circa 1650. These are leaves from a Hafez Dewan fragment of Ottoman origin, circa 1650, on paper, measuring 169 x 78 mm., consisting of nineteen lines of delicate black nasta'liq script within geometric designs in blue ink. The author, Mohammed Shams od-Din Hafez, lived from 1325-1399. Hafez was one of Persia's finest lyric poets and wrote in the sophisticated "Ghazal" manner. The Dewan takes the poetic format of six and fifteen couplets and expresses Sufi ideals in lyrics. Framed. #17709/17710. Very Good. More

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. #22611/22702. Very Good. More

Persia. Framed handwritten manuscript leaf from a Koran, Persia, middle of the 16th century, on paper (325 x 220 mm). This leaf comes from a large-sized Koran of fourteen lines of black Nasta’liq script. It has elegant marginal devices recto and verso. Verso: fourteen lines of black Nasta’liq script. #18003. Fine. More

1846. A leaf from large Koran, Iran, 1846-47, on fine paper. There are fifteen lines of black naskh script, gold rosettes between verses, sura heading in red on illuminated panels, large polychrome medallions in borders, borders ruled in gold, red Persian interlinear translation, colophon signed by the scribe Muhammad'Ali ibn Muhammad Baqir. Framed, measures 345 x 200 mm. #39684. Very Good. More

circa 1575. This is a leaf from a Prayer book and Benedictional for the use of Cistercian Nuns, in Latin, France second quarter of the 16th century. There are eighteen lines in black ink of angular Gothic script from the section of Temporal Benedictions. Provenance: Cistercian House presumably a nunnery since the opening, and only illustrated, office for the profession of female novices, who promise to live secundum regulam sancti Benediciti. The Illumination within this Prayer Book shows considerable similarities with those of the Master of Francois de Rohan, active in Paris from c. 1525 - 1546. Beautifully custom framed. #6800. Fine. More

A rare illuminated Koran leaf, probably Heart of Bokhara, late 16th century, on paper. There are fifteen lines to the page: first, eighth, and fifteenth lines of each page written in gold muhaqqaq script with remaining lines written in smaller naskhi script in black ink. Illuminated markers are between verses and illumination flanks the text of each page; surah headings are written in thuluth script in white on illuminated panels in color and gold. All the leaves from this fragment have been remargined due to its age and its interesting provenance (supplied upon request). Framed. #17261. Near 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

Tehran: 1866. A framed leaf from an illuminated Qajar Koran during the rule of Nasir al-Din Shah (1848-1896), Persian, Tehran. 1866, on paper (220 x 200mm.). There are fourteen lines of text of bold naskhi script in a competent hand within gilded cloud-bands and ruled borders; small roundels make the verse endings, illuminated marginal ornaments, sura heading in red thuluth script within illuminated rectangles. Verso: fourteen lines of text of bold naskhi script in a competent hand within gilded cloud-bands and ruled borders. #24076. 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