The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the Book of kings (Shāhnāmah) by Firdawsī (d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE), dating to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. The text is largely written in black nastaʿlīq script with headings in blue on a polychrome ground. The codex opens with an illuminated medallion (fol. 1a), followed by a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a), poorly preserved. The preface, ordered by Bāysunghur in 829 AH / 1425-6 CE, begins on fol. 2b. The Shāhnāmah text begins on fol. 14b with an inscribed illuminated titlepiece. It is divided into two parts. Eighteen paintings illustrate the text. The black lacquer binding with lobed central ovals and pendants is not contemporary with the manuscript and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.
Written in nastaʿlīq script in black, blue, and gold with chapter/section headings in blue on a decorated background; incidentals in blue and gold
Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam
Cataloger: Landau, Amy
Cataloger: Smith, Sita
Editor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Barrera, Christina
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Simpson, Shreve
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Contributor: Valle, Chiara
Conservator: Jewell, Stephanie
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159.
Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 228-9.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Iran
10th century AH / 16th CE; damaged date in the colophon reads: end of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 9[?]5
book
Non-original Binding
Probably thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; black lacquer (no flap); central ovals and pendants decorated with floral designs on a gold background
The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.
Seal impression with the name Aḥmad
Ownership entry dated 12 Jumādá I 1204 AH / 1789 CE
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest
Iran
10th century AH / 16th CE; damaged date in the colophon reads: end of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 9[?]5
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.
Seal impression with the name Aḥmad
Ownership entry dated 12 Jumādá I 1204 AH / 1789 CE
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest
This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the Book of kings (Shāhnāmah) by Firdawsī (d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE), dating to the tenth century AH / sixteenth CE. The text is largely written in black nastaʿlīq script with headings in blue on a polychrome ground. The codex opens with an illuminated medallion (fol. 1a), followed by a double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a), poorly preserved. The preface, ordered by Bāysunghur in 829 AH / 1425-6 CE, begins on fol. 2b. The Shāhnāmah text begins on fol. 14b with an inscribed illuminated titlepiece. It is divided into two parts. Eighteen paintings illustrate the text. The black lacquer binding with lobed central ovals and pendants is not contemporary with the manuscript and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.
Written in nastaʿlīq script in black, blue, and gold with chapter/section headings in blue on a decorated background; incidentals in blue and gold
Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam
Cataloger: Landau, Amy
Cataloger: Smith, Sita
Editor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Barrera, Christina
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Simpson, Shreve
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Contributor: Valle, Chiara
Conservator: Jewell, Stephanie
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159.
Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 228-9.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
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