Persian MS 90 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
A Bahāristān (Spring Garden) of Jāmī with letters by the Mughal Emperor ʻĀlamgīr, completed 1201 AH (1787 CE).
Contents
References
References
Physical Description
Textblock comprised of two types of paper, both handmade in Britain. The first bears a watermark of Britannia surmounted by a crown, countermarked dated ‘1801’, also surmounted by a crown, with chain lines 22 mm and laid lines 1mm apart. The second type watermarked ‘Budgen 1799’ of Kent papermaker Thomas Budgen with chain lines 13 mm and laid lines ~1mm apart. Endpapers of the same stock sewn together with the textblock, hence the right flyleaf comprises the first folio.
Collation
Condition
Layout
1 column throughout. Number of lines varies. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Written in a clear black nasta‘līq hand, with headers and verse markers in red.
- Inscription:on right paste-down,‘Baharistan no 35.’
- Label:on right board with shelf mark ‘No. 12’and titles written in Persian on European laid handmade paper: بهارستان جامی رقعات عالمگیری
- A clipped signature on folio 1a, top, probably that of Sir Gore Ouseley, which comports with other examples held in the Rylands.
- Bookplates: left paste-down, ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘2/B’, and ‘Bland’ MSS No. ‘312’, , with the name and number crossed out and ‘Persian’ and ‘90’ written aside.
Binding
Likely bound in India in a European manner, with single-flexible sewing on five cords laced into the pasteboards, tight-bound in quarter red goatskin leather and British-made spot marbled paper sides, without a flap (type III binding per Déroche). Single-core frontbead endbands sewn in red and blue silk threads.
329 × 206 × 17 mm.
Binding in good condition, with moderate insect damage.
ات کپتان ۱۲۲۴
جان سٹیلس هاری
(Jān Staypils Hārī-āt, Kaptān, 1224).
12 × 14 mm.
The same wax seal also appears on Persian MS 55, folio 2a, Persian MS 213, fourth right flyleaf b side (f. ivb), and 364, second right flyleaf (f. iia).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
A clipped signature on the matches others in the Rylands formerly owned by Sir Gore Ouseley (1770–1844), suggests that he acquired then sold the volume during his tenure in Bengal before he returned to Britain.
Subsequently acquired by British East India Company interpreter John Staples Harriott, who served in the Bengal Presidency from 1798 to 1829, as per his red wax seal impression upon the right paste down.
After Harriott's death, his widow inherited then sold his collection of oriental manuscripts through the Alliance des Arts, Paris on 13 to 15 April 1843 (Nº. 148), where scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803-1865) apparently purchased it and brought it to his home, Randalls Park, in Leatherhead, Surrey.
After Bland's death, London bookseller Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in June, 1866, paid in two instalments of £450 and £400, and then moved to 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 and his 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.
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)
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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