circa 1760. This is a set of leaves from an anthology or collection of poems by Sa'di, Amir Khusrao, Jami and others. Circa 1760, it is written on paper, in a fine hand, black nasta'liq script with occasional phrases in blue. Written diagonally within two columns, the text throughout is encased in double gold lines with a few exquisite blue and gold floral headings. The fragment also contains illuminated title in polychrome colors of blue gold and red with a final folio of perching birds amongst flower sprays. Framed. #22609/22712. Very Good. More

1840. This fine leaf is from an excellently preserved, circa 1840 Koran, scribed in Kashmir about the time of Queen Victoria coming to the throne of England. Eleven lines of naskh script in a strong hand and on highly burnished paper, measuring 185 x 125 mm. The layout incorporates the typical marginal devices to which the Kashmir scribes are devoted. Neat gold floral devices embellish the corners of each page. The attractive Chapter Headings are in blue and gold. Framed. #4105. Fine. More

India: 1878. This is a leaf from a remaindered (Dala'il al-Khayrat) prayer book, scripted in India, in 1878, thirteen lines scribed in a strong Naskhi script on a fine lines paper, measuring 204 x 130 mm. It was written in Arabic with Persian translation in red ink between the lines. The holy name of Allah is in red ink. The headings are in gold as well as the borders. Gold rosettes end the verses. The original text was composed by Muhammed ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli. This is one of the most popular devotional prayer books of Islam. Framed. #17661. Fine. More

Spain: 1650. A leaf from a Medieval Antiphonal or Choir Missal, Spain, circa 1650, in Latin on extremely heavy vellum. Text is in a Spanish rounded gothic hand (Rotunda). Music is on a stave formed of five lines. There are six lines of music and verse. Verso: six lines of music and verse. Framed. #2537. Near Fine. More

Framed rare Persian miniature created in the early 19th or late 18th century on paper (290 x 180 mm). It illustrates a scene from the Persian national epic, the Shahnama or Book of Kings. The Shahnama is a poem of some 50,000 couplets that was composed by Abu’l Qasim Firdausi over a period of several decades in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. Verso: twenty-one lines of four columns in nasta’liq script. #15908. Fine. More