Ohio University, pftp-084
Images provided by hosting institution via
Metadata
- DS ID:
- DS30463
- Shelfmark:
- pftp-084
- Title:
- Shāhnāmah
Shahnameh, Iran, circa 1600s (PftP leaf: s01, f084)
Excerpt from the Shahnameh concerning a letter exchange with Khosrow Parviz
- Firdawsī
- Place:
- Iran
- Date:
- 16th century
- Language:
- Persian
- Material:
- Paper (fiber product)
- Physical Description:
- Extent: 1 leaf; Paper (fiber product); 32.4 cm x 20.3 cm
- Note:
- Layout: Written in 25 lines in 4 columns
Layout: border ruled in gold, green, brown, orange, white, and blue with a red frame rule
Layout: intercolumnar fill in gold and blue with foliate patterns; header in gold and blue with foliate decoration
Script: nastaʿlīq in black ink
Decoration: borders (ornament areas); chrysography; columns (layout features); illuminations (painting)
Provenance: This leaf is from a portfolio compiled by The Foliophiles Inc. and issued as a limited edition under the title "Pages from the past: Original leaves from rare books and manuscripts."
Provenance: The set of leaves belonging to Ohio University is number 18 of 20 in "Portfolio set I: History of the written word."
Provenance: The transcribed labels accompanying these leaves were originally written by The Foliophiles, Inc., a now-defunct New York association of rare book dealers that was also known as the Society of Foliophiles.
Provenance: Between 1925 and 1968 The Foliophiles disbound hundreds of historical texts and assembled them into several thematic portfolio sets.
Provenance: These were then issued in “editions” of between 15 and 200 leaves. Universities across America subsequently purchased these portfolios as teaching tools.
Provenance: While a small number of the selected leaves come from other cultures, the vast majority are from European texts. The collecting and marketing practices of The Foliophiles reflect the values of the members of the association and the contemporary American rare book market.
Provenance: Original descriptions, therefore, may contain outdated language, speculation, or inaccurate information.
The following text is based on the original seller's label. FROM A PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT of the early Seventeenth Century, viz., the Shahnama of Firdausi, probably the greatest, as it is the longest poem in the Persian language
Firdausi lived in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries, and finished this, his chief work, about the year 1010
He has been likened to Homer, but the two poet-chroniclers were as different in their methods as it was possible to be, Firdausi's masterpiece being quite loose in structure, with innumerable personal references and egotistical digressions
Yet it embraces the whole mythological history of the Iranians and celebrates the achievements of their kings and rulers from earliest times to the invasion of the Saracens, a period of more than 3,600 years
This manuscript page, with its exquisite, minute decorations, shows in what high esteem Firdausi was held
The calligraphy, in the style known as Shekasteh Nastaliq, is no less perfect than the illuminations, and the manuscript in its entirety represented years of the most exacting labor, such as only an Oriental craftsman would have the will or the skill to perform
© 1926, T.F.I.
Pages from the Past, Set I: History of the written word
This leaf from the Shahnameh by Firdawsi (940 – 1019/1025), also known as Firdousi, is about the letter of Khosrow Parviz (King of Persia, Sassanid period) to the Roman (Byzantine) emperor.
During that period, 7th CE, both the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia were indeed powerful.
They engaged in prolonged conflicts, particularly the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars, which significantly weakened both empires.
These weakened states were subsequently vulnerable to the conquests by Arab Muslims, ultimately leading to the transformation of their territories into Islamic domains. - Keyword:
- Institutional Record:
- http://media.library.ohio.edu/digital/collection/p15808coll19/id/266
- IIIF Manifest:
- https://media.library.ohio.edu/iiif/2/p15808coll19:266/manifest.json
- Holding Institution:
