Hâzâ Şerh-i Vaṣṣāf, [18th century?].

Elegant copy of the commentary by Bagdatlı Nazmizade Hüseyin Murtaza Efendi (d.1721 or 2?) on Vaṣṣāf’s Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-aʻṣār or Tārīkh-i Vaṣṣāf, a history of the Īlkhāns intended as a continuation of ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malik Juvaynī’s (d.1283) Tārīkh-i Jahāngushā (Jahān-gushāy) and renowned for its form and style. Several volumes in one. Contributions to the cataloguing from Eren Miyasoğlu and Hossein Mottaghi.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 384Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, decoration, etc. suggest 18th century. Statement in red ink accompanied by dated seal impression on 'title page' (p.3) provides a terminus ante quem of 1846 (i.e. 12 Jumādá II 1262 = ca. 8 May 1846).Former shelfmark: "584 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark red leather ; Type II binding (with flap), likely two-piece binding (seam of overlapping flanges barely visible at spine) ; pastedowns and flyleaves in an elegant marbled paper (mainly in red and dark blue or green) ; upper and lower covers carry stamped and gold-painted mandorla (filled with vegetal composition, compare Déroche class. NSd 7) and pendants, as well as a tooled border in a series of s-shaped stamps evoking guilloché roll in gold ; design continues on envelope flap ; sewn in pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in deep pink and pale yellow (or cream), good condition ; overall in somewhat poor condition with flap fully detached, some staining, minor abrasion, etc. ; housed in box for protection.Support: non-European (likely Persian) and European laid paper of several types ; first half of codex mainly in non-European (likely Persian) laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (mainly vertical, fairly distinct) and occasional chain lines visible, quite thin and transluscent though sturdy, well-burnished, dark cream in color ; second half of the codex in several European laid papers, mainly with raisin watermarks including paper with 11-12 laid lines per cm. (mainly horizontal), chain lines spaced 26 mm. apart (mainly vertical) and watermarks of grapes under name and crown (see p.546, 552, etc.) and names (see p.542, 550, etc.) and paper with 11 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 22-24 mm. apart (horizontal), and watermark of grapes under crown (see p.714, etc.) ; flyleaves in European laid paper (watermark of lion guardant visible in front flyleaf, p.2) ; significant breakthrough at frames (border at inner margin toward gutter in practically every leaf in the first four gatherings) ; leaf carrying p.471-472 delaminating.Decoration: Elegant illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.4, consisting of scalloped w-shaped piece with central gold cartouche (carrying the title in white "هذا شرح وصاف") surrounded by swirling floral vegetal composition in gold, pink, light blue, white, orange, red, etc. on a pale gold ground, surmounted by vertical stalks (tīgh) in dark blue with gold accents, entire piece set in a well consisting of bands of red with white accents, white with dark blue accents, and heavy gold interlace with red and white accents ; other similar illuminated headpieces at the openings of other sections on p.262 and 444 ; written area of incipit and facing page surrounded by heavy "gold" frame defined by black fillets, elsewhere written area surrounded by narrower gold frame black fillets ; keywords rubricated ; passages being commented upon (matn of Tārīkh-i Vaṣṣāf) overlined in red ; textual dividers in the form of red discs.Script: Nastaʻlīq (talik) ; compact, elegant hand ; serifless, with slight effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, elongated horizontal strokes, pointing in strokes rather than distinct dots.Layout: Written in 27 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: ii, 34 V(340), IV (348), VI (360), IV+1 (369), i ; chiefly quinions ; catchwords present ; page between first and second volume left blank (p.261) ; quire numbering in the form of Hindu-Arabic numerals in black ink, recto of opening leaf of each from the second ; foliation in red ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inner front flyleaf and skips two pages each between pp.83-84, 103-104, 353-354).Explicit: "العباد شايان اولدوغى كبى ومثل هذا التسهيل قد سهل الله سبحانه وتعالى علينا ما رمناه من المقاصد الغالية والحمد كل الحمد لربنا رب المبدعات من العشرة العالية ... ونستغفره ونتوب اليه ونسأله العفو والعاقبة انه هو البر الرحيم تم"Incipit: "الحمد لله الذي رفع سبع طباق الخضراء بغير عمد ترونها واوحى بمقتضى حكمته في كل سماء امرها ... وبعد دل ارباب ذوى اللب والالباب ... كه بوندن اقدم شهرت يافتۀ اشتهار آفتاب عالمتاب اولان تاريخ وصاف عبارات مشكله وفقرات معضله ولغات عربيۀ مختلفه يعنى عربيه وفارسيه وچاغتالى ومغلى وخوارزمى ومصطلحات علوم صرف ونحو وعروض ومسيقى وايقاع وهندسه وحساب ومنطق وحكمت وكلام وساير مصطلح غريب اوزرينه ..."Title from illuminated headpiece at opening (p.4).Ms. codex.Pfeiffer, Judith. "’A turgid history of the Mongol empire in Persia:’ espistimological reflections concerning a critical edition of Vaṣṣāf’s Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-aʻṣār." In Theoretical approaches to the transmission and edition of Oriental manuscripts. Proceedings of a symposium held in Istanbul, March 28-30, 2001. Ed. Judith Pfeiffer, Manfred Kropp. Beirut: Ergon verlag Würzburg in Kommission, 2007 : 107-123,Flügel, Gustav. Die arabischen, persischen und türkischen Handschriften der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hofbibliothek zu Wien. (Vienna: K.K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1856-1867):Elegant copy of the commentary by Bagdatlı Nazmizade Hüseyin Murtaza Efendi (d.1721 or 2?) on Vaṣṣāf’s Tajziyat al-amṣār wa-tazjiyat al-aʻṣār or Tārīkh-i Vaṣṣāf, a history of the Īlkhāns intended as a continuation of ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malik Juvaynī’s (d.1283) Tārīkh-i Jahāngushā (Jahān-gushāy) and renowned for its form and style. Several volumes in one. Contributions to the cataloguing from Eren Miyasoğlu and Hossein Mottaghi.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Former owners' marks on 'title page' (p.3) include a few effaced statements and statement in red ink identifying title dated 12 Jumādá II 1262 [8 May 1846] accompanied by a large oval seal impression dated 1261 [1845] in name of İşkodravi Şerifi Mustafa ( اشقودره وى شريفى مصطفى ) [ İşkodralı Şerif Mustafa Paşa, possibly Mustafa Paşa İşkodralı Buşatlı (1797-1860) ?] seal inscription reads "من متملكات الفقير الى ربه الاعلى المدعو بين الوزرا باشقودره وى شريفى مصطفى ١٢٦١" ; occasional glosses and marginal corrections