Haft Qulzum... A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, Lucknow, 1820-22, 7 parts in 2 vols - photo 1
Haft Qulzum... A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, Lucknow, 1820-22, 7 parts in 2 vols - photo 2

Haft Qulzum... A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, Lucknow, 1820-22, 7 parts in 2 vols

Lot 195
21.09.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 15 000
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1028496
Lot 195 | Haft Qulzum... A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language, Lucknow, 1820-22, 7 parts in 2 vols
Estimate value
£ 15 000 – 20 000
Haft Qulzum. The seven seas. A dictionary and grammar of the Persian language by His Majesty Abul-zafar Mu'izz-al-din Shah-e zaman Ghazi al-din Haidar Padeshah Ghazi, the King of Oudh, in seven parts. Lucknow: printed at His Majesty's Press, [1820-]1822

7 parts in 2 volumes, folio (393 x 283mm.), printed in Persian on Indian paper, 7 printed headpieces, text within printed frames, arms of the King of Oudh printed on upper margin of each page, part 7 with a number of printed diagrams in-text, largely illustrating grammatical points, later quarter calf, intermittent spotting (heavier on a few pages), a few minor paper repairs (not affecting text)

Editio princeps of the Haft Qulzum, a magnificent work that represents the last flowering of Persianate culture under the patronage of the royal court of Oudh, printed at the royal press in 7 parts over 2 years, and containing nearly 28,000 entries, compiled primarily by the Persian scholar Molavi Qabul Muhammad at the behest of the King of Oudh.

Parts 1 to 6 of the work contain the dictionary, the 7th part being commentaries on Persian grammar and poetics. The tradition of Persian lexicography in India stretches back over centuries, to the “Farhang-e Qawwas”, compiled for the Sultan of Delhi in the late 13th century, and Persian remained at the heart of Indian government and literature through the 19th century, even as the Mughal empire ebbed.

Of the 19 copies of the editio princeps known to have survived, only the present copy and 10 others have the bilingual English/Persian title-pages. The rarity of this work is explained in an 1857 Bernard Quaritch catalogue, which notes that "most of the remaining copies" of the Haft Qulzum were destroyed by insects.
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