Ferdowsi - Le Shahnameh de Hougton (2vol) - 1981

Vol. 1: xviii, 293 pp. + 1 frontispiece. Vol. 2: ix, [2], 545, [1] pp. Blue cloth binding with gilt decoration and elaborate motifs on the boards, gilt title and red leather labels on the spine. Gilt edges. Limited edition of 750 copies, unnumbered, printed in English Monotype Bembo on thick rag paper (vol. 1) and Caledonia parchment paper (vol. 2). The first volume includes 21 full-page fac-ssimile plates reproduced in color collotype with gilt overprinting (including a color interleaved frontispiece inserted at the beginning of the work). The second volume contains an additional color frontispiece plate and 269 sepia collotype plates. Without original case, but with the color interleaved frontispiece plate inserted at the beginning of the work. The Shanameh, an epic poem written by Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010, is considered the national epic of the Persian people. Composed of 50,000 distichs, it is the longest epic poem written by a single author. The illuminated manuscript known as the Houghton Shahnameh (or Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh) is among the most famous and probably best illustrated works of the corpus. It is regarded as containing some of the most sumptuous and celebrated examples of Persian miniature painting. The manuscript’s creation likely began in the 1520s at the royal workshop in Tabriz, under the order of Shah Isma’il I of the Safavid Persians, and was completed during the reign of his son Tahmasp I, around 1530. At completion, it contained 759 pages, of which 258 were miniatures, created by a large number of the era’s most talented artists, some of whom have only been identified, notably Mir Sayyid Ali, Sultan Mohammad, Mizra-Ali (son of Sultan Mohammad), Aqa Mirak, Mir Musavvir, Dust Muhammad and probably Abd al-Samad. Years later, in 1568, the manuscript was presented to the Ottoman sultan Selim II. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it joined the collection of Edmond James de Rothschild, and was later acquired by American industrialist Arthur Houghton Jr. The first volume of this work offers an in-depth analysis of the oeuvre by Persian history and Islamic art specialists Martin Bernard Dickson and Stuart Cary Welch. This text examines the literary content of the epic poem and its author, as well as the history of the Houghton Shahnameh manuscript itself, including a detailed description and introduction to the numerous artists who contributed. The volume is illustrated with 21 examples of illuminated manuscript pages, beautifully reproduced as color collotype facsimiles, each measuring 11 3/4 x 17 inches (3/4-page with gilded margins). The plate, inserted on the recto, is protected by a folded paper sleeve with a printed caption. All other color plates are bound and protected by a sheet of tissue paper, each accompanied by a printed caption. Additionally, the volume is richly illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographic reproductions of plates and images, both full-page and miniatures embedded in the text. A table of contents, a list of illustrations, and a detailed index are also included. The second volume presents, in the frontispiece, the last color plate, reproducing the ex-libris of Shah Tahmasp the Safavid, from the manuscript. It is followed by 269 full-page sepia collotype reproductions of manuscript plates, presented in order. Each plate is accompanied by an accompanying text containing a description and detailed analysis of its contents. Covers with minor scratches and/or small stains. Interior clean and with bright colors. Bindings in very good condition, interiors in excellent overall condition.