Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 273Origin: Lacks dated colophon. According to note on 'title page' (fol.1a/p.1) executed by the renowned Timurid calligrapher Sulṭān ʻAlī Mashhadī (d.1520). Relatively consistent with his style and thus likely executed late 15th or early 16th century. Mounting and illumination possibly later in the 16th century.Former shelfmark: "٢١" and "216 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" in pencil on front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in red leather ; Western style binding (without flap) ; board linings in shell marbled paper (mainly in lavender, pink, and yellow-green) ; upper and lower covers carry gold-painted rules and tooled border in a series of annular stamps ; now sewn in white thread, four stations ; overall in fairly good condition with some staining and minor abrasion though fully detached from text block ; while cover is not sized to be flush with text block, this appears to have been intentional as adhesive paper pattern on interior of spine matches that on spine of text block.Support: non-European (Persian) laid paper ; written area mounted in a frame of exquisite silhouette paper (laid with 6 laid lines per cm., chains occasionally visible, sturdy, well-burnished) in two floral compositions, one with floral vegetal motifs only, the other with bird motifs as well ; recto of each framing leaf in pastel blue and verso in pink (quite possibly composite with leaves of two distinct tints affixed to each other).Decoration: Superbly executed illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on fol.1b (p.2) consisting of a rectangular piece with gold cartouche surrounded by intricate swirling arabesques with floral motifs in gold, white, red, yellow, green, and pink on a lapis lazuli ground with gold accents all bordered in bands of gold, white, blue, red and heavy gold interlace, surmounted by a band of floral vegetal decoration in gold, white, yellow, pink, and red over alternating eight-pointed stars in turquoise and gold on a black ground, itself surmounted by an triangular piece or hasp filled with further swirling arabesques with floral motifs in gold, white, red, pink, yellow, etc. on a gold ground with lapis lazuli accents, all surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in lapis lazuli ; written area gold-flecked and surrounded by frame consisting of bands of gold, blue, red, and turquoise, divisions within defined by narrow gold bands outlined by black fillets ; rich floral vegetal accents appear occasionally flanking text ; compositions of silhouette paper in some leaves outlined in gold (in lower margin of fol.13a (p.25), bird motif in paper, elsewhere enhanced by the illuminator in the same bird theme, has been elaborated as a goat instead).Script: Nastaʻlīq ; compact, exquisite hand ; serifless, with slight effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in 10 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, 2 III(12), II (16), i ; two ternions and a binion ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during cataloguing.Explicit: "الهى بحق آنكه ترا حاجت نست رحمت كن برآنكه او را حجت نست تمت الكتاب"Incipit: "این چند كلمه است از نصايح و اشعار نديم بارگاه حضرت جبارى خواجه عبد الله انصارى عليه الرحمه و المغفره ای ز دردت بيدلانرا بوی در مال آمده ..."Title supplied by cataloguer from opening matter on fol.1b.Ms. codex.Sublime copy of a selection of maxims and verses by Abū Ismāʻīl ʻAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī al-Harawī (d.481/1089), attributed to the celebrated Timurid calligrapher Sulṭān ʻAlī Mashhadī (d.926/1520, see p.248 in Bayānī, Aḥvāl va āsār-i khūshʹnavīsān : nastaʻlīq navīsān, vol.1 and pp.30-32 in Soucek, "The Arts of Calligraphy").
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 260Origin: Lacks dated scribal colophon ; decoration, paper, etc. may suggest 16th century ; authorial colophon on p.418 indicates date of composition Ṣafar 890 [February-March 1485].Accompanying materials: a. Slip with notes (paginated pp.17-18) -- b. Blank slip (paginated pp.53-54) -- c. Slip with notes (paginated pp.99-100).Former shelfmark: "١٢٦" possible former inventory mark on recto of front flyleaf ; "331 T. D. M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark maroon leather with black leather over spine, fore edge flap, and edges/turn-ins (likely repairs) ; Type II binding (with flap) ; doublures in dark brown leather with central gold-painted four-lobed floral motif ; fore edge flap lined in green silk ; upper and lower covers carry stamped and gold-painted scalloped mandorla (filled with vegetal decoration, compare Déroche OAi 6), pendants, and corner pieces, along with gold-painted border ; sewn in dark green-blue thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in brown and cream (head) and dark green and cream (tail), fair condition ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, etc. ; housed in box for protection.Support: non-European (Persian) laid paper mainly with 6 laid lines per cm. (vertical) and no chain lines clearly visible, well-burnished to glossy, sturdy, transluscent, medium to dark cream in color ; toward close another crisp type with many inclusions (see p.387 to close) ; flyleaves in European laid paper (surface-dyed lavender and gold-flecked) ; added leaves at opening on European laid paper with watermarks of eagle, "GFA" and lion rampant in arms (see pp.1-4) ; staining and tide lines.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) appears at opening on p.6, consisting of rectangular piece with gold cartouche carrying the basmalah in white, overlaid with arabesque in green, surrounded by further vegetal decoration in gold, pink, blue, yellow, green, etc. on a field of lapis lazuli, and surounded by decorative band with blue crosses on a field of white and band of interlace in gold ; surmounted by another narrow rectangular piece containing similar vegetal design evoking arabesque on a field of lapis lazuli and surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; keywords, abbreviation symbols, and text being commented upon in rubricated (light and dark red) ; textual dividers in the form inverted commas, letter hāʼ, etc. in red ; written area throughout surrounded by frame consisting of gold band flanked by black fillets with outermost blue rule (frame on incipit and facing page includes additional gold band) ; occasional diagrams in red and black (see p.20, 57, 87).Script: Nastaʻlīq and naskh ; text of sharḥ in nastaʻlīq, excerpts of Arabic poetry being commented upon in naskh ; nastaʻlīq compact with slight effect of words descending to baseline, elongation of horizontal strokes, letterforms characteristic of nastaʻlīq ; Persianate naskh mainly serifless, quite vertical and somewhat stiff though descenders are mainly curvilinear, with pointing in distinct dots.Layout: Written mainly in 21 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, I (2), *IV (9), 24 IV(201), IV+1 (210), i ; almost exclusively quaternions ; first two leaves of opening quaternion affixed to each other ; added leaves at opening of codex ruled for table of contents but left blank ; on pp.43-44 area within written area left blank (perhaps for diagrams or illustrations never realized) ; catchwords present ; foliation in red ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts and added leaves and skips two pages each between pp.239-240, 237-238, and 267-268).Explicit: "مهما ترى صف عقد من مديحهم في نظمه ود زهر الحق تضمينا"Incipit: "سپاس وسعادة اساس وشكر عبادة لباس معبودى را كه اعلام نبوة وولاية در ميدان فتوة وهداية ..."Title from inscription on 'title page' (p.5).Ms. codex.Fine copy of the commentary by Qāḍī Mīr Ḥusayn ibn Muʻīn al-Dīn al-Maybūdī al-Yazdī (d.1504?) on the collection (dīwān) of Arabic poetry attributed to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (ca. 600-661), opening with the Favātiḥ-i sabʻah.
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 434Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, etc. may suggest 16th century.Former shelfmark: "383 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on interior of upper cover ; "232" inscribed in pencil on 'title page'.Binding: Pasteboards covered in marbled paper (kumlu or kılçıklı ebru in blue, green, yellow and white) with red leather over spine ; Type III (without flap) ; board linings in European laid paper (three hats watermark) ; resewn in white thread ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, staining, etc.Support: non-European laid paper with roughly 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical, somewhat indistinct) and no chain lines plainly visible, cloudy formation, fairly thick and sturdy, quite well-burnished.Decoration: Superb illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān/sarlawḥ) at opening consisting of rectangular piece with cartouche carrying the basmalah in white on a field of lapis lazuli overlaid with a swirling vegetal pattern in gold, surrounded by a delicate vegetal pattern in black with chi clouds in light blue on a field of gold, with entire piece bordered in green or turquoise band ; rectangular piece surmounted by scalloped three semi-circular pieces (domes) filled with a similar delicate vegetal pattern in gold on fields of lapis lazuli, with further gold accents and chi clouds in light blue, all surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) ; written area very delicately gold-flecked and surrounded by heavy gold band ; keywords and text of ḥadīth and Qurʼānic excerpts, etc. chrysographed.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; exquisite hand ; serifless with characteristic descent of words to baseline and superscripting of final words and letters ; elongation of horizontal strokes ; exaggerated contrast between thickness of horizontal and vertical strokes; text of keywords, text of Qurʼānic excerpts, quoted ḥadīth, etc. in tawqīʻ with tilt to the left and right-sloping head-serif.Layout: Written in 11 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, III+2 (8), i ; catchwords present.Explicit: "و او از معنی این رباعی حالت رجوع بآن جناب فهم کند البته اورا سروری بیدا شود زیرا که خاصیت محبت آنست که محب را هیج لذتی بهتر از ملاقات محبوب نباشد تمت الرسالة"Incipit: "الحمد لله فیاض الحکم والمواهب وموصل الطالبین الی المطالب ... اما بعد بدانکه این فقیر را بسی شغف مى بود بدانستن رباعی قطب الاولیا سلطان ابی سعید ابی الخیر قدس الله روحه ورباعی اینست حورا بناظره نگارم صف زد رضوان ز تعجب کف خود بر کف زد..."Title from inscription on front flyleaf.Ms. codex.Elegant copy of a commentary by the Naqshbandī shaykh Aḥrār (d.1490) on the quatrain (rubāʻī) known as the Ḥawrāʼīyah attributed to the famous mystic Abū Saʻīd ibn Abī al-Khayr (d.1049).
A richly illuminated and almost complete copy of the Shahnamah with less than a page missing of its prose introduction, probably copied in the 16th/17th Century C.E. The drop-shaped Golkonda seal on the first page appears to be that of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Sultan of Golkunda, 1565-1612 Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Sultan of Golkunda, 1565-1612 with the date 1012 [1603/4 C.E.] and a later inscription dated 1091 [1610/11 C.E.]. There is no indication of when the manuscript was completed and no mention of its place of production. The ex libris on the first page is signed by Chas Wilkins, librarian of the East India Company with the date 15th August 1806, which indicates the manuscript's provenance. The double page frontispiece depicting Sulayman enthroned and Bilqis enthroned is followed by a luxuriously executed double page illumination in gold and polychrome [2v, 3r], which ornates the beginning of the introduction and also includes an ex libris of a royal library. The following eleven miniatures found in the text suggest an unusual choice of scenes and depict in order of their appearance: Kayumars enthroned, Guruy executing Siyavusha, Kay Khusrau appointing Tus to lead an expedition to Turan, Kamus fighting Giv and Tus, a full scale battle between the armies of Iran and Turan, Rustam rescuing Bizhan from the pit, Luhrasp enthroned, Isfandiyar's second labour: fighting the lions, Rustam killing Shaghad before dying and Bahram Gur killing a dragon in India. The manuscript is bound in multi-coloured leather with gilded medallions and ornations on the front and back cover and on the flap. This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world .Layout: The text of the poem is written in 4 columns, 25 linesBinding: A multicoloured leather binding with gilded medallions and ornations. The spine was a later addition during a restoration in the 19th Century. The binding was restored in 1999-2002, when the codex underwent a throrough restoration and conservation in Cambridge University Library's Conservation Department by Kristine Rose and Deborah Farndell.
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 359Origin: As appears in colophon on p. 209, copied by Shāh Muḥammad al-Kātib ; date of transcription not specified though copyist, paper, decoration, etc. suggest 16th century.Accompanying materials: Slip of wove paper with note (describing manuscript) in ink in hand of G. Meredith-Owens [?], reads "359 Subḥat al-abrār An ethico-religious poem by Jāmī. Copied by Shāh Muḥammad Late XVth century (?)."Former shelfmark: "480 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Boards covered in maroon leather ; Western style binding ; pastedowns and flyleaves in comb marbled paper (in shades of red, pink, blue, yellow, etc.) ; upper and lower covers carry gold rule borders ; bord edges and turn-ins gold-stamped with foliate design ; spine gold-stamped with title ("CÉPA-TUL EBRARE"), bands and foliate design ; edges of text block gilt ; now sewn in white thread over recessed cords ; stuck-on endbands (traces of pink and yellow primaries from original endbands appear as well) ; register (bookmark) in royal blue ribbon, affixed at head of spine ; overall in fair condition with minor abrasion and staining.Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 6 laid lines per cm. (vertical and horizontal, curved though fairly distinct) and some chain lines visible (also not very straight and occasionally grouped, see p.176), cloudy formation, thin and crisp, and quite well-burnished.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.2 consisting of large rectangular piece with empty gold cartouche flanked by pendants and surrounded by swirling arabesque with floral accents in red, lavender, white, light blue, yellow, and gold on a field of lapis lazuli with border in red and light blue bands, surmounted by a wide band of lapis lazuli filled with arabesque and floral motifs in light blue, pink, red, yellow, etc. with black and gold accents, all surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; written area surrounded by gold frame with outermost blue rule, columns within defined by narrow gold bands outlined in black fillets ; section headings, some keywords and glosses rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of blue and red inverted commas.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant hand ; serifless, with slight effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in 15 lines per page, often divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: ii, 17 III(102), II (106), ii ; almost exclusively ternions ; catchwords present (though often cut-off) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "Scribal," triangular, reads "كتبه العبد المذنب شاه محمد الكاتب تم تم تم"Explicit: "قطع کردیم برین نکته سخن ختم الله لنا بالحسنى و هو مولانا نعم المولى ... خاک قدم سکان کویت باشم نسبت بسک تو بیوفایی نکتم"Incipit: "المنة لله که بخون گر خفتم یکچند چو غنچه عاقبت بشگفتم"Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Elegant copy of Subḥat al-abrār, the fourth of the seven seven mas̲navīs of Jāmī (d.1492) collected under the title Haft awrang.
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 447Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; decoration, paper, etc. would suggest 16th century.Former shelfmark: "576 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf ; "123" inscribed in pencil on 'title page’ (p.1).Binding: Pasteboards faced in blue cut velvet with red leather over spine and edges / turn-ins (velvet faced, leather edged, framed binding) ; Type III binding (without flap) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in dark yellow surface-dyed gold-flecked laid paper ; sewn in pink thread, four stations ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion and lifting of leather, text block fully detached from cover.Support: non-European (likely Persianate) laid paper with 8-9 laid lines per cm. (vertical, somewhat distinct) and occasional pairs of chain lines (see p.6), sturdy, well-burnished (burnisher's marks visible), dark cream to beige in color ; flyleaves in European laid paper with watermarks "GHIGLIOTTI" (outer front flyleaf), shield with crown above and likely lion rampant within (front inner flyleaf), and eagle with wings spread (back inner flyleaf).Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) at opening (p.2) of rectangular piece with cartouche in gold carrying title in white ترجمۀ چهل حديث accented by swirling vegetal pattern reminiscent of arabesque in pink, light blue, gold, red, orange, and white on fields of blue and gold ; surmounting the rectangular piece, a scalloped semi-circular piece (dome) set against another rectangular piece (both filled with similar vegetal pattern to that seen in lower piece) is itself surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in blue ; written area of incipit page surrounded by frame consisting of gold and green bands with outermost blue fillet ; elsewhere writen area surrounded by frame consisting of a narrow gold bank outlined in black with outermost blue fillet ; preface and text of elucidation/paraphrase chrysographed ; ḥadīth text in blue.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant hand ; serifless with characteristic descent of words to baseline and superscripting of final words and letters ; elongation of horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in roughly 9 lines per page, three of ḥadīth text and six of Chagatai elucidation with two of these divided to hemistiches and arranged on the diagonal ; frame-ruled.Collation: ii, IV+1 (9), ii ; a composed anomalous quaternion formed of two joined single leaves, two whole bifolia, and a single leaf joined to a whole bifolium.Explicit: "تمت ترجمه هذه الاربعين اى كه شخصينگى خالق فتاح ... كه بو نوع ايكى اربعين موجود بولسه شايد كه تاپقاسين مقصود يتسه مقصود مدعا بيرلا منى ياد ايتكاسين دعا بيرلا كه نواييغه اول دعا يتكاى بلبل روحىغه نواييتكاى"Incipit: "صحیح ترین حدیثی که راویان مجالس دین ... این چهل کلمه است ازان کلمات فهم و حفظ را بر نظم ترکی ترجمه گر ده می آید امید ... لا يؤمن احدكم حتى يحب لاخيه ما يحب لنفسه مؤمن اير ماستور وركه ايماندين روزگاريده يوز صفا كورگاى..."Title from headpiece at opening (fol.1b).Ms. codex.Fine copy of Mir Ali Şîr Nevâî's [Navāʼī] Chagatai Turkish verse paraphrase of Jāmī's rendering of forty ḥadīth, with Persian preface, Arabic ḥadīth text, and Chagatai elucidation.
Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, hand, binding, etc. suggests late 15th or early 16th century.Former shelfmark: "352 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" in pencil on final leaf (p.244).Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; doublures in dark red leather with central scalloped mandorla of dark leather filigree over bronze shagreen onlays accented with gold outlines and rule border ; upper and lower covers stamped with scalloped, four-lobed central ornament and cornerpieces (all filled with vegetal compositions), outlined in gold and set off by gold-tooled border in a series of s-shaped stamps (forming a chain) ; design continues on envelope flap ; sewn in cream thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in light blue and cream, tailband gone, headband in tact ; overall in fair condition with some lifting and losses of leather, minor delamination, split joints, slight warping in boards, detaching at spine.Support: non-European (likely Persian) laid paper with 9 laid lines per cm. (vertical, curved slightly and only somewhat indistinct) and irregular chain lines only faintly visible, thin and crisp, quite well-sized and burnished ; some tears, staining, etc.Decoration: Red rubrics ; pages are bordered in blue and gold lines (contribution by D. Mancini-Lander).Script: Text written in black nastaʻlīq script (contribution by D. Mancini-Lander).Layout: Written in 17 lines per page with written area divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: IV-2 (6), 14 IV(118), II (122) ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals (supplied during digitization).Explicit: "زبانرا گوشمال خامشی ده که هست از هر چه گوئی خامشی به"Incipit: "نه بینم پخته زین بزم و خامی که بر کف باشد ش زان با ده جامی ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Yūsuf va Zulaykhā is the fifth of seven masnavīs (long poem in rhymed couplets) that make up Jāmī's Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones), composed in 888/1483. This manuscript is missing the first folio of the dibācheh. The first complete section begins: "be-nām-i ānkeh nām-esh..."(contribution by D. Mancini-Lander).
Tinta negra y roja.Incipit: [بسملة]Copista: تهمل, que vivía en la calle کوچه کهاسی رام (Khasiram?)Colofón (Fol. 201v):تمت تمام شد کار من نظام شد این تاریخ ظفر نامه که تمر نامه// میکویند من تصنیف هاتفی بهر نقل از کتاب لاله کلدار سنکه جیو/ بر داشتم و بتاریخ بیست و نهم/ ماه صفر سنه ١٢٢٥ هجری مطابق سنه ۴/ جلوس اکبر شاه صاحبقران ثانی بنظامت (؟)/ سهن(؟) صاحب ... انکریران(؟)/ عالیشان بخط بنده درکاه/ تهمل(؟) ساکن کوچه کهاسی رام/ بروز پبجشنبه بوقت/ دوپهر تحریر یافتCaracterísticas especiales: Encabezamientos en tinta roja. Los siguientes folios en otro papel de color amarillo: 24r a 70v; 150r a 159v; 161r a 162v; 164r a 173v; 176r a 177v.Ilustración: No.Ilustraciones: No.Tipo de cuaderno: Cuadernos de 4 y 5 bifolios.Deterioros generales: Ocasionales manchas de humedad que no afectan al texto. Mancha en fol. 153r.H. en blanco: 204r. Numerosas lagunas en el texto, probablemente debidas a ser copia de un texto defectuoso.H. dañadas, mutiladas, sueltas: Sueltas: fols. 15 a 17 y 22 a 23.H. faltan o añadidas: NoFoliación: Sin foliación original. Se ha foliado a lápiz en el margen superior izquierdo del recto.Reclamos: En el verso de todos los folios.Sign. cuad.: No.Pautado: No se aprecia. Distancia interlineal: 1,2 cm.Filigrana: No se aprecia.Anotaciones: Anotaciones marginales en fols. 80r, 82r, 85v, 94v, 102r, 117r, 122r, 138r y 156v, a menudo cortadas por la encuadernación. Tachaduras en los fols. 132v, 133v y 203v. Guarda final con anotación “Ms. Persian Hatifi” y escudo del General Wyndham. Etiqueta pegada en hoja de guarda y en cubierta con número 55 tachado.Signatura antigua: RESC/1022Poema épico describiendo la vida y proezas militares de Timur, dedicado al sultán Husayn Bayqara (muerto en 1506). El poema imita el estilo del Iskandar Nāma de Nizāmī. Consejos para los gobernantes, tomando a Dios y al profeta como modelo. Libro de la Victoria.Encuadernado en piel marrón sobre cartón con medallón central.
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 448Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; decoration, hand, paper, etc. would suggest 16th century.Accompanying materials: Slip of wove paper with notes in pencil "448 (Kasidat) al-Burdah Poem by al-Busiri 16th cent."Former shelfmark: "239 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on recto of front flyleaf ; "122" inscribed in pencil on 'title page.'Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark red leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings and narrow hinges in pale orange laid paper ; upper and lower covers carry central rectangular panel filled with gold-tooled and painted semé pattern as well as further accents in gold-tooled rosettes and border consisting of a series of s-shaped stamps with flanking gold-painted fillets ; now sewn in pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and yellow, fairly good condition ; overall in good condition minor abrasion, etc.Support: non-European (likely Persianate) laid paper with 6-7 laid lines per cm. (vertical, somewhat distinct) and occasional single chain line visible, thick and sturdy, well-burnished, dark cream in color ; flyleaves and added leaves in European laid paper with 9 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 26-27 mm. apart (horizontal), and watermark of bird with "G B" below ; much staining and tidelines.Decoration: Exquisite (though damaged) frontispiece consisting of a double-page illumination carries the opening verses and elucidation in Persian set-off by cloud-bands, with adjacent scalloped triangular piece (or hasp), elaborate borders (outermost accented with perpendicular stalks [tīgh]), and upper and lower panels all carrying swirling vegetal design in shades of red, blue, lavender, green, white, and gold on fields of black, gold, and lapis lazuli ; written area throughout surrounded by frame in gold and green bands with outermost blue rule ; text of the Burdah mainly chrysographed, with some lines in blue ; textual dividers in the form of illuminated rosettes set off each hemistich ; illuminated floral decoration flanks elucidation in Persian.Script: Naskh and nastaʻlīq (talik) ; elegant Persianate and Turkish hands ; text of Burdah in a fine Persianate naskh, serifless, with curvilinear descenders and pointing in distinct dots, vocalized ; text of Persian elucidation in a fine nastaʻlīq with characteristic descent of words to baseline and elongation of horizontal strokes ; marginal Turkish elucidation in an elegant nastaʻlīq (talik).Layout: Written in 12 lines per page with 6 additional lines of the Turkish elucidation on the diagonal in the outer margin ; three verses of the poem in 6 lines (filling the column width) with each saṭr and ʻajuz to a line) and elucidation in 6 lines (four on the diagonal, two horizontal but centered).Collation: ii, IV-1+1 (8), 2 IV(24), II+2 (30), ii ; almost exclusively quaternions ; catchwords present.Explicit: " ... واطرب العيس حادي العين بالنغم ... تا برانند اشترانرا بنده گان پر نغم ... اشترمتسه طرب ويردكجه تأثير نغم تم الترجمة بالخير م م"Incipit: "امن تذكر جيران بذي سلم مزجت دمعا جرى من مقلة بدم ای زیاد صحبت یارانت اندر ذی سلم اشک چشم امیختی با خون روان گرده بهم ..."Title supplied by cataloguer.Ms. codex.Fine copy of al-Būṣīrī's poem in praise of the Prophet accompanied by elucidation in Persian and Turkish.
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldDecoration: 9 full-page miniatures. Decorative borders.Dimensions: 12½ × 7¾ in.Hand: Written in splendid Nastaʻlīq.Record origin: Manuscript description based on: Beeston, A. F. L. (Alfred Felix Landon); Ethé, Hermann, 1844-1917.; Sachau, Eduard, 1845-1930; Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; at the Clarendon Press 1889-1953.
The volume comprises three distinct manuscripts (ff. 1v-63r, 63v-67r and 68r-135r).Contents:(1) Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين الطوسي),
Taḥrīr al-Majisṭī(تحرير المجسطي ; ff. 1v-63r);(2) Menelaus of Alexandria (مانالاوس),
Fī ashkāl al-kurīyah(في أشكال الكرية; ff. 63v-67r);(3) Ulugh Beg (ألغ بيك),
Zīj-i Ulugh Beg(زيج ألغبيك; ff. 68r-135r).Codex; ff. v+135+4Material: PaperDimensions: 235 x 160 mm leaf [180 x 115 mm written ff. 1v-63r; entire writing surface used ff. 63v-67v; 180 x 132 mm written ff. 68v-135v]Foliation: British Library foliation in pencil; previous foliation in Arabic-Indic numerals, black ink, visible on some foliosRuling:
Misṭarah; 32 lines per page ff. 1v-63r, approximately 60 lines per page ff. 63v-67v, 33 lines per page ff. 68v-135v; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cm ff. 1v-63r, 27 lines per 10 cm ff. 63v-67v, 16 lines per 10 cm ff. 68v-135vScript:
Naskh; the scribe of Item 1 (ff. 1v-63r) is Ḥamzah ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah al-Qazwīnī al-Bayhaqī, known as Sa‘d al-Khurāsānī (حمزة بن على بن حمزة القزويني البيهقي المشهور بسعد الخراساني; see colophon on f. 62r)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings, diagrams and table borders in redBinding: India Office binding with guardsCondition: Badly worm eaten; all folios removed from quires, protected with silk and mounted on guards; one folios is missing after folio 32Marginalia: Numerous and mostly in hand of scribeSeals: Ff. 1r, 68r, 105r, 106r and 135v