Tuḥfat al-ʻIrāqayn, [18th century?].

Fine though defective copy (lacking at end) of the mas̲navī describing the author's ḥājj journey from Shirvān to Mecca and back by the outstanding Persian poet Afz̤al al-Dīn Shirvānī Khāqānī (d.1199).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 899Origin: Lacks dated colophon ; paper, hand, etc. may suggest 18th or possibly 17th century. Date in oval seal impression provides only very rough terminus ante quem of 1803, since seal impression could have been made years before its use in the volume.Accompanying materials: a. Slip with note "counted for 1968/69 Annual Report" -- b. Slip with note "Persian Manuscripts (Heyworth-Dunne?) No Husselman or Meredith-Owen notes" -- c. Recycled card with notes in hand of Emilie Savage-Smith [?] "poetry | Persian | many marginal annotation | 19th c. binding" -- d. Scrap with inscription in ink "Khāqānī : Tuḥfat al-ʻirāqain."Former shelfmark: Mich. Isl. Ms. temp. no. 48Binding: Pasteboards covered in block-printed paper (red floral vegetal design with blue accents) with light brown leather over spine and board corners (half binding) ; Type III binding (without flap) though not flush with text block ; pastedowns and flyleaves in untinted paper with many inclusions and fibers visible ; sewn in heavy cream thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in dark blue and cream, fair condition (protected by spine leather) ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, staining, etc.Support: non-European laid paper with roughly 8 laid lines per cm. (horizontal, fairly distinct, some curving) and occasional chain lines visible (vertical, possibly grouped, see p.183, 187, etc.), cloudy formation, sturdy though thin and transluscent, light brown in color, well-burnished.Decoration: Keywords and section headings rubricated.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; elegant hand ; serifless with effect of words descending to baseline, elongation and exaggerated thickness of horizontal strokes, pointing in distinct dots.Layout: Written in 15 lines per page, with written area mainly divided to two columns ; frame-ruled (impression of ruling board evident).Collation: ii, 13 IV(104), II (108), i ; almost exclusively quaternions ; middle of the quire marks in the form of oblique strokes in black, upper outer margin of right-hand leaf ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, first at the center of the upper margin, then in outer corner, begins with "1" on incipit page.Incipit: "مائیم نظار گان غمناک زین حقه سبز و مهره خاک ..."Title from inscription on front flyleaf.Ms. codex.Cat. Pers. MSS. Brit. Mus.,Fine though defective copy (lacking at end) of the mas̲navī describing the author's ḥājj journey from Shirvān to Mecca and back by the outstanding Persian poet Afz̤al al-Dīn Shirvānī Khāqānī (d.1199).Mode of access: Internet.Acquired from Frank E. Nuttall (1875-1943).Description with title, author, etc. and possible former inventory mark on upper pastedown "Persian | Tuhfat al-Araqain | Khaqani | MSS. imperfect at end 10 [?] | 1172B" ; several former owners' marks on 'title page' including two oval seal impressions and a rectangular seal impression (all repeated on incipit page, but partially effaced), difficult to make out ; one of the oval seal impressions is repeated elsewhere (i.e. p.8, 16, 32, 52, 64, 191, 202, 212) and appears to read "عبده محمد نسيم ١٢١٧" (i.e. with date 1217 [1802 or 3]) ; extensive interlinear and marginal glosses and corrections