Zubdat al-muntakhibīn

Title:

Zubdat al-muntakhibīn
زبدة المنتخبین

Alternative title:

تذكره
تذکره
Zubdat al-muntakhabīn
زبده المنتخبین
زبدة المنتخبين

Creator:

Hamadānī, ʻAlī Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad
همدانى، علي محمد بن احمد

Contributor:

Abdülhamid II, Sultan of the Turks, former owner

Date:

[between 1843 and 1860?].

Description:

Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 284Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, decoration, patronage, etc. would suggest mid 19th century. Inscription on front flyleaf and preface (fol.1a-1b/p.1-2) indicates that the composition was completed in the era of Muḥammad Shāh Qājār (r.1834-1848) under the patronage and direction of Ṣadr al-Mamālik Mīrzā Naṣr Allāh Ardabīlī (d.1854 or 5 ?).Accompanying materials: Slip of wove paper with inscription in pencil "284 | Intikhāb az Dīvan | Ḳaṣā'id Anvari. | Selections from | kasidahs of Anvari | early 19th cent."Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark brown leather (sheep) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in untinted paper ; upper and lower covers bear blind-tooled border consisting of a series of s-shaped stamps ; resewn making it difficult to assess the original sewing ; very fine chevron endbands in magenta and green ; in fair condition with much abrasion, even gashes, on covers ; spine leather is abraded, dry and cracking ; moisture damage ; much staining and general wear ; cover is beginning to detach from textblock at spine.Support: European laid papers of a few types ; table of contents in European laid paper with chain lines running vertically spaced roughly 23 mm. apart, laid lines running horizontally spaced roughly 11-12 laid lines per cm., watermark circle with "IP" inside, orb and eagle above, in final folio of table of contents, watermark partially visible "...RTTI [?]" ; early through mid quires in European machine 'laid' paper, chain lines running vertically spaced roughly 28 mm. apart, watermark "ALMASSO" and "GIOR MAGNANI" with scrollwork with eagle above tower (compare Heawood 3748) ; roughly last ten quires (from p.805) in European machine 'laid' paper, chain lines running vertically spaced roughly 27mm. apart, watermark "POLLERI" and stag leaping above pond (stag springing or salient, or even courant), antlers in two lines.Decoration: Magnificent illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) on incipit page consisting of rectangular panel with gold cartouche carrying the section title "انتخاب از دیوان قصاید انوری" bordered by an extremely elaborate frame forming a well filled with row upon row of semi-circular (dome) motifs accented by floral decoration (in red, orange, pink, blue, and white) and arabesque on fields of lapis lazuli and gold ; simple but compound frame consisting of various gold bands outlined by black fillets, second (bordering the margins) and third rules at some distance from the first ; on incipit and facing page, decorative vegetal border (arabesque) in gold surrounding columns of text ; cloud-bands in gold on incipit and facing page ; a few textual dividers looking like numeral khamsah ; floral decoration in ruled margin of incipit and facing page ; now illustrated with four miniature paintings, likely added later and obscuring text beneath, including: on fol.141a (p.281) scene showing pig herder with dog and pigs, in background church and astonished onlookers [2] on fol.211b (p.422) a hunting scene [3] on fol.276b (p.552) white-bearded man in the mountains with lion or leopard [4] on fol.320b (p.640) two men engaged in discourse ; section headings, keywords, and entries in table of contents rubricated. ; overlining and textual dividers in red.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; bold clear Persian hand ; characteristic descent of words to baseline though not heavily exaggerated ; contrast in thick and thin strokes, horizontal strokes quite heavy ; sans serif ; characteristic letterforms ; text of fol.473b-474a (p.946-47) in Arabic, supplied in a fine ىaskh, mainly serifless except for occasional alif of lam alif ligature, quite vertical, occasional sweeping descenders, fully vocalized.Layout: Written in 18 lines per page in the central column, 25-28 lines on the diagonal in the ruled margins ; single column often divided to two columns for setting off poetry, surrounded by margin ruled decoratively on the diagonal ; frame-ruled.Collation: iii, I(2), 17 IV(138), III (144), 12 IV(240), IV+2(250), 29 IV(482), iii ; chiefly quaternions ; catchwords present in the lower left of the lower ruled margin, rarely slanting down ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during cataloguing.Dedication: As attested in inscription on front flyleaf and in preface appearing before table of contents, composed under the patronage and direction of Mīrzā Naṣr Allāh Ardabīlī (d.1271 or 2 / 1854 or 5 ?), a Niʻmatallāhī dervish who also bore the title Nuṣratʻalī and was appointed to the office of Ṣadr al-Mamālik in 1259 [1843] (see Sefatgol, "The Safavid Model of State-Religious Administration," 78-79).Explicit: " کای عمر تباه کتا پیشه تا چند زنی تو بپا تیشه شد عمر تو شصت و همان پستی وز باده ی لهو و لعب مستی "Incipit: "حمد و سپاس و لغات لحنات [؟] ستایش بیقیاس شایسته اوراق مدایح خداوند یکانه و سزادار صحایف اوصاف معبود یست ... ای قاعده تازه ز دست تو کرم را دیمرتبه تو زبان تو قلم را"Title from inscription on front flyleaf and preface on fol.1a-1b (p.1-2).Ms. codex.Fine copy of a work of selections from the works of various Persian poets, referred to as a taz̲kirah but more in the style of a jung, compiled under the patronage and direction of Mīrzā Naṣr Allāh Ardabīlī (d. 1854 or 5) by ʻAlī Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Hamadānī. Opens with selections from Anvarī (d. 1189 or 90).

Language:

Persian

Type (Narrower):

Manuscripts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Manuscripts, Persian
Persian poetry 1500-1796.
Persian poetry 747-1500.
Poets, Persian Biography.

Time period:

1500-1796
747-1500

Extent:

482 leaves : paper ; 275 x 165 (153 x 78) mm. bound to 280 x 173 mm.

Rights:

Public Domain

Format:

Book
Manuscript/Archive
Online
Print

Same as:

https://search.lib.umich.edu/catalog/record/006805784

Feedback