- Language(s)
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Persian
- Published
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[Shīrāz?, 1526 or 1527].
- Summary
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Splendid copy of the story of pure love between Mihr and Mushtarī, a mas̲navī by Mawlānā Muḥammad ʻAṣṣār of Tabrīz. Illustrated with four miniatures in Shīrāz style (see p.31, p.110, p.327, and p.364).
- Note
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Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 322
Origin: As appears in colophon on p.425, copied by Naʻīm al-Dīn ibn Munʻim al-Dīn al-Awhadī with transcription completed 933 [1526 or 7] likely in Shīrāz.
Former shelfmark: "183 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on upper pastedown ; "١٥١" on tail edge of text block.
Binding: Thin pasteboards covered in dark red brown leather ; Type III binding (without flap) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in gold-flecked, lavender and pink-tinted European laid paper ; upper and lower covers carry gold-tooled guilloché roll border ; sewn in dark blue-green thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pale yellow and pink, fair condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with some abrasion, staining, lifting and losses of spine leather, delamination of boards, etc. ; housed in box for protection.
Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 7 laid lines per cm. (vertical, indistinct) and chains faintly visible (horizontal), cloudy formation, fairly transluscent, quite sturdy, well-burnished, dark cream in color ; pastedowns / flyleaves in European laid paper with 9 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 23 mm. apart (horizontal), and watermark of large scrollwork / arms design with lion rampant on triple mount at center and crown above ; some staining and tidelines.
Decoration: Exquisite double-page illumination at opening on pp.4-5 consists of rectangular panels carrying opening text set off by cloud-bands with upper and lower cartouches carrying the title and author ("مهر و مشترى من منظومات مولانا محمد عصار عليه الرحمه و المغفره") in white all surrounded by elegant swirling vegetal composition with floral accents in gold, pink, red, yellow, white, light blue, etc. on fields of gold and lapis lazuli evoking book cover design, surrounded by elaborate scalloped border evoking a series of domes accented with perpendicular stalks [tīgh] at the apices of the scallops and filled with continuation of the vegetal design on fields of gold and lapis lazuli ; written area (and columns within) surrounded by gold frame defined by black fillets ; keywords and headings chrysographed ; four miniatures in Shīrāz style (see p.31, p.110, p.327, and p.364 ; examined by Priscilla Soucek April 1969, see note on catalog card "Painting in Shiraz style. The scribe is of a scribal family [Mrs. Sucek 4-9-69]").
Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant Persianate hand ; serifless, with effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.
Layout: Written in 22 lines per page with written area mainly divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.
Collation: ii, IV-1 (7), 10 IV(87), IV-1 (94), 3 IV(118), IV-1 (125), 10 IV(205), IV+1 (214), i ; exclusively quaternions (several anomalous) ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes front flyleaf and skips two pages each between pp.347-348 and 373-374, leaf carrying pp.241-242 was misplaced when paginated but is now properly placed between pp.248-249).
Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, in Arabic, reads "تم الكتاب على يد افقر عباد الله الغنى نعيم الدين بن منعم الدين الاوحدى فى ٩٣٣"
Explicit: "بختم انبیا و ختم قرآن که ختم کار ما بر خیر گردان"
Incipit: "بنام پادشاه عالم عشق که نامش هست نقش خاتم عشق ..."
Title from exquisite double-page illumination at opening (pp.4-5).
Ms. codex.
Inscription in pencil on upper pastedown "183 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" ; virtually illegible circular seal impression on front flyleaf (p.1) ; several effaced former owners' marks (statements, oval seal impression, etc.) on 'title page' (p.3) ; collation statement on front flyleaf (p.1) reads "اوراقه ۲۱٤" ; relatively clean copy.
- Physical Description
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214 leaves :
paper ;
195 x 115 (127 x 51) mm.