Collection ID: 0023 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Shāhnāmah.
شاهنامه

Authors

• Firdawsī
  فردوسي
• Free Library of Philadelphia. Rare Book Department. John Frederick Lewis Collection of Oriental Manuscripts

Other related names

• Qummī, Muḥammad ibn Shaykh ʻAqīl al-Sharīf, active 1592, scribe
  قمي، محمد بن شيخ عقيل الشريف،
• Antiquatchi, Ali Asghar, active 1928, former owner
• Lewis, John Frederick, 1860-1932, former owner
• Lewis, Anne Baker, 1868-1937, donor
• Dickson, Marty, active 1980, conservator
• Anderson Auction Company, auctioneer

Call number

Lewis O 53
(Philadelphia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 2508420
• http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1111686808
• http://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0023/html/lewis_o_053.html
• https://know.freelibrary.org/Record/2508420

Publisher

Free Library of Philadelphia

Language

Persian

Origin

Date

A.H. 1000 (1592)

Place

Iran?

Summary

Complete, illustrated copy of the Shāhnāmah with 21 miniatures; no rubrications between f. 197v-373v.

Notes

• Ms. codex.
   
• Title from colophon (f. 385v).
   
• Repaired by Marty Dickson May 1980 (note in pencil first flyleaf recto at front of book).
   
• Notes dated 1231, 1234 and 1269 A.H. recorded in ink (f. 1r).
   

Extent

I, 385, i leaves : 353 x 217 (280 x 137) mm bound to 357 x 230 mm

Foliation

Modern foliation added in pencil, upper left recto; catchwords every verso, lower left, some have been trimmed.

Support

Paper

Binding

Bound in black leather over pasteboard with flap (Type II). Front covers have inlay gilded and red embossed floral central mandorla with two pendants on the vertical axis and cornerpieces. Flap has matching design. Inside covers have bright red leather doublure with the same pattern as the outside covers recreated in green, blue, red, and black textile inlay with gold filigree overlay; a set of filigree cartouches in gold over pink, blue and green create a frame. The same filigree cartouches appear on the inside flap. Endbands in red and green.

Layout

33 lines in four columns; border-ruled and columns ruled.

Decoration

Illuminated headpiece in blue, red and gold (f. 1v); 21 polychrome miniatures (f. 8r, 15v, 22v, 39r, 41r, 47r, 58r, 63v, 92v, 109v, 121v, 142v, 161v, 175r, 202r, 228v, 241r, 247r, 289v, 304r, 308v). Rubrications in red, blue, gold, and darker red; no rubrications between f. 197v-373v. Textblock border-ruled in gold, red and darker red.

Script

Written in naskh with elements of nastaʻliq in black ink; pointed.

Provenance

• Sold at the Ali Asghar Antiquatchi sale Anderson Auction Company (New York) 1-2 February, 1928, lot 251 (note in pencil on catalog entry pasted to first flyleaf recto). The note says 26 January, but the sale was in February of that year.
   
• Formerly owned by John Frederick Lewis.
   

Subjects topical

• Epic poetry, Persian--Early works to 1800
• Persian poetry--747-1500
• Illumination of books and manuscripts, Iranian--Specimens

Genres

• Manuscripts, Persian
• Manuscripts, Oriental
• Manuscripts, 16th century
• Codices (bound manuscripts)
• Epic poems
• Illuminations (painting)
• Manuscripts (documents)
• Miniatures (paintings)
• Notes (documents)
• Full covers
• Islamic bindings (Binding)
• Envelope flaps (features)
• Filigree
• Inlaying

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Rare Book Department Lewis O 53: Shāhnāmah. are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  To the extent possible under law, Free Library of Philadelphia, Special Collections has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this metadata about Rare Book Department Lewis O 53: Shāhnāmah.. This work is published from: United States. For a summary of CC0, see https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Legal code: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• fol. 1v — Shāhnāmah

Decorations

• fol. 1r — Notations
• fol. 1v — Illuminated headpiece
• fol. 8r — Illustration
• fol. 15v — Illustration
• fol. 22v — Illustration
• fol. 39r — Illustration
• fol. 41r — Illustration
• fol. 47r — Illustration
• fol. 58r — Illustration
• fol. 63v — Illustration
• fol. 92v — Illustration
• fol. 109v — Illustration
• fol. 121v — Illustration
• fol. 142v — Illustration
• fol. 161v — Illustration
• fol. 175r — Illustration
• fol. 202r — Illustration
• fol. 228v — Illustration
• fol. 241r — Illustration
• fol. 247r — Illustration
• fol. 289v — Illustration
• fol. 304r — Illustration
• fol. 308v — Illustration
• fol. 385v — Notations