25

ACQUISITIONS OF 1970 (Or. 12.355, cont.)

(2) ff. 18b-54a

Teressül-i kava ‘idi l-in$a

1 iti'iVt ac. I J_o, jj

A copy of an anonymous manual on the art of letter-writing. The title, preceded by diger , precedes the text on f. 18b. The work consists of an elaborate and rather abstract introduction (18b-25b), which contains poetical interludes in Persian and Turkish, and four chapters (fast) discussing, respectively, epistolary rules (edeb, with prescriptions for the various parts of letters, from the invocation of God to datings, 25b); headings (semame, 29a); responses (cevab, 47b) and titles of privilege (berdt, 52a). The text is adstructed with, in fact mostly consists of, examples of letters or parts of them sent to various personalities, from the Sultan down to family members, friends and lovers, and of various types; distinctions of rank and station in life are crucial, as is explained in the introduction. Dates are found at the end of the berats, quoted in chapter four: mid- Muharrem 963 (26 November - 5 December 1555, 52b); early Safer 963 (16-25 December 1555, 53b); 1 §ewal 969 (4 June 1562, 53b) and 1 RebCü l-ahir 969 (9 December 1561, 54a). A few interlinear and marginal corrections and additions. A pious formula in Arabic is added in bold nesih on f. 54a.

Begins (18a-19b): >41 AX.i) I AI_I ui .. Ends (53b-54a):

• üJjlj 3 » a»- ijjJLi’ Jjl i>(Lu«L *LJ 3 Li ^

33->J3*t 3j* I *Sj*)3» >.T a J3^* ü3^ >* &*•»■ a AjLuuI a>*Lt *. U , < 535 >*,¥1 gjjjj » a> c.

Bound in embossed brown leather with flap and insets in Oriental style; the backing has been repaired with vellum; glazed white to cream paper, slight worm damage, 1+54 + 1 folios; 208x152 mm and 145x105 mm, varying; 7 lines; catchwords; divanf headings, rubrics and dots in red and green; double red borders on ff. lb-2a; a coarse headpiece with title in green, black and red on f. lb (see plate); without date and the name of a copyist; a stencilled bookplate with the figure of a lion rampant and the legend ‘Liv. [?] T.P. Middle Hill’ [No.] 860 (first unnumbered folio, recto)