Shahnama Project : Shahnama

Firdausi

Shahnama Project

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Oriental black morocco binding with sunk medallions and pendants, much worn, and with European early 19th-century light brown gilt calf back inscribed SHAN (sic) NAMEH. doublures of Indian kincob. Back cover detached.Folio 1r contains inscriptions and seals. The binding needs repair, otherwise the rest of the manuscript is in a very good condition, apart from deliberate damage to the miniatures. There is a double title- page illumination on ff. 1v-2r, and further illuminated unvans on ff. 15v (the start of the poem) and 270v (the start of the reign of Luhrasp). The first two pages are slightly torn. There is no colophon on this ms. However, there is an added folio (f 581) which seems to be a reconstruction of the last folio. This too does not contain any information about the attribution of the work, which Robinson identifies as an excellent example of the Shiraz style of the mid 16th century. There are altogether 19 miniatures, sometimes savagely defaced; the choice of scene in the first part of the ms. is unusual, omitting many popular subjects. Robinson identifies the work of two different artists. (A.M.).BibliographyB.W. Robinson, Persian paintings in the John Rylands Library, pp. 189-96.</p></p>