MANUSCRIPTS -- KALÎLA WA DIMNA (The Fables of Bidpai). Qajar Iran, late 18th - early 19th c. (c. 1800). 138 lvs. (276 pp.). Persian manuscript on paper written in nasta'lîq script in black ink with rubrication in red, 12-15 lines per page, text within gold and black double-ruled borders. W. 100 miniatures in opaque watercolour heightened with gold, including depictions of lions and jackals, monkeys, birds, sages, enthroned kings, demons, allegorical beasts and fables, in vivid Qajar palette (pinks, greens, lilacs, vermilion, gold). Dimensions: 22,5x12,5 cm; written area 16,5x7,5 cm. Later limp brown leather. (Manuscript shows wear, stains, edge tears, and repairs, pigments rubbed in places, illustrations dam./torn in places, paper brittle and fragile, but colours remain bright).
Kalîla wa Dimna is a collection of fables featuring anthropomorphic animals, originally written in Sanskrit as the Panchatantra around the 3rd century CE. It was translated into Middle Persian (Pahlavi) in the 6th century and later into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa' in the 8th century. The Persian version was translated and adapted by Rudaki and others during the 10th century and became a classic of Persian literature. - Provenance: With early Qajar Persian ownership seal (Muhammad ibn …) on pastedown.€ 3000
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