Walters Ms. W.620, The orchard (Bustan)Kitāb-i būstānكتاب بوستان<note type="title" xml:id="n274.025533">Title inscribed in an illuminated medallion on fol. 1a</note>SaʿdīMusharrif al-Dīn ibn Muṣliḥ Saʿdī Shīrāzīمشرف الدين بن مصلح سعدي شيرازيAuthor dates preferred by cataloger: d. 691 AH / 1292 CEPrincipal catalogerGacek, AdamCatalogerLandau, AmyCatalogerSmith, SitaEditorBockrath, DianeContributorBarrera, ChristinaContributorEmery, DougContributorHerbert, LynleyContributorNoel, WilliamContributorSimpson, ShreveContributorTabritha, ArielContributorToth, Michael B.ContributorValle, ChiaraConservatorJewell, StephanieConservatorQuandt, AbigailThe Walters Art Museum

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This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of the Būstān (The garden or The orchard), composed by Sa’dī (d. 691 AH / 1292 CE). It was written in black nasta’līq script in the ninth century AH / sixteenth CE in Iran. The codex opens with a frontispiece with the title Kitāb-i būstān inscribed in an illuminated medallion (fol. 1a), followed by a double-page illustration of a banquet scene in a landscape (fols. 1b-2a). Additionally, there are five paintings illustrating the text (fols. 25a, 55b, 58a, 93b, and 119b). The brown leather, blind-stamped binding decorated with a central oval and pendants is not contemporary with the manuscript.BaltimoreThe Walters Art MuseumW.620The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.fols. 1a - 188aKitāb-i būstānكتاب بوستان<note type="title" xml:id="n274.025584">Title inscribed in an illuminated medallion on fol. 1a</note>بنام خداوندجان افرين...

Laid paper

Foliation: i+189+i25.517.014.08.0

Written on versos

Framing lines in blue, black, and goldWritten in black nastaʿlīq script with red for section headingsFive illustrations (fols. 25a, 55b, 58a, 93b, and 119b); illuminated frontispiece with the title Kitāb-i būstān inscribed in the medallion (fol. 1a); double-page illustrated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a); double-page illuminated incipit (fols. 2b-3a); framing lines in blue, black, and goldIlluminated frontispiece with medallionFrontispiece; medallionThis illuminated frontispiece is inscribed with the title Kitāb-i būstān in the polychrome and gold medallion (shamsah).Double-page illustrated frontispieceFrontispiece; illustrationThis is the right side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a banquet in a landscape.Double-page illustrated frontispieceFrontispiece; illustrationThis is the left side of a double-page illustrated frontispiece depicting a banquet in a landscape.Double-page illuminated incipitIncipitThis is the right side of a double-page illuminated incipit introducing the text of the Būstān. Allāh al-Bāqī is inscribed in the lower cartouche in a decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style.Double-page illuminated incipitIncipitThis is the left side of a double-page illuminated incipit introducing the text of the Būstān. Allāh wa-lā siwāhu and al-Shukr li-Llāh ta`ālá are inscribed in the cartouches in a decorated New Abbasid (broken cursive) style.Darius, the Persian king, meeting his herdsman while huntingIllustrationAn old man, who pulled out a thorn from the foot of an orphan, meeting his friendIllustrationBanquet scene in a landscapeIllustrationA man advised by village elders to divorce his wife because of their constant quarrelingIllustrationSaʿdī and another man visiting Shāṭir IṣfāhānīIllustration

Brown, blind-stamped leather (with flap); decorated with a central oval and pendants

9th century AH / 15th CEIranWalters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequestRelevant WorksRichard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), no. 147.ArtMedicineMuseumPoetryScriptMuhammad, the ProphetKashmiriHorsesWalters Art MuseumBlockbookDocumentAstrologyDevotionHistoryLegalLiterature -- PoetryLiterature -- ProseLiturgyPhilosophyScienceScience -- MedicineScriptureSufismTheologyMineralogyLogicGeographyGeomancyCosmologyCartographyFortune-tellingKoranQur`anFirmanPalimpsestPrayerBibleGospelsPsalterMissalLectionaryBook of HoursAntiphonaryHomilaryProcessionalHorologionBreviaryHymnalChroniclePsalter/HoursMaghrebSub-Saharan (West) AfricaTurkeyAfghanistanCentral Arab Lands (Near East)Central AsiaEgyptEnglandIndiaIranIraqPakistanGermanyFranceAustriaNetherlandsEthiopiaArmeniaFlandersGreeceMamlukMughalOttomanOttonianArmenianByzantineAbbasidQajarRajputChristianArabicAustrianDutchEgyptianFatimidGermanIndianIslamicPersianSafavidTimuridTurkishUmayyadEnglishFrenchFlemishEthiopianCarolingianCalligraphyChartsColophonHeadpieceIlluminationIllustrationMedallionMiniatureOrnamentPainting'Kufic'Early Abbasid scriptRaginiRomanesqueGothicWatermarkTreasure BindingGrotesquesHistoriated initialInhabited initialCarolingian MinusculeGothic Book handWhite-vine letteringEnglish secretaryTexturaBatardaHumanisticUncialAccordion bookAlbumBookCodexManuscriptHeraldrySaint's LifeDrawingGrisailleOriginal BindingBindingNew Abbasid style8th Century9th Century10th Century11th Century12th Century13th Century14th Century15th Century16th Century17th Century18th Century19th Century20th CenturyMusical notationRussiaRomaniaCharterRussianGenealogyMass bookPrayer bookLiturgicalDevotionalScripturalTheologicalLegalHistoricalScientificScientific -- MedicalLiterary -- ProseLiterary -- PoetryPhilosophicalAstrologicalSufiEnglishBookCalligraphyCodexIlluminationIllustrationIranIslamicManuscriptPaintingPersianSafavidWalters Art MuseumLiterature -- Poetry