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Illuminated manuscripts

 Subject

Staff Only
Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus

Found in 200 Collections and/or Records:

Detail of page from the Compendium of Chronicles by Rashid al-Din. Shows text with central miniature depicting the Sultan Luhrasp seated on a throne, surrounded by attendants. [Please click twice to see the full manuscript]
Detail of page from the Compendium of Chro...

جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 20
Scope and Contents This manuscript, among the most iconic items held by Edinburgh University Library, is one of the supreme masterpieces of Persian book painting and one of the most important medieval manuscripts from either West or East. Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh was written by the historian and vizier to the Ilkhanid court, Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍl-allāh Ṭabīb Hamadānī (ca. 1247-1318 C.E.), and copied in Tabriz by the author's own scribes and illustrators. This fragment of the manuscript...
Dates: 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

جوامع الحکایات و لوامع الروایات Jawāmi' al-ḥikāyāt va lavāmi' al-rivāyāt, 842-843 A.H., 1439-1440 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 119
Scope and Contents

A celebrated collection of historical tales and anecdotes, by Mawlānā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad 'Aufī, also known as Sadr al-Dīn, or Jamāl al-Dīn 'Aufī, who also compiled one of the earliest biographies of poets, called Lubāb al-Albāb. The present work was composed in 625 A.H. (1227 C.E.).

Dates: 842-843 A.H.; 1439-1440 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

حیاة الحیوان Ḥayāt al-Ḥayawān, 805 A.H., 1402 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 62
Scope and Contents

A famous zoological dictionary, but it is something more. The work contains chapters on the history of the Arab rulers, on religion and law, annotations on the Qur'ān and dissertations on science, poetry, diction, etc. The author was Kamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Mūsá b. 'Īsá b. 'Alī al-Damīrī (d. 808 A.H., 1406 C.E.), who compiled it in 773 A.H. (1371 C.E.).

Dates: 805 A.H.; 1402 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

دبستان مذاهب Dabistān-i maẕāhib, 1215 A.H., 1800 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 69
Scope and Contents

An exposition of the religious creeds and philosophical systems of the East. The author's name does not appear, but the work is probably attributable to Mubād-Shāh, who completed it shortly after 1063 A.H. (1653 C.E.). Comprising fifteen sections with numerous subsections, it gives a fair insight into the beliefs of the Parsis, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Muwaḥḥids (unitarians), Philosophers, Sufis (theosophists), and several others.

Dates: 1215 A.H.; 1800 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ديوان خاقانی Dīvān-i Khāqānī, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 274
Scope and Contents

The collected poems of Imām Afz̤al al-Dīn "Khāqānī" of Shirvān (who died at Tabriz between 582 and 595 A.H. /1186 and 1199 C.E.), with a few pages missing at the end.

Fronticepiece illuminated with gold.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ديوان سعدی Dīvān-i Sa‘dī, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 285
Scope and Contents

An incomplete collection of the poems of one of the most celebrated of Persian poets Sa'dī of Shiraz, 606-691 A.H. (1210-1291-2 C.E.).

It consists of: Būstān, fols. 1- 65, qaṣīdāt, fols. 655-89; muqaṭṭa'āt, fols. 895-141.

It contains, two illuminated frontispieces.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ديوان صائب Dīvān-i Ṣāʼib, 1108 A.H., 1696 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 304
Scope and Contents This good copy of the Dīvān of Ṣāʼib (fol. 1 is missing). It consists of ghazals, with which are mixed a few unfinished ghazals and rubā'is, all arranged alphabetically."Ṣāʼib" is the pen name of Mīrzā Muḥammad 'Alī of Tabriz (d. ca. 1080 A.H./ 1670 C.E.), who founded a new style for writing poetry, and is regarded as one of the greatest of modern Persian poets.He spend time under the patronage of the Governor of Kabul, Ẓafar-Khān, and...
Dates: 1108 A.H.; 1696 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ديوانِ عرفی Dīvān-i ‘Urfī, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 302
Scope and Contents The collected works of the celebrated poet Sayyid Muḥammad Jamāl al-Dīn " 'Urfī " Shīrāzī, who came to India, 994 A.H. (1586 C.E.), first proceeded to the Deccan, where he soon entered into the service of Ḥakīm Masīḥ al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ Jīlānī, but subsequently, on the death of his patron, 997 A.H. (1589 C.E.), he went to seek his fortune at Agra. Here he soon rose in the favour of the Khān-i Khānān, Mīrzā 'Abd al-Raḥīm (the son of Bayram Khān, who had been Akbar's regent), who had translated...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

دیوان حافظ Dīvān-i Ḥāfiẓ, undated copy (original text composed 14th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 106
Scope and Contents

A collection of poems by the celebrated Persian lyric poet Shams-al-Dīn Muḥammad "Ḥāfiẓ" of Shiraz (ca. 715-792 A.H. /1315-1390 C.E.). This volume, probably copied in the 11th century A.H. (broadly, 17th cent. CE), is richly illuminated and includes twelve highly finished miniatures in Indian style.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 14th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

دیوان حافظ Divan-i Hafiz, early 19th century C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 595
Scope and Contents

The collected works of Hafiz. Consists largely of ghazals: short poems made up of couplets with the same rhyme ending. They were intended to be sung, or at least spoken with heavy intonation, and were popular in Mughal court entertainments. Flower-painted lacquered covers.

Dates: early 19th century C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia