Münşeat

Title:

Münşeat
منشآت

Contributor:

Abdülhamid II, Sultan of the Turks, former owner

Date:

1830-1849?].

Description:

Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 427Origin: Lacks dated colophon. "According to the caption, the sixth letter in this compendium (pp. 6-9) is a letter addressed to Hurşid Paşa, the beylerbeyi (governor-general) of Rumelia, by the Grand Vizier Yusuf Ziya Paşa. Yusuf Ziya Paşa was grand vizier twice (1798-1808, 1809-1811). There was also a Hurşid Ahmed Paşa who served as the governor-general of Rumelia during the same period (1807-1813), who is the likely recipient. The provides a terminus post quem for this collection of letters, even if it doesn’t necessarily tell us when it was compiled." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer. Sultan Mahmut II (r.1808-1839) is also mentioned at close on p.243, further elaborating the rough terminus post quem. Considering decoration, paper, hand, etc. in light of these details suggests early to mid 19th century, likely 1830s or 1840s.Former shelfmark: "27 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in red-brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings and flyleaves in pink surface-dyed and gold-flecked laid paper ; upper and lower covers carry elegant tooled and gold-painted floral spray with tooled rosette accents as cornerpieces and border with guilloché roll flanked by fillets, all in gold ; sewn in dark pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pale yellow and pink, fairly good condition ; overall in fairly good condition with minor abrasion, staining, lifting of leather, etc.Support: European laid paper of several types ; opening type with 10-11 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 30-32 mm. apart (vertical) and watermark of scrollwork / floral form on pedestal resembling a vase (see p.6, 20, etc.) ; another type with 9 laid lines per cm. (horizontal or vertical), chain lines spaced 25-27 mm. (vertical or horizontal) and watermark of lion passant guardant (see p.44, 58, 72, etc.) ; another type with roughly 10 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 28 mm. apart (vertical) and watermarks of "GFA" below eagle (p.262, etc.) and lion rampant in shield / arms with crown above (see p.250, 264, etc. and compare nos. 1104a and 1104b dated 1844 in Nikolaev, Watermarks of the Ottoman Empire, volume 1) ; all sturdy, fairly thick though transluscent, and quite well-sized and burnished to glossy.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening of first section on p.2 consisting of a rectangular piece with cartouche carrying title (for the first letter in the compendium, خرقة شریف تذکره سی) in red flanked by vegetal or plume accents in blue-green on fields of gold, surmounted by scalloped triangular-shaped piece or dome with central floral spray in shades of pink, purple and green surrounded by plume or vegetal designs in shades of blue, purple, pink and white on a gold, partially stippled ground, itself surmounted by five floral bouquets at the apices of the scallops ; illuminated headpiece of similar design (a kind of scalloped triangular-shaped piece or dome with plumes and floral motifs in shades of pink, purple, blue, green, and white on a stippled gold ground) at opening of next section on p.22 ; additional rectangular headpieces appear at the openings of the other sections ; text of written area surrounded by gold frame ; section headings rubricated (through p.214) ; occasional textual dividers in the form of gold rosettes.Script: Naskh ; mainly a clear, compact Turkish / Ottoman hand in a medium line ; partially but irregularly seriffed with right-sloping head-serif on occasional lam, curvilinear descenders, open and closed counters, free assimilation of letters, pointing mainly in strokes rather than distinct dots, hamzah on final hāʼ and occasional hamzah ʻalá nabrah mainly in separate strokes resembling two dots (similar to the copyists rendering of tāʼ marbūṭah) ; closing section (pp. 249-285) hand slightly different with additional serifs, and some sweeping descenders, though could have been executed by the same copyist.Layout: Written mainly in 21 lines per page ; frame-ruled ; final section (pp. 249-285) in roughly 17 lines per page.Collation: i, 10 V(100), II+3 (107), V (117), III (123), 2 V(143), i ; pp.17-21 ruled but left blank ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Incipit: "بسملة فاتحة خلقت خاتمة رسالة ختمیت شرف افزای خلعت نبوت زیورارای دوای رسالت ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.5. p.248-p.285 : [what appears to be further copies of official letters].4. p.244-p.247 : [left blank, apart from excerpts on p.245].3. p.22-p.243 : [collection of letters addressed to various individuals (typically named in the rubricated headings)].2. p.17-p.21 : [left blank].1. p.2-p.16: "The first four letters in this codex (pp. 2-3; p. 3; pp. 3-4; pp. 4-5) are model letters captioned "Hırka-ı Şerīf Tezkiresi" (Letter [of invitation to visit] the Mantle of the Prophet Muhammad). The fifth letter (p. 5-6) is captioned "Mevlid-i Şerīf da’vetini mutazammın tezkire" (Letter containing an invitation to [attend] a ceremonial recitation of the Mevlid [ode in praise of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, composed by Süleyman Çelebi]. The first five letters do not appear to include any dates or names of individuals...According to the caption, the sixth letter in this compendium (pp. 6-9) is a letter addressed to Hurşid Paşa, the beylerbeyi (governor-general) of Rumelia, by the Grand Vizier Yusuf Ziya Paşa...The seventh sample (pp. 9-11) is a letter appointing the recipient to the ceremonial post of sweeper (ferrāş) of the tomb of the Prophet in Medina.The eighth sample (pp. 11-12) is a letter of reprimand addressed to an unnamed transgressor." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer.Elegant copy of a collection of correspondence in Ottoman Turkish. Identification and detailed description of contents provided by András Riedlmayer via the "Collaboration in cataloging: Islamic manuscripts at Michigan" project. "This appears to be a collection of models of correspondence, written in Ottoman Turkish, with samples of various categories of letters that show the proper forms of address and formulation of such a letter demanded by protocol according to the occasion and the status of the writer and the recipient." - from description provided by András Riedlmayer.

Language:

Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928)

Type (Narrower):

Manuscripts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Manuscripts, Turkish
Turkish literature 19th century.
Letter writing, Turkish 19th century.
Turkey Politics and government 19th century Sources.
Turkey History 1683-1829 Sources.
Turkey History Mahmud II, 1808-1839 Sources.

Geographic region:

Turkey

Time period:

19th century
1683-1829
Turkey: Mahmud II, 1808-1839

Extent:

143 leaves : paper ; 220 x 125 (143 x 64) mm.

Rights:

Public Domain

Format:

Book
Manuscript/Archive
Online
Print

Same as:

https://search.lib.umich.edu/catalog/record/006822805

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