Item Summary

A collection of poems and sayings on religious, moral and social topics.

Descriptive Information

Title
کتاب المختار في محاسن الاشعار ونوادر الاخبار.
Transliterated Title
Kitāb al-Mukhtār fī maḥāsin al-ashʻār wa-nawādir al-akhbār.
Call Number
Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett no. 152H
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dcbz60d5905
Publisher
Muḥarram 1084 [April/May 1673]
Language
Arabic
Date Created
1673
Format
Manuscript
Extent
125 leaves : paper ; 203 x 154 (140 x 90) mm. bound to 204 x 155 mm.
Provenance
On the title page are an Arabic seal impression inscribed ʻʻand my success is through none other than God,ʼʼ another obliterated seal impression and several autographs of owners, one dated 1123. Autograph of an owner dated 1280 [1863/4] (fol. 124b). Acquired from Brill, Leyden, 1900.
Source Acquisition
Gift ; Robert Garrett, Class of 1897 ; 1942.
References
Hitti, P. Garrett Coll., 222.
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Notes
Collation: Paper ; fol. 125 ; catchwords ; modern foliation in pencil using Western numerals.
Description: Written in naskhi ; vowel signs ; rubricated ; watermarks (crown?, fleur-de-lis?) ; MS in good condition but some folios are worm-eaten and mended.
Layout: 19 lines per page ; ruled.
Marginal notes and glosses; marginal summaries. On the title page are two verses of the Qurʼān and several verses of poetry. After the colophon is a statement that the MS was copied for Aḥmad al-Ḥusayn ibn Amīr al-Muʼminīn al-Manṣūr billāh al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad (fol. 124a), two verses of poetry by Ibn al-Muʻtazz 247-296 [861-908], two others by Kushājim, 351 [962], two verses by Muḥsin ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Qāsim ibn Aḥmad ibn Amīr al-Muʼminīn al-Manṣūr billāh ibn Muḥammad.(fol. 124b).
Ms. codex.
Origin: According to colophon copied Muḥarram 1084 (fol. 124a).
Title from title page (fol. 1a).
Colophon: تم ذلك بعون الله ولطفه ومنه وکرمه ولا حول ولا قوة الا بالله العلي العظيم وکان الفراغ من نقله ثمان شهر محرم من سنة 1084
Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم. قال العبد الفقير الى الله تعالي محمد بن نجم
Binding Note
Later type II (with flap) binding in red leather. Blind-stamped mandorla with pendants and corner motifs and blind-tooled decorative edging on both covers and flap. Gold-sprinkled orange paper pastedowns. Binding loose and upper cover detached.

Discovery Information

Subject
Arabic literature—Early works to 1800
Manuscripts, Arabic—New Jersey—Princeton
Autographs
Blind tooled bindings
Stamps
Watermarks

Physical Characteristics

File Count
263

Institutional Information

Collection
Princeton’s Holdings of the al-Madani Library
Manuscripts of the Islamic World
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/ef57f1c3-9bf8-45aa-81ca-d81e4ac81f3e/manifest