Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020)

Manuscript; Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; Persian in black nasta’liq script; 633 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 7 verso, and 8 recto), one sarlawh (fol. 8 verso), one dated colophon (fol.633 recto), 44 paintings, and seals (fols. 12 recto, 366 recto, 633 recto/verso); inscriptions (fols. 633 recto/ verso, 635 recto); Muhammad Qasim b. Hajji Muhammad Kashani added a glossary of words (fols. 1-6) to the manuscript in A.H Muharram 1257 (A.D. February 1847); standard page: 4 columns of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century; the binding is of brown leather over paper pasteboards with block-stamped medallions, cornerpieces, and doublures of marbled paper.

Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1621 (1030 A.H.)
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 34.8 x 20.6 cm (13 11/16 x 8 1/8 in)
Geography
Iran
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.485
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
Henri Vever collection, illumination, Iran, Safavid period (1501 - 1722), Shahnama, tree
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Manuscript; Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; Persian in black nasta'liq script; 633 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 7 verso, and 8 recto), one sarlawh (fol. 8 verso), one dated colophon (fol.633 recto), 44 paintings, and seals (fols. 12 recto, 366 recto, 633 recto/verso); inscriptions (fols. 633 recto/ verso, 635 recto); Muhammad Qasim b. Hajji Muhammad Kashani added a glossary of words (fols. 1-6) to the manuscript in A.H Muharram 1257 (A.D. February 1847); standard page: 4 columns of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century; the binding is of brown leather over paper pasteboards with block-stamped medallions, cornerpieces, and doublures of marbled paper.

Inscription(s)

Fol. 633 recto: The book was finished with the aid of the munificent Lord, in the month of Jumada II in the year [A. H.] 103[0?]. May God forgive the scribe, the parents [?], and the owner; (fol. 633 verso) This book of the Shahnama of Hakim Firdawsi Tusi, God bless him, was written by the order of His Excellency....the noble dignified Asafjah Mwlana Ali...by the hand of the weak, the fearful, hopeful...Lord of the rich Shihab... of the believers, the merciful, the compassionate; (fol. 635 recto) In the presence of...His Highness the owner...I was in the room with a pool [hawzkhana] the night before last that...mentioned that the ending of the Shahnama is pleasant...In the word of the Lord of Kings...Wednesday Jumada...[A. H.] 129[0?]; seals: (fol. 12 recto, square) ... Fath-Ali; (fol. 366 recto, rectangular) the trusting, the hopeful; (fol. 633 recto, oval) seal [of] Fath-Ali, 1[?]56; (fol. 633 verso, square) [illegible].

Published References
  • 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. 159, pp. 126-127.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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