Selection of Poems

Description Walters manuscript W.641 is an illuminated Timurid copy of a selection of poems by Nur al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (died 898 AH/AD 1492). The colophon indicates that it was copied in Herat (present-day Afghanistan) by Sultan 'Ali in 899 AH/AD 1493-1494 (fol. 70b). The manuscript opens with an illuminated incipit with an inscribed headpiece. The black leather binding, which is original to the manuscript, has a stamped central lobed oval, pendants, and cornerpieces, which are all covered with cloudband motifs.The doublures of red leather with similar design are decorated with filigree work on a blue ground. There is an erased bequest (waqf) seal and registration statement, probably belonging to the Sultan 'Uthman (reigned 1027-1031 AH/AD 1618-1622) (fol. 1a).

Exhibitions

• Bindings from the Islamic World. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1988.

Provenance Sultan 'Uthman (reigned 1027 AH/AD 1618-1031 AH/AD 1622) (?) [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [erased waqf-seal and waqf-registration statement probably belonging to the Sultan on folio 1a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters