- Language(s)
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Persian
- Published
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[Mecca?, 1573-1599].
- Summary
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Elegant, richly illustrated copy of Muḥyī al-Dīn Lārī's renowned poetical description of the holy cities Mecca and Medina with a full account of the rites of pilgrimage (ḥajj).
- Note
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Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 347
Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, style of painting, etc. may suggest late 16th or early 17th century ; dated ownership statement provides terminus ante quem of 1195 [1780 or 81].
Former shelfmark: "468 T. D. M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" and "222" inscribed in pencil on recto of front flyleaf.
Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark brown leather ; Type II binding (with flap, now lost [traces of flap on upper board lining, front flyleaf and opening leaf, damage at fore edge of lower cover]) ; board linings in orange paper ; upper and lower covers carry gold-tooled border in a series of s-shaped stamps ; sewn in yellow thread, two stations, sewing failing with most gatherings loose ; overall in somewhat poor condition with some abrasion, lifting and losses of leather, upper cover detaching, flap lost, etc. ; reinforcements at sewing stations ; ill-fitting (slightly small) and likely not original.
Support: non-European laid paper, possibly of more than one type ; 7-9 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), curving, quite faint and indistinct in many leaves ; rare single chain lines occasionally visible as short lengths ; sturdy and burnished ; flyleaves in well-burnished European laid paper with 7 laid lines per cm. (horizontal), chain lines spaced 25-27 mm. apart (vertical), and watermarks of "VG" and "F" set among three stylized hats [?].
Decoration: Illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.2 consisting of rectangular piece with large, empty gold cartouche with flanking domes and swirling floral vegetal motifs in gold, white, orange, red, and blue on grounds of gold and blue, bordered in bands of gold, orange and blue ; written area of incipit page surrounded by frame of heavy red and turquoise [?] bands (here and throughout divisions within defined by black fillets), elsewhere written area surrounded by a faint gold frame with outermost turquoise rule ; keywords, section headings and illustration captions rubricated ; generously illustrated with 8 full-page and 12 half-page paintings in gold, red, turquoise, blue, lavender, yellow, dark green, etc. depicting in Mecca and vicinity: al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (p.38), al-masʻá between al-Ṣafāʼ and al-Marwah (p.41), Jabal Bū Qubays marked "محل شق القمر" (p.43), Sūq al-Layl with the birthplace of the Prophet, ʻAlī and speaking stones (p.44), Mudʻá or sūq al-mudʻá, here marked "مدعا" (p.45), Maʻlā with tombs (most prominently of Khadījah) and pools for the Egyptian and Syrian caravans (p.50), Shubaykah cemetery (p.51), Jabal Nūr with Ghār Ḥirāʼ (p.53), Jabal Thawr with Ghār Hijrat (p.54), ʻArafāt with pilgrim tents, banners and lampstands, Maṭbakh Ādam, Masjid Namīrah, four posts marking the place of the standing ritual, and Syrian, Egyptian and Yemeni maḥāmil (p.61), Muzdalifah (p.64), Minā with the jamarāt, place of the sacrifice, Masjid Khayf, cave where the Prophet was sheltered (غار والمرسلات), etc. (p.68) ; in Medina and vicinity: Jabal Mafraḥ (p.80), the Prophet's mosque / al-Masjid al-Nabawī (p.83), al-Baqīʻ cemetery (p.87), Masjid Qubā (p.88), Four mosques and the two-qiblah Mosque (p.90), Jabal Uḥud (p.91) and in Jerusalem: al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (p.93) with al-Masjid al-Aqṣá, Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah, etc. and a sandal of the Prophet (p.94).
Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant hand ; serifless, with effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.
Layout: Written in 15 lines per page, written area divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.
Collation: i, 5 IV(40), IV-1 (47), i ; exclusively quaternions (final anomalous) ; on pp.74-75 written area framed but left blank ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during cataloguing.
Explicit: "صل علی روضۀ خیر الانام خاتمه نسخه برین شد تمام تم تم تم تم تم تم تم تم تم"
Incipit: "اى همه کس را بدرت التجا کعبۀ دل را ز تو نور و صفا ..."
Title supplied by cataloguer.
Ms. codex.
Inscriptions in pencil on front flyleaf "468 T. D. M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" and "255" ; several former owners' marks on 'title page' (p.1) including ownership statement of former owner Ali Paşa ( على پاشا ) accompanied by large circular seal impression in name of Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Khādim al-Ḥusaynī ( حسين بن محمد الخادم الحسيني ) who likely entered the statement (reads "من جمله كتب المرحوم على پاشا حرره تراب العتبه الرضويه"), as well as small octagonal seal impression in name of one ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ( عبد الرحمن ) possibly dated 1103 [1691 or 2], and ownership statement dated 1195 [1780 or 81] in name of Muḥammad Yamanī [Yumná ?] ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥājj ʻAlī ( محمد يمنى بن محمد بن الحاج على ) accompanied by oval seal impression in his name ( محمد يمنى ) dated 1185 [1771 or 2] ; relatively clean copy.
- Physical Description
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47 leaves :
paper ;
260 x 177 (180 x 90) mm.