The Walters Art Museum 600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 http://www.thewalters.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode Published 2009
NOTE: The pages in this book are ordered from right to left. This means that to view the pages in order, you should go the last page of the document and read what would be from “back-to-front� for a Western manuscript.
This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Department of Manuscripts.
fol. 222b: Title: Khusraw Parvīz battles Bahrām Chūbīnah Form: Illustration fol. 236a: Title: Gurdiyah, sister of Bahrām Chūbīnah, kills her husband Gastahm Form: Illustration fol. 253b: Title: Mihr Hurmuzd kills Khusraw Parvīz Form: Illustration fol. 260b: Title: Saʿd-i Vaqqāṣ kills Rustam-i Hurmuzd Form: Illustration fol. 269a: Title: The tomb of Firdawsī in a landscape Form: Illustration Acquisition
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest
Binding
The binding is not original. Dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; lacquer boards (no flap); floral design in the central ovals and pendants; doublures decorated with a plant with yellow flowers (perhaps daffodils)
Bibliography
Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159.
Generated: 2011-06-06 12:10 -04:00
fol. 35a: Title: Isfandiyār ties the hands of Gurgsār and takes him prisoner Form: Illustration fol. 59b: Title: Zavārah kills Isfandiyār’s son Nūsh-Azar Form: Illustration fol. 72b: Title: Rustam kills his brother Shaghād before dying in the pit Form: Illustration fol. 88a: Title: The hanging of Farāmarz on the order of Bahman Form: Illustration fol. 117b: Title: Alexander the Great fight the Abyssinians Form: Illustration fol. 132b: Title: Ardashīr kills disobedient warriors Form: Illustration fol. 151b: Title: Shāpūr captures the king of Rūm Form: Illustration fol. 172b: Title: Bahrām Gūr hunting Form: Illustration fol. 184b: Title: Bahrām Gūr wrestles with two Indian champions in the presence of Shangul, king of India Form: Illustration fol. 209a: Title: Bahrām Chūbīnah defeats Khusraw Parvīz in combat Form: Illustration
Generated: 2011-06-06 12:10 -04:00
Collation
Catchwords: Written on versos, usually quoting a hemistich
Dimensions
19.5 cm wide by 34.0 cm high
Written surface
13.0 cm wide by 25.5 cm high
Layout
Columns: 4 Ruled lines: 25 Framing lines in red, green, blue, black, and gold
Contents
fols. 2b - 269a: Title: Shāhnāmah Text note: Text incomplete at beginning and end Hand note: Written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter/section headings in red on a gold ground Decoration note: Seventeen illustrations; chapter/ section headings in illuminated panels; framing lines in red, green, blue, black, and gold
Decoration
Upper board outside: Title: Binding Form: Binding Label: This black lacquer binding with central oval and pendants is decorated with gold flowers and dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth century CE. Upper board inside: Title: Doublure Form: Doublure Label: This painted doublure dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth century CE. fol. 2b: Title: Sulṭān Maḥmūd of Ghaznī; Iyāz (his slave); and the poets Firdawsī, ʿUnṣurī, and ʿAsjadī Form: Illustration fol. 24b: Title: Isfandiyār decapitates Bidarāfsh Form: Illustration
Generated: 2011-06-06 12:10 -04:00
Shelf mark
Walters Art Museum Ms. W.603
Descriptive Title
Book of kings (Shahnama)
Text title
Shāhnāmah Vernacular:
Author
Authority name: Firdawsī As-written name: Abū al-Qāsim Ḥasan ibn Isḥāq Firdawsī Ṭūsī Name, in vernacular: Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE
Abstract
This is an illuminated and illustrated incomplete copy of the Shāhnāmah (Book of kings) by Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (d. 411 or 416 AH / 1020-5 CE), dating between the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE and the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. The text, written in black nastaʿlīq script with chapter/section headings in red on a gold ground, is illustrated with seventeen paintings. Two of the illustrations (fols. 2b and 269a) are in a clearly recognizable Qajar style and certainly date to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. The others may be late Safavid, repainted in the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.
Date
11th century AH / 17th CE -- 13th century AH / 19th CE
Origin
Iran
Form
Book
Genre
Historical
Genre
Literary -- Poetry
Language
The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.
Support material
Paper Laid paper
Extent
Foliation: 272
Generated: 2011-06-06 12:10 -04:00
This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Department of Manuscripts.
A digital facsimile of selections fromWalters Ms. W.603, Book of kings (Shahnama) Title: ShÄ hnÄ mah
Published by: The Walters Art Museum 600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201 http://www.thewalters.org/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode Published 2011