AN ILLUSTRATED SAFINA OF SA’DI POETRY
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Iran, the text 18th century, the illuminations 19th century

Persian manuscript on delicately tinted Chinese paper in orange, yellow, blue, dark blue, and verdigris, 94ff. plus one fly leaf, each folio with 10ll. in diagonal pairs of black ink shikasteh nasta’liq script in two horizontal columns, certain lines in red, the polychrome opaque watercolour miniature illustrations predominantly from popular romances including Joseph (Yusuf) at the feast of Zuleykha; Joseph being rescued from the well; Sheikh San’an and the Christian maiden; Shirin and Farhad; Leyla and Majnun; the doctor and the love-sick prince; the courtship of Khosrow and Shirin; Siavash’s trial by fire; and the assassination of Khosrow by Shirouyeh among others; all within blue and gold rules, in marbled paper card binding, the text panel 11.5cm x 6.2cm, the folio 14.5cm x 7.8cm.