- Provenance
- Provenance research underway.
- Description
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Manuscript; volume three of Habib al-siyar (Beloved of virtues) by Khwandamir; Persian in black, gold and red naskh script; 393 folios with 4 sarlawhs ( fols. 1, 68, 111, and 221 versos), and 10 paintings; inscription on flyleaf and end leaf (1recto, 393 recto/ verso); seals (fols. 1 recto, 393 recto); standard page: 1 column, 35 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards with gold block- stamped exterior covers; the doublures are of gold leather filigree over multicolored paper ground made by Muhammad Zaman Beg.
- Inscription(s)
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Book cover: "the work of Muhammad Zamman Beg, the binder of the private library." Folio 1 recto: "God is great. What I always had in the front of my mind and my fondest hope was that the day will come when, as I had desired, I would meet a perfect [saint]. I was honored to meet the followers of Shaykh Jiv [Heyu or Jiyu], who had attained perfection and who were aware of mystical truth. It occurred to me to pen in this book a few words worth writing as a memento. Therefore these words were written. [I am] hopeful that when it comes under the gaze of individuals of temperament and aware of celestial meaning, they will keep it in the back of their minds. If they become aware of mistakes they will pardon me. Written by the most humble servant of the omniscient King. Rustam [b.] Sultan Husayn b. Bahram in the year [A.H.] 1030 [A.D. 1620-21]."
"The 9th of the month of Jumada II in the year [A.H.] 1151 [A.D. 1742-43]. Volume [...] Habib al-siyar of large size of Dawlatabadi paper. Margined, illuminated, and illustrated with a leather cover, adorned with gold... by the hand of Diya al-Din Muhammad al-Akrami, given to the Biglarbigi of Kuh Giluya, the date of the month of Safar in the year [A.H.] 1080 [A.D. June-July 1669]...The date of the 27th of the month of rabi' I in the year [A.H.] 1105 [A.D. November 26, 1693] entered and was seen."
Folio 393 recto: "the book was finished with the help of the munificent Lord by the hand of the slave, the weak, in need of God's mercy, the lord who has no need, by the least slave of God, Diya al-Din Muhammad al-Akrami. May God forgive him. In the months of the year [A.H.] nine hundred and eighty-seven of the Hegira [A.D. 1579-80] completed the book known as Habib al-siyar, signal of divine guidance, may his sublime shadow never pass away. The descendant of nobles and grandees Mirza Abu-Talib, son of [the late] Mirza Ala al-Dawla may God forgive the owner, the scribe, the viewer, the reader by the sanctity of Muhammad and his family, peace be upon them."Seals; (fol. 1 recto, circular), by the order of the library of Rustam Sultan Husayn [b.] Bahram, by your mercy forgive [or bestow] all, the friend of God [A.H.] 1028 [A.D. 1618-19]; (rectangular...Ibrahim..; (0val) [illegible]; (square) Mahmud [A.H.] 1115 [A.D. 1703-04]; Sayyid Murtada al-Husayni, [illegible]; (fol. 393 recto, square) devotee of the royal court (murid-i darbar-i padishahi).
Notation on flyleaf reads: Rustam Sultan Husayn b. Bahram in the year A.H. 1030; notation on the end leaf (fol. 393 verso) reads: his lordship the Biglarbagi of Kuh Giluya.
- Published References
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- Anthony Welch. Artists from the Shah: Late Sixteenth-Century Painting at the Imperial Court of Iran. New Haven. pp. 28-30, figs. 4, 17.
- Octave Homberg. Publication title unknown. cat. 92, p. 48, pls. XL-XLI.
- Glenn D. Lowry, Susan Nemanzee. A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 39, pp. 140-141.
- Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 209, pp. 180-186.
- Abolala Soudavar, Milo Cleveland Beach. Art of the Persian Court: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection. New York. cat. 49, p. 300.
- Collection Area(s)
- Arts of the Islamic World
- Web Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- SI Usage Statement
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