Persian scribe

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on paper with fine marbled paper borders, in Farsi, 119 leaves, complete, 336 x 230 mm; single column, 11 lines to the page written in neat nasta'liq script in black ink, occasional headings and significant words in blue, inner margins ruled in gold and blue, outer borders throughout decorated with fine marbling, one illuminated opening headpiece, one further illuminated heading; contemporary burgundy leather binding, blind-stamped with corner pieces to covers, a very handsome volume.

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on paper, in Arabic, complete, 231 leaves, 260 by 165 mm; single column, 16 lines fine black naskh script, surah headings in red throughout, occasional marginal additions copied int he same hand, catch-words throughout, leaves ruled in gilt and blue, verses marked by gilt roundels throughout, some very faint scattered ink smudges overall very clean and crisp condition; contemporary fine hand-painted lacquered boards, outer covers with elegant floral compositions set against a striking bronzed background, framed within a border of floral cartouches, inner covers in red with gilt spiralling vines, backed in leather, very clean and attractive condition.

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on paper, in Arabic, 161 leaves plus a final free blank at the end of the volume, complete, 173 by 103 mm; single column, 11 lines fine black naskh, chapter headings in gld throughout, contemporary catch-words, text-block ruled in gold and blue, final two leaves loose becoming loose otherwise in excellent and very clean condition; contemporary diced red leather morocco, covers ruled in border of small circular tooling in blind, extremities vvery slightly rubbed, a very nice copy.

Single volume, illuminated manuscript on polished paper, in Arabic, complete, 191 leaves plus 3 endpapers (two at front and one at the back), 98 by 60 mm; 21 lines fine and refined naskh script copied in miniature format, in black, two opening leaves of prayers copied in central lobed panels, in red, plus an additional set at the end of the volume, opening two facing pages of the Qur'an with exquisitely fine gilt polychrome decorations to borders, interlinear colouring of gold to every leaf of text, catch-words throughout, very clean and crisp condition; housed in fine contemporary gilt lacquered boards, with decorative floral compositions to covers set against a red background and framed within a gold foliate border, a very fine manuscript.

Single volume, decorated manuscript on blue paper, in Arabic and Farsi, 145 leaves (including one final free endpaper), complete, 168 by 110 mm; single column, 15 lines formal black naskh script, catch-words throughout, early ink ownership seals to first and final leaves, a few minor smudges else attractive and clean internal condition; contemporary tan limp leather binding, ruled in blind, extremities lightly rubbed, water-stain to lower cover.

Five volumes, each containing one Juz' of the Qur'an, illuminated manuscripts on thick polished buff paper, in Arabic, containing Juz' VI (An-Nisa 4:148 to Al-Maidah 5:82), Juz' VIII (Al-An'am 6:111 to Al-Araf 7:170), Juz' XI (At-Towbah 9:94 to Hud 11:5), Juz' XVII (Al-Anbiya 21:1 to Al-Hajj 22:78) and Juz' XXX (An-Naba 78:1 to An-Nas 114:6), each Juz' 16-19 leaves (together 84 leaves, plus some contemporary free endleaves to a couple volumes) and all textually complete in themselves, 265 by 170 mm; single column, 11 lines bold black naskh script with diacritics, some vocalisation in red, surah headings throughout in red thuluth script, large polychrome head-pieces (unwan) opening each of the Juz', these executed to a very high standard by a fine hand and illuminated in gold, leaves ruled in blue and gold throughout, contemporary catch-words, some smudges and light staining, a few sections cockled from damp; housed in uniform contemporary Qajar lacquered boards, inside covers painted and ruled in red, outer covers a dark tan with gilt floral pattern to frame outer edges, all rebacked, a little worn in places.

Illuminated manuscript on paper, in Arabic, containing the first 7 aya of the first surah of the Qur'an (al-Fatihah 1:1 - 1:7), 490 by 380 mm.; single column, 5 lines large scribal nasta'liq diagonally inscribed, outlined in cloud shapes and set against an elaborately illuminated gold background decorated with intricately illustrated spiralling floral patterns with polychrome colour additions, lower right-hand corner containing the scribe's name and date of completion, panel framed within multiple polychrome and gilt rulings, including a banner formed of multiple gold cartouches in Safavid style of illumination; very clean and bright condition; leaf mounted to thick card.

Illuminated manuscript on polished paper, in Farsi, 73 leaves (plus a contemporary free endpaper at the end), complete, 182 by 110 mm.; double column, 17 lines elegant and refined black nasta'liq, vibrant and fine illuminated polychrome and gold heading opening the text, twenty-six miniature paintings in the text, depicting important scenes in the romance and painted with vivid colours in the contemporary Qajar style, leaves double ruled in red, blue and gold, tissue-guards loosely inserted throughout; some very faint spotting to final few gatherings, overall very bright and attractive condition; housed in contemporary leather-backed gilt lacquered boards depicting floral sprays ruled and framed within corner-pieces and a gilt border, contemporary paper label to spine inscribed with title of the work in Farsi, spine ends very lightly worn, extremities slightly rubbed, overall bright and attractive binding.

Illuminated manuscript on paper, in Farsi, part four only (of seven), 322 leaves (plus one later endleaf at the rear), 375 by 235 mm; single column, 21 lines black naskh, significant words and sentences in red, illuminated headpiece in polychrome and gold opening the text, leaves ruled in turquoise, red and gold, some of this ruling oxidised causing closed tears (some of these repaired), a few marginal repairs to preliminary and penultimate leaves, some scattered spots, overall presentable example; housed in contemporary brown morocco with stamped central medallions and corner-pieces of gilt leather inlay, rebacked, doublures of brown morocco with central medallions and corner-pieces decorated with gilt filigree and coloured backgrounds, a little worn.

Illuminated manuscript formed of multiple calligraphic panels pasted to thick card, in Arabic and Farsi, total leaf 370 by 245 mm. (recto panel 285 by 195 mm. and verso 250 by 175 mm.); recto formed of a large central panel of fine nasta'liq formed of three couplets, this framed by two panels of large thuluth on either side and a further two panels above and below in an elegant reyhani script (verging on muhaqqaq), the outer corners are further decorated by four diagonally placed cartouches of nasta'liq (in two different hands), the verso is formed of a large central panel of fine nasta'liq formed of two rhyming couplets framed within two corner-pieces illustrated in fine Safavid-style gilt polychrome devices and copied on paper adorned in sections of gold leaf, framed within a multiple ruled border formed of 12 cartouches of nasta'liq (6 of these single lines on cream paper and the other 6 formed of 2 lines on white paper), both sides of album leaf elegantly arranged with gilt borders separating different panels and wider ruled borders of green and aubergine coloured paper, some light surface soiling and small chips to wider margins, overall very attractive condition.