folio 52a: Zāl meets Sīndukht, mother of Rūdābah, whilst an axe-bearing groom holds his horse. Painter A.
   82 × 108 mm.
   Published: Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library, p. 99, no. 435. Heavily abraded.
6. Folio 78a: Rustam's fourth labour in which he attacks and kills the witch, with his arms piled on a stool behind. Painter B.
   89 × 108 mm. A classical Shirazi composition for this favourite subject features Awlad tied to a tree, with Rakhsh at left, and the two principals in the cave on the right. Slight flaking, with the demon's head smudged.
7. Folio 80b: Rustam's seventh labour: he kills the White Dīv. Painter B.
   133 × 152 mm. Published: Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library, p. 100, no. 437.

Illumination:

• Folio 1b bears a scalloped domed headpiece with gilt palmette foliate scrollwork on an ultramarine ground and an uninscribed central cartouche, and four vertical radiating lines that commences the introduction.
  34 × 106 mm.
• Folio 1b, top-left of the other headpiece, bears an trapezoidal headpiece that commences the Makhzan al-Asrār, the first work in the Khamsah.
  19 × 33 mm.
• Folio 7b, a rectangular headpiece commences the Shāhnāmah.
  35 × 105 mm.
• Folio 56b, top-left a trapezoidal headpiece commences the romance of Khusraw va Shīrīn, the second work in the Khamsah.
  20 × 3p mm.
• Folio 219b, top-left, a trapezoidal headpiece commences the romance of Laylī va Majnūn, the third work in the Khamsah.
  20 × 37 mm.
• Folio 332b, top-left, a trapezoidal headpiece commences the Haft Paykar, the fourth work in the Khamsah.
  20 × 34 mm.
• Folio 359 a rectangular headpiece commences the reign of Shāh Luhrāsp from the Shāhnāmah.
  45 × 106 mm.
• Folio 457a, top-left, a trapezoidal headpiece commences the Sharafnāmah, the the first part of the Iskandarnāmah, the fifth work the Khamsah.
  20 × 35 mm.
• Folio 620b, top-left, a trapezoidal headpiece commences the Khiradnāmah, the second part of the Iskandarnāmah, the fifth work in the Khamsah.
  20 × 36 mm.