an illustrated page from a Persian manuscript copy of Firdausi's Shahnama, in opaque colours heightened with gold and ink on paper, recto with one line of nasta'liq in black ink in four columns, verso with twenty lines of nasta'liq in black ink arranged in four columns within black and gold ruled margins, inscribed in two places in a nineteenth century hand in ink 'No. 64', the second indecipherable, the folio reduced and housed within a paper mount with further ruled borders, image 16 x 14.6cm., mounted folio 24 x 21.8cm.

Provenance:

Paris, 4th November, 2014, Collection of Francoise et Claude Bourelier

Sir Thomas Phillips (1792-1872), Ms.34738, the sale of his library Biblioteca Phillipica (9th auction), Sotheby's London, 27th November, 1974, lot 789

Frances Mary Richardson Currer, Eshton Hall, Yorkshire (1785-1861)

Thomas Rood

Phillip Augustus Hanrott (1776-1856), The Hanrott sale, London 5th August, 1838, lot 1295

Mrs. Rebekah Bliss of Kensington (1749-1819), the sale of her library Saunders and Hodgson, 26th April 1826.

It is a testimony to the high regard in which pages from this copy of the Shahnameh were held that they passed into the collection of some of the most renowned bibliophiles of nineteenth century England. The early annotations are probably in the hand of one of these great collectors.

Mrs Richardson Currer is frequently referred to as England's first female bibliophile but, as we see in the case of this folio and others, Mrs. Bliss of Kensington preceded her by several years and may more rightly claim this title. The sale of the library of Rebekah Bliss (1749-1819) was held by Saunders & Hodgson in 1826 was entitled Bibliotheca Splendidissima: A Catalogue of a Select Portion of the Library of Mrs. Bliss, Deceased, Removed from her Residence at Kensington. A blog by Dr. Davies explores the collecting activities and influences of Mrs. Bliss: see http://rebekahbliss.blogspot.co.uk

This is one of the two pages from this album that were sold in the Sotheby's sale of the collection of Sir Thomas Phillips in 1974. Two more pages from this manuscript, formerly in the collection of the Hardy family of Chilham Castle, Kent, appeared at auction in India, Saffron Art, 24-25th April 2013, lot 1. Two more are in the collection of the San Diego Museum of Art, formerly with Edwin Binney who had bought them in London at Sotheby's, 11th December, 1961, lot 64. All of the recorded examples have been trimmed but this is the only example that has text on the verso making it unique amongst the surviving pages.