- Language(s)
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Persian
- Published
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[India?, 1575-1625?].
- Summary
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Splendid copy of the renowned epic by Firdawsī (d.1020), illustrated with 14 miniatures. Detailed description of the manuscript and miniatures by Firuza I. Abdullaeva ("An unknown Shāhnāma from Ann Arbor," published in Manuscripta Orientalia, vol.11, no.1, March 2005, pp.28-60).
- Note
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Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 280
Origin: As appears in colophon on p.1236, copied by ʻAbd al-Qādir Sāvajī al-Qazvīnī with transcription completed 7 Jumādá II in an unspecified year. F. Abdullaeva, Oleg Akimushkin, and Philippa Vaughan refer the manuscript's production to the latter 16th or early 17th century. "As for the place of origin, the scribe was evidently of Iranian background and training, even if living in India, while the paintings are clearly to be distinguished as Indian. It seems that the calligrapher and painter (there were at least two of them) did not work in the same period" - from description of F. Abdullaeva.
Former shelfmark: "153 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.
Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap, though now lost), likely two-piece binding (seam of overlapping flanges visible at spine) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in dark blue textured, coated paper (embossed with scrolling vegetal design) ; upper and lower covers carry stamped (orange-red recessed onlays) and gold-painted central lozenge (filled with vegetal composition, compare Déroche class. OSd), pendants and cornerpieces with gold-painted accents and borders with outermost guilloché roll ; edges of text block gold-painted with floral designs ; sewn in red thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in yellow and red ; overall in fair condition with loss of flap and minor abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, delamination of boards, staining, etc. ; housed in box for protection.
Support: non-European (likely Indian) laid paper with roughly 9 laid lines per cm. (both horizontal and vertical orientation found in different leaves), somewhat indistinct, some curving, no regular chain lines plainly visible, medium cream in color, thin and crisp though sturdy, lightly burnished ; minor breakthrough at frames in a few leaves.
Decoration: "The manuscript has three ʻunwāns (double page illumination at the beginning of the most important chapters) and one sarlawḥ (initial illumination in the beginning of the book), and 14 miniatures in local Indian style. The text is therefore not very heavily illustrated, an average of one picture every 40 folios or so, though the distribution of paintings is rather irregular, the gaps ranging from 6 folios to 135, and as is common, with no illustrations in the 'historical' section of the poem, after the establishment of the Sāsānian dynasty under Ardashīr. Ten of the 14 paintings illustrate episodes occurring in the lifetime of the main hero, Rustam, and include several of the most frequently illustrated scences" - from description of F. Abdullaeva (see p.30 in "An unknown Shāhnāma from Ann Arbor") ; as reported by F. Abdullaeva, Philippa Vaughan proposes for the paintings the "sub-Imperial" Mughal style of the first quarter of the 17th century with influence of the palette of the Kashmīrī school, particularly the use of bright pink, orange and light green in combination ; headings rubricated ; written area and devisions within outlined by a gold frame defined by black fillets.
Script: Nastʻalīq ; compact, elegant Persianate hand in a medium line ; serifless, with effect of words descending to baseline, elongation and contrasting thickness of horizontal strokes, pointing mainly in distinct dots.
Layout: "Organized in 4 columns with 25 lines on each page" - from description of F. Abdullaeva.
Collation: ii, IV+1 (9), 6 V(69), III (75), V+1 (86), 4 V(126), II (130), 2 V(150), IV (158), 3 V(188), V-1 (197), 6 V(257), V-1 (266), 2 V(286), V-1 (295), 4 V(335), III+3 (344), 6 V(404), II (408), 3 V(438), V-1 (447), 7 V(517), IV (525), 9 V(615), I (617), ii ; chiefly quinions ; middle of the quire marks in the form of middle of the quire marks in the form of oblique strokes in black ink, upper outer corner of the right-hand leaf, lower-outer corner of the left-hand leaf ; catchwords present (though occasionally lost to trimming) ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.
Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, reads "تمت تمام شد کتاب شاه نامه بتاریخ هفتم ماه جماد الآخر کاتبه فقیر الحقیر عبد القادر ساوجی القزوینی سنة تحریر یافت [؟]"
Explicit: "هر آنکس که دارد هش و رای [و] دین پس از مرگ بر من کند به آفرین"
Incipit: "بنام خدواند جان و خرد کزین برتر اندیشه می نگذرد [بر گذرد]..."
Title from colophon on p.1236.
Ms. codex.
Effaced seal impressions (large circular and oval) and statements on 'title page' (p.3) ; finger tabs in mauve silk (partially lost) mark various sections ; collation statement on back flyleaf (p.1237) "عدد اوراق ٦٣٢" ; fairly clean copy.
- Physical Description
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617 leaves :
paper, ill. ;
335 x 210 (236 x 123) mm.