Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 9•,R
Nizami, Makhzan al-Asrar, the first book of the Khamsa, copied by Fazlullah, son of the deceased Mirza Fazlullah, the calligrapher (khosh-nevis) Qajar Persia, dated Rajab 1328/July-August 1910
22 May 2025, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
Nizami, Makhzan al-Asrar, the first book of the Khamsa, copied by Fazlullah, son of the deceased Mirza Fazlullah, the calligrapher (khosh-nevis)
Qajar Persia, dated Rajab 1328/July-August 1910
Qajar Persia, dated Rajab 1328/July-August 1910
Persian manuscript on paper, 35 leaves, 17 lines to the page written in fine nasta'liq in black ink in four columns, inner margins ruled in blue and gold, headings in red and blue, catchwords, one double-page illuminated frontispiece, contemporary lacquer binding, doublures with central floral medallions in gold on a black ground
270 x 173 mm.
270 x 173 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
A London collector (d. 2006), acquired in the London art market in the mid-1980s-90s; and by descent.
The scribe, Fazlullah son of the deceased Mirza Fazlullah, the calligrapher (khosh-nevis) is not otherwise known, and both known scribes of that name died before this manuscript was copied: Fazlullah Savaji (d. AH 1275/AD 1858-59), and Abu'l-Fazl, son of Fazlullah (d. AH 1312/AD 1894-95).
The scribe has composed six couplets at the end of Nizami's text, asking the reader to forgive any mistakes and his 'poor hand', and gives the date of Nizami's composition as 24th Rabi' I 552/6th May 1157, before the colophon.
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