Manchester. The John Rylands Library, Persian MS 36
- Source
- Manchester Digital Collections
- Library
- The John Rylands Library
- Shelfmark
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- Persian MS 36
- Biblissima authority file
- Date
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- Safar 849 (1445 CE)
- Language
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- Persian
- Title
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- Khamsah (خمسۀ)
- Agent
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- Preferred form
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- Ǧalāl al-Dīn Abō Moḥamad Ilīās ben Īōsōf Neẓāmī Ganǧavī (1141-1209)
- Role
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- Author
- Original form
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- Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3 نظامى گنجوى
- نظامى گنجوى (Niẓāmī Ganjavī)
- Other form
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- Nizami, Llyas ibn Yusuf (1140?-1209?)
- Niżāmī
- Niz̤āmī Ganǧavī (Niz̤ām al-Dīn Abū M. Iliyyās b. Yūsuf)
- Niz̤āmī Ganǧavī
- Nizami, poète persan
- Neẓāmī Ganǧavī, Ǧalāl al-Dīn Abō Moḥamad Ilīās ben Īōsōf (1141-1209)
- Niẓāmi
- Niẓāmī
- نظامی
- šayẖ Niẓāmī Ganǧah
- Niżāmī Ganǧavī.
- نظامی گنجوی
- Nezâmi
- Nizāmī
- نظامی
- Nizami Ganjavi, 1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203
- Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 41-1202 or 3
- Niẓāmī Ganjavī, 1140 or 1141-1202 or 1203
- see more
- Biblissima portal
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Nathaniel Bland (1803-1865)
- Role
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- Former owner
- Original form
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- Nathaniel Bland (1803-1865)
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- Alexander William Crawford Lindsay (1812-1880)
- Role
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- Former owner
- Original form
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- Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford
- Biblissima authority file
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- Preferred form
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- James Ludovic Lindsay (comte de Crawford, 1847-1913)
- Role
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- Former owner
- Original form
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- James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
- Other form
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- Lindsay, James Ludovic, Earl (1847-1913)
- Lindsay, James Ludovic (1847-1913)
- James Ludovic Lindsay (b. 1847, d. 1913), peer and collector
- James Ludovic Lindsay (b. 1847, d. 1913), 26th Earl of Crawford
- Lindsay, James Ludovic, 1847-1913
- James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, 1847-1913
- Crawford, James Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of, 1847-1913
- James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford 1847-1913
- James Ludovic Lindsay, 1847-1913, 26th Earl of Crawford
- James Ludovic Lindsay 1847-1913, 26th Earl of Crawford
- Lindsay, James Ludovic, 1847-1913, 26th Earl of Crawford
- James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford of Haigh Hall
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- Biblissima portal
- Biblissima authority file
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- Description
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- Extent:
316 folios Leaf height: 254 mm, width: 178 mm. Written height: 165 mm, width: 108 mm.
Binding:
Original binding (rebacked, the spine lettered KHEM-SEH I NIZAMI) of dark reddish-brown leather with tooled arabesque medallion and pendants, partly gilt, and narrow gilt frame. Doublures with medallion of fine bold cut-out work of brown leather on a background of blue, green and gold.
Decoration:
Nineteen miniatures in the style associated with Shiraz. Folio 2b Miniature height: 165 mm, width: 108 mm. A princely hunt. Gold sky, lush green hillside with a stream across the foreground. In the foreground, the prince gallops in pursuit of a pair of wild donkeys, his bow drawn, while three terrifed hares, one wounded by an arrow, rush away in the other direction. Three other mounted huntsmen occupy the field, one spearing a leopard. Two other huntsmen are on the horizon attacking a couple of deer. Some discolouration and rubbing in the lower right-hand corner.
Folio 3a Miniature height: 165 mm, width: 108 mm. Outdoor court scene. Wine being offered to the prince, who sits on the carpet, with courtiers and musicians before him. The composition is dominated by a group of four large trees, with clouds floating across their top branches. There is also a peony and a stream in the foreground.
Folio 6a Miniature height: 123 mm, width: 108 mm. The Heavenly Ascent of the Prophet. Ten angels grouped in a circle amid golden clouds, surrounding Muhammad and Buraq. The faces of both have been scrubbed out and there is a little discolouration.
Folio 18a Miniature height: 70 mm, width: 108 mm. The hunter and his dog attacking the fox (6th maqala of the Makhzan al-Asrar). The dog is badly smudged.
Folio 29b Miniature height: mm, width: mm. Illuminated heading.
Folio 36b Miniature height: 127 mm, width: 108 mm. Prince Khusraw before his father Hurmuzd. A variation of f. 3a, with green ground, large vegetation and trees, one of which is being nibbled by a horse appearing over the horizon. Very slight discolouration.
Folio 48b Miniature height: 104 mm, width: 108 mm. Khusraw and his followers at polo with Shirin and her maids. Khusraw and Shirin play while the others stand behind. Shirin and her maids wear gold crowns, while Khusraw's side wear rounded kullas. Plain gold ground.
Folio 62a Miniature height: 184 mm, width: 127 mm. Shirin visits Farhad and his milk-conduit. A towering palace on the right, balanced by the mass of rock on the left. In the margin (though rather discoloured) appears a young shepherd with his staff trying to rescue some of his flock from a precarious position on the mountain.
Folio 88b Miniature height: 165 mm, width: 108 mm. Khusraw and Shirin, seated together on a large throne supported by life-like lions, listening to the learned discourse of Buzurg-amid. Trees above, stream below, maids to the left, courtiers to the right.
Folio 98b Miniature height: mm, width: mm. Illuminated heading.
Folio 107b Miniature height: 112 mm, width: 108 mm. Layla and Majnun at school. Fifteen children are grouped around the master along the lower part of the composition. Detailed architectural interior with a central archway and two oblong windows on each side, through the grilles of which two figures can be seen.
Folio 132a Miniature height: 112 mm, width: 114 mm. Majnun in the wilderness, seated on a rock, in conversation with a woman (his mother?). Salim 'Amiri is in the foreground with his camel. The crouching fox is badly smudged.
Folio 140b Miniature height: 127 mm, width: 108 mm. Layla and Majnun fainting. They lie side-by-side among palm trees, accompanied by the usual animals. Tents and two spectators on the horizon.
Folio 147b Miniature height: mm, width: mm. Illuminated heading.
Folio 157a Miniature height: 104 mm, width: 146 mm. Bahram Gur attacking the dragon.
Folio 164b Miniature height: 190 mm, width: 108 mm. Practice makes perfect'. Fitna, crowned and veiled, mounting the ladder with a brown, humped cow on her shoulders. Spectators watch on from behind the grille of a window below. Bahram Gur and his companions watch from the roof of the towering building. Slight flaking of the ladder.
Folio 173a Miniature height: 127 mm, width: 108 mm. Illustration of the story told in the Black Pavilion. The hero of the story sits among the fairies under a tree, holding a wine cup. Another cup is offered to him by a youth in the foreground. Only two fairies are shown. Plain gold ground with a leaf-bordered stream. A snake coils around a rock on the horizon near four young birds.
Folio 183b Miniature height: 178 mm, width: 108 mm. Bahram Gur and the Princess in the Blue Pavilion. While the costumes and the dome are green, there is blue in the surrounding architecture. The throne rests on golden feet in the shape of simurgh heads. The heads appear to be biting the candles in the candlesticks in the foreground. The dome is surmounted by a golden eagle.
Folio 196b Miniature height: 172 mm, width: 121 mm. Bahram Gur and the shepherd who hanged his dog. In the foreground, the seated king addresses the grey-bearded shepherd who stands by his tent, from which several goats appear. The dog is suspended by his hind legs from the tree, while a small heap of dead sheep lie in front of Bahram Gur's black horse.
Folio 203b Miniature height: mm, width: mm. Illuminated heading.
Folio 218b Miniature height: 130 mm, width: 140 mm. Victory of Iskandar over the Zangi. Iskandar clubs an adversary in the foreground, while one of his men shoots another on the horizon. Banner extends into the margin. Gold ground and blue sky with large grey clouds and small gold clouds.
Folio 267b Miniature height: 158 mm, width: 121 mm. Victory of Iskandar over the Russians. Iskandar's men attack the Russians as they flee. Pale, sand-coloured ground with a deep blue sky and a central tree. There is a small smudge across the Russian army.
Folio 275b Miniature height: mm, width: mm. Illuminated heading.
Folio 305b Miniature height: 121 mm, width: 108 mm. Iskandar and the people of Gog and Magog. Iskandar is speaking to them by a building in the background, behind a line of rocks. The foreground features three mythical creatures appearing out of the water. They are observed by a party of Iskandar's mounted followers, peering out from behind a rock. Some damage to two faces.
Folios 3b and 4a are illuminated as a double title-page. There are also illuminated headings of equally fine quality on folios 29b(Khusraw u Shirin), 98b (Layla wa Majnun), 147b(Haft Paykar), 203b(Iskandar Nama) and 275b (Sharaf Nama), with the lettering in 'Kufic'.
In addition, on folios 29a, 202b, 203a, 275a and 314a the blank spaces at the end of the poems are covered with geometrical diaper designs in gold and occasional touches of colour. On folios 98a,147a and 275a smaller spaces are filled with fine floral scrollwork in gold touched with colours.
Acquisition:
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands, on behalf of the John Rylands Library, in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford.
Layout:
4 columns, 25 lines.
Data Source(s):
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993. Identification of provenance based on manuscript catalogue by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s.
Manuscript description based on B.W. Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library: A Descriptive Catalogue (London, 1980).
Subject(s):
Persian poetry--747-1500
Abstract:
Nizami's Khamsa (five poems), dated Safar 849 (1445 CE). Illuminated throughout and with 19 miniatures in the Shiraz style.
Format:
Codex
Provenance:
On the upper margin of folio 3a is the seal of a former owner, Fath 'Ali b. Hidayat-allah, dated 1218/1803.
Formerly part of the collection of the Persian scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803-1865). Bland’s oriental manuscripts were sold through Bernard Quaritch in 1866 to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford.
- Extent:
- Rights
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- Provided by The University of Manchester. Zooming image © University of Manchester Library, All rights reserved. Images and Metadata made available for download are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Images and Metadata made available for download are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
